Page 2 of The Breeding Cave

CHAPTER TWO

YEOSIN

I squinted my eyes and tried to adjust to the sunlight flooding in through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. What had happened? The last thing that I remembered was falling asleep in that cave and?—

After shooting up in the Alaskan king-size bed, I looked around the huge master bedroom, furnished with plush couches and golden decor with a dash of wooden accents. A silk nightgown brushed against my skin—one that I definitely could never afford.

Where the hell was I?

Once I slipped out of the bed, I headed toward the large windows to take in the sight of the entire city. Soft pinks and oranges danced across the sky, just above the skyscrapers. I couldn’t even see the streets from here.

A hint of cologne—woodsy with a hint of cinnamon—drifted through my nostrils from the master bathroom, the scent somehow … familiar. I walked across the handwoven rug that covered the marble floor toward the smell.

Was he here? Had he taken me home with him? What was his name?

Last night, I had barely questioned a goddamn thing. My body had seemed to react to him on its own, moaning and moving to the sound of his words, begging and pleading for him to … for him to …

Breed me.

I gulped and placed a hand over my stomach. Surely, he couldn’t have done that in one night, right? Plus, I had strictly been on birth control for the past few years, and I had never ever, ever had one type of slipup.

Right?

My heart pounded in my ears as I approached the bathroom door.

But after peering into the room and not finding him, I gently closed the door and leaned back against it with flushed cheeks.

Even if I had found a man in the bathroom, preparing for the day, how would I have known if it was him? I had only seen him in beast form.

What did he look like as a human? Normal?

The aroma of freshly baked cinnamon rolls wafted through the air from the bedroom door.

I pulled on my top from last night that I had found draped over a couch and peeked my head out of the room in an attempt to find an escape before bumping into someone.

But a woman in the kitchen glanced over at me almost immediately and smiled.

“You’re finally awake,” she hummed, pulling the cinnamon rolls out of the oven.

“Um,” I whispered, inching out of the room.

Come on, Yeosin. Ask her something useful! Where am I? How did I get here?

“What’s that minty aroma?” I walked closer to her and inhaled deeply, spotting a vintage teapot, the type I used to marvel at while window-shopping with Mom when I was just a child. “It smells so good.”

She pulled out a chair at the large table for me, then filled one of the teacups with the minty tea. “Make sure to drink all of it.” She offered me a small smile and pushed my chair in once I sat. “I made it specifically for you.”

“Oh, um, thank you.”

My gaze flickered to the end of the table toward an empty plate. Was that from … him ?

Once she set a platter of cinnamon rolls on the table, she placed one on the plate in front of me. “If I had known you were awake, I would’ve started cooking breakfast for you sooner. My apologies. The food should be ready soon.”

I opened and closed my mouth a handful of times. Should I let this happen? I didn’t know this woman, why I was here, or how the hell I’d even gotten here. What time was it anyway? Did I ever get the ten million dollars that I had been promised?

After I sipped all the tea in my cup, she refilled it quickly. “Have some more, Yeosin.”

“You can call me Alana,” I said with a half smile, taking one of the cinnamon rolls. Since I had moved here as a child, nobody could ever pronounce my name correctly, except him . An English name was always easiest for people.

“I was told to only refer to you as Yeosin.”

“By him?” I asked, taking a bite of the roll. When she nodded, I shuffled in my seat and took another sip of my tea. I had tasted so many types of mint tea, but nothing as good as this before. “Where is … he ? Do you work for him?”

“He’ll return later, but he asked me to give you this.”

She handed me a sleek black card.

“What’s this card for?” I asked, finishing off the sweet quickly.

“It’s your payment for last night,” she said.

While I didn’t want to sound like an ungrateful bitch, I needed cash to pay off the debt. Not a card. I didn’t care how much money was on it if it was a credit card. Was it even in my name? It was completely black, only with numbers.

“Is there any way that I can get it in cash?” I whispered. “I need it in cash.”

“It’s dangerous for someone like you to carry around that much money,” she said.

“What do you mean, someone like me?”

“If you’re going to carry the beast’s child, then you need to stay safe,” she said, her words coming out like whoever that beast was last night had actually wanted to breed me. “And a frail young woman like you carrying duffel bags of cash will be an easy target.”

“An easy target for who?” I asked.

She paused while refilling my cup. “Enemies.”

After placing the teapot down, she walked to the oven and continued making breakfast. I stared at her for a few moments, hoping she would elaborate, but she stayed silent. My gaze drifted to the steel-and-walnut dial clock hanging on the wall, and I jumped up.

“Shit, I’m going to be late!” I cursed under my breath, running back into the master bedroom to find my bottoms. I spotted them sitting on the edge of the bed and yanked them over the silky nightgown that someone had dressed me in last night.

“Where are you going?” the maid asked from the kitchen, brows drawn together. “Breakfast isn’t?—”

“I’m going to be late for work!” I exclaimed.

I might’ve had ten million dollars on this credit card, but I had debts to repay, and they didn’t want a plastic card. The Dragon Clan couldn’t use that. They only used cash. Anything else was way too risky.

Deciding that I didn’t have time to explain—nor did I want to—I rushed out of the penthouse in a jiffy and slammed the door behind me. I glanced down the foyer at the elevator and hurried toward it.

Once I pressed the button, I bounced up and down and waited quite impatiently for it to open. I’d had an entire cinnamon roll in this guy’s penthouse, and I hadn’t found out a goddamn thing about him.

Come on, Yeosin. You have to do better than that next time. Not that there will be a ne ? —

Suddenly, someone pressed me into the wall from behind, one hand grasping my hip and the other posted on the wall beside my head. His suit jacket glided up his arm, revealing a shiny black-and-silver watch.

The scent of cologne, mixed with cinnamon rolls, drifted through my nostrils.

“Why do you need the money in cash?” the beast, dressed as a human, asked in my ear.

Warmth spread through my body, all the memories of last night crashing through me. I shifted under his touch, my body aching to surrender to him again. But I had to stay focused. I had work, and I needed to get my mind right.

Because this life of luxury was not me!

“I-I just prefer cash.”

He drew his nose up the column of my neck. “I want to see you at The Breeding Cave tonight,” he finally murmured.

“B-but I …”

“Promise me you’ll be there so I don’t have to hunt you down myself,” he purred.

My nipples hardened, and I gulped down a moan as he pressed his hardness against my ass. I didn’t want to be hunted, but the mischievousness in his voice told me that he loved being the hunter. And to say that I didn’t want to be chased by him would be a lie.

He growled into my ear, “I have no problem hunting you down these city streets.”

“I … I don’t know how to get there,” I whispered.

“There will be a car outside your apartment three minutes before midnight.”

And with that, he was gone.