“You can’t do this, Victor,” Michael says threateningly, as I continue to hold Viv at my side. Or rather, hold her up. I’m not sure how much the audience can tell from their vantage point, but she is so weak-kneed, I think if I stepped away, she’d fall to the floor in a heap. 

And I don’t blame her. Absolutely none of this is going the way we’d planned. From A to Z, it’s one giant fuck-up. I got her into this mess. I’m going to get her out.

“I love Victor,” Kitten says, struggling and eventually steadying her legs underneath her. “I have always loved him. From the night I first met him, two weeks ago, he’s become the center of my life.

“And I don’t say that with stars in my eyes. Ladies and gentlemen, this man,” she jerks her thumb towards me, “can be awfully stubborn and slow to realize important truths, like the fact that he loves me. He also leaves the toilet seat up, hates the color pink, and grumps when I ask him to do simple things, like stop at two different restaurants to pick up dinner on the way home.

“But he can also be incredibly sweet and thoughtful and every time I see him, I just want to melt into his arms and kiss him. He is all I’ve ever wanted, and maybe someday, he’ll learn that pink is the new black.”

I can’t help chuckling at that last dig. “It’s true, I don’t appreciate pink,” I say, letting my voice ring out with laughter and happiness and pride at her ability to find humor in even the most dire of situations. “And I do love her with all my heart and soul, despite the fact that she makes an awful sex slave. I mean, in bed, she’ll be amazing, but out of it? All she wants you to do is take care of her. She doesn’t want to cook or clean anything but gluten-free muffins and reading her Kindle seems to be her full-time profession and she actually believes that Pepto Bismol is a decorating style.” The audience laughs along with me as she jabs me in the ribs, pretending to glare up at me. I just grin down at her and wink.

“But despite her numerous faults, I love her. I love her with all my heart and soul and I always will. I can’t let someone else bid and take her away from me. I am hers and she is mine.”

I begin to walk her off stage with me, trying to bluff my way out of this – just walk super fast and get out of here, Kitten, we gotta go – when Michael cries out, “What?! Victor, you cannot do this! Mr. Caine in the back owns her now. He has placed the highest bid.” The security men are closing in on us, and I know that I’m about to enter the fight of my life.

I can’t back down now.

“In every Kindle story that I’ve read – and because of Vivian here, I’ve read a lot – to keep the stories consensual, they always say something about how if the woman wants to walk out at any point, she has to be free to leave. Well, she’s walking out.”

“Mr. Caine,” Michael blusters, “you are not okay with this, right?” He’s wanting cover; someone to back him up when he orders his goons to swoop down and grab us both. At this point, the audience – a group of older white men, not normally given over to romance and worrying about happily ever afters – are all on our side, and Michael knows it. He knows that if he orders his security to grab us and force us to follow his rules, he’s not only going to have a small riot on his hands, but he’s going to lose all future business. He needs Mr. Caine to agree with him, to go along with his plan, if he’s going to have any hope of getting out of this with Vivian’s contract, and his business, intact.

Mr. Caine stands up, pushing to his feet with the use of a cane. It’s hard to tell how old he is from across the warehouse but the use of a cane says to me that he’s much too old for my Kitten. My hands stroke up and down her arm, soothing her, as we brace ourselves for what Mr. Caine is about to say.

“I came here today to find a fun young thing that would make me feel better after the death of my wife,” he says, his quiet voice echoing around the room. “When I saw Vivian up on the stage, she reminded me so much of my wife that I wanted her immediately. I am here to bid on her and her alone.

“But I’d never split a couple who seems to love each other as much as Vivian and Victor do. My wife also drove me crazy – she refused to clean out the kitty litter box despite the fact that the four cats we had in our house were all hers. Sometimes, when she slept, I think she did it spread eagle on purpose, just to shove me out of bed.

“I loved her, though. I loved her with all my heart and I will grieve for her for the rest of my life. I can never stand in the way of true love, Mr. Anders, and I respectfully retract my bid. Let these two love birds go have the life they were meant to live.”

The room broke out into a thunderous applause, with catcalls and whistles filling the air. With a defeated nod, Michael called off his men.

“You can never bid on a virgin again,” Michael calls out after me as Vivian and I make our way off stage.

“I don’t need to,” I toss back over my shoulder. “I have all the virgins I could ever need right here.”

And as we make our way outside into the cold night air, I realize that we can finally do the one thing we haven’t been able to: I’m going to be able to fuck her pussy, hard and unprotected.

And she is going to scream in ecstasy.