TWO

ETHAN

I slipped the heavy bid token into my jacket pocket. It was the most important thing to remember to take with me. Without a wallet, I could still buy drinks. They knew I was good for it. Without my member's card, I could still get in. They knew who I was.

But without the bid token, I could not take part in the auction. Those rules were set in stone. The laws of the club were fairly relaxed but some of them were not to be disobeyed. No violence. No touching without consent. You did not share outside what happened within, you did not bid without a token, you did not ignore the club manager when she spoke to you. Remember those rules and you could have the time of your life and people did. Forget them and you'd be out the door and no amount of bribing or blackmailing would make up for it.

As for me, I was starting to get bored of it all. I was hoping the auction would bring the excitement back. It had been a while since they'd held one. Last time had led to Elora, the only woman to have ever stayed in my house more than one night. But that was long ago. Before it all went wrong.

I chose the Ford. It wasn't as glamorous as the Bentley or as fast as the Ferrari but it had one important benefit over both, the heating kicked in quicker, which was all I wanted on a night as cold as this.

Driving there took half an hour, the roads twinkling with ice starting to slowly form on the tarmac. I knew the route well. The club was like a second home for me, filled with laughter and conversation where home was empty of both. It was all right having money but having no one to share it with was a grind.

I thought about the barmaid as I drove, about that warm smile on her lips when she talked to people, the way she looked as if she really cared what people were saying. Alice. From Wonderland itself.

I'd wanted her from the moment I saw her. That first shift she had behind the bar. I only caught sight of her by accident but I was transfixed from that moment.

She looked lost, scared, frightened by everything going on around her. I didn't think she'd come back for a second shift. Club Darkness wasn't for everyone. But she proved me wrong. She was back the next night and when I smiled and nodded a hello to her, she smiled back. If I'd been transfixed before, I became obsessed at that point.

I had to have her. From her cute button nose to the way her hair fell across her face, I memorised it all. I only had to close my eyes and there was the perfect image of her.

I arrived at the club just before nine. The first few cars were already there, couples getting out and making their way up the steps. I was the only single guy in sight. It never used to bother me but like my growing boredom with club life, it was starting to grate.

They'd all been sympathetic when Elora left but I didn't want sympathy. I'd tried fucking my way back to happiness but I wanted something more, someone who wasn't just a one night stand.

A night with the barmaid would be a good start. I'd seen the way she looked at me when she thought I wasn't looking. I knew she wanted me. I was going to do it tonight. I was going to tell her she was coming home with me.

When I got inside, I headed straight to the bar.

"What can I get-"

Her words faded away into a cough and she turned away, her cheeks turning purple. I looked down her body, the way her ass looked in that tight black skirt. My cock twitched in anticipation. She looked good.

"Good evening, Alice. How are you?"

When she turned back after her coughing fit, she barely made eye contact. "Sorry about that," she mumbled. "What can I get you?"

"Double whiskey," I said, watching as she poured it out with trembling fingers. I held back my smile.

"Ice?"

"I'm good."

She slid the glass across to me. "Anything else?"

Yes, I thought, I'll rip those clothes off you and see if you look as good naked as I think you will. "This'll do for now."

She glanced at me as I sipped my drink. I kept watching her.

"Should be a good night," she said, blushing again. Was she trying to make small talk?

"I hope so. Have you seen an auction before?"

She shook her head. "I've only been here a week."

I know, I thought. "You taking part?" I asked.

"No," she said too quickly, her voice a squeak.

A laugh rumbled up in my throat. "You would say that. How do I know you haven't already signed up? The names are put in secretly."

"Are they?"

I could hear the excitement in her voice. "I guess I'll have to see what happens," I said, picking up my drink and turning away.

If I was going to carry out my plan, I needed to do it now.

The auction master kept the hat off the side of the stage. He took the names of all the girls who wanted to take part and then chose three or four to actually participate. The naming took place at ten thirty, the auction at eleven. Then you had the rest of the night to lick your wounds if you lost or lick your prize if you won.

It was strictly forbidden for anyone to interfere of course but I had decided she was worth breaking the rules for. I had a plan that couldn't fail.

I took the table nearest the stage, the one that gave me a view through the gap in the curtain. I saw the auction master putting the names into the hat at quarter to ten. He then did what he always did, came out and went over to the bar to get a drink. Gin and tonic with a slice of lemon. Same every time.

"Usual please," he said.

That was my cue.

I got up and walked to the curtain in a single swift motion. A flick of the hand and I was behind the heavy velvet. There was just me and the hat. I dug out one of the names. Jessica. She would have to wait for another chance another time.

Tearing up her paper, I dug the one I had prepared earlier. Into the hat it went. One more second and I was back at my table, just in time to see the auction master walking back across with his glass in his hand.

Job done, I sat back and looked across at the bar. There she was. Even from here, she looked beautiful. Close up, she was ravishing. It had taken all of my self control not to lean over and kiss her when she'd served me my drink but even with my relaxed attitude towards the rules of the club, I knew that was a bad idea. The last thing I wanted was to have my membership revoked before the auction took place, the auction that was about to begin.

As the auction master walked onto the stage and tapped the microphone, I caught sight of someone waving at me from across the room. I looked and growled inwardly when I saw who it was.

Jason Fry. He hadn't been here since he stole my business idea and made a fortune selling it to a Japanese firm for twice what they'd offered me. That wasn't all he'd stolen either.

It wasn't the money that got to me, it was that I'd thought we were friends until that day. I shared my idea, I shared my life with him, my friends, my family, we were close. I thought he was a man I could trust.

I learned a valuable lesson from that. Don't trust anyone, especially not Jason Fry.

And what was that he was holding up? My heart sank when I saw it was a bid token. He wasn't just back. He was taking part in the auction as well.

Let him take part. There was no way a man without an original idea in him would think to do what I had done with my bid. There was no chance I was losing to anyone but especially not to him.

When her name was called out, I was ready to bid exactly what I knew it would take to spend the night with her. But, of course, at that point, I had no idea that my bid would cost me a lot more than just money.