My shoulders heave as I exhale hard, starting to relax as I sink into a plush red chair in the last row. The dimness of the light is soothing. It’s only been one year, but from the tension in my body, it might easily have been ten. My cock is hard as hell, but then it often is, and I’m very used to that. Sexual tension is like fuel to me. Pure, unadulterated power. I store it, keeping it leashed and burning inside me, drawing on it to drive my success. Which has been enormous. The others here are wealthy, powerful. Yet not one can touch the empire I’ve built.

I watch as the auction moves on, uninterested in the lovely flowers Mrs. Sparr has on display. Each one is beautiful, every one different from the last. But I’ve had them all, over the course of the last few years I’ve been a client. Lovely, talented, very… capable girls. But none of them are what I want tonight. Tonight, I came for the finale girl.

She’s standing back, separated from the others, and I can’t see her properly from where I’m sitting. No matter, I tell myself patiently. There’s plenty of time for that. I lean back and run my hands through my hair, around the back of my neck. I am nothing, if not a patient man…

One week. One short week. Once a year… here at La Laisse.

I have to have total control. Make no mistake. When I say total control, I mean just that. All year long, I’m business, nothing but fucking business. Even here, where sexual extremes are the norm.

I’m a man, with all the powerful drives and needs of any man. But only for a single week out of the year, do I allow myself the indulgence of a woman. Any more than that, and I’ll lose my edge. The edge that makes me who I am. But even here, I won’t lose control. It’s the only valuable lesson I ever learned from my father. Never fucking lose control.

I watch, amused as Dalia parades her ample charms. She’s luring in a man I’ve unfortunately seen here all too often. He’ll get his money’s worth. Dalia’s equally expert at both submission and dominance. God help him, if he’s looking to be the sub tonight, I think, smiling. But then that’s no concern of mine. No woman has ever dominated me. And no woman ever will.

My eyes wander back to Eden. The first virgin La Laisse has ever offered. Her robe is pink silk. I can see that her hair is very long and pale. Until she steps forward on the stage, that’s about all I can see.

But the details of her appearance aren’t why I’m going to buy her. It’s her innocence I’m after. My cock throbs hard, and I shift my thoughts away from it. I’m good at that. A man who lives without sexual expression for a year at a time, has to be good at it.

Mrs. Sparr lowers her sterling gavel to the podium and Dalia is sold. I don’t know who looks more pleased, as her partner leads her off the stage. He sits back down in his front row seat and pulls Dalia onto his lap. His hands cup her ass as she sits, and I watch the small movements of his shoulders and the way she shifts and settles. He’s inside her already, I think, equally amused and disdainful.

I sit up now, ready to take what I came for. I have only a week, I tell myself. And every minute counts… Shit, every fucking second…

Mrs., Sparr has led the virgin to the center of the stage and is talking to her softly. As she moves aside and heads for her podium, I get my first real look. Something inside me shifts, almost painfully, and I sit spellbound. Her hair isn’t just light. It’s blonde, pale blonde… the color of corn silk. The lights touch it just so, and it seems to have a blush of rose in it. It’s long, to her hips, but falls in careless spiraling curls over her shoulders. Her eyes look off in the distance, as if she sees something the rest of us can’t. They’re green, I see, even from yards away. I feel like I could look at her, just like this, for hours and not see every detail. When her robe falls back in a soft swoosh, it actually takes me by surprise. I haven’t breathed… and it comes as a rude shock when I do. Too loud in the quiet room.

“May I have an opening offer of fifty thousand,” I hear, and I’m frozen, unable to move. All my attention is on how lovely she is.

“Fifty.” The man who’s currently fucking Dalia raises a finger discreetly.

“Sixty,” I hear myself say, moving to the edge of my seat. I haven’t given any thought to what I would pay. It’s never been an issue before and it sure as hell isn’t now.

“Sixty-five,” I hear from the side of the room. I’m getting irritated and I don’t much care for the sensation. “Seventy-five,” I offer, my voice louder than I usually allow.

“Seventy-nine,” the man with Dalia calls out. I feel a burst of anger inside and respond without thought. That asshole’s already bought two women tonight.

“One hundred thousand,” I call out coldly. He turns to look back at me, but says nothing. For a moment our eyes lock and the mutual dislike is palpable. I know he recognizes me. Everyone does. And I’ve always known exactly what he is…

He’s a fucking lawyer. A goddamned politician. And he’s caused trouble for me and my business more than once. He wants this girl as much as I do, but I’ve just bid more than he can pay. I see it in his eyes.

The sharp sound of Mrs. Sparr’s gavel snaps his head forward again and I give a snort of satisfaction.

I rest my eyes on Eden’s beauty and feel a surge of power and lust. I own her now, and I’ve never enjoyed this feeling more than I do now. I watch as she drops her eyes for the first time to where the audience is sitting. So… she is curious, I think, as she wrinkles her brow, trying to get a look at her new master. I see so many expressions on her face, all at once and in such a rush I can’t identify them all.

But I will, I tell myself, anticipating the night to come. I will see every emotion, every feeling, every thought and desire you experience. I will feel everything that I make you feel…

As I stand and move closer to the stage, I watch her face as she gets her first real look at me. Her eyes are wide and sparkle like emeralds. I climb the stairs and stand beside her, looking down at her. I’m enormous next to her slender body.

I won’t touch her, at least not yet. I know she can see the lust in my eyes, and I see her generous bottom lip quiver. I’m fucking hard as shit and I’m pretty sure she knows it. But she doesn’t look away from me.

It’s a huge mark in her favor.

But she doesn’t know the rules yet, and she’s going to have to obey them all. To the letter. No mistakes.

I’m going to have to teach her.

The sooner the better.