Chapter 5

Leo

So perhaps it’s not as simple of a job as I first thought.

Usually, girls like Kristen—who wake up hung from the ceiling and alone in a dark warehouse with only me for company—freak the fuck out. They really, really, don’t react well to it.

And, you know, they shouldn’t.

But Kristen? She’s standing there almost as naked as the day she was born, and she’s alone with a man who’s admitted to roofie-ing her…and she’s what? Flirting with me?

What’s wrong with her?

What’s wrong with me, in that I find it so fucking hot?

As I take a step back from her, box cutter still in hand, and look at how her chest rises and falls now that she’s been gagged, I can feel myself stirring in my pants. Kristen is so powerless right now, tied up and open to me, but she’s acting as though she’s still totally in charge.

All she wants to do is hit on me like I’m the one standing only in my pants, talking shit like she’s the hero of her own action movie. Her whole personality has got me thinking of all the ways I could make her mine. How it would be so much fun to run my hands down her tight body, and to play with her breasts and turn her on until she can’t take it.

I’d make her moan and scream my name until she forgot her own.

But I won’t. I can’t. Even though she’s the first girl to make me hot like this, I’m not going to cave now.

Not when my freedom is so close I can practically taste it.

What’s worse, maybe, for Kristen and me, is that she doesn’t even realize how dumb she’s being. By teasing me like this, she’s just proving to Oberon and anyone else who’s watching that she’s going to be a worthwhile investment. You’d think she’d at least try to be unattractive…but no.

Footsteps begin to echo though the darkness, and I turn my head towards the source. Slowly, Lawson’s face begins to appear through the darkness, and he looks from me towards Kristen, as a smile curls over his lips.

“Well, would you look at that?”

Lawson is eyeing Kristen like she’s some kind of tender steak spread out in front of him, and his tongue flicks out to wet his lips as he takes in the sight of her suspended, nearly naked, and writhing for her freedom.

“What took you so long?”

“It was the wedding of two people I was close to, Leo,” Lawson says as though it’s obvious. “If I’d left early, people would have gotten suspicious.”

As though they all don’t know the rumors.

I don’t reply to Lawson out loud and instead turn back to Kristen, and motion to her lazily with the box cutter, “Well?”

“You’ve done well, Leo. The wedding wasn’t an easy place to lift her from.”

“Having the champagne covered helped.”

Lawson looks at me knowingly, and a smile twitches at the corner of his mouth. “Yes, I suppose it did.”

He walks up to Kristen, who glares at him with unbridled fire and stands up straight. Like any kind of trapped animal, she’s trying to make herself appear as big as possible, but it’s no use.

“Will you be bidding on her?” I ask, watching Lawson as he carefully inspects her body. “She’s a real firecracker, might be your type.”

Lawson considers it for a minute, but shakes his head as he steps back. “No. Not on this one…I’ve got my eye on someone else.”

I hold in a little sigh of relief, and try not to think about why, as Lawson continues speaking, “I’m not the only one missing out today. Marks, Jacey, and Whitman are also passing on this one.”

“It’s probably for the best. They like their girls nice and obedient without having to go through a training phase.”

“Yes, exactly.”

I hear other footsteps walking into the room, a whole crowd. But these men won’t show their faces and step into the light. They never do.

I know it’s smart—because then their identity isn’t compromised—but it’s also so fucking cowardly.

If you’re going to have the balls to buy a girl like she’s a prize cow, at least have the balls to show your face at the market.

Lawson takes a step into the center of the beam alongside Kristen, and smacks her on the ass so that she stands up straight.

“You’re a gambler,” he says to her, tormenting. “How much do you want to bet that these men will want to go all in?”

The innuendo makes my skin crawl, but all I have to do is stand here and watch, and then, it’ll be over.

Kristen glares at him, her eyes narrowed to slits and, for a second, I think she’s going to spit at him. “Fuck you.”

Lawson laughs and turns away.

“So, let’s say we open the bidding at half a million—which is the first time I’ve actually suggested someone should steal from me.”

Lawson’s laughter echoes throughout the hall, and there’s a brief pause as the men in the shadows respectfully wait for him to finish. Then, the calamity begins.

I see the flash of paddle boards as they rise into the air, and shouts from voices all around the room compete to claim ownership over Kristen and her sweet ass.

All I do is sit back and watch it happen, keeping track of how high the bids instantly rise for a chance to ‘tame’ a girl like Kristen. It’s fucked up. Honestly, it’s so fucked up.

This is why it’ll be my last time helping Lawson do this. I don’t want to be a part of a gang that buys and sells women like they’re not people but rather treasured collectable dolls. Even though some of them are into it—which is worse, if you ask me, but who am I to judge—most of them aren’t.

I take one look at Kristen and realize she’s definitely not. Every muscle in her body is tense, and she’s holding herself together, staring into the darkness with an equally dark hatred in her eyes.

If she was a dog in this situation, she’d be snarling—snapping and biting at everyone who came close to her. Her chest is heaving with ragged breaths, and she struggles on her heels; she’s leaning backward and forward and sticking her ass out so that the men can see her from all angles.

Kristen doesn’t realize just how much her struggle is making everyone just want her more. It’s sick; it really is. But I know from previous auctions that a lot of the men in the crowd are a fan of girls who need to be broken in.

Come on, Leo. One more auction, and it will all be over for you. You’ll get paid, you’ll be able to tell Oberon Lawson to go fuck himself, and then, you’ll be free.

I keep repeating it in my head, over and over again, trying not to look at Kristen and get distracted. It’s fucked up that she’s here, and it’s fucked up that I’m still attracted to her.

So, it’s best for everyone if I just keep my head down and wait for the money to run out until there’s one bidder left.

Though the bids show no sign of stopping. Each new voice has a larger sum of money than another, and they’re all eager—almost desperate to take Kristen for themselves. It’s frantic and manic.

It’s savage; they’re treating her as though she’s less than a person, and it slowly dawns on me why.

Not many girls that come through here have as much fire as Kristen does.

These men don’t want to just break her sexually and make her their slave—although that’s still fucked up.

They want to break her completely. They want to take that fire and douse it. They want to crush her spirit until Kristen is the shell of who she is.

All because they’re fucking cowards who’re scared of a strong woman.

Don’t do it.

I watch Kristen struggle and curse out Lawson every time he gets too close to her. She’s racked up a lot of debt…but she doesn’t deserve this. I don’t think anyone really deserves this.

I can’t.

I take a deep breath and clear my throat, though no one notices.

I have to.

I step forward and catch Lawson’s eye. He raises an eyebrow at me as we stare each other, and I’m almost surprised at the calmness of my own voice when I say, “Two million dollars.”

Lawson’s face cracks into a disbelieving smile as he waves the rest of the bidders into silence.

“Two million?” He asks. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

“You heard me.”

I step toward him, one hand outstretched for him to give Kristen to me.

“That’s almost double—”

I speak over him. I don’t even care that I’m interrupting. “I know.”

Lawson chuckles a little bit and uncuffs Kristen, shoving her toward me. She falls into my arms. I catch her and hold her safely against my chest—even as she fucking glares at me for it.

So much for one last job.