Hard Bargain: A Virgin Auction Romance

by Haley Pierce

  Tom helped Nicole into the front seat of his pickup, lifting her high before dropping her down, where she bounced lightly on the cushion. Her heels clattered against the side of the truck, and she tickled her fingers against her legs, sizzling with excitement. His hands had been incredibly close to her ass, and it had lurched such energy within her. She longed for him to spank her, to play rough with her body. Would she have the courage to ask for such things when it came time?

  Tom cranked the engine, along with the radio, choosing a country station. It was the very one Nicole had recently begun listening to, backtracking from her Christian country upbringing. She shifted her shoulders and did a slight dance to the jangling tune.

  “Did you grow up listening to country?” she asked him, batting her eyelashes. He swept the pickup from the parking lot and out onto the main street.

  “I did. My daddy was a country man, and he raised a cowboy.”

  “I see that, cowboy1,” she teased him. “You couldn’t hack it in the city?”

  “I don’t think I’d make it a single day,” Tom said, shifting gears and rotating toward the dirt road. “I like the sky too much. It calms me down. It gives me everything I need to live my day. I get up when the sun rises, and then I go to bed just after the sun sets.”

  “No darkness for you?” Nicole asked.

  “It depends on what’s waiting for me in the dark,” he murmured, his eyes glancing toward her. He gave her a nervous smile—one singed with excitement for their future night together. In that moment, Nicole begged her brain to remember to stay focused. Lust wasn’t love. Passion wasn’t commitment. She had to stay strong.

  Tom drove the truck about four miles from downtown, where the forest began to pop up around the river, which ultimately snaked back through town. Nicole had spent many hours walking and thinking along the river, especially when she’d first learned of her mother’s diagnosis. But she hadn’t been to this specific patch of it. She got out of the truck and slipped off her shoes, leaving them collapsed at the side of the truck. She tiptoed toward the water, watching the way it gleamed in the moonlight.

  “It’s gorgeous,” she whispered.

  Tom stepped up beside her. His hand hung mere inches from hers, and she longed to take it, to cling to his fingers.

  “I discovered this particular view a few years ago,” Tom said. “It has this perfect patch over here, where you can see the lights glowing from town, along with the line of trees.”

  Nicole felt herself lean into the grass, shifting her weight against the tree behind her and shoving her feet forward. She remembered that when she’d been 17, her high school boyfriend had taken her to a similar place to try to have sex with her. When she’d refused, she’d had to shove him off and race home. She’d been screaming, weeping with the pain of being wanted for no more than her body.

  But so far, Tom had hardly touched her. He sat with her, picking some stones from the ground and skipping them across the smooth, mirror-like glass. “I have this feeling that if I just think about things for long enough out here, I’ll figure out all my problems. But no amount of thinking seems to truly solve any problems. You know?”

  Nicole realized he’d articulated precisely what she’d been going through since the death of her mother and the discovery of her father’s affair. She swallowed, bowing her head slightly. “Sometimes, I go in constant circles, just thinking about things. And it doesn’t solve anything. It just creates constant problems. And then, I end up selling my virginity online. What is that about?” she teased lightly, nudging him with her elbow.

  “To be fair, I think sometimes taking huge risks is essential in life,” Tom said. “If you hadn’t put that bidding up, you never would have shown your father how serious you are about what he did to you and your mother. And if I hadn’t bid on you, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you today.” He didn’t move to look at her. Rather, he stared straight ahead, continuing to skip rocks. The soft splashes met Nicole’s ears easily, and she felt a deep level of calm.

  Nicole couldn’t speak for a while after that. She felt overcome by Tom’s sincerity, certain that she hadn’t met another man with these insights. She swallowed, tracing his strong, muscular arms, the cut of his jaw, his rugged, curly hair with her eyes. She longed to reach out and touch him. She longed to feel his supple lips over hers.

  But no. She knew her feelings were edging toward romance. She bucked back her head, unclogging her brain. Romance was absolutely out of the question, when all Tom had done was bid to sleep with her. He was just like any other man, including her father: he yearned for sex, above all else. And the moment he was done with her, he would drop her.

  Nicole fashioned light chatter and giggles into the next hour or so, as they sat beside the river. But she ensured that she kept her heart far back in her chest, protecting it from harm. The gleam of his eyes and the brightness of his smile made her stomach churn. But she had to be strong.

  8

  Tom couldn’t tell if Nicole sensed it, as well: the warmth and electricity between them. Something seemed to spark the moment he touched her, helping her from her seat on the ground by the river. She looked in his eyes for only a moment, almost as if she acknowledged the passion between them as well. And then, she swiftly looked away. Was he crazy? Tom wondered. Perhaps he was making things up in his mind. It wouldn’t be the first time.

  But he soon drifted to light banter, leading her back from the river. It was nearly 11 at night, at this point, and edging past what was “appropriate” for this, their first “date.” If he could even call it a first date in his mind.

  “I’m glad you liked my little spot,” he told her, lifting her up into the front seat. “It really means something that you do.”

  Nicole turned her eyes toward her hands, spreading her fingers. Tom could sense she didn’t know what to say. He cranked the engine, his tongue tapping lightly at the top of his mouth. He turned the music down on the radio, realizing that the party was over. Perhaps he could ask her out for a second dinner later that week? His mind passed to thoughts of the money, and he felt panicked, knowing he didn’t yet have the funds with him. He’d need to withdraw them from the bank.

  “About the money—" he began. He paused for a moment, eyeing the glow of the town as they rushed toward it. “I’ll have it to you—"

  “Don’t worry about it quite yet,” Nicole whispered, shaking her head. “I’m sorry I’m being so quiet. It really isn’t anything you did. I’m just in my head all the time.”

  “Sure. You’ve been through a lot,” Tom murmured. He tried to calm his beating heart and fall into their easy rapport once more. “I did have a good time tonight, by the way. It’s not often I take women out. In fact, I can’t remember the last time.” He did remember. It had been the last night he and Mandy had been together, just two days before she’d run away. He remembered she’d been silent, almost cryptic with her words. But he hadn’t paid enough attention.

  “I loved it,” Nicole whispered. “Really. I know we’ll spend a bit of time together at least once more, given you’ve won me. But this was something really important, before that happens for good.”

  Tom didn’t answer at first. He drove easily, his tires cranking over the rocks on the road. He imagined taking Nicole back to his house and crashing into her with his pulsing, veinous cock; he imagined her crying out, her voice echoing across the fields. He had the money; he would pay for that kind of night. But it felt too gruesome to proposition her so swiftly. She was a delicate person, endearing a great deal of pain.

  But as he drove, placing his hand on the seat between them, Nicole suddenly slipped her palm over his fingers. That same electricity passed through them once more, a reminder that their bodies were more than just spinning balls of thoughts and anxieties. They were sexual bodies, as well, with aching desires to hold and fuck one another. Tom felt his pecker jolt up against his tight pant leg. He had half a mind to swerve the truck back around and yank them toward his farmhouse
.

  “You’re staying at Chrissy’s?” he asked finally, his voice coming from somewhere beneath his tongue. “That’s where I’m taking you, right?”

  “Yes,” she said, startled. “Thanks for taking me so far out of your way.”

  “It’s the gentleman in me,” Tom laughed. He still hadn’t mentioned her hand upon his, but he turned his hand over and laced his fingers through hers, uniting them. It was far too intimate of a moment to discuss out loud. Tom felt his heart bounding up against his rib cage, alerting him that this was what he’d been waiting for.

  He turned the truck on the road just south of Main Street, screeching the brakes to remain at the designated 10 mph. “The cops get really testy around here, don’t you think?” he said, trying to find casual words. “A few friends I know went 13 miles per hour around here and ended up with a 50-dollar ticket. Ridiculous.”

  “I suppose 50 dollars wouldn’t be too much of a struggle for you?” Nicole giggled. She held onto his hand tightly, in that moment, alerting him that she wasn’t judging him harshly for his money, or what he did with it. It seemed as though he could read her mind, without inquiring. This hadn’t been anything he could do with Mandy. She’d been a complete and utter mystery. And she still was, all those miles away.

  “It’s the blue house down a bit more,” Nicole offered then, sidetracking the conversation. “I know she must still be awake. She’s dying to learn how this went.”

  Tom sniffed at the thought of Nicole filling Chrissy in on every intimate, minute detail of her time with him. He imagined them sitting in short shorts, squealing in front of the television, flaunting their curves beneath the ceiling fan. He shuddered with desire at the thought.

  But as he approached Chrissy’s house, he realized something was amiss. Chrissy’s normal vehicle was parked in the front, along with another, larger red truck. At first, he assumed the truck was just belonging to Chrissy’s boyfriend, or a side-fling who’d just stopped by. But he sensed dread churning from Nicole, and he stabbed his foot on the brake. “What is it?” he asked, his voice harsh. “What’s going on?”

  But Nicole’s eyes were large orbs, filled with panic. She placed her hand over her mouth, shaking. Tom shot his eyes toward the driveway, then, where he saw Nicole’s father, the pastor, shoot out from his front seat and begin to stomp toward them. His eyes burned with hellfire. One large fist chunked into the other, intimidating him.

  “Fuck,” Tom whispered. “Pastor Michael Pinder.”

  “Shit, I haven’t seen him in weeks. He’s just been calling non-stop.” She swallowed. “I think someone must have told him I was out with you. So many people saw us at the roadhouse—"

  “I shouldn’t have suggested the fucking roadhouse,” Tom whispered. “Should I drive over him? Should I drive away?”

  But Nicole couldn’t move or speak anymore. They watched as her father trudged closer, menacing, almost like a villain in a horror movie. All at once, Chrissy erupted from the front door of her house, a gun positioned on her side. She was screaming at Nicole’s father to get off her property. Her voice throttled through the glass of Tom’s truck.

  “GET THE FUCK OFF OF MY LAWN, MICHAEL,” Chrissy screamed. “You’ve been warned. Get off, and you won’t be shot.”

  Michael turned toward her and sneered. As she stepped closer, Michael, beloved pastor, and Nicole’s father, reared back and spit on the ground in complete disrespect. “I don’t give a damn about what you say, Chrissy. You led my daughter to sin. Don’t think I don’t know.”

  Tom heard whimpering beside him. He spun his eyes toward Nicole and realized that she was weeping, full-force. Tears were streaming down her face like rain, and her fingers quaked in his hand. He longed to leap out of the vehicle and smash his strong fist into her father’s face.

  “Oh my god,” Nicole whispered. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

  Chrissy propped her gun up and pointed it directly toward Nicole’s father, then. They had a kind of standoff, then, each staring at each other with evil and anger in their eyes. Finally, Michael lifted his hands into the air, as if he were saying a prayer to God. “Just let me say my piece to my daughter, won’t you, Chrissy? After all we’ve been through?”

  Chrissy didn’t budge. Suspecting he had her pinned in fear and indecision, Michael the pastor turned back toward Tom’s truck and took heavy footfalls toward them. He made direct eye contact with Tom, and he sneered. “Well, well. If it isn’t farmer Tom. I heard about you,” he said. His voice spurt through the cracks in the windows. It was menacing. “I heard what you’re planning to do with my daughter, there. I heard how much money you spent on her. And you know what I think about you? I think you’re a sick pig. I think you’re Satan. Your sins are the lowest of the low. For the word of God tells us—"

  But Tom blasted him with his bright lights, then. Nicole’s father fell back, sputtering, blinking wildly. He waved his arms wildly, turning back toward the house. Chrissy still had him pinned with her gun, her eyes sharp. She waved toward Tom and Nicole, telling them it was safe to come into the house.

  Tom skirted back, squealing his truck wheels. Nicole was weeping loudly beside him, squeezing his leg as he pushed two hands onto the steering wheel for complete control. He rolled out onto the road, listening as the pastor continued to rail him with biblical insults. “YOU ARE SINNING, SON! DEVIL, COME BACK WITH MY DAUGHTER!”

  But Tom drove quickly, skirting around the corner and back onto Main Street, listening to the heaving sobs of the girl beside him. Anger pummeled through him, and his eyes danced with light and energy.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, his voice gruff.

  Nicole nodded meekly. Her face was drawn, and her voice came in a peep. “I’m sorry about that,” she whispered. “I’ve never seen him act like that. Not in all the years I’ve known him. He used to be such a calm, endearing person. A father who led me to God…”

  “He’s going insane. He lost his entire family,” Tom reasoned, spinning his wheels onto the country road and feeling the gravel beneath them. He wasn’t sure where he was taking them. The moonlight gleamed against the red paint of the truck.

  “I know that. I lost my mother. And maybe that’s why I’m going insane, as well,” she whispered.

  Tom immediately felt horrible for bringing it up. He bowed his head, decreasing the speed of the truck, and halted at the side of the road, turning toward her. He placed his hand tentatively on her shoulder, gazing into her eyes. She was shivering. ‘I’m sorry for saying that,” he murmured. “Really. I’m just shocked and jumpy with adrenaline. If you want, I can take you right back to Chrissy’s, run him over, and let you have a good night’s sleep. What do you think?”

  Nicole looked at him for a moment, biting her lip. It seemed that several million years passed before she spoke. “Actually, I was thinking I could sleep at your place. If that’s all right with you?”

  She looked at him like a wounded animal, aching for someone to care for her. And Tom responded to it instantly, feeling his groin shove up against this inside of his jeans, the veins pumping and pulsing with insane sexual desire. But he swallowed, knowing that she wasn’t inquiring for sexual reasons. Despite their contract, she was terrified. And she just yearned for a place to sleep.

  He drove the rest of the way to the farmhouse in silence, realizing that he’d already taken them half the way there, anyway. He pumped into the driveway, giving Nicole a final, friendly squeeze on the thigh and igniting with pleasure at the smoothness of her skin.

  “Ready?” he asked her.

  But she’d already pushed out the door and begun to walk toward the entrance, flaunting her ass with that sexy swing. Tom lifted his keys from his pocket and shoved them into the door, ensuring that he didn’t look at her too closely. He felt sweat glimmer across his forehead.

  Once inside, Tom turned toward her, noting that Nicole looked at him expectantly, with broad, animal eyes. “Can I get you something to drink?” he aske
d, scratching the back of his neck. “I guess all I have is Bud, as usual.”

  She took a step forward. He could smell her skin, and it made his cock ache. “I’ll grab those, then,” he said, not waiting for her answer. He shoved himself toward the refrigerator, suddenly frightened. And then he stomped the two beers on the counter, clipping their tops off. They clinked their bottles together, and Tom allowed himself to look her in the eye once more. He felt he would explode from the tension between them.

  “Do you want to watch something?” she finally asked him. Her lips were supple around her beer bottle, and he longed to feel those big, red lips around the tip of his cock.

  He closed his eyes, shoving these thoughts far down. He led her toward the living room and tapped on the television before sitting beside her, feeling the warmth of her. He swallowed, lifting his beer, as she leaned into him. He couldn’t comprehend the words on the television. He assumed they were just speaking Chinese.

  “I love it out here,” Nicole whispered then. “All the way out in the country. It’s so calming, don’t you think? To know you’re the only one around for miles and miles.”

  “Some would call it terrifying,” Tom admitted. “Or lonely.”

  She turned toward him, making heavy eye contact once more. Her breasts were gleaming in the soft light of the television and nearly popping from her low dress. His eyes gazed downward, making him long to drop his face into the pillow of them, to feel the way they bounced with his hands.

  “You’re not lonely, now,” she whispered, then. And she leaned toward him and cupped his lower lip with both of hers. He closed his eyes immediately, diving into the pleasure of it, and folding his own top lip over hers. They paused like that for a moment, taking in the taste of one another. And then he felt her tongue slip into his mouth and slide over his tongue. His rod was rock hard and pulsing within his jeans, and he longed for her touch upon it.