I suppressed an eye roll.Great. His expression of care came from proper BDSM etiquette. That made me feel nice.
“Sounds good. Have a nice timeexploring,” I said. I could hear the bitterness in my tone, and I regretted it immediately. I turned before I could see Wes’s reaction.
I made a quick escape back upstairs without glancing over my shoulder.
14
NOVA
Everyone seemed to be having the time of their damn lives. People were laughing, making out in dark corners, getting their asses spanked in the church pews. There were no blood sacrifices or Kool-Aid drinking in sight.
I managed to find the room where the orgasm oracle had been, where more spanking was occurring. Along with flogging, paddling, and whipping,oh my!
And then there was Maisy, bent over a bench while Archer railed her from behind. His sixpack was on full display, muscles stacked upon muscles across his lean frame.
Somehow, the sight shocked me right out of the mood Wes’s words had put me in.
Jayne and two men approached me where I stood watching Archer. I attempted to wipe the scandalized look off my face, but, judging by their smirks, it hadn’t worked.
“Enjoying yourself?” Jayne asked.
I nodded. “And you?”
I couldn’t imagine watching my husband fuck someone else, but Jayne seemed entirely unaffected.
“Immensely,” she said. “You have no idea, do you?” She grinned.
I turned toward her, noting how the older men’s eyes raked over my body unabashedly. I waited for Jayne to elaborate, resisting the urge to cross my arms or shift under their scrutiny.
“You’re the most talked about newcomer of the season. I’ve been asked at least fifty times tonight if you’ll be joining the auction.”
“The what now?”
One of the men chuckled.
“It’s an event to raise money for human trafficking. It’s part of the Midsummer festivities,” Jayne said. “Volunteers agree to be auctioned off, and all proceeds go to those organizations.”
“When you say the money goes to human trafficking organizations, you mean organizations fighting toendhuman trafficking, right?” I asked slowly.
Jayne’s face soured. “That’s not funny, Nova.”
Oh, I’m the bad guy?Mimicking a sex slave auction was a fucking insane way to raise money for victims of sexual slavery.
“Sorry. I make jokes when I’m uncomfortable.”
The men seemed to have found the question funny, which made me narrow my eyes at them in concern.
“What do you have to do with the person who makes the highest bid?” I asked.
Oh my God. Realization struck me, remembering my encounter with Roman. That was what he was referencing—he said he would ensure the winning bid would behis.
There was no way inhellI was signing up for that egregiously insensitive bullshit.
“Nothing. You give them at least an hour of your time,” Jayne said. “What happens between the bidder and their prize is entirely up to the individuals. The Circle strictly prohibits any illegal activities, and there is never an expectation for volunteersto do anything they don’t want to do. It’s just a bit of kinky theater for a good cause. Charitable dark roleplay. People have lots of fun with it.”
“Right…” I said, at an utter loss for words.
“Think about it,” Jayne said. “I bet you could single-handedly pull in seven-figures for victims.” Her fingers trailed down my arm, and I shivered.
