I needed to focus on something, anything other than the voice over the speaker listing my attributes. I winced and closed my eyes, imagining myself someplace else. A beach, a forest, a college campus, anywhere but here.
“Smooth skin like alabaster, not a single blemish, tight, firm stomach, and the sweetest ass made for pleasure. Spirited and smart, taking this treasure is something you will remember above the rest. The bidding will start at fifty thousand.”
I nearly swallowed my tongue. Fifty thousand? Holy shit. Who the hell had that kind of money lying around for the privilege of breaking in a cherry? I hadn’t thought in my wildest dreams that I would command that kind of cash.
I’d never felt more dirty in my life and I hadn’t even done anything yet.
What if it wasn’t for one night as promised? A fine sheen of sweat gathered beneath my breasts. Maybe they were dishing out the cash for a permanent sex slave. Would I end up shackled to someone’s bed for the rest of my life?
No, I signed a contract for five days. That was the deal. Five days. I could handle it. Don’t panic.
The woman’s voice upped the ante. I was up to sixty-five thousand. Seventy. Horror mixed with morbid fascination. Someone wanted me so bad that they’d pay huge sums of money to get their hands on me. No one in my life had ever wanted me. Why did it have to be like this? Wasn’t I more than just my body?
Not to the faceless bidder behind the glass.
“Sold for one hundred and fifty thousand. Sir, you may claim your prize.”
And like that it was over. I’d been sold. Someone had purchased my body and would use me as they saw fit. I wanted to puke. I wanted to scream at the asshole who thought I was nothing but a product but I bit my tongue nearly in half because the game was dangerous and there were penalties for breaking the rules.
The bidding began on Tana just as the muscle men came to collect me. To my embarrassment, my knees buckled. One of the men caught me easily, lifting me as if I were nothing to carry me from the bidding room. “Careful,” he said as if he were accustomed to this happening. “No bruises before delivery.”
I shuddered in disgust but remained silent as he carried me out.
The last thing I saw was Tana being undressed, displayed naked. I thanked my stars that for whatever reason, I’d been allowed to remain in my corset. Something told me, Tana wouldn’t leave this experience without being irrevocably changed.
The minute we signed the document, everything about our lives changed.
I was naive to think I could do this without dying a little inside. I thought I knew what I could handle. Sex was just sex. Who cared? If some rich asshole wanted to play at being a lord, buying a woman for his own games, he could pay me. I could handle it.
How could I have been so wrong? This was hell. I’d never known such terror in all my life. Considering my childhood with Carla, that was saying a lot.
I wanted to run from this place and never look back.
But running wasn’t an option. The only option was to go through with the deal and then forget it ever happened.
Think of the money. Think of how you’ll never again have to listen to Carla calling you a whore for no reason aside from the jealousy eating her alive.
I’d never been one to pray, especially since prayer had never saved me before but I found my lips moving in a silent plea to whatever higher power might be lurking in the heavens, staring down at the scene below.
I’d brought this on myself but logic worked no gears in the panicked section of my brain. I was shaking with pure terror and wishing I could turn back time to never sign the deal.
But time was up. We had to play the parts we were assigned. No matter what this night brought.
Just survive, I prayed for Tana and for myself.
Hell, for all of us. Even that bitch Dylan. Survive.
8
I was quickly robed in a black hooded cloak that covered me from head to toe and I was whisked away into an awaiting black car. I spun around to peer out of the darkened windows but I couldn’t see anything. I turned back around to realize with a start I wasn’t alone.
In the dim light, a man sat watching me. It was creepy and unnerving. I pulled the cloak around me more tightly.
Everything about him commanded power and respect. Instantly, I felt like a child and I scooted as far from him as I could manage. Was he going to maul me right here in the backseat of his fancy car? Something told me he wouldn’t, but I sensed a dangerous vibe about him.
“Hello Nicole,” he said, though he pronounced my name like NEE-cole and I knew he wasn’t American even though I couldn’t see his features very well. “Remove your cloak,” he commanded.
I hesitated. I was only wearing that corset and thong. “I’m cold,” I said, trying to stall.
“I will warm you.”
“Are you going to hurt me?” I asked, almost desperate with anxiety.
“Only if you do not remove your cloak,” he answered.
I swallowed the lump of fear in my throat and removed my cloak with trembling fingers. His eyes lit up with open appreciation and his approving smile made me want to jump from the moving car. “Come to me.”
I inched my way toward him and he patted his lap. I stared. “You want me to sit on your lap? That’s weird. I don’t even know your name.”
His gaze narrowed. “I do not give second chances, Nicole. Do as you’re told and you will be rewarded. Fight me and you will be punished. You are mine — bought and paid for — I trust you understand the terms of our arrangement?”
I couldn’t stop shaking but I forced a note of bravado into my voice as I answered, “Of course, I do.”
“Then come to me now and we will start fresh.”
What choice did I have? I made my way to his lap and gingerly straddled him. He smiled, his hands filling with my behind. I stiffened as his fingers ran down the seam of my cheeks lightly, probing gently.
He ignored my immediate stiffening as if it didn’t matter to him that his touch made my skin crawl. “You may call me Henri,” he said with a short incline of his head. Perhaps he was French? His accent seemed European to me. He fixed his gaze on me. “Say my name.”
“H-Henri,” I repeated, uncomfortable.
“Tell me what you fear.”
Where did I start? “I’m afraid it will hurt.”
His smile made me think of a shark. “Pain is temporary.”
“Yeah well, I’m not into pain.”
“You don’t know what you’re into,” he reminded me, his fingers squeezing me. My breath caught with fear and he slowly softened his grip, pleased with my reaction. A certain expression of benevolence softened his voice as he said, “Fortunately for you, I’m a skilled teacher” but I didn’t trust him. A man who bought his lovers wasn’t a good person, even if on the surface he seemed less of a monster than I feared. I didn’t think for a second that I’d lucked out with a kind man.
“Why do you do this?” I asked.
“Why do I do what?” he returned, his gaze roaming my breasts and dipping lower.
“Buy young women.”
He squeezed my butt in warning. “You have a sassy mouth. I will enjoy it on my cock.”
I tried not to wince. What could I expect? Flowers and sweet words? No. I was bought for a single purpose. My face heated and I was grateful for the low lighting.
“Tell me why you were willing to sell your virginity. I wish to know more about you.”