My heart squeezed and I hated how conflicted I felt. It would be easier to get away from his home than the Courtesan, though, so that decided me. His touch didn’t feel terrible right now. Fuck, I’d never come so hard in my life. What did that say about me? I glanced at him again, and when he caught me looking, he flashed me a lopsided grin that sent a jolt of heat through my chest.Goddamn it.
“I don’t know you.”
He dropped his gaze and somehow did a good job of looking shy. “Sorry about that. I know we didn’t talk first, the way we should have. I just thought, since you signed on to be used for the night….”
I snorted at that and was embarrassed at how my eyes prickled like a few tears wanted to slip out.
“But I won’t let you have a crash all by yourself, even if you’re… you know. Paid for. And I don’t want you to sit around hurt. You don’t look like you feel very well.” He clamped his lips together and leaned closer to me. I jerked away from him.
“Is that guilt I hear? Good,” I snapped. “I’ve been held here against my will for two days. Let mego. You and that woman are both lucky I don’t want to bring any more attention to the mayor’s office, or I’d be at the police station already.” I hugged myself and walked faster. The reality was I wouldn’t say a fucking thing about this to anyone, and that simple fact had me pissed off all over again.
“What? You were held… talk to me.” There was desperation in his tone, but I didn’t care.
“I feel weird.” That was not the scathing reply I’d wished to spit at him, but it was sadly true. My legs were shaky, and in spite of the temperature not being too low, I felt like a block of ice. My stomach was sick, too. I gasped when he stepped in behind me and scooped me up into his arms. The swooping sensation from being taken off my feet had me clinging to his shoulders. I tried kicking, but he shook me a little.
“Be still.”
“No, I’m always calm and quiet. It never helps.” I stared directly into his glittering brown eyes, and I was very satisfied to see a tiny spot on his chin was already bruising from where I’d hit him. “I’m tired of being used.” He met my gaze and didn’t look away. For a few strange seconds, heat sizzled in the air between us.
He nodded carefully, as if my babbling made sense to him, and kept walking. Soon we were around the side of the Courtesan and the overflowing parking lot was in view. Two men stood near the corner of the front, like maybe they’d been waiting for us to come back around all this time. One man raised his hand like a traffic cop, but Camden didn’t slow down.
“I’m taking him with me,” he said, all confidence.
“We can’t let you take him off the grounds.”
There was no way I should feel comforted here—safe.But I didn’t want to go back inside the Courtesan, and hell, at the very least I had something to use against him. I shivered and felt absolutely nuts as I dropped my head against his chest. Camden wanted to fuck me. Madam Winters and her vile son just wanted to humiliate me, and maybe murder me. Camden had literally chased me like a wild animal and then…. I tried to bite my lip, but it hurt too much, and tingles spread down my stomach and woke up my cock. I sucked in a breath, and Camden’s arms tightened around me.
“I paid for him for the night, and I’m not sleeping here.” I peeked upward. He glared at the men.
“I’d rather go with you than stay here, but for the record, both choices suck,” I said softly.
He quirked another smile my way, and my face scorched as one of his eyebrows slid upward. “I could go for a chase again.”
“That’s not what I—”
“I know,” he said.
He ignored the men and stalked across the lawn, over to a heavy-duty black truck, the type I sometimes saw on construction sites, with wheels that seemed too ridiculously large, and probably had a second gas tank. He set me on my feet and opened the passenger door with a gesture for me to get inside.
I stood there, still not convinced I’d made the right choice. He could take me home and turn my skin into a hat.
“If you’ve really been trapped here for two days, and I just….” He bared his teeth in a grimace and looked away. “Get in the truck or go back inside, but I’m not standing here all night.”
I glanced toward the front of the Courtesan where the two men were standing awkwardly, staring at us like they were also confused as to what they should be doing. One had a phone to his ear. I shuddered at the thought of going back inside to Darcy Winters’ “tender” supervision. I climbed into the truck and felt like my fate was being sealed as Camden closed the door behind me and sent a predatory smirk through the window.
3
Camden
Anger stirred inside me.When Madam Winters had told me he’d fight, I hadn’t realized it was because he genuinely didn’t want to be here. I’d heard about those auctions before, and the people sold paid for the privilege to be used, but apparently Mark hadn’t. Which meant I’d….
I shook my head. I wasn’t going to worry about it, not right now. The thought of approaching Madam Winters set my teeth on edge, and I wouldn’t say anything nice when I saw her again. Mom had always said that the madam cared for her people and never forced them to do anything they didn’t want to do, which was why this whole situation didn’t make sense.
Mark didn’t make sense.
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and stared at the thin line of his mouth as he gazed intently out the window of my truck. He’d made a point of not even looking at me, and guilt knotted with my anger. I wanted to get him far away from the Courtesan so we could talk, hopefully without the fear and fury he’d shown me since the beginning. I’d stupidly thought it was all part of the act because I’d had prey like him before, people who enjoyed the chase.
Bitterness settled on my tongue, and I scrunched up my nose as we passed some not so great neighborhoods on the way to my two-story house. I lived east of the city in a newly developed suburb filled with family homes that were cloned designs. Most people I worked with had no idea our little spot existed, and they were horrified when I told them I lived on the east side. New Gothenburg was bad that way, in that everyone had their ideas about people based on where they lived. The area was quaint and quiet, and it’d been a good place to raise my kids with my ex-wife, Olivia. She lived around the corner from me now, close enough that our girls could see me whenever they wanted.
