He smiled and I felt the hairs stand on the back of my neck. I turned away, clutching my robe, suddenly very aware of being alone. I wanted to be back upstairs. I wanted to be with Kaine.

I walked past the buffet table, the one with the girls covered in caviar. Sage, the first girl who’d been sold tonight, came up beside me.

“It’s a shock, isn’t it? At first…,” she asked softly. “No matter how many times I see this room. It’s kind of a shock every time.”

I looked around me, unable to find words.

“It’s okay, Eden,” she laughed at me kindly. “Mr. A sends all his girls here once. He likes the effect it has on them.” She poured two drinks and handed me one. I gulped and felt it burn its way down to my stomach.

“But no one will touch you. They all know who owns you,” she went on casually. “And later you’ll be glad you saw. It makes… other things… a little less shocking,” she said, patting my hand. “You’re lucky to have him, Eden. We all were.”

I took another swig, wondering why I bristled at her words. We were whores in a whorehouse, for hell’s sake. Maybe an expensive one, but what did that really change? Kaine himself had told me this wasn’t personal.

Sage’s master startled us both, coming up behind us and taking her jeweled collar. “It’s time,” he said evenly, giving it a tug. He was bare to the waist, his muscles showing under a blanket of fine, dark hair. “Come with me.”

Sage gave me a little wink and followed after him. She seemed so relaxed, so comfortable in her role. But then she’d been here for a few years and knew the ropes. She’d helped Mrs. Sparr to prepare me for tonight. I guess Sage was the closest thing I had to a friend.

My eyes strayed to the girls covered in caviar as I finished the scotch in my glass. They were what Mrs. S had called ornaments. They weren’t here for sex. They were here as decoration. Useful decoration.

I watched a man come up and put his hand on the ass of a beautiful, nude redhead. She was next to the table, as still as a statue. He pushed her toward a low, thickly padded bench and picked up a bottle of brandy. He nodded toward the bench and I heard him speak through his clenched teeth. “I’m thirsty,” he said. His dick was hard, out, and shining wet.

I watched, dumbfounded, as the girl dropped into position. It was obvious from her practiced movements that she knew exactly what he wanted. She bent down into a curious headstand, cushioned by the padding on the bench, and bent her legs at the hips and knees. Then she smoothly spread her legs wide apart, until her pussy was fully exposed… level with the man’s chest. I wanted to look away. It felt so wrong to look at her this way, but I felt outside myself. Like I no longer controlled my own eyes…

The man selected a slender silver tube from the tray that held over a dozen. It was about six inches long, the width of a bud vase, with a rim around the top edge. My mouth dropped open as he slipped it into her body. I could see the lips of her pussy spread to take it. Then he poured brandy into it, smiling and working his cock easily with the other hand. He licked the caviar off another girl’s breast as he waited for the redhead’s pussy to warm his brandy. Then he dipped his lips to the silver rim and drank as she wrapped her legs around his shoulders, tilting her hips expertly as she served him.

A war was raging inside me as I watched, unable to look away, but wanting to run. Back home, away from this place… or back upstairs to Kaine. I was equally appalled and excited by the things I’d seen. And in spite of myself, the climax that had been so close was still ready, just below the surface. My body was waking up to a whole new world of feelings tonight. Feelings that carried needs close behind them.

I backed away from the man. He’d finished his brandy and was scanning the room for girl he’d bought for the night. I saw her come up behind him and reach around to grip his cock. Seconds later he had her over a chair and was slapping her ass. She gave a shriek and laughed. Then he plunged himself inside her.

I headed for the door, wanting Kaine, needing him to touch me again. Part of me wanted to get it over with, but an even bigger part of me just wanted it. Sex was what I was here for, after all. And the more I saw, the more my body seemed to scream for it. I was ready for this to happen. I needed it to now. I wanted Kaine to take away this ache I felt deep inside. I wanted his cock buried inside me.

I was almost to the elevator when I felt a strong hand catch at my arm. For a moment I thought Kaine had come to get me, but then I turned and looked up into black eyes. It was him. Dalia’s master. The one who’d tried to buy me too.

“What’s your master thinking, letting a sweet little thing like you come here alone?” he asked. His voice was deep. Dark in a way that made me uneasy. “Come back to the reception with me,” he said softly, “if he’s too foolish to keep you upstairs…”

I pulled my arm away and held the neckline of my robe in one fist. There was something familiar about him, now I saw him so close. But I couldn’t place his face. I took a step back. I was sure… I knew him from somewhere.

“Kaine told me to come back after an hour,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “He’s waiting for me.”

The man clicked his tongue and I felt goosebumps rise on my arms. “He lets you call him that?” He shook his head. “Not if I’d gotten you tonight,” he whispered. “Like I should have, like I’m still going to. When that asshole’s done playing games, I’ll have you on your knees, you little cunt, calling me Master as I fuck your…”

I gasped, turning to run for the elevator, the stairs, anything to get away from this man… and stumbled, falling headlong into Kaine’s arms. I realized my hands were gripping his hard biceps. For a minute, I thought the frozen look on his face was my fault. Because I had touched him… But then I saw that his icy stare was locked onto the other man.

“Go to the room, Grace. Now. I’ll be up shortly.” He gave me a gentle push toward the elevator door. I hit the button over and over, and it opened with a shoosh.

When it closed and I was suddenly alone, it all came rushing back. Where I’d seen him before… and those black, black eyes. My stomach churned and sweat broke out on my forehead.

His wife, Claire, had been young and very beautiful, a wealthy blonde he’d married four years ago. And Bastien Cole had sworn he’d see justice done. One way or another. And now he was here at La Laisse…

I’d been in court with Evelyn when he was there. More than once. I’d seen him and he’d seen me…

I shook, feeling colder than I’d ever felt in my life. What if he knew? What the fuck would he do, if he found out I was Evelyn’s daughter? Or did he already know? I felt a drop of sweat trickle between my breasts.

It was Evelyn, driving drunk, who had been responsible for his wife’s death as she went walking that evening.

The impact had been so powerful that her head had been found several yards away in a gutter.