EXCLUSIVE PERSONAL SERVICES CONTRACT
The words swam slightly in her vision. Eva blinked and forced herself to focus.
Parties: Eva Marie Santos (hereafter "Contractor") and Zain Blackwood, Cael Blackwood, and Riven Blackwood (hereafter "Clients")
Term: Six (6) months from date of execution
Compensation: Two million dollars ($2,000,000 USD), transferred in full to Contractor's designated account upon contract execution
She kept reading.
The terms were explicit. Five nights per week, schedule to be determined by Clients. Contractor would be available from 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM on designated nights. Services included but were not limited to: companionship, entertainment, and physical intimacy as requested by Clients.
Physical intimacy.
The clinical language didn't make it any less clear what she was agreeing to.
Eva turned the page.
Boundaries and Limitations:
Contractor maintains the right to establish hard limits regarding specific acts. Clients agree to respect all stated boundaries. Safe words will be established and honored without exception.
Health and Safety:
All parties agree to regular health screenings. Contraception will be provided and required. Medical care will be provided by Clients should Contractor require it during the term of this agreement.
Confidentiality:
Contractor agrees not to disclose any information regarding this arrangement, the Clients, or any activities that occur during the term of this contract. Violation of confidentiality will result in immediate termination and legal action.
Termination:
This contract may be terminated early only under the following conditions:
Mutual agreement of all parties
Breach of contract by Clients (as defined in Section 7)
Medical inability of Contractor to perform (as certified by physician)
Early termination by Contractor without qualifying cause will result in forfeiture of all compensation and legal penalties as outlined in Section 9.
Eva's hands tightened on the pages. She couldn't just walk away. Not once she signed. Six months or nothing.
"Questions?"
She looked up to find all three of them watching her. Zain still stood closest, his expression unreadable. Cael had settled into a chair across from her, the scotch untouched in his hand. Riven had moved to lean against the fireplace mantle, the flames casting shadows across his face.
"The schedule," Eva said, surprised her voice was steady. "How much notice will I have?"
"Twenty-four hours minimum," Cael answered. "We're not unreasonable. You'll need time to arrange your life around this."
"And the nights I'm not here?"
"Are yours to do with as you please." Zain's eyes hadn't left her face. "We're buying your time, Eva. Not your autonomy outside of it."
Debatable, but she didn't say that.
"Hard limits," she continued. "How do we establish those?"
"Now," Riven said. "Or during. Whatever you need is off the table, no questions asked."
Eva looked back down at the contract. Her eyes caught on a clause near the bottom of page three.
Contractor acknowledges that Clients are supernatural beings and agrees to maintain discretion regarding their nature and any supernatural elements that may occur during the term of this agreement.
"You're wolves," she said. Not a question.
"Yes," Zain confirmed. "Does that bother you?"
It should. Normal people would be bothered by that information. But Eva had been working at Sinners for three years....she'd danced for vampires, fae, things she couldn't even name. Wolves were just another category of 'not human.'
"No," she said.
"Good." Cael took a sip of his scotch. "Because we're not going to hide what we are. Not in our own home."
Eva turned another page. And another. The contract was thorough, disturbingly so. It covered scenarios she hadn't even considered, protections she didn't know she needed, and expectations that made her stomach tight with something that wasn't entirely fear.
She reached the final page.
By signing this agreement, Contractor acknowledges that she has read and understood all terms and enters into this arrangement of her own free will.
Three signature lines. One for her. One for each of them.
Eva set the contract down and looked up at the three men who were about to own her for six months.
"I have one condition," she said.
Zain's eyebrow raised fractionally. "We're listening."
"My mother doesn't know about this arrangement. She can't know. As far as she's concerned, I got a loan or a grant or...something. Not this."
"Agreed," Zain said immediately.
"That's it?" Eva had expected pushback. Negotiation.
"Your relationship with your mother is yours to manage however you see fit," Cael said. "We have no interest in interfering with that."
"But understand this," Riven added, pushing away from the fireplace and moving closer. "Everything else about your life...your time, your body, your attention...belongs to us for the next six months. We're not going to share you. We're not going to be patient when we want you and you're not available. You're agreeing to be ours. Completely."
The word 'ours' landed in the room like a physical thing.
Eva's pulse was pounding in her throat. "I understand."
"Do you?" Zain crouched down in front of her chair, bringing himself to eye level, and the sudden proximity made her breath catch. "Because once you sign this, there's no going back. We will push you. We will test you. We will take everything this contract says we can take and probably try for more. You need to be absolutely certain you can handle that."
Eva thought about Matilda in that hospital bed. About Dr. Harrison's careful voice saying six weeks. About the number $2,000,000 and what it meant.
"I'm certain," she said.
Zain studied her face for a long moment. Then he stood, pulled a pen from his pocket, and held it out to her.
Eva took it.
Her hand was steady as she signed her name on the designated line. Eva Marie Santos, in her own handwriting, agreeing to six months of being owned by three men she didn't know.
Zain took the contract, signed his name below hers. Passed it to Cael, who signed with a flourish. Then to Riven, whose signature was quick and aggressive.
It was done.
"The money will be in your account within the hour," Cael said, pulling out his phone and typing something quickly. "You'll receive a confirmation email."
Eva nodded numbly.
Zain set the contract aside and looked at her with those pale grey eyes that seemed to see straight through her. "You're ours now."
"For six months," Eva corrected.
His smile was small and dangerous. "We'll see."
Riven moved to stand behind her chair, his hands coming to rest on the leather just above her shoulders. Not touching her, but close enough that she could feel him. "We should establish something right now."
"What?" Her voice came out quieter than she intended.
"Whether you're worth what we paid for you."
Eva's spine went rigid. "Excuse me?"
"Two million dollars is a lot of money," Cael said conversationally, still sitting across from her with that scotch in his hand and that analytical look in his eyes. "We'd like to know we made a good investment."
"The contract is signed," Eva said, anger cutting through her nervousness. "The money's transferred. What does it matter if...."
"It matters," Zain interrupted quietly, "because we want to see if you're going to fight us every step of the way, or if you understand what you've agreed to."
He took a step closer.
Then another.
Until he was standing directly in front of her chair, close enough that she had to tilt her head back to maintain eye contact.
"The contract is signed," he said softly. "The money is yours. Your mother's treatment is paid for. Which means as of this moment..." His hand came up to cup her jaw, tilting her face up toward his, and Eva's breath caught at the contact. His skin was warm, his grip firm without being painful, and there was something in his eyes that made her stomach drop and her pulse spike simultaneously.
"...you belong to us," he finished.
Eva's hands clenched on the arms of the chair.
Zain's thumb brushed across her lower lip. "So let's establish how this is going to work. When we tell you to do something...." His eyes held hers, relentless and uncompromising. ".....you do it. Without question. Without hesitation. Because you're not a guest here anymore, Eva. You're not a client or a contractor. You're ours. And we're going to treat you exactly as such."
He stepped back.
The absence of his touch left her skin feeling cold.
"Kneel," Zain said quietly.
The command landed in the silence like a stone into still water.
Eva's heart was pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears. "What?"
"You heard me." His voice didn't rise. Didn't need to. "On your knees, Eva. Show us you understand what you just signed."
She looked at Cael, who was watching her with those calculating green eyes, his expression giving away nothing. Then at Riven, who was smiling that dangerous smile and looking at her like he already knew exactly how this was going to end.
Then back to Zain, who stood in front of her like immovable stone, waiting.
Eva's hands were shaking again.
The contract was signed. The money was transferred. Her mother's life was saved.
And she'd just agreed to six months of this.
She stood slowly. Her legs felt unsteady beneath her.
Zain waited, utterly still, those pale grey eyes never leaving her face.
Eva took a breath.
And then got on her kneels in front of Zain.