Chapter 3

Damon poured himself a glass of whiskey, each movement deliberate and smooth, his gaze lingering on Alejandro with a lust he made no effort to hide while his face remained chill and savage, unreadable in a way that made it worse.

"I like to know who's bold enough to play in my territory," he said, filling a second glass and sliding it toward Alejandro. "Most people beg for my attention. You walk in like you already own the place."

"I have your attention now," Alejandro replied, his hand moving the moment he slid the glass toward him, their fingers brushing briefly as he took it and Damon's gaze flickered down to the contact with a slow breathy scoff before he lifted his eyes back to his.

Damon hummed slowly, nodding as he watched him without looking away, a faint smirk curling his lips as the amusement lingered in his stare. "We'll see," he said as he leaned back in his seat watching him with quiet intensity. "I've dealt with your kind before, confident, reckless, and easy to break, and I'll tell you that to your fucking face..."

"To new acquaintances," Alejandro cut in, raising his glass, and Damon lifted his slowly in response as they drank together while his eyes narrowed slightly, studying him like something he intended to understand and dismantle at the same time.

"Name?" he asked calmly as he set his glass on the table and Alejandro hesitated briefly.

"Matteo..." he said, glancing around the room before looking back at him while a flicker of amusement passed through Damon's expression. "Matteo Rossi."

"You control most of the port activity in this city. I'm interested in... logistics," Alejandro continued while turning slightly toward him and catching the way he was already looking at him like he was something he had not finished figuring out.

"You know," Damon mused as he held up his glass and swirled the drink slowly, "I can always smell desperation. You don't smell like desperation... you smell like something else."

His eyes darkened as they stayed on him. "Hunger. Dangerous trait."

Alejandro held his stare without flinching as if it cost him nothing.

"We're all dangerous... if properly motivated."

The moment stretched between them, thick and unmoving, until Damon's lips curved faintly as if something about him had begun to irritate and interest him at the same time.

"I like men like you," Damon remarked as his hand moved slowly while he spoke before resting on the table, and Alejandro's eyes briefly caught the sight of his long fingers before returning to his face. "Stay."

Damon's fingers tapped the table rhythmically while within seconds a broad--shouldered man approached and leaned down whispering something into his ear in Italian, and Damon's expression sharpened almost instantly as the amusement drained from his face.

"Seems your timing is... convenient," he drawled as his gaze shifted back to Alejandro.

Alejandro's pulse spiked slightly, his instincts tightening beneath his calm exterior.

Damon's gaze slid over him slowly before returning to his eyes. "You have potential," he murmured, "but potential means nothing if you can't prove yourself."

Alejandro let a faint edge of a smile form as he looked at him.

"What, you want me to pass a test?"

"Oh, you will be tested," Damon said quietly, his voice lower now and carrying something heavier beneath it, "in more ways than one."

Heat coiled through Alejandro's body immediately as his grip tightened slightly on the glass while his vision shifted in a way he couldn't explain.

"What..." his voice faltered as the room tilted slightly beneath him and Damon's smile sharpened in response as though he had been waiting for that exact reaction.

"Told you... hunger is dangerous," he murmured as he stood and moved closer, his breath brushing near his ear as he leaned in. "Especially when you're the prey."

Alejandro's limbs grew heavier as he tried to steady himself. "You drugged me..."

Damon's hand came up and caught his jaw firmly, forcing him to look at him while his hold stayed controlled and unhurried.

"I knew you were FBI the moment you walked in," he whispered as a slow devilish smile formed on his face. "Welcome to my world, Agent Alejandro Salazar."

"You belong to me now," he finished, straightening slightly as Alejandro's strength finally gave way and his body collapsed forward, his head falling against Damon while darkness swallowed him completely, and Damon caught him without hesitation, holding him with calm possession as though this was exactly how he wanted him face pressed against his bulge.