Despite my reservations—and I had more than a hotel during tourist season—I dutifully began to bid when the time came. Lifting my paddle when it seemed like someone else in the crowd was getting too comfortable, always keeping us ahead.
No matter how much I wanted to claim I was just doing business, though, the longer the bidding went on, the more this became bigger than some mission for my Pops.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the girl, the prized virgin with soft curves and a shining waterfall of dark hair and, despite it all, aramrod straight spine that she was steeling against her own fear. Sure, part of her appeal was the outfit, the dolled-up face she’d pulled together, the glow of her skin under the stage lights. But she was magnetic regardless. An average girl I may never have looked at twice on the street, but if I did, if I was fortunate enough to stumble into noticing her, there was no way I’d be able to stop looking after that.
Ernie was neck-and-neck with me in the bidding. All the way in the front row, right where the poor girl could see him. Take in the horror of the possibility that that absolute gremlin of a man would get a chance to touch her.
And as much as I loved the idea of beating Ernie at this little game just to revel in his loss, each second a stronger conviction was solidifying itself in my chest. I couldn’t let this girl, stunning and precious and pure, fall into the hands of some bastard like Ernie.
Not one of the brutes in this crowd was fit to touch her. Hell, they weren’t fit to breathe her air.
I wasn’t either, of course.
But I’d at least know how to give her body every wonderful feeling, every priceless experience of pleasure she’d yet to feel so far.
Devin and Alex and I would approach this job the way we approached them all; failure would not be an option.
And I knew the second I was inside her, I wouldn’t have the tiniest ounce of regret.
I used to wish I was a better man. The type who, in this kind of situation, would save the girl just for the sake of saving her andwouldn’t lay a finger on her untouched skin. But fuck if I didn’t feel myself wanting her, my body coming to life with fiery need. It had been too long.
Too many hours dedicating myself to the family business and the legacy I’d inherit and the dangers of my day-to-day life, and far too long since I’d last let myself succumb to my baser pleasures.
It sure wasn’t right, but if this girl had put herself up to be deflowered, I wasn’t too good a man to take her up on the offer.
I was going to pay pretty handsomely for the privilege.
“Christ, she’s young,” I heard Devin say under his breath, but I could hear the tense need underneath it.
“Old enough,” Alex said coolly. “We’ll do what needs to be done.”
“And what a chore it’ll be,” I said, sarcasm dripping thickly from my words. I met each of my tablemates’ eyes, and we exchanged something that suggested a smile even though none of us showed so much as a twitch of our lips.
Was it my ideal, sharing a woman’s body with these two men? Sharing any woman with anyone?
No.
I was the type who held what was mine with an iron grip, and the women who had filled that role in the past liked when I got a little possessive.
But something about the taboo of this whole situation, the idea of that sweet face on the stage bearing the hallmark flush and parted lips and faint sweat of intense pleasure as she tookthreecocks at once…yeah, it had a certain appeal. I adjusted my seat and kept upping the ante.
“And with that bid, we’re at a quarter mil! Hey, now we’re talking! Can I get two seventy-five?”
“Pathetic,” I breathed, and my two friends seemed to agree based on the steely looks in their eyes. I kept up my bidding, though, giving others the chance to pull ahead for a few moments before I upped the number again.
It was a delicate balance, making sure we were always on top without causing a fuss that could excite other bidders into increasing their dollar amounts too quickly.
Sure, we had a hefty sum squared away for this purpose, but a shrewd businessman would still try to get a bargain where he could.
I’d rather shechooseto feel my touch,my body seemed to say, blood heating as I surveyed her face. Gorgeous features, delicate and smooth and symmetrical.
Though I could practically feel her fear like a chill in the air, this girl was doing a damn good job of maintaining an unbothered countenance, her brow unfurrowed, her jaw set, her lips full even as she pressed them together in the slightest sign of discomfort.I’d happily pay her for the privilege of kissing those lips,I knew then,but god, not like this.
“These are the numbers that separate the boys from the men, and I’ve already seen our candidates for this gorgeous lady’s first fuck thin out. Who will win the prize? I guess we’ll see…”
The longer I watched the girl put on a brave face, the angrier I got at Ernie and the other dirtbags vying for the honor of her first time. My rage made time compress, until suddenly the number was high enough that I could almost worry, and then I’d had enough.
“Three million,” I heard my own voice say, a silence falling over the din of the crowd. Raising the paddle wasn’t enough.
