Chapter 6

Auralie

Today was unbearable. I spent most of it in my room, trying to read a book but constantly distracted by worries and unwelcome thoughts. The only bearable part of the day was that Magnus was gone for a good chunk of it, on a guided fly-fishing trip with Logan.

God… Logan.

He’s been starring in the unwelcome thoughts all day. I keep analyzing last night’s events, replaying in my mind every minute of interaction with Logan in that back hallway.

His anger… he was so angry last night over me being fed to the sharks and my disgust with the situation.

Perceptive. Even though I told him I was okay going with Jacob into the Orgy Room, he saw the real truth in my eyes. He knew I didn’t want any part of that horrid situation.

He was protective. Stepping in to manipulate the situation to save me another painful humiliation at the hands of stranger.

And regardless of how much you could tell he loathed my situation, he looked at me in such a way as no other man ever has. Yes, he wanted me physically in a way that made my heart pound and my girlie parts tingle, but he also wanted something else.

He wanted to accept this weird, silent connection we have, but even as he wanted to, I could tell he was both baffled by it and fearful as well.

As was I, because it was not something I could ever act on.

When I was not distracted by thoughts of Logan, I was plagued with worry and dread over the approaching evening. Magnus didn’t truly buy that I was not feeling well last night, and the only reason he let it go as easily as he did was he felt it was a good tradeoff to meet Logan and get some insider information. In fact, he came back from his fishing trip today complaining of how slimy looking the one fish he caught was, but he was practically chittering like a happy squirrel that found a nut from the “abundance of information” that Logan provided him on The Silo patrons.

When he told me that over the dinner I reluctantly shared with him down in the kitchen, I wasn’t sure what he meant. I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that Logan seems to be helping Magnus. This is at odds with the way I know Logan feels about the situation, unless I’m completely off base about him.

Regardless, the worries and unwelcome thoughts still plague me as I walk into The Silo with Magnus. He’s dressed in his usual dark, custom-fitted suit that he currently prefers with a skinny-pant type of style that I find makes him look ludicrous. He did not pick out my wardrobe tonight, which alerted me to the fact that I probably wouldn’t be wearing clothes once we got into The Silo. Because of this, I practiced deep breathing exercises I’d been taught once by a yoga instructor I dated briefly, putting on my “persona” of the shy virgin who is quietly, but with abject acceptance, meeting her fate. I know it titillates some of the patrons to watch Magnus ordering me around and for me to appear powerless to argue against him.

So tonight, I went middle of the road. I didn’t pick one of the dozen or so dresses he’d bought for me that are sweet and sugary like I wore last night, but I didn’t go for sexy either. I chose a shimmery blue dress that was fairly loose across the top. It had a neckline that ran straight across the top of my chest, but it was fitted from the ribs down. The hem came down to my knees with a modest slit up the back. I paired it with a pair of silver, pointed-toe pumps. It was sexy without being slutty, and it didn’t make me look too old or too young. It made me feel… like me, and when Magnus didn’t say anything about my choice, I considered it a very small victory to at least feel slightly normal before the abnormality of this whole fucked-up situation was going to start.

The inner core of The Silo is packed. I suspect because it’s almost midnight on a Saturday. While The Silo was busy the last three times I was here, I expect just like any business, there’s a slump during the workweek.

As soon as we clear the entrance hall, I immediately hear grunts and moans coming from the glass-walled rooms that run the perimeter. When Magnus first told me about this “establishment,” I simply couldn’t wrap my mind around a sex club. My first visit here was spent mostly with my face burning hot—which lent credibility to my virginal status—and my jaw hanging wide open as I snuck glances at the wide variety of sex acts taking place.

Fortunately, Magnus does not keep me here long. He normally brings me out late to The Silo, parades me around for a bit, let’s someone have a piece of me, and then ushers me back out again so that he can let the gossip mill run rampant when we’re out of earshot. This is something I’m grateful for, because even though I don’t consider myself a prude or overly sensitive, I’m still just having a hard time with the concept of so much public display of sexuality and lack of inhibition.

With his hand on my elbow, Magnus walks up to the bar and orders a white wine spritzer for himself and a bottled water for me. He hands my drink to me without a word. To my shock, he doesn’t make any move to meander through the crowd, socializing and striking up conversations, all while making sure I’m on prominent display. Still, I don’t let my guard down because I know this evening can only end with me getting humiliated in some way with some strange man.

I stand beside Magnus, shoulder to shoulder, and we just look out over the crowd. A few men come up to Magnus to make small talk, all done while eyeing me lewdly. But I’m surprised when Magnus remains slightly aloof. He’d normally delve into discussion on their backgrounds and what they did for a living so he could determine if they were worthy to potentially have a crack at me.

Tonight though, he merely listens politely and keeps the talk small and light, which now makes me wonder… is he not bothering anymore because Logan gave him all the information he needs?

Then another thought… perhaps Logan gave him such good intel that Magnus has already made a decision on who will buy me. And if that’s the case, that means my time in Wyoming is coming to a short end. This makes me enormously happy to be close to the end game, but a bit disgruntled over this weird sense of loss that I won’t see Logan anymore.

Ridiculous really, when you consider we’ve hardly interacted at all.

Except with our eyes.

And almost as if a magnet grabs ahold of me, my gaze is magically pulled to the entrance hallway almost directly across the room from where I stand.

And there is Logan, looking directly at me.

Damn, he looks amazing in his usual casual attire of worn jeans and a dark blue chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up his powerful arms. He’s wearing a pair of worn hiking boots on his feet and his hair is slightly damp from what I’m guessing was a recent shower.

My skin flushes warm from the way he watches me. When he licks his lower lip, my knees almost buckle. My head goes absolutely dizzy when he starts walking toward me, and while I know I should feel nervous about the proprietary look upon his face and how Magnus may dislike that greatly, I can’t seem to send him any sort of silent warning that he needs to back off.

In fact, I lift my chin and let the warm radiance of my focus upon him speak what I’d say to him if I had the power to speak my mind in this moment. Yes, please… come and get me. Take me away from here.

When Logan is but a few paces away from us, I feel Magnus stiffen up beside me. I don’t have to look at him to know he has Logan’s purposeful walk in his line of sight. I brace for a clash between these two men because I can tell that Logan is on his way over here right this second to take me out of here.

Instead, Logan’s eyes slide over to Magnus and he gives a polite tip of his head. “Magnus, I came to collect what you promised.”

I jolt at the rough timbre in his voice that’s laced with bitter anger, but I look up to Magnus to see his reaction.

Because… collect what?

Magnus gives Logan a charming smile and places his hand on my lower back. With a tiny shove, he pushes me toward Logan and says, “Of course. Please enjoy, but remember the rules. Her virginity stays intact.”

Logan doesn’t even answer. He just takes my water from me, handing it carelessly to Magnus before taking my hand in his. My gut instinct is to pull away, but I’m so shocked by what’s going on that I follow along meekly. I risk a look over my shoulder at Magnus as Logan winds his way through the patrons, but he’s not even looking at me. He’s already engaged in conversation with someone else.

When Logan turns right down the perimeter hallway, I finally come to my senses and pull hard against his momentum. My hand tears free from his grip as I say, “Wait a minute. What’s going on here?”

Logan spins on me, his eyes flashing with a combination of undisguised lust and self-loathing for said lust. He doesn’t answer me. Walking right into me, he pushes me back into the concrete staves. His hands come up to lay flat on the wall to either side of my head, and he bends his own down to put his nose inches from mine. “Magnus said I could have you tonight. As payment for my services today.”

I lick my lips, which feel so dry from nerves, and I ask, “You mean for providing him inside information on the patrons here to best determine who’s most likely to pay the biggest price?”

“Something like that,” he mutters, his eyes dropping to my mouth.

A small thud of disappointment resounds in my chest that Logan would help to facilitate this mockery, especially since I know by the prior looks he’s bestowed upon me that he’s firmly against the proposition of auctioning me off. I want to push him away and tell him to go to hell, but he surprises me when he says, “I told him what he wanted to hear… not necessarily what was going to help him.”

I blink in surprise. My eyes get soft with gratitude that even though I will, in fact, be auctioned off, probably fairly soon, Logan is still attempting to protect me. He sees my reaction and because we’ve become used to communicating through the nuances of facial expression, his eyes also soften and some of the bitterness fades away. “I had to be with you… at least once. I know it’s never going to be in the way that I truly want, but I’ll gratefully take anything at this point.”

“I don’t want to be doing this,” I whisper, and I don’t have to clarify what I mean. He knows I mean being sold like a piece of meat. He knows I’m not talking about standing toe to toe with him in this private hallway with the prospect of something quite sinfully carnal occurring between us.

“Fuck,” he growls, his eyebrows knit together in frustration. “I don’t want you to be doing this either, but I don’t have the kind of bank to make a bid for you.”

I shake my head quickly in denial he’d even think that. “No. I’d never want you to spend your money on me like that. I’m not worth—”

Logan’s mouth presses to mine, effectively shutting up my self-deprecation. Surprisingly, his kiss is soft but short. When he pulls away, his voice is heavy with grievance. “This is it for us. Tonight. Right now.”

I nod in sad understanding, hating my life so much. My eyes drop from the weight of my dejection.

“I’m going to make this good for you, Auralie,” he says quietly. My eyes snap up to his with astonishment. “We have to do it in a public room so others can watch, but I want you to try to ignore that and concentrate on me. I swear I’ll make it good.”

My heart squeezes hard, and then bursts outward, filling up with a warm sensation of comfort I’ve never felt before. I’ve always taken care of myself, even since I was a little kid, and to have Logan declare his devotion to my well-being is almost more than I can handle.

“Logan, I don’t understand any of this…”

Placing his fingertip over my lips, he says, “We don’t have time. Magnus is expecting us to appear soon, and we’re not going to be able to say much in there, but know this… I’d make things different for you if I could.”

My eyes mist up, and I have to blink them furiously to make them go away. As he pulls his finger away from my mouth, I manage to nod my understanding. “I wish things could be different.”

Placing both of his large palms against my cheeks, he pulls me away from the wall and up slightly as he says, “First though… I want to kiss you. I mean really kiss you before we go in there. I want to kiss you in a way that would declare to everyone you belong to me, which I couldn’t possibly do without pissing Magnus off. So I’m going to kiss you now, okay? And you will know it’s the way I’ll want to kiss you in there.”

I can do nothing more than nod dumbly at his beautiful words before he’s bringing his face to mine.

The first touch of his full lips are whisper soft, just a slight grazing back and forth across mine that makes my breath puff out in a contented sigh. Pressing in closer to me, he puts pressure against my mouth, and I open up to him. His head tilts and I mirror in the opposite direction. He gives me a soul-possessing kiss full of wet tongue and minty breath while his hands gently frame my face. It’s a kiss for the ages, and it will never be forgotten by me. It’s full of sweet romance. The way in which he moves against me suggests a rumbling inferno of passion barely contained. It’s also full of regret and sadness, but mostly it’s a painful reminder of the fact this is fleeting.

When Logan pulls away from me, his eyes peer into mine. I read what he’s saying loud and clear, Another time. Another place. I wonder what we could be together.

“I know exactly what you mean,” I tell him softly.