The Auction

by Kitty Thomas

I ran across the field, scrambled over the fence, and left the city’s official boundaries. I was out there, the place where no one was supposed to go or explore. Off in the distance, maybe a mile away, was a rocky mountainside. If I could get to that, I would be able to hide in nooks and crannies too small for the massive beast.

  Even if I managed that, however, there was still the matter of food, and staying warm, and general survival and loneliness and . . .

  My mind shut off the constant whirring of everything below the current issue of running. The situation suddenly felt even more ominous; the sun was no longer on me. At first I thought a cloud had covered it, but it wasn’t a cloud. The creature was flying over me, his massive wingspan causing a dark shadow to fall. No matter how fast I moved, I couldn’t get out of his shadow.

  Then there was a roar, and I was on the ground. I clawed at the dirt, trying to get away from him as his hands gripped my waist, holding on hard. His wings were still out, making him appear even larger and more terrifying. His breath came hard, and somehow I knew it wasn’t from fatigue, but excitement from the hunt.

  I stopped struggling because it was pointless. If he didn’t kill me, I would find a way out. No way was I going to live with this monster, assuming, of course, that I lived.

  Then he broke the silence between us. “I knew I picked the right one.”

  Those words started a faint tremble that moved along my arms and into the rest of my body. What did that mean?

  “I can’t go with you,” I said. My voice managed to sound less hysterical than I’d expected.

  “You’re already with me. We already left.”

  Semantics.

  He was warm, warmer than people. I didn’t know what his species’ core body temperature was, but getting cold wasn’t going to be an issue with him. I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the images that suddenly assailed me. It was wrong on so many levels—I couldn’t count that high.

  He removed one of his hands from around my waist. Without thinking, my fingers moved to trace over the fleshy part of my hip, to feel the indentations left by his claws. It had been a hard enough grip to leave a mark, but not hard enough to break skin.

  “How do you speak my language so well?” I asked.

  He made a sound that may have been a chuckle but sounded like a growl. “Your people have been here a century. We’ve allowed your civilization and even aided its formation and growth. You think we can’t pick up on your rather crude speech patterns? You are our experiment and our entertainment. We are your gods. Of course we can speak your language.”

  I was offended that he thought he was smarter than me or better than me. Than us. These creatures lived in caves. Of course we were smarter and better than them. It wasn’t even a question.

  “What do you intend to do with me?”

  In answer, he allowed his claw to trace lightly around one of my breasts, then he rolled me to my back, keeping me there with one hand, while the other traced downward, stopping just above my pubic bone. A whoosh of air escaped my lips in a sigh that should have been a scream.

  “I think you know the answer. And don’t bother telling me how disgusted you are. My kind has a better sense of smell than yours. I could scent your need on the air when our eyes met.”

  That didn’t mean I actually wanted to be naked with him or do any of the myriad things we would do once I was. I tried again not to think about what might be in his pants.

  His gaze traveled the length of my body. “You’re filthy.”

  “You really know how to turn a girl on,” I quipped. Being a smartass for two more minutes was easier than admitting defeat. And if I gave in to the screeching fear howling in my head, I wouldn’t have the mental cognition to form a new plan to escape him.

  The growl happened again. “You shouldn’t roll in the dirt so much. We’re going to stand, and you aren’t going to fight me or run again. Do you understand?”

  My eyes met his. “I will fight you, and I will run. And unless you kill me, some day I will escape. Count on it.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not sure whether I find you stupid or endearing.”

  I didn’t bother resisting when he picked me up because I didn’t have the energy left, and the field was too open. I needed to wait until there were places to hide where he couldn’t reach me. A moment later, we were airborne. A few minutes after that, we were at an opening in the side of the mountain that I’d been running toward. The irony that I’d been running headlong at his dwelling almost made me laugh.

  The inside of his dwelling felt like a place someone could live in comfort. It was more technologically advanced than I’d expected, and it made me wonder how such creatures could manipulate technology with those claws. As if in answer to my question, his claws retracted, which admittedly made his fingers look a little odd. I tried not to stare. Those large, strange hands were going to be on me, and weird-looking or not, I’d rather they be on me without the claws engaged. His wings also went back to their resting place. When he turned, I almost couldn’t tell he had wings.

  With the wings and claws put away, I could pretend he was just a larger-than-average man. No monsters. No dragons. Just a trick of the light.

  Another creature stepped out from a different part of the cave. Whereas the one who had bought me had dark red, almost brown, skin and a black mane of hair, this one had blond hair with skin of greenish blue. His eyes were red instead of orange.

  He leaned casually against the carved-out doorway. “Why didn’t you buy two?”

  Having another woman with me would be comforting, and I felt both guilty and excited over the prospect.

  “This was the only one who appeared to have enough fight in her to remain interesting. And she ran, which complicated things.” The other one’s eyes twinkled at that. “I’ll visit the next auction in three months if you like.”

  “No, I’ll go. I don’t need you to pick my mate for me.” He pushed off the wall and moved toward me. I tried to back away, but the red one blocked my retreat.

  I must have been in some kind of shock, because it had just occurred to me that they were speaking my language. They had their own, and yet they’d been speaking so I could understand them. A moment later, they were clicking and hissing and gesturing in their language. It was so alien from anything I’d ever heard or seen that I knew even if they made the attempt to teach me, I’d never learn it. Maybe they were smarter. The machines and buttons and strange technology seemed to indicate as much.

  The greenish-blue dragon took my arm and led me toward the door he’d entered through. I turned to the red one, but he’d already left. I could hear his wings in the wind.

  I tried to pull away, suddenly feeling on display. “What’s going on?” There was panic in my voice. It wasn’t as if I felt safe with the other dragon, but I’d had a few more minutes to get used to him.

  “He’s loaning you to me while he gets food.”

  He pushed me through a narrow area that opened out into a den-like, circular room. It was a bedroom—his bedroom. The bed was a large, round, elevated platform upon which a soft, thick cushion of the same size rested. Several blankets were rolled up and tied with cords on the floor.

  I felt my stomach drop. If the other one was out getting food and I was being loaned for that period of time, I was about to have all my questions about dragon genitalia answered. But not without a fight. My energy and determination returned now that I had a new and different adversary. When he turned away, I ran from the bedroom, through the narrow hall, and back into the main living area. There was another doorway that I guessed led to the other guy’s bedroom. I ignored it in favor of the main entrance.

  The mouth of the cave stood open with no door. I stepped out and went into a free fall, the wind zipping past and burning my face as I plummeted to what was almost certain to be my own death. A moment later an arm hooked around me and we flew back to the dragon lair.

  When we were safely inside, he said, “Now you see why I’m n
ot concerned with you running. Go ahead, run. Fling yourself off the edge of the cliff if you like. He’ll just go buy another one. Either come with me back to my quarters, or stay out here and await punishment.”

  He disappeared down the hallway, and I made a face in his direction. I didn’t like the sound of punishment, but I wasn’t going to voluntarily go in there with him, either. I knew what he intended to do with me, and though neither of them were grotesque––in a strange way, they were hot––I couldn’t bring myself to obey even though I knew it would be the smart thing.

  I should be in there seducing him, taking the one type of power I still possessed instead of resisting and having to play the game at a disadvantage. But I couldn’t bring myself to. Blow jobs with normal human men behind the learning center had been one thing. This was so far outside my experience that I felt like a virgin again.

  Why couldn’t he drag me, kicking and screaming, chasing me down and tackling me like the red one had?

  Instead of following him, I crawled back over to the entrance and looked down. It was high, but there were landings along the way. But how to get down in one piece? And then where? These creatures—or at least their kind—had killed my parents and others who had strayed outside the protected boundaries of the city. I had no illusions they wouldn’t do the same to me when they got bored. I was probably a food group to them.

  “He is not as patient as I am. Better to take your chances with me.”

  I turned from my position scoping out exit strategies to find the blue one standing a few feet away. I swallowed convulsively. He’d removed his pants, and now he stood naked. In a lot of ways, he was like people. In other ways, very different. He was broader, had more developed muscles, and was a color that didn’t occur in my kind, but he wasn’t horrific. I ignored the tightening of my stomach. There was no way I was going to allow myself to be physically attracted to someone who was such an unnatural color. Or that had wings. And claws. Not to mention the teeth he was letting show for my benefit. I conveniently ignored the fact that I’d had a similar reaction to the red one while on the auction block.

  Finally, I allowed my eyes to go where I hadn’t let them travel yet. It was no stranger than any of the many cocks I’d had before. There were no barbs. Thank God. But size was an issue. Some of the guys I’d grown up around had crassly referred to their member as their pole. Such a description was laughable and a testament to how over-inflated their egos were. But the dragon, yes, he could get away with such a descriptor, and no woman would giggle at him. More likely she’d run screaming.

  My gaze traveled back to his face to see the sharp teeth fully displayed in a smile. I wasn’t sure if the smile was menace or garden-variety male pride, but I wished like hell I’d better blended with the other girls at the auction and avoided this fate altogether.

  He extended a hand. “Come.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t.”

  His eyes held mine captive. “I need to be inside you,” he said softly.

  The space between my legs throbbed to life. Certain phrases tripped my switch, and that phrase was one of them, even from an alien being, apparently. The idea of him needing to be inside me. As if I were some kind of sustenance for him.

  I backed away, careful of the cave entrance. If I fell again, I wasn’t sure he’d waste the energy to come swooping to my rescue. I found myself pressed against the wall in the kitchen. He didn’t move closer. The idea of punishment had already left my mind.

  Until the red one came back.

  He entered the cave and put a sack of food on the table. I didn’t know if he’d stolen it from our people or if they had an entire civilization that saw to food preparation as well. I’d expected him to fly in and throw a carcass in the middle of the floor. He looked between me and the blue one. And then the hisses and clicks and gesturing started again. It got heated as growls were thrown into the mix.

  Finally the red one turned his gaze on me. He growled and moved forward, gripping my wrist hard and leading me down the unexplored hallway toward his den. The anger radiating off him was so terrifying I wanted nothing more than to be back with the blue one again.

  When we reached the room, he flung me to the ground and advanced. “Why didn’t you go with my brother?” His voice came out a snarl.

  What was I supposed to say to that? I just looked at the ground

  “Answer me!”

  His shout pissed me off and suddenly the intensity of my anger matched his own. “What do you mean why didn’t I go with him? Why didn’t I just go and rip off my clothes and throw myself at the strange alien guy with wings and a cock too big for me? Because I’m not crazy?”

  “It’s not too big for you. I know you can take it.”

  I put my hands over my ears and squeezed my eyes shut because something in his voice was turning me on, and I knew that wasn’t the appropriate response. These were monsters that were going to kill me.

  He moved toward me and I scrambled away. “Stay away from me. You killed my parents.”

  He raised a brow. “I’ve killed no one.”

  “Then another of your kind did.”

  “And what would my kind want with your kind, other than the reason you’ve been brought here?”

  “Food?” My voice was small and unsure when I said it because it seemed they weren’t hurting for food, and I really didn’t know his culture well enough to judge. Being offensive and racist wouldn’t win me any mercy.

  He laughed that terrible laugh. “I don’t think so. Your kind would be far too gamey for our taste. If your parents were killed in the wild by a creature, it was probably the mambose. They fly, but they’re smaller than us. They hunt in packs and have no intelligence to speak of. They’re common animals, little better than your kind. But they only attack when people are alone. They won’t go into cities.”

  I opened and shut my mouth several times like a fish. I desperately wanted to verbally spar, but he was sitting in a chair now, his claws out and clicking in an impatient manner on the table beside him. It was the eeriest sound I’d ever heard, even more than the clicks they used as part of their language.

  “Undress.”

  I stood frozen, unable to look away from the open doorway. There wasn’t a single door that closed inside their dwelling, so the urge to flee, no matter how stupid, was strong.

  “Go ahead. See how much worse it gets for you.” He stood then, as if prepared to run me down if necessary.

  “Please . . .” I said, the tears streaming down my face.

  He just stared at me, like I was a curiosity. Like he’d never seen tears before. Maybe his kind didn’t have tear ducts. When you really thought about it, crying was a rather bizarre thing for any creature to be capable of. What purpose did it serve other than revealing too much?

  He moved a few steps closer to me, until he was right inside my personal space. His claws receded with a little snick that made me jump. But his eyes hadn’t moved from my face where the tears were sliding down. The pad of his thumb swiped the moisture off my cheek. He looked at it a moment, curious, then licked his thumb.

  “Salty. What do you call this?”

  “Tears.”

  “Tears,” he repeated as if it was a word that hadn’t made it into his language lessons.

  “I thought you said you knew about my kind. You know the language. How can you not know about crying?”

  “We lurked near men, mostly. Men don’t do this. Is it a response only women can do?”

  “Men can do it. They just usually don’t.”

  He seemed to consider that for a moment. “What makes it happen?”

  “Fear. Sadness. Some people cry when they’re angry.” The strangeness of the situation had caused my crying to stop. I felt like an experiment, like he might start making notes, which would be better than any of the alternatives.

  “Why did you stop? I want to see more of these tears. I like them.”

  I didn’t know what to think or say to that. Eve
rything just kind of stopped, my brain too overloaded with fear and the sense of bizarreness to do or process anything else. Then he spoke again.

  “Why are you still dressed?”

  Take control of the situation, Belle. Don’t wait for everything to come to you. If you seduce him, you still have the power. The self-delusional mental talk got my hands moving to the straps of the dress. I managed to still the shaking enough to let them fall off my shoulders, and then the dress fell in a whoosh.

  He tilted his head to the side, perplexed by the slip I wore, as if he didn’t expect more than one layer of clothing—nor could he determine the purpose of such. Sure they were smarter than us. If they couldn’t grasp layers and tears, my money was on my own species’ intelligence.

  “Take off the rest,” he said, his eyes drinking me in, greedy to see what a human female looked like fully bare.

  When the slip joined the dress on the floor, he walked several circles around me, touching and poking and prodding. Fascinated. I tried to stop the flutter in my stomach at the way he looked at me. I’d never been looked at so intensely before. Not by any man. Not even while Stephen Thurman had been coming in my mouth.

  “Go lie on your stomach on the bed.” He must have seen the fear in my eyes, because he added: “I’m not going to fuck you. I’m going to punish you. My brother will fuck you first. That is our way. We share our mates.”

  The situation moved into sharper focus. I was to be the plaything of two alien beings much bigger and badder than me, trapped in their mountainside cave. Would they fuck me together or just separately? Were both of them that big? Were their tastes exotic? Weird? What exactly would I be subjected to here?

  A single tear rolled down my cheek, and he smiled.

  “Please don’t hurt me.”

  “You should have thought about that before you disobeyed.”

  I’d expected him to hit me, but instead, he held me down on the bed, and then his claw was pressed against my back. I cried out at the burning sensation as my skin broke apart.

  “Please, stop, you’re killing me.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic. I am not killing you.”