Girls continued to leave the room and not come back. Every time the severe woman came back in, my heart went into my throat. I didn’t want my turn to come, but at the same time I wanted it to be over. The waiting without knowing, that was the hardest part. I tried to listen to what was going on outside, trying to get some sense of what to expect, but all I could make out was the muffled voice of an emcee and the occasional rumble of a crowd of people exclaiming at once. Not reassuring sounds.

“Claire, you’re up.”

The severe woman’s voice cracked like ice on a frozen lake. Ice that was cracking just under my feet. I stood up as straight as I could, pulled my shoulders back, and tried to effect a change of attitude through posture. It helped.

“Very nice. Keep your chin up and your tits out. You’ll do fine.”

She tried to smile in what I assumed was an encouraging manner, but it only ended up looking menacing. I could feel myself slump internally. But I kept my back straight as I followed her out of the waiting room and down the hallway.

In an instant I was on the stage in the middle of the room, my eyes blinded with spotlights hitting me from every angle. I could feel the heat on my skin. In the back of my head, I hoped that I wouldn’t start to sweat. Although why I was so concerned about what this group of people thought of me, I wasn’t sure.

“Gentlemen, I have received a private bid for this lot,” the emcee’s voice boomed out of overhead speakers. “And I believe the bidder intends to avoid any doubt. The bid is one hundred thousand dollars.”

A hush followed. I hadn’t heard what the other girls had gone for, but I knew I was certainly not expecting someone to pay that much for me. Especially without any bidding!

“Do I hear any other bids?”

Silence.

“Going once. Going twice. Sold! To the gentleman who prefers to remain anonymous.”

Someone took my arm and escorted me off the stage and down a different hallway. I was in a daze. After all of that waiting and expectation, it was all over so quickly. I couldn’t believe it. One hundred thousand! Surely, that would be enough to satisfy Kovalev. I could almost smell my freedom already. All it would take would be a few nights with whatever creep had put out so much money. After what I had already been through, this would be a breeze.

I was escorted all the way to another waiting room, this one considerable more luxurious. Overstuffed chairs and couches replaced the cheap vinyl, and the floor was covered in a thick carpet. The lighting, from a handful of standing lamps, was warm and inviting. The room was empty. Once I had been deposited here, whoever had brought me disappeared and closed the door. I stood here for a few moments, unsure of what I was supposed to do next. After what felt like hours sitting on that hard chair, the couch looked very inviting. I was about to flop down on it, careless of the impact on my dress, when the door opened again.

My first thought was that the man who walked through was far more attractive than I would have thought. Hell, he was a lot better looking than any of the men I had ever dated back in my old life. His face was hard, angular, but with eyes that spoke of a deep kindness below the tough exterior. His suit was exquisitely tailored, hugging every bulging muscle. I used to hate men’s suits. I felt like they covered up all sorts of deficiencies while women’s formal clothes offered no room to hide. But there was not a single flaw on that body. I began to smile warmly at him when my jaw dropped.

I knew him.

He was one of Kovalev’s men. Jason.

I was speechless. He lived in my apartment building. There was no way he was the one who bid on me. He certainly didn’t have that kind of money. Was he just here to make sure I didn’t try to run away? Was he going to be delivering me to the bidder?

“Do you have anything else? We need to go,” he said in a tight, breathless voice.

“I, uh, what are you talking about?”

“I placed the bid, ok? And now I want to head out. Quick.”

He was tight, that was clear. Could he be telling the truth? The place looked like it had good security, so he probably wouldn’t have been allowed back here if he wasn’t the winning bidder.

“How do you have that kind of money?” I blurted out.

Before he could answer, the door opened behind him. I saw him tense, as if he anticipated an attack. I felt my own heartrate jump. But the person opening the door was just the severe woman.

“Will you be needing anything else, Mr. Phillips?” she asked in a honeyed voice. A smile melted her icy features as she looked at him. It was quite a transformation.

“No, thank you,” he responded. “Oh, is there an exit through this area? I parked around back.”

“Of course, sir. Just go out that door and then follow the hallway to the left.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, no. Thank you, Mr. Phillips.”

The door closed behind her and I realized my mouth was hanging open. I snapped it shut before Jason noticed.

“Ok, let’s go.” He took my arm in his hand and pulled me along, striding quickly to the door and down the hallway. We were in his car, roaring down the empty street before I knew it.

The buildings along the street went by in a blur. We didn’t speak a word, the rumble of the engine providing all of the soundtrack. My relief at having such a good-looking guy be the one who bid for me had overwhelmed any sense of discomfiting worry about the circumstances. Questions that should have kept poking at me, like how a guy who lived in my apartment building had so much money, were pushed into the back of my mind. Instead, I started to get excited about the prospect of having a night with someone who didn’t make me want to retch every time I saw him. If I was going to have a brief escape from the dull horror of life as Kovalev’s girl, locked in that apartment, I was going to enjoy it.

I was so excited, I barely noticed that we pulled up to a motel that was far below the standards one would expect for so expensive a night. Frankly, it was crap. But that didn’t matter. The car came to a halt right in front of one of the first-floor rooms. Apparently, Jason had already booked the room. It seemed strange in retrospect, but I barely noticed at the time. He took me by the hand and led me through the door into the sparely furnished, poorly lit room.

As soon as the door closed behind us, his mouth was on mine. His lips sought mine eagerly. They were soft and firm at the same time, insistent and tempting. His left hand found its way to the small of my back and pulled me close against his rock-hard body. I could feel his erection pressing hard against my hip. A little rush of blood surged to my skin. I felt flushed, eager.

Jason’s right hand wound around the hair on the back of my head. He tightened his grip, just hard enough to excite all of the nerve endings in my scalp. He pulled my head back, opening my mouth to deeper kisses.

After a moment that seemed to last all night, we both broke away. He had a hunger in his eyes that matched the one I felt deep inside me. He whipped off his jacket and I stepped forward to begin undoing his button-down shirt. Then he reached behind me and slowly unzipped my gown. It fell to the floor in a pile around my feet. He stared at me for a moment. I thought I would have felt awkward, but he had such lust and desire in his eyes that I felt like a sex goddess. I was grateful for the new underpants I had gotten for that night. Not that they were going to be on much longer.

Jason undid his pants and dropped them to the floor. His hard cock was bursting out of his boxer briefs. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around my waist, lifting me into the air and burying his head between my breasts. I felt him breathe in and plant soft little kisses, each one sending electric shivers across my skin.

We landed on the bed and he began kissing me on my stomach, moving quickly down past my waist. I took a deep breath as he looped his fingers around the waistband of my panties and then pulled them off, lifting my legs straight into the air. The air felt cool between my legs because I was so wet. He settled in with his arms around my legs, hands gripping my hips. I grabbed a fistful of his hair as his lips and tongue sent me into convulsions. I needed him inside me. I pulled a little harder on his hair and he quickly got the message.

In an instant, he was on his knees between my thighs. His firm, straight cock pointed right where I wanted it to go. I reached out and wrapped both hands around it, guiding him into me. The pleasure was so exquisite I almost forgot to breathe. I buried my face in his neck and wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him as deep as I could take.

It didn’t take long for us both to come. A radiating, pulsating wave of pleasure exploded from deep inside me. I let out a low moan that I barely recognized as my own voice. A moment later, I heard Jason start to grunt and breathe deep. Then I felt him shudder inside me and his body went rigid. We collapsed beside each other on the scratchy sheets in that cheap motel room and fell asleep immediately.