Emma
Calisto’s fingers pulled from Emma’s mouth. The wet digits dragged down over her lips and chin to her neck, where he grabbed tight. She swallowed against the hold, feeling her throat constrict from the firmness in his grip.
The sensations traveling through her nervous system was wicked and sinful, intent on driving her fucking mad. Calisto didn’t let up in the hard thrusts of his fingers. When he started curling them on every drive, seeking and searching, Emma started trembling.
Panting.
Needing
Wanting.
Her fingers twisted into the sides of her chemise, fisted tight, and she bit down on her tongue to try and keep her sounds quiet.
It didn’t work.
“Stop fighting it,” Calisto said darkly.
Emma wanted to fight it; she wanted to push aside the desire to come, the want for her release. Not here. Not with people watching. As much as she loved it, as much as her body betrayed her, it scared her, too.
But she still came.
Hard, fast, squirming in Calisto’s arms, and crying out.
Emma managed to keep the scream of his name from coming out with the rest of her wailing, but barely. It stuck in her throat, trying to claw its way out as bliss and shame warred through the rest of her body.
“There it is,” she heard Calisto whisper in her ear.
Emma shuddered all over.
Something hard and long pressed to Emma’s lower back. The closer Calisto pulled her into his chest, the harder it seemed to feel.
His cock.
He was hard for her, for this.
Emma liked that too much.
His fingers withdrew from her tender pussy, smearing wetness from her slit and back over her ass before she felt his hand come to a stop at the small of her back. It was just the lightest press of his palm on her skin, but it comforted Emma in a way she hadn’t expected.
“Almost done,” he said softly.
Emma didn’t understand what else there was to do. Her mind wouldn’t slow enough to let her think, and already, she wanted more. She shouldn’t want anything from Calisto at all.
Calisto’s hand slid around her hip, down to her thigh, and then he grabbed a handful of the chemise. Still unable to see because of the blindfold, Emma went off the feeling of Calisto’s touch to know what he was doing or what he might want from her.
He lifted the chemise, she felt his lips curve into a smirk at her neck, and his fingers drive down her stomach and under the panties again.
Emma jerked with a whimper the second his fingers came in contact with her hot, sensitive clit. Then, his hand was gone from her panties and she only had a second to think before the blindfold was taken off her face, allowing her to see.
Calisto spun Emma fast on the spot, nearly making her stumble in the white heels she wore. She barely had time to take in the room around them, but it looked similar to the one she had been in for the bidding with glass mirrors, white walls, a lot of lights, and a high ceiling.
Wide-eyed, Emma stared up at Calisto. He wore a black mask that covered half of his face, but it was him. He was fucking unmistakable to her. Especially his soul-black eyes.
What now?
Calisto’s eyes had turned from their usual hardness, to a softer glimmer as he looked her over. His hand came up to graze her cheek with a light caress. It was brief, barely there, and then it was gone.
But she had felt it.
The coldness was back. His soft touch turned into a stinging burn when he fisted her hair and yanked downward. Sucking in a hiss of air, Emma dropped to her knees instinctively. It put her eye-level with his groin. She could plainly see the length of his rock-hard erection straining against the zipper of his dress pants. Strangely, her fingers twitched with the desire to reach out and feel his cock.
Emma had to get away from that thought, and fast.
She wondered where his suit jacket had gone to, as he only wore a dark-red, silk shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Emma’s stare drifted down the length of Calisto’s arms, following the roped lines of his forearms and the definition of his muscles. At his hands, her lips fell slack at the thought of him fucking her pussy deep while he stuffed her mouth full with his other fingers.
Needing something else to focus on instead of the way her pussy throbbed and her arousal soaked her panties, Emma focused on the ruby ring Calisto wore on his pinky. The golden band glinted under the bright lights. It was the first time she had ever noticed the piece. It fit his hand perfectly without seeming out of place.
Where had he gotten it from?
“I should make you service me while you’re down there,” Calisto said.
Emma blinked, her head snapping up fast. “W-what?”
He wouldn’t.
Would he?
“Unfortunately, I don’t have the urge to watch you swallow a load of my come just yet,” he added with a smirk.
Jesus.
Just yet, he said.
Emma didn’t miss how he phrased that at all.
“Now be a good girl, and keep quiet,” Calisto said.
Before she could even agree, Calisto grabbed for what looked like a white, material bag hanging out of his pocket. He let go of her hair a second before the hood was shoved down over her head.
Emma’s immediate reaction was to scream, but it only came out as a yelp. Panicked, she threw her hands out to find something and keep her steady, but she only came up with air. She could breathe through the soft mesh of the hood covering her head, but she couldn’t see.
“Get up,” she heard Calisto say.
Emma didn’t move fast enough, because the hood suddenly tightened around her throat, cutting off her air.
“Up, I said.”
She scrambled to her feet, dazed and unsure. Why did he do that? What was his fucking game now?
“Well done,” a new voice said. “She’s quite a prize. I’m sure you’ll have all the fun in the world training her properly.”
“That is my hope,” Calisto intoned dully. “Where is my jacket?”
“Right here.”
Emma jumped when something covered her shoulders. She suspected it was Calisto’s jacket. A hand landed to Emma’s lower back and pushed gently, moving her forward. The touch was familiar enough for her to recognize it as Calisto, so she followed his unspoken directions.
Almost done, he had said before.
She was almost out of there.
“Keep her covered, and you will keep her confused enough to frighten her,” the man said.
“Compliant is better,” Calisto murmured.
“That, too.”
Emma continued walking, wondering where in the hell they were going to. Soft murmurs echoed all around—from a dozen different people. High tenors, like those of women, and deeper ones, like those of men.
She could also hear sobbing.
Gentle, breathless sobs.
Emma’s heart ached.
It was the first time since she had been brought in the place—whatever in the hell it was—that she realized that it was a very good possibility there were other women being auctioned off besides her.
Of course, there were others.
Her stomach rolled.
She had help.
They didn’t.
How awful did it make her that all she wanted to do was just leave?
“Everything is settled, then?” Calisto asked from behind Emma.
“The payment has been received. You are free to go. Your car …?”
“Parked along the back of the warehouse.”
“Good, good,” the man said. “We have control over the area during auctions, so you are safe to take her out in the open. If you’re concerned about her fighting, we have—”
“I’m not concerned,” Calisto interjected quickly. “I do need to get going, however.”
“We hope to see you again.”
“Maybe.”
Emma shivered at Calisto’s agreement. Would he seriously come back to do this again? To buy a slave?
She didn’t get to think on it for long. She was pushed along again, and the murmurs drifted away the longer she walked until it was just the sounds of footsteps surrounding her.
Only two sets.
Hers.
Calisto’s.
Emma started to breathe again.
“Like hell,” she heard Calisto mutter. “Come back. Right. Christ.”
His hand moved from her lower back to her wrist. He held her with a gentle grasp, not too tight or too loose. It was just enough to keep her grounded, to make her feel …
Safe.
“You okay, Emmy?” he asked.
Emma shook her head under the bag.
No, she was not okay.
She was simply holding it together.
Calisto sighed.
“I’m sorry, ragazza.”
“I ran away,” she whispered. “It was my fault.”
“It was not.”
“Wasn’t it?”
She felt Calisto’s fingers sweep over her skin with tender swipes, almost like he was reassuring her that everything would be fine.
“It’s almost over,” he finally said.
Emma disagreed.
Feeling him touch her, hearing the concern echo in his voice, and then feeling the light press of his lips to the side of her head … Her heart was hurting for a whole new reason. The very same reason why her mind was confused, why her body hummed with satisfaction and pain, and why her tears finally began to fall.
No, she disagreed entirely.
Her hell had just begun.
“Wait a second,” Calisto said. “Just be still. I have to move something.”
Emma tried to pull the hood off her head, only to have her arm yanked back down.
“No.”
Anxiety thrummed deep in Emma’s blood.
“I want to see,” she said. “I feel like I can’t fucking breathe under here.”
“You can. They’re made for this. I need you to keep it on for a while longer. At least for one drive until I can switch vehicles.”
Emma frowned. “Calisto—”
“Emma, my God. For once, can you fucking listen to me? Just this once. It is for your own good.”
She didn’t respond.
Her irritation bubbled.
Emma heard the sound of a car unlocking and a door being opened. Calisto grunted something under his breath, followed by a cuss. Then, he was back at her side, and holding her wrist again.
She wanted his hand lower.
In hers.
Fingers tightened around hers, woven with hers.
Emma shook that stupid thought away, because that’s exactly what it was. Fucking stupid.
“I’ll help you up into the SUV, but you need to sit still, don’t touch anything, and keep the damn hood on. Please don’t argue, Emma. Just listen.”
“Fine,” she muttered.
Emma followed Calisto’s directions, stepped where he told her to, and then stayed still as she was lifted up and set back down. The plush softness of the leather seat beneath her said they were in a fancier vehicle.
“Sorry about the Mercedes,” Emma mumbled.
Calisto laughed, but even the sound was tired. “Where is it?”
Emma rattled off the name of the convenience store parking lot where she had left the Mercedes. “I also left the keys on the driver’s side wheel, under the side where it wouldn’t be seen.”
“That makes things easier.”
“Does it?”
“Sì.”
“My things are at a hotel. I had it booked for one more night.”
“We can pick them up,” Calisto said.
A door slammed right after he finished. Emma sighed and fidgeted on the spot until another door was opened, and the vehicle shifted enough to say that Calisto had jumped in the driver’s seat.
“Can I take the hood off now?”
“No,” he said, offering no other explanation.
Emma bristled. “But—”
“I have to make a call. Be quiet.”
As the SUV started to move, Emma tried to stay still in the seat while she listened to Calisto make his call.
“Donati calling,” Calisto said. Silence followed before he said, “Do you have a spare set for the Porsche? Great. You can pick it up.”
He talked about the Porsche, gave an address, and told whoever was on the other end of the call to pick it up as soon as possible and try not to be noticed too much. Once he ended the call, Calisto didn’t say a word.
Emma fiddled with the seam of the hood around her neck. It felt a little too tight for her liking, and she tugged on it a bit to loosen it.
“Stop fucking with that,” Calisto barked.
“It’s tight.”
“It’s supposed to be.”
Emma blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t like this.”
“It’s the hood, Emmy, or a view of the two bodies in the back seat. Take your fucking pick.”
She turned into stone.
“What did you just say?”
Calisto laughed bitterly. “Fuck, did you seriously think that I somehow managed to find out where you went, get to you, and whatever else I had to do without a few casualties along the way?”
Emma’s tongue felt too thick to speak.
“No,” Calisto said harshly. “I left a trail of dead bodies all over Vegas between yesterday and today. You are far luckier than I can explain, Emma.”
He’d killed for her.
And saved her.
All she did was scare him.
Finally, Emma found her voice.
“Stupid, you mean.”
“Desperate,” Calisto murmured.
Emma jerked in the seat when she felt his fingers come in contact with her cheek overtop of the hood.
“I think you were desperate,” Calisto repeated softly.
“I just …” Emma didn’t know what to say.
“You tried, look at it that way.”
“And failed,” she said.
“But you did try.”
“It wasn’t worth it, Calisto.”
Calisto chuckled. “Depends on how you look at it.”
“I can’t see much right now.”
His fingers stroked her cheek again.
“I can, Emma.”
Emma blinked rapidly and sucked in a huge gulp of air when the hood was finally pulled from her head. It took her a second to focus in on her surroundings, and realize that she was sitting in a familiar car.
Calisto’s rental Mercedes.
Glancing to the side, she found Calisto watching her from outside of the car with wary eyes. He leaned in the door a bit, keeping one hand on the car and the other on her jittery leg.
“Hey,” he said.
Emma wet her dry lips. “Hey.”
“You picked a good spot to drop this car.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s one of the only places that doesn’t seem to be open twenty-four, seven, and there’s an alleyway I can use.”
“For what?” she asked.
Calisto smirked. “I have an SUV to burn.”
Oh.
Emma shot a look over Calisto’s broad shoulder, noticing a dark SUV parked in the alleyway he mentioned.
“No cameras, I checked,” Calisto said. “Easiest way to clean up a mess is to burn it. Or that’s what Affonso always told me when I was younger.”
She recoiled at the very mention of her future husband. Calisto didn’t miss the actions.
“Sorry,” he said quickly.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Liar. It does.”
Calisto didn’t say another thing. Instead, he closed the door on Emma and she watched him move to the back of the Mercedes and pop the trunk. Calisto pulled a small, red can from the back before walking over to the SUV and disappearing into the dark alleyway. Not ten seconds later, he was back in view.
Without the gas can.
Pulling something shiny from his pocket, Calisto glanced down at his hands. A light bloomed, telling Emma he held a lighter. When he tossed it, the car lit up instantly.
Emma looked away. She didn’t speak again until they were driving far away from the closed convenience store and the burning SUV.
Calisto slowed the car down and stopped for a red light. He watched the cars speed through their green light, his hands tightening around the wheel enough for his knuckles to turn white under the pressure.
“Thank you, Calisto.”
“Don’t thank me, Emmy.”
“But you saved me.”
“Yeah, but what difference does it make, huh?”
Emma’s heart clenched. “It makes a huge difference to me.”
Calisto shrugged. “I still have to give you away now. The only difference this time is that I know the monster I’ll be giving you to.”
“It’s okay.”
She lied.
It wouldn’t be okay at all.
“It won’t be,” Calisto said.
She watched him through hazy, water-filled eyes. She didn’t understand him for a minute, but she wanted to more than anything.
Emma wanted to know Calisto.
Anything he might give.
She was too late.
Her wants no longer mattered.
“Why did you do that to me in that place?” Emma dared to ask.
“I didn’t have a choice. They have rules they follow—things they do. I couldn’t break them, being the newcomer to the group. It might have made me seem suspicious.”
“Liar.”
Calisto’s jaw clenched. “Don’t, Emmy. Just forget about it. I’ll get you back to your penthouse, you have a few hours to spare before you have to meet up for one final dinner with your parents, and then another night to sleep before New York.”
“Liar,” she repeated, refusing to acknowledge what he said.
“Emma—”
“You did it because you wanted to. You wondered what I felt like. You thought about doing that to me. That’s what you said.”
Calisto hit the gas as soon as the light turned green, sending Emma flying back in her seat. “You’re goddamn right, Emmy.”
She took a burning breath.
It felt fucking good.
“Would you do it again if I asked you to?”
“Emma.”
“Well, would you?”
His hands tightened on the wheel again, and his gaze burned brightly with things she hadn’t seen from him before: need, lust, and want. Calisto still didn’t answer.
Emma didn’t really need him to.