by Ramona Gray
She suddenly clutched at Mason’s hand. “I said no that I wouldn’t help him. But he owes Deacon Dennison twenty-five thousand dollars. If my father has to pay that back, he said that we’ll lose the house and my mother will be forced into prostitution.”
“Jesus Christ,” Mason muttered before staring at me.
I stared at him with a sick look of anger as Naomi wiped at the tears on her cheeks. “Luckily for us, Deacon Dennison is willing to accept an alternate payment.”
“What do you mean?” Mason asked.
“You,” I said, anger flickering through my veins. “Your father is selling you to this asshole to pay off his debt, isn’t he?”
“Yes. He’s coming by this afternoon to discuss the,” she laughed bitterly, “marriage arrangement.”
“No fucking way,” Mason said. “That is not fucking happening.”
He stood and paced back and forth. “A man can’t just sell his daughter like that, Dane. We need to call the police.”
“No!” Naomi jumped to her feet. “Don’t you dare call the police. If you do that, my mother, she’ll…”
She stared pleadingly at us. “She’s still my mother.”
“You can’t do this, Naomi,” Mason said. “Sweetheart, I don’t know what your crazy religion has told you, but fathers can’t just sell their daughters like cattle.”
She backed toward the door. “I have no choice. I have no money and no place to live. I shouldn’t have told you. I’m sorry, I need to go. Thank you for giving me a job and for, uh, yesterday. I, “her cheeks flushed bright red, “I liked it very much. Goodbye, Mason. Goodbye, Mr. Wilson.”
“Naomi, wait!”
Mason lunged forward but she had already skittered out of the office and closed the door.
“Mason, stop,” I said when he opened the door.
“Are you fucking crazy, Dane? We can’t let this happen.”
“I know but going to the police isn’t going to help. You saw the look on her face when we mentioned the police. She’ll hate us if we call them.”
“I don’t fucking care!” Mason slammed the door shut. “Let her hate us! We can’t just sit by and let this happen.”
“We’re not going to,” I said grimly. “I have a better idea.”
“What’s that?”
“We’re going to buy Naomi for ourselves.”
* * *
Mason
“Be cool,” I muttered to Dane as we climbed the steps to the small bungalow.
“Yeah,” he said. “Ring the goddamn bell.”
I rang the doorbell and we waited impatiently. Footsteps approached and the door opened. Naomi’s mouth dropped open and I smiled at her.
“Hello, Naomi.”
“Wh- what are you doing here?”
“Can we come in?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry.”
Dane grunted in anger and pushed past me. He wrapped his arms around Naomi’s waist and lifted her out of the way.
“Mr. Wilson, stop!” she whisper-shouted as he set her down and strode down the hallway. She chased after him and I followed them both.
Dane ground to a halt as we heard a voice drift from the first doorway. “She’s a good girl. Pure and untouched and eager to obey. You won’t have any problems with her.”
“So, she’s a virgin then?” A nasally and high-pitched voice replied.
“Yes, of course.”
“Good.”
Naomi turned bright red and Dane’s back stiffened.
“Easy, Dane,” I murmured as he stepped into the doorway.
“Who are you?” Two men, one short and bald with a large belly and the other tall and skinny stared at us.
“Mr. Morris?” I brushed past Dane and held my hand out.
The taller man automatically shook my hand. I tamped down my urge to squeeze until his fingers snapped. “I’m Mason Shaw, and this is my associate Dane Wilson. Your daughter works for us.”
“No, she doesn’t,” he said. “She quit.”
“Yes, she did quit this morning,” I said as a woman with eyes the same colour as Naomi’s and long, graying hair entered the room with a tray of cookies.
“Josiah?” She stared uncertainly at us. “What’s going on?”
“These are Naomi’s bosses.” Josiah glanced at the other man. “Deacon Dennison, forgive the intrusion. I’ll have these men leave and we can continue -”
“Yes,” I said. “Please continue on with the sale of your daughter, Mr. Morris.”
Naomi and her mother made identical gasps of dismay as her father’s face turned red. “Who do you think you are?”
“I’ve told you who we are,” I said.
“Get out of my home. Right now, before I call the police.”
Dane snarled at him. “You’re lucky we don’t fucking call the police, you goddamn asshole.”
“Mr. Morris, I understand you owe,” I pointed to the pervert beside him, “this sick bastard a debt of twenty-five grand, is that right?”
“What did you tell them, Naomi?” her father snarled.
She cringed back when he started toward her. “What did you say?”
Dane stepped in front of Naomi, blocking her from her father’s angry gaze. “Take another step toward her and I’ll break both your arms.”
Her father’s face paled. “Alice, call the police.”
“You might want to wait a minute, Alice,” I said as Naomi’s mother set the tray on the coffee table. “I think your husband will want to hear what we have to offer.”
“What are you talking about?” Naomi’s father said.
I held up the small leather bag I was carrying in my left hand. “This bag contains a hundred grand in cash. That’s more than enough to pay that perverted prick his twenty-five thousand and give you and your wife a little nest egg.”
“You – you’re just going to give me a hundred thousand dollars?” Naomi’s father’s face lit up with greed. It was all I could do not to drop the bag and punch his face into a bloody mess.
“Not quite,” I replied. “We’ll give you the hundred grand, if you give us Naomi.”
Her mother gasped in horror. “No, no, we won’t do that.”
“Be quiet, Alice,” her father said. He glanced at Deacon Dennison who frowned.
“Josiah, we had an agreement.”
Her father hesitated, and I opened the bag and showed him the bundles of cash. “A hundred grand, Mr. Morris. All yours and all you have to do is give us Naomi.”
“Deal,” he said suddenly. Fuck, the urge to kick his ass was nearly overpowering.
“Josiah, no!” her mother said. “We don’t even know these men!”
Dane snorted dark laughter. “I guarantee you she’ll have a much better life with us than with that fucking pervert. Naomi, get your things.”
Her face bloodless, Naomi stood motionless behind him. Dane touched her shoulder. “Get your things, Naomi. You’re leaving with us.”
She stumbled out of the room as her mother clutched at her husband’s arm. “Josiah, please, you can’t do this.”
“It’s done, Alice. Be quiet!” he said.
Naomi returned after only a few minutes. She held nothing in her hand but her purse and an envelope.
“Where are your things?” Dane said.
“There isn’t anything I want to take with me,” she said.
Dane studied the paleness of her face and the faint bruise that graced her cheek. Before I could stop him, he moved forward and grabbed her father by his shirt collar. He dragged him up until their noses were nearly touching.
“Naomi belongs to us now. If you go anywhere near her, if you ever touch her again, I’ll kill you. Do you understand?”
Her father stared terrified at him and Dane shook him roughly. “Do you understand, you fucking pig?”
“Yes!” He stumbled back when Dane released him. Dane turned and took Naomi by the arm, leading her toward the doorway.
“Naomi?” her mo
ther said.
Naomi stared silently at her for a moment. “Goodbye, Mom.”
I dropped the bag of money on the floor and followed Dane and Naomi down the hallway, out the front door, and into the late afternoon light.
Chapter Four
Naomi
“Where are we?” I asked as Dane pulled up in front of a large iron gate. He pushed a button on a remote clipped to the visor and the gate swung open. We drove down a winding driveway as the gate closed behind us.
“Our home,” Mason said.
“You live together?”
“We do,” Mason said.
Dane stopped in front of a large colonial style home. I studied the massive pillars and the front porch as Dane shut off the car. Mason hopped out of the back seat and opened my door. I unbuckled my seat belt and climbed out, not resisting when Mason took my hand and led me up the steps and across the wide porch. He opened the door and I followed him inside to the foyer. I barely had time to study my surroundings before Mason was leading me to the kitchen.
“Wow,” I said as Mason urged me to sit at the island. “Your place is really nice.”
The kitchen was gorgeous with modern white cupboards, grey quartz countertops, and stainless-steel appliances. Teal accents were scattered throughout the room.
“Thank you.” Mason glanced at Dane.
Dane grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and opened it before handing it to me. “Drink this, baby.”
“Thank you.” I sipped at the water before setting it on the island. “Are you guys millionaires?”
“No,” Mason said.
“We do all right for ourselves,” Dane said.
“All right?” I laughed or tried to laugh – it came out with a weirdly hysterical and jagged note to it. “You just bought me for a hundred grand, and you do all right for yourselves?”
Mason winced before sitting next to me. “Naomi -”
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I said. “I don’t have a hundred grand to pay you back.”
“We don’t want your money,” Dane said.
“Then what do you want?” I asked.
Dane looked at Mason and I made another one of those jagged little laughs. “Never mind, I can guess. I know you heard my father tell Deacon Dennison I was a virgin. Does that increase or decrease my value to you?”
“Stop,” Dane said. “We don’t -”
“I’m guessing increase.” I slid off the stool. Mason reached for me and I pulled away. I clutched at the side of the island while my heart pounded in my chest. I had no idea what was happening to me. I was terrified and furious and heartbroken all at the same time, and my entire body shook as I stared at the two men. “So, I guess the only question is – which one of you ponied up the hundred grand? I assume he’s the lucky one who gets to screw me first?”
“Sweetheart, that isn’t what we’re looking for,” Mason said.
“Bullcrap!” I spat at him. “You paid money for me because you – you want to screw me and when you found out my father was selling me like cattle, you figured this was the easiest way. Well, I hate to be the one to share bad news, but you’re going to be awfully disappointed. I’m not just a virgin – I’m a virgin with zero experience. Do you understand? I don’t know how to kiss, I don’t know how to touch a guy. I’ve never even masturbated!”
I was shouting now, and tears were flowing fast and furious down my cheeks. It hurt to breathe, and inner me was recoiling in horror at the things I was saying to the men in front of me, but I couldn’t seem to stop.
“I’m not worth a hundred grand!” I shouted. “I’m not even worth a hundred dollars and -”
“Naomi, enough.”
Dane’s low voice broke through my confusion and anger and fear. I ground to a halt.
“That’s enough,” he repeated, and I burst into tears and sunk to my knees on the floor.
Mason was immediately next to me. He sat down and pulled me into his lap as Dane crouched next to us. I buried my face in Mason’s chest and wept.
“He-he-he sold me! My own father sold me like I was nothing, to men he didn’t even know!” I sobbed. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing,” Mason said. “There’s nothing wrong with you. Your father is a monster.”
I sobbed even harder and Mason rubbed my back before rocking me back and forth like I was a small child. “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s okay.”
Despite my shame and embarrassment, I cried for nearly fifteen minutes. Mason’s shirt was wet, and my face was a hot, red mess when I finally stopped crying. A tissue was shoved into my hand and I wiped my face and blew my nose before trying to slide from Mason’s lap. His hand tightened on my hip and he held me still before kissing my forehead.
“Sweetheart, I know you’re tired and upset and want to rest, but you need to hear this first. Okay?”
I nodded and stared at my hands as Mason kissed my forehead again. “We didn’t buy you from your father for sex. We paid him the money because we believed it was the only way to help you. We are not expecting you to have sex with us. Is that clear?”
I nodded again as a weird trickle of disappointment went through me. What was wrong with me? Did I actually want them to force me to have sex with them until my debt was paid off? Why did the idea of being Mason and Dane’s personal whore suddenly sound so appealing?
“We mean it, Naomi,” Dane said.
“I know,” I said. “Listen, I should go.”
“Go where?” Dane asked.
“I don’t know but I’ll figure it out. I know I handed in my resignation letter this morning, but my father forced me to do it. I didn’t want to resign.”
“You still have your job,” Dane said.
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much. I realize that I owe you a lot of money, but do you think we could work out a payment plan? I can give you a portion of my paycheque every two weeks until it’s paid off.”
I almost laughed out loud at how stupid I sounded but I had no idea what else to tell them. I owed them an astronomical amount of money and I would need the rest of my life to pay it off.
“You’re not paying us back the money,” Mason said.
“What… no, I have to.”
“You don’t.”
“I do,” I insisted. “A hundred grand is a lot of money and -”
“You’re not paying us back and that’s final.” Dane’s voice was perfectly calm, but I could hear the anger in it. I flinched like he had shouted at me. A look of dismay immediately crossed his face and he stood and backed away. Guilt flooded through me but before I could apologize, Mason cupped my face and made me look at him.
“Dane and I don’t want your money, sweetheart.”
“What do you want?” I whispered.
“For you to be happy and safe,” he said. “We want you to stay with us.”
“You want me to live with you?”
“Yes. We have plenty of space. You’ll have your own bedroom and bathroom. Hell, this place is big enough that you never even need to see either of us if you don’t want to. We know you don’t have enough money for an apartment. Live with us, save up some money, and you can go from there. Okay?”
“Why are you doing this?” I said. “Why are you being so nice to me? You don’t even know me.”
Mason brushed his hand over my braid. “You’re a good person, sweetheart. You deserve to have someone be nice to you.”
“I can’t live with two men,” I said.
“Why not?” Dane said.
“Well, because it isn’t proper. My father won’t allow me to -”
“Your father can’t tell you what to do,” Dane said irritably. “You’re a grown woman and can make your own decisions.”
I flinched again, and Dane sighed and rubbed at his forehead. Mason eased me off his lap before standing and pulling me to my feet. “We really do just want to help, Naomi. We promise you do not have to have sex with us.”
I stared silent
ly at him before saying, “What if I want to have sex with you?”
There was a sharp inhale behind me. I turned to see that Dane had inched closer until he was standing directly behind me. I turned bright red. What on earth possessed me to say that? What happened at the office was amazing, but despite what I yelled hysterically at them earlier, I knew they didn’t want me anymore. Why would they? They had a lot of experience and being with a woman who didn’t know the first thing about sex or intimacy wouldn’t interest them. Besides, nice girls didn’t want their first time to be with two men.
I shivered all over when Dane reached out and rubbed his thumb along the line of my jaw. His dark eyes studied my mouth and I immediately parted my lips. He groaned under his breath and Mason said, “Dane, wait.”
Dane ignored him completely. His arm snaked around my waist and he pulled me up against his big body. I stared mutely at him as he rubbed my jawline again.
“You want to be fucked by us, baby?” he rumbled as his other hand cupped my ass and squeezed. “You want my dick in your pussy and Mason’s dick in your ass?”
“Dane!” Mason’s voice held a warning note. Dane made an actual growl when Mason pulled me away from him.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean to, um, be a,” I struggled for the word, “tease.”
“You weren’t,” Mason said. “Don’t worry, it’s fine.”
It didn’t look fine with Dane. In fact, he looked royally pissed off. I pressed against Mason when Dane crossed his arms over his chest and glared at both of us.
“Sweetheart, I’m going to take you to your room now, okay? Unless you’re hungry? We can make you something to eat before -”
“No,” I said, “I’m not hungry. I just – I feel like I need to be by myself for a while. If that’s okay?” I was suddenly overwhelmed and tired and if I spent one more moment with either Mason or Dane, I would either start bawling again or worse - beg them to have sex with me.
“Of course.” Mason took my hand. “Come with me and I’ll show you to your room.”