by Mia Carson
“Five-hundred-thousand,” Sam said firmly as he stood.
The room erupted in hushed whispers and clapping. Marcus whistled as the man at the front of the room rang a bell. “Five-hundred-thousand, sold to the anxious man in the black leather.”
“Holy shit, man,” Marcus said in awe as Sam reclaimed his seat. “You spent the most here.”
“Yeah, well, I want her,” he said stiffly, though he wasn’t going to tell Marcus the real reason he bid on a woman, a real live human. Excitement coursed through his body, but it wasn’t only to have sex with her. He wanted to get to know the woman with the sad grey eyes and trembling hands.
The rest of the auction dragged by as he waited anxiously for the chance to meet Harley.
“That ends the auction for this evening,” the woman said through the speaker. “Those of you with winning numbers will please make your payments to the man in front of you and then come to the stage to collect your winnings.”
“Well, that means you. I guess I’ll go check out the rest of the club,” Marcus said as he stood.
“You’re not going to stay with me?”
“Nope. You have an escort for the rest of the evening. Let me know how it goes.” He winked and sauntered out the door with the rest of the bidders who had lost.
Sam followed the line of men and women to the man at the podium. As each bidder paid, they were motioned through a door by a middle-aged woman wearing a silk gown that clung to her curves and barely covered her breasts.
“Ah, my high-roller for the evening,” the man said and gave Sam a brief round of applause as he approached the podium. “A fine specimen you’ve chosen for your entertainment this evening.”
Sam stiffened at the use of the man’s words and worry gnawed at him. “Right. Money transfer?”
“That is the preferred method, and do not worry, all transactions are private.”
Once the five-hundred-thousand was transferred to the club, Sam stepped aside and braced himself for whatever came next. What if this woman hated him for buying her? She put herself in this situation, remember? She wanted to be auctioned off.
He argued with himself quietly as he walked along the stage to the end where the woman in the blue-and-black lingerie stood. Her gloves were gone and she picked at her nails, muttering under her breath. Sam caught several curses and considered simply walking away, not caring if he’d wasted the half a million, but she lifted her head and their gazes locked.
“Hi,” she said brusquely.
“Hi,” he replied. “I…uh, I’m your…” He trailed off lamely. He watched her eyes darken, and to his surprise, she grinned and lowered herself to the edge of the stage, sitting so she was eye level with him.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered, her voice shaking, “this is my first time with this shit, too. Harley,” she said and held out her hand.
Sam took it and enjoyed the warmth radiating from her body. “Sam. Pleasure to meet you.”
“Sam… I always liked that name,” she murmured. “Do you mind helping a girl off the stage? I’m not exactly used to heels.”
He laughed quietly with her as he took her hands and steadied her as she hopped down. Her foot slipped and he caught her quickly around the waist to keep her from falling. “So, your first time doing an auction and my first time here. What do you say we walk around for a bit and look around?”
“Are there drinks involved in this walking around?” she asked as he held out his arm. She slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow, and her nervous energy flowed into him. He rested his hand gently over hers and leaned down.
“I’m nervous, too, if that makes you feel any better,” he whispered.
“But you bid on me.”
“Let’s just say a friend dragged me here, and when you stepped out on that stage…I’m not exactly sure what was going through my head,” he confessed as they walked towards the door.
“Huh, funny. Do you mind if I ask how much you paid for the pleasure of a nervous woman for the night?” she asked teasingly. Sam cleared his throat and muttered the number. She stiffened beside him and her mouth fell open. “Beg your pardon?”
“I’m not lying, so tonight’s on me. How about those drinks?” Sam guided them into the corridor and followed the stream of other bidders with their winning ladies on their arms. Many of them went straight towards a hall with a sign over it that read ‘Lovers’ Lane.’ He assumed that was where the rooms were Marcus had told him about. Bar…bar first. He needed to get a drink in him, and from the way she had a death grip on his arm, she needed one even more.
As they sidled up to the bar, Sam debated if he would thank Marcus for this night or strangle him on the way home.
Chapter 4
The champagne tickled Harley’s nose, but it helped take the edge off. Sam was an attractive man, and the more champagne she drank, the more details she picked up about the way he walked, his strong stance, and his long, black hair she wanted to run her fingers through. His hazel eyes said he was not just some rich guy here for a night of fun. There were stories in those eyes, a life of loss in those depths, and she wished they’d met under different circumstances. One where they weren’t going to have to have sex by the end of the night because he’d bought her virginity on a whim.
She couldn’t get over how much he’d spent on her. Somewhere inside her mind, a little voice cheered that someone thought she was worth half a million bucks, but it was quickly overshadowed by the fact that he bought her to have sex with her. They left the bar after her third glass of champagne and wandered down a hall. A group of men passed them, whispering quietly to each other, and Harley paused to watch. Unlike the rest of the patrons in the bar, these men were not there to admire the naked men and women. Their eyes darted around wildly and one carried a small briefcase in his hand. When he turned, she swore she caught the outline of a gun under his shirt before he moved to a door farther down the hall. A large man stood near it and he opened it wide enough for the men to slip inside. Harley squinted and spotted Ricky in the room, standing near a table with bricks of something white before the door closed sharply. Drugs. She knew it. Ricky was running drugs out of this club and had gotten her sister involved in his shit.
“Harley? You okay?” Sam asked beside her.
She shook her head and placed a grin on her face. “Yeah, I’m great,” she lied. From the look on Sam’s nervous face, he didn’t realize what else was going on in this club either. She hoped he didn’t. He was growing on her. They walked aimlessly down another hall. She prayed they weren’t walking into the open-spaced area she had seen the night before. Watching someone be touched by so many people did something to her insides she wasn’t ready for.
“Oh, dear Lord,” she gasped when they saw something else entirely.
It wasn’t the open room, but this was just as bad—in a good way. The hall they entered was lined with windows peering into candlelit rooms littered with silks and a bed or couches for the occupants to rest on. Not that any of them were resting. Moans and sharp cries of pleasure echoed around them, and Harley’s thighs clamped tightly together as they paused near the first window. She tried to look away because she had been a good kid growing up. She’d never watched porn or read those cheesy articles for women in Cosmo. The moving bodies on the other side of the glass enthralled her until it was all she saw and looking away was no longer an option.
The naked woman was splayed out on the bed, and the man standing at the edge of the bed held one of her legs by the ankle. He hoisted it up into the air and thrust hard into her. Harley’s mouth fell open as the woman’s back arched and she grabbed her breasts, squeezing them hard as the man moved with a fury. Every muscle in his back and ass flexed as he moved like a beast in heat. Harley gasped and her fingers brushed her lips, wanting suddenly to know what that would feel like, to have someone pound so hard into her body. The man pulled out and rolled the woman onto her stomach. He climbed up on the bed behind her, grabbed her hair, and thrust i
nside her again even harder and faster than before. An ache grew in Harley’s lower belly, and she bit her lip as the woman cried out, her voice raw with passion. With Harley leading the way, she and Sam moved to the next window. This time, she felt his body stiffen beside hers and glanced at his face. He was just as transfixed as she was by what lay on the other side of the glass.
The two women took turns sucking the man’s cock as he palmed one between her legs and kissed the other when her mouth was not otherwise occupied. Their naked flesh gleamed with sweat, and Harley pictured herself as one of those women instead of simply standing there watching. One of the women deep-throated the man, and Sam cursed under his breath before tugging Harley gently towards the next window.
This one, though, was worse, and Harley’s mouth fell open as her hand clenched at her stomach. She prayed no one noticed how soaked her thong was and stifled a strangled moan of her own as she watched the woman on the other side of the glass. She sucked one man’s cock hard and another rode her from behind while something else appeared to be sticking out of her ass. Harley swallowed hard, wondering exactly what it would be like to have all three of her openings filled. The woman moaned loudly around the man’s shaft in her mouth, and her face scrunched, making it look like she thoroughly enjoyed herself. Harley’s breasts felt heavy and her nipples tightened painfully beneath the corset as she watched the woman writhe in pleasure. The men came only a few seconds later, spilling into her at both ends. She might hate the situation that had brought her here, but some deep, dark part of her longed to be touched like that, to be driven to pleasure by a man who only wanted to hear her scream with ecstasy. The next few windows were about the same, but when they reached one on the opposite side of the hall, Harley gazed in confused admiration at the woman on the couch.
She was alone in the room. Her fingers pinched and rolled her nipple while her other slipped down her body. Her legs spread wide for full view of everyone watching and she slid her fingers deep within her body.
“You all right?” Sam asked roughly.
“Huh? Yeah…yeah, I’m fine,” she replied when she realized she gasped in shock at the strong throbbing between her legs. “Just…you know, watching someone masturbate…” she whispered hotly.
He let out a strangled laugh. “Yeah. Uh…so, how about another drink?”
“Drink. Right, a drink would be good.”
They reached the bar quickly, and she ordered a whiskey. He nodded in approval and did the same. The second the glass was in her hand, Harley drank it down and tapped her nails on the glass, trying to understand the intense and very raw needs clawing through her body. She knew which room was hers for the night, and she slammed her glass down on the bar and grabbed Sam’s arm. Without a word, she pulled him through the crowd and down the hall named ‘Lovers’ Lane.’ She searched the doors for the right number, wondering if this would be as good as she hoped it would, or if, by the end of it, she would hate Sam. When the gold number seven caught her eyes, she opened it and shoved Sam inside, closing and locking the door behind her.
“Sorry,” she said as she turned around breathless. “I…ah, needed to get away from the crowd.” She swallowed hard as he finished his whiskey and set the glass down on the table.
“I don’t blame you,” he said, his deep voice brushing over her suddenly sensitive skin. “I was never a big fan of crowds myself.”
Nodding, she pushed herself away from the door, very aware of their bodies in this silk-covered room with the large bed centered in the middle of it. The reason for her being in this room with a complete stranger vanished as she let her eyes wander from Sam’s shoulder-length hair to his broad chest and shoulders, down to his waist and the bulge clearly visible in his leather pants. Instead of it making her nervous, her lips parted and she licked them in anticipation of what this night could bring her. She trusted Sam. She didn’t even know the man, but the look in his eyes and the way he was as nervous as she was inspired trust.
“You wear those pants well,” she commented.
“You wear that corset well,” he pointed out. “Very well, actually.” He took a step closer and so did she, leaving a gap between them. “I’ve never seen anything like that—down that hall, I mean. Though I’ve never seen anyone like you before either,” he added quietly, his neck reddening.
“Me neither. I meant about the hall…and you too.” The ache throbbed fiercely to life in her soaked, aching folds as he shrugged out of his leather jacket and tossed it aside. She rubbed her thighs together to stem the heat sparking to life, but it worsened.
Sam’s eyes caught the movement and his jaw clenched. He looked like he wanted to say something, but the words were lost. She understood the feeling completely. There were so many things she wanted to ask him, but all she pictured was that woman on the bed as the man spread her legs and buried himself within her. She’d never had that. She had fantasized about it, but the right man had never come along. There was still so much she didn’t know about this man, but she knew without a doubt that if she had sex with him, she would never forget it.
Unsure what to do first, she let her instinct guide her and closed the distance between them. She cupped his face gently in her hands as he frowned down at her, his eyes searching hers for guidance. Harley thought of everything this mysterious man had already done for her just being the winning bidder and she kissed him.
Their lips met in a tentative touch, but the fire that exploded in her body from the contact consumed her. He grunted as his arm snaked around her waist and dragged her against his hard body. The kiss deepened, and he quickly took control. She pressed herself into him, and when his tongue flicked out along her lip, she opened her mouth. His arm tensed around her body, and he maneuvered them backwards towards a wall until her back pressed firmly against it. She couldn’t get enough of him and never wanted this kiss with a stranger to end. His hands slid to her waist and grabbed her hips hard as he ground his lower half against hers. His mouth shifted to her neck, and she gasped for air while he kissed a burning trail down to her shoulder. His hair was softer than she thought it would be, and she ran her hands through it repeatedly as his lips neared the mounds of her breasts.
As suddenly as the kiss started, Sam stopped and pulled back with a shake of his head.
“What? What’s wrong?” she asked, confused at the action as her mind tried to catch up. “Sam?”
“Sorry. I just…damn.”
She watched his face closely, wondering what was running through his mind. “Good damn or bad damn?”
“Good, I think. That kiss was insane. I’ve never felt so much heat from one touch.” His fingers trailed down her cheek, and Harley shivered with need. Her eyes slipped closed as he caressed her neck with his fingertips, gliding down to her chest and across her heavy breasts. “It’s almost like I know you.”
Her eyes opened and she tilted her head. “You know, I felt the same thing earlier,” she admitted. “I thought it was nerves messing with me.”
His eyes glimmering with hunger, he kissed the pulse at her neck and she grabbed the back of his head. His other hand cupped her bare ass cheek, and she arched her back, wanting to be as close to him as possible. The stubble from his face scratched the tender flesh of her breasts, tickling her. A breathy laugh escaped her mouth, and he lifted his face, grinning at her.
“This feels so right and wrong at the same time,” he muttered.
“Wrong? You don’t want to do this?” she asked, confused. Panic crept slowly into her mind. “You paid for this, but I guess if you’re not up for it…” Pushing sex on someone was not her plan for the night, but she had to convince him at some point he wanted to have sex. She needed him to take her so she would have proof for Ricky.
“No,” he said quickly. “I meant it feels right, but this situation seems wrong. Damn, I can’t think straight right now.” He released his hold on her, and she lamented the absence of his solid body and the heat that came with it. He ran his hand over his face
and laughed.
Harley wasn’t sure what to do, but watching him laugh made her smile, and soon, she was laughing with him. “Are you saying you don’t want to do this with me?”
“I do. God, do I want to, but not like this.”
“Are you trying to tell me you want to date me?” she asked, her laughter dying in her throat as a soft smile played across her face. She hadn’t had a boyfriend since high school. She’d never dated anyone steady after that, and this guy who’d bought her for her virginity didn’t want to have sex with her because he wanted to date her.
He shrugged one massive shoulder. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I am. I think seeing that out there got me riled up, but now that I’m with you…can we talk for a while? Hang out and enjoy each other’s company?”
Harley knew that at some point, she would have to explain her need for proof, but she nodded slowly and walked over to the couch to sit down. If he wanted to talk, they would talk. “I think I’d like that, actually.” She patted the seat beside her, and Sam joined her. “So, you said your friend dragged you here tonight. He sounds like a good friend, I think.”
He barked a laugh and rested his head in his hand. “I wasn’t so sure earlier, but I got a chance to meet you, so the evening’s not a total waste.”