Ruined

by EM BROWN

  “Thanks for letting me borrow some clothes,” she said after a moment of silence.

  “If you need anything, let me know.”

  “Thank you.”

  Looking at the stool at the end of the bar, she wondered if she should sit down. She wanted to launch into a number of questions but didn’t want to appear too nosy.

  He pulled the stool out for her. Gingerly, she sat down. He remained standing, his posture impeccable. It was too bad such a hot-looking guy was likely a lech, taking advantage of women who needed money.

  She took a sip of the chardonnay and was immediately taken by its brightness and apple-blossom aroma.

  “I usually prefer Italian whites, but the Russian River Valley wines have grown on me,” Ben said as he studied the wine’s coloring.

  “Are you a wine aficionado?”

  “No. Like you, I’m not much of a drinker. Sake is usually my alcohol of choice if I feel like drinking.”

  She was glad to hear he didn’t drink much and hoped that meant he wouldn’t try to get her drunk. Silence followed as she wondered if she could ask to use his cellphone. She wanted to text or call Sam so badly.

  “Something wrong?”

  Realizing she had been fiddling with the stem of the wineglass, she met his gaze. She had to ask, and if there were repercussions, then she would know he was an asshole just like Jake.

  “I was wondering...if I could use your cellphone?”

  “You didn’t bring yours?”

  “I think the auction staff might have taken it.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “I don’t know, but both Claire and I had phones, and now they’re gone.”

  He pulled out his cell, unlocked it, and handed it to her. She nearly jumped for joy. Should she call or text Sam? Since she couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t listen in on her conversation, texting would be safer. She started typing as quickly as she could:

  Sam, it’s Kimani. Was bid on and taken to remote lakeside cabin. Trinity County, I think. My cell was taken. I’m okay at present. Will text again.

  After pressing send, she breathed a sigh of relief. At least now Sam might have a way of tracking her down if he didn’t hear from her.

  “Done?”

  “Yes, thanks,” she replied, handing Ben back his phone, then realized she should have deleted the text.

  “So tell me about yourself,” Ben said. “All I know about you is that you play ball, don’t drink much, and have a communications degree from Stanford.”

  He wanted to know about her? At least he realized she was a human and not just an object for sex.

  “Not much to tell,” she answered. “You seem like a more interesting person.”

  He didn’t take the bait. “I’m not that interesting.”

  She shook her head. “Typical Asian modesty.”

  He raised his brows, and she immediately regretted her words.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend,” she apologized. “I meant it as a compliment. It’s just that my friends at school, the Asian ones, they never bragged. My sophomore roommate was from Singapore, and every time I paid her a compliment, she would talk about how terrible she was at something. It got so I was better off criticizing her than complimenting her.”

  For the first time, she thought she detected a smile tugging at one corner of his lips. It made him look irresistible, and she had to remind herself that he just might be a better form of asshole than Jake.

  “While modesty is valued in my father’s culture, it’s not universal,” Ben said. “The Chinese word for China is ‘Middle Kingdom’ because China believes it is the country between heaven and earth.”

  “Are you from China?” she asked. He had a hint of an accent, but it wasn’t necessarily Eastern.

  “I was born there, but my father sent me to boarding school in England when I was in my teens.”

  “Where’d you go to college, before Stanford that is?”

  “Howard University.”

  She did a double take. “Seriously? You went to Howard?”

  He smiled to himself. “To be honest, I did it to piss off my dad. He wanted me to go to Harvard. So now that I’ve told you something about me, it’s your turn.”

  His stare pinned her in place. She took a gulp of wine. Somehow, they had fallen into easy conversation, almost as if they were on a date.

  “What—what do you want to know?”

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-five.”

  “Are you a virgin?”

  “Say what?”

  “I don’t have the benefit of the questionnaire you filled out for the auction.”

  “Oh.”

  Here it goes. The sex.

  “That’s kind of a personal question,” she stalled.

  “This isn’t a job interview. Or a date.”

  Right. What happens if he wanted a virgin? Would he toss her back to Jake if she told the truth? What sick fuck only wanted to do it with virgins?

  “Do you prefer virgins?” she asked.

  “Are you looking to be disciplined?”

  Her mouth went dry.

  “Look, this’ll go a lot easier if you just answer my questions.”

  “No, I’m not a virgin.”

  He looked relieved. “I understand you’re into BDSM.”

  She hesitated, wondering what the best answer was. On the one hand, she didn’t want to engage in sex, let alone BDSM sex with a stranger. On the other hand, she didn’t want to risk being returned to Jake if that’s what Ben was looking for. “It depends...”

  “On what?”

  “On the guy.”

  “Do you have any hard limits?”

  Everything is off limits to perverts who prefer to pay for sex. But she couldn’t blow her cover, and in truth, her mind drew a blank, even though one of the Scarlet Auction questionnaires she had signed had listed a bunch of kinks. If Ben was a halfway normal super-sexy guy, she would have been open to trying just about anything. Still, there was something about him that messed with the logical part of her brain, and so she answered stupidly.

  “Maybe.”

  “You can’t think of any off the top of your head?”

  “Like I said, it depends on the guy and how comfortable I am.”

  She felt a little better with that statement, like she had salvaged some of her IQ.

  “What would you like your safety word to be?”

  The question stumped her. She had never had a safety word before because she had never delved into any hardcore stuff. She and one of her ex-boyfriends had played around with rope, spanking, and a crop, but otherwise, most of the sex she’d had was vanilla.

  “What do you usually use?” Ben prodded.

  “I don’t...it’s been a while, so...”

  “Mercy. Your safety word is mercy.”

  Feeling a lump in her throat, she only nodded. Jesus, she had better get the info she needed and get out of here. Sooner rather than later.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “So you got yourself a pretty cute chick,” Jason said to Ben as they stood in the living room while Derek mixed drinks at the bar and the women chatted amongst themselves out on the patio. He passed Ben a joint.

  Feeling more relaxed now that he had changed into a gray t-shirt and pair of jeans, Ben took a hit and returned it. “Calling women ‘chicks’ is such a nineties thing. Maybe an eighties thing.”

  “Hey, you used to talk like that, too.”

  “Yeah, used to.”

  “Anyway, I’m glad you changed your mind. Like I said, I would’ve considered sharing Lisa, but it’s better you got your own fucktoy.”

  Ben glanced at Lisa, whose stick figure reminded him of a pre-pubescent girl. His gaze went to Montana—or Kimani, rather. He had discovered her name when he’d opened his phone and saw the text she had sent. Even though she looked just as hot in his shirt and sweatpants as any of the other three barely dressed women, a part of him couldn’t wait to see her nak
ed again. She didn’t have model-perfect proportions, but she possessed a confidence in her body that was as sexy as anything.

  Derek handed out the drinks, which Kimani declined.

  “My chef is away because his wife is in labor,” Jake announced, “so I sent Vince to get pizza. Tomorrow, one of you sluts is responsible for making lunch and dinner.”

  “I don’t cook,” Lisa replied.

  “Neither do I,” Ryan echoed. “I can maybe make Ramen if you have any around.”

  “Well, you’re gonna have to learn to cook or suffer the consequences,” Jake said. “I’m gonna lay down some ground rules here. This is how it works in my cabin. You sluts do whatever the fuck we tell you. You sleep downstairs. You call us Master—each and every fucking one of us. And if you’re good sluts, you’ll get rewarded. If not, you get punished.”

  Kimani’s jaw tightened.

  “So live it up while you can tonight. Tomorrow, we get serious,” Jake finished. He wrapped his arm around Claire, who was wearing a skirt and top borrowed from Ryan. “Right, slut?”

  “Yes, Master,” she answered.

  Lisa draped an arm over Jason’s shoulder. “Can’t wait for the fun to begin. Master.”

  After getting two glasses of water, Ben walked over to Kimani, who stood by the porch railing. Against the backdrop of the sun setting behind the lake, with the sky colored by vibrant orange and pink hues, she looked like something out of a romance flick.

  Accepting the water, she seemed a little surprised. “Thank you. You’re not going to try to get me drunk?”

  “The way I play, it’s best the sub retain all her faculties,” he said.

  Her lashes gave a quick flutter, and she drank the water as if it were alcohol she needed to fortify her nerves.

  “Are you suggesting you play...hard?” she asked.

  “I’ve never read that Fifty Shades book, but my sister told me all about it. Let’s just say that Christian Grey sounds like a tame little puppy.”

  “You get off on inflicting pain on women?”

  He returned a cool stare. There was heat in her tone. If she was open to BDSM, why did she ask such a question?

  “If she does, then yes,” he replied.

  “If she doesn’t, then you wouldn’t?”

  “That would be logical.”

  “So, if a woman didn’t want to do a particular thing, you wouldn’t make her?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “It’s just that your buddy Jake said we’re supposed to do whatever the fuck you tell us.”

  “He’s not my buddy. But I thought that’s what you signed up for?”

  “What if I changed my mind?”

  Shit. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “Changed your mind about what?”

  She took a deeper breath. “About sex with a stranger.”

  “Do you have a problem with that?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Sex with a stranger isn’t something new, is it?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I take it it’s not new for you?”

  He held her judgmental stare. “I asked you first.”

  “I may have had a one-night stand or two—back in college. When I was a horny eighteen-year-old.”

  “Are you saying you’re not horny anymore?”

  She bristled. “Sex just isn’t as big a deal anymore.”

  “That’s too bad.”

  She bristled even more. “I’m busy now. I’ve got a career and rent and student loans to pay.”

  “Luckily, you’ve got this week to make up for your abstinence.”

  “I didn’t say I was a monk and haven’t had any sex since college.”

  “Good to know.”

  She shook her curls in indignation. It was almost too cute.

  “Your turn,” she snapped. “You’ve had a lot of one-night stands with strangers?”

  “That wasn’t the original question, but yes, I’ve had one-night stands with strangers. I don’t know if your definition of ‘a lot’ is the same as mine. But, like you, I’m busy. One-night stands are easier. I’m not looking for a relationship right now. I take it you aren’t either.”

  “Of course not! Especially...”

  “Especially what?”

  “Especially with guys who pay for sex. I mean, it’s obvious men who pay for sex aren’t looking for a relationship—not the healthy, loving sort, anyway. This is just a business transaction, right?”

  “You sound like you have a problem with that.”

  “I do—I mean, I don’t.”

  “You said that if a guy has a right to buy sex, a woman should have the right to sell it.”

  “Sure, but that’s just to be fair. Something about it doesn’t feel quite right.”

  “That’s because, throughout history, men have defined morality. And it suited our purpose to have women value chastity.”

  She stared at him with her mouth agape. She had such lush lips, lips that he wanted to crush beneath his.

  “Did you grow up in California?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I take it you’re pro-choice.”

  “Damn right.”

  “Your body, your choice.”

  “Right, you’ve said that before.”

  “Shouldn’t you get to do with your body whatever you want?” he pressed.

  “Yes, but...sex has been used for so long as a weapon to keep women down, to cheapen and objectify us. You’re suggesting prostitution is somehow empowering?”

  He took a step closer to her. “Shed the expectations of a patriarchal society for a minute and think about what you want, what you like. Do you like sex?”

  Damn it. Her lips were still parted. And he was close enough to pull her to his body.

  “S-Sure,” she said. “When I choose to have it. And if he’s—if the guy is attentive and knows what he’s doing.”

  He lowered his voice. “Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

  She seemed to swallow with difficulty. “How can I trust you? I barely know you.”

  “You have your safety word.”

  “And you’ll honor it?”

  He was being drawn into her vortex, eager to be close enough to feel her breath, but her doubt pulled him out. “Of course.”

  “So what if I said I wasn’t up to doing anything at all?”

  “At all? Like you want to leave and go home?”

  “Yeah.”

  He rubbed his chin, where his five o’clock shadow was coming in. He felt like she was testing him. “Then you should leave and go home.”

  “And you’d let me go?”

  He gave a wry look. “You think I’d force you to stay? That would be kidnapping.”

  Was she into kidnapping fantasies? Is that why she was asking? Or was she really having second thoughts?

  “I feel like I’ve been kidnapped. I wasn’t told I was coming here, and I don’t know how to get back home. I kind of doubt I can get Uber out here. I don’t even know where ‘here’ is.”

  He let out a long breath. “If you need a ride back, my jet is at the Weaverville Airport. It can fly you to SFO.”

  Her eyes lit up. “You’re serious? You’d let me go? What about the money you paid to Jake? I’m not sure he’d want to refund any of it.”

  “That’s my problem. I’ll figure it out.”

  She was silent in thought. When she met his gaze, she seemed less guarded. “You weren’t at the Scarlet Auction. Why?”

  “You asked me that already.”

  “You didn’t supply an answer.”

  He went through his memory and realized she was right. “I had better things to do with my time.”

  “Like what?”

  “That’s a nosy question.”

  “What made you change your mind?”

  “About what?”

  “About bidding...on me.”

  He finished off his water. “Isn’t it obvious?”

  She shook her head. He tucked a curl that th
e breeze had blown into her face back behind her ear. The whites of her eyes were so bright, and despite the fact that the sun had set, her eyes glimmered. He cupped her jaw and drew her to him till his mouth was near her ear. His tone was low and hushed.

  “I want to fuck you. I want to do you till you can’t walk for weeks, torment you with rapture that will have you sobbing. In short, I’m going to devastate you.”

  Read the whole story...

  OTHER WORKS BY EM BROWN

  His For A Week Series

  Bought

  Ravaged

  Tormented

  Devastated

  Ruined

  Erotic Contemporary Short Stories

  Damien

  And Damien Makes Four

  Cavern of Pleasure Series

  Mastering the Marchioness

  Conquering the Countess

  Binding the Baroness

  Lord Barclay’s Seduction

  Red Chrysanthemum Stories

  Master vs. Mistress

  Master vs. Mistress: The Challenge Continues

  Seducing the Master

  Taking the Temptress

  Master vs. Temptress: The Final Submission

  A Wedding Night Submission

  Punishing Miss Primrose, Parts I – XX

  The Submission of Lady Pennington

  Chateau Debauchery Series

  Submitting to the Rake

  Submitting to Lord Rockwell

  Submitting to His Lordship

  Submitting to the Baron Serial

  Submitting to the Marquess

  Submitting for Christmas

  Submitting for Christmas: The Epilogue

  Other Stories

  Claiming a Pirate

  A Wicked Sea

  A More Wicked Sea

  Force My Hand

  AUDIOBOOKS