Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 130048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
“One hundred thousand!” a man with a bushy moustache shouted. “I’ll pay one hundred thousand for part ownership.”
Henri’s mouth fell open. “The fuck? This is an auction? I thought we were taking care of—”
“Your uncomfortable case of blue balls?” Victor snickered. “Yes, we’re getting to that.” Waving his arm at the gathered men, he said, “Here’s what’s going to happen. Those interested in part-owning Ily will place their bids. The highest bid wins. I’m afraid to inform you, Ward, but the winner will naturally have to claim his prize. So…whoever pays the most will fuck her first.” He raised his arms in false surrender. “Now, before you get all pissy with me, you still have my word she’s yours for the weekend. Just because that first fuck is taken doesn’t mean you can’t have your fill. However...” His brows came down, shadowing his eyes. “Once the money clears from whoever buys her ownership stake, she will be theirs every night.”
“What’s the percentage of ownership?” Henri snapped.
“Seeing as I’m feeling gracious, let’s say…seventy-thirty. In my favour, of course.”
“Fifty-fifty.” Henri stiffened. “And I get to take her with me when I leave…providing I’m approved as a member.”
“Well, that’s asking far too much.” Victor’s temper appeared. “For your cheek, it’s now eighty-twenty. And that’s my final offer.” His smile was sly and snakish. “She’s still yours until tomorrow, Henri, regardless of this outcome.” His blue eyes shot to the crowd. “No one can say I’m not a man of my word.”
“You’re an honourable gent!” Someone chuckled.
“No one can deny it.” Another raised his glass.
Victor bowed.
Henri muttered a curse under his breath.
“What did you say?” Victor snapped upright.
Gritting his teeth, Henri snarled, “Nothing. I said nothing. Apart from…five hundred thousand.”
My heart stopped.
Once again, he put a monetary figure on my body and life.
Just how much money does he have?
Cold snow settled on my shoulders.
You idiot, he doesn’t have any money.
He’s a public servant. He doesn’t have anywhere near that sort of cash.
Oh God…even if he bid and won, he wouldn’t be able to keep up the ruse.
Not unless he somehow transferred the promised funds to Victor.
How much longer until back-up arrives?
Surely, there was protocol to these things? Even if Victor’s scrambler had stopped Henri sending out a message, his team should have a Plan B, right? Something to fall back on in case they didn’t hear from him?
My fingertips tingled with lack of blood as I struggled in my hooked manacles. The urge to run ached in my legs, desperate to get far, far away.
Pressure built in my temples. The brightness of the sun made me feel faint. The lack of food and drink, the nonexistent sleep and safety…it all swirled and settled like suffocating fog.
“Six hundred thousand!” a tall man shouted. An exotic girl bowed at his feet.
Henri shot him a scowl.
Victor clapped a hand against his tumbler. “Excellent. Great bids, my friends. Just to make the deal that little bit sweeter…whoever wins can fuck her immediately. Right here. Right now.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Why do you think she’s strung up like a sacrifice?” Crossing the bridge and marching up the steps toward me, he ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “Tied to a maypole, standing on wood. We could burn you like a witch. Bleed you like a hog. Or…fuck you like the succubus you are.” He pressed a doting kiss on my cheek.
It soaked into my system like venom, killing me from the inside out.
Swaying into me, Victor stroked my hair, his eyes almost wistful. “You truly are a stunning little thing, Ily. Tell me…what sort of name is that? Short for something? A nickname, perhaps?”
The urge to spit in his face overwhelmed me.
But then, I caught Henri’s shutdown stare over Victor’s shoulder, and everything he’d asked of me in the library returned.
Don’t fight.
Whatever you do…do not fight.
So…even though it cost me my dignity, even though I ignored every instinct, I didn’t.
I bowed my chin.
Became tame.
Played broken.
“Seven hundred thousand!”
I gasped as my eyes ripped to Roland’s beady ones.
No.
Literally anyone but that sadistic prick.
“Eight hundred,” Henri growled, stomping onto the bridge.
“Not another step. You stay where you are.” Victor moved to my side. “No one is permitted up here until we’ve found our champion. Tell me, boys. Who has the biggest hard-on for this delicious little creature? Does anyone else have deeper pockets than my new friend here?” He raised an eyebrow, scanning the jumble of men.
“Eight hundred and fifty thou!” a Middle Eastern man yelled.
“Getting closer.” Victor nodded solemnly. Flicking me a look, he sighed. “And what do you think, Ily? Is that a good figure or too low? Who would you pick to fuck you?”
I stiffened as his fingers stretched out—icy with dew from his ice-cube stuffed drink—and cupped my bare breast.
My eyes snapped closed.
The coldness of his touch felt like fire.