Chapter 32
32
K evin King is going to kill me.
It was the only coherent thought in my head as I found him in the front row and faltered mid-step at the unmasked rage on his face. The muscles in his neck twitched, and his breathing made his chest pump aggressively, but he continued sitting there without saying a word.
Of course he was in the front row like he’d wanted to be close enough to see the pain in my expression as I was forced to auction something precious to me. If Reaper hadn’t intervened, King would’ve made me stand on this stage and model it. Now he had the best seat in the house to watch his former virgin bride sully herself.
No one said a word. It had been quiet before, but this was different. It was the silence before an atomic bomb went off.
Soon enough, everyone started talking all at once, and Reaper used the noise to say against my ear, “You could’ve warned me you were coming out naked, little brat.” His gloved hand stroked over my hip, and even amid my anxiety, my body responded. “Now my dick is hard and I’ve got a whole auction to get through…”
“Would you like some assistance with that?” I murmured.
His chuckle burned away the knots of fear in my stomach with tendrils of lust. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you, darling? If I fucked you right here on this stage while they all watched. We’ll save that for when we get home…not everyone here deserves to see.”
Reaper had only to tilt his head to silence the crowd again, then he smiled at them indulgently. “I’d always heard Kevin King was a philanthropist, but I never knew he was this generous, sharing his perfectly pure treasure with all of us. Well…” He circled me slowly. “You can all look.” He swept a hand up the curve of my waist to cup my breast. “But only one gets to touch.”
The room shifted again as people went from staring at me to staring at King; they were watching for his reaction, wondering why he’d allow this. Almost any way he played it would make him look weak.
He crossed an ankle over his knee and smirked like this was all planned, like he was treating them to something special from his wine cellar. His posture was for all of them. The murderous rage in his eyes, an expression of undiluted hatred…that was reserved for me.
I could only feel triumph that I’d landed a blow that upset him this much. I’d expected to feel terror and humiliation, and to be sure, those feelings simmered beneath the surface. But the feeling at the forefront, the one that thundered through me? It was power—vicious, burn-the-fucking-world-down-around-you power.
Someone a few rows back shot to their feet, and I realized with a start that it was my father. Shame licked at my insides, but I extinguished it with a hateful glare that rivaled the look of loathing on his face.
Does this make you uncomfortable, Daddy? It has nothing on the suffering you sent me to endure.
I leaned into Reaper’s touch, parting my lips to gasp, arching my back and silently begging for more with every desperate inhale. My father stormed from the room.
I’d never felt such tension in a crowd before. The urgent whispers and impatient shuffling. It was a dam about to break as soon as he opened the bidding.
How was Reaper going to control this?
Reaper’s mouth against my ear barely moved as he growled. “Tap me and all of this stops.” Loud enough for everyone to hear, he drawled, “Kneel, my darling.”
I held his hand as I lowered myself into a kneeling position, tucking my feet under me on the wooden floor.
“Spread your knees,” Reaper commanded. I blushed as he pushed my knees open with his boot, giving everyone in the room a view of my pussy. He rubbed it with the top of his boot, and my cheeks heated when it came away with an unmistakable shine. “Darling, you’re soaked . Does letting all of these people see your lush little pussy turn you on?”
They all expected me to cower and blush, but I looked defiantly at King and loudly said, “Maybe it does…”
King nodded and said something to the man next to him, who grinned and nodded eagerly. Had they just made some kind of deal? Was King going to find a way to make sure I didn’t go to someone else? Or that I went to someone horrifying?
Reaper watched the interaction as well and strolled casually over to the stool on King’s side of the stage, leaving me in the center, exposed and alone.
Not truly alone. I trusted him.
“Shall we start the bidding?” he purred. Reaper tilted his head. “I’ll open it by personally bidding. One dollar.”
I blinked in surprise, wondering if it was a joke, but stunned murmurs filled the room.
He ’ s serious.
King jumped up from his seat and called out, “ He can’t bid in the auction!”
There was some muttering, but no one backed him up.
“Do you really think you’re in a position to tell me what I can or can’t do, Kevin?”
King shut his mouth. He shut his fucking mouth and sat the fuck down like a scolded child.
Reaper’s smile was slow torture. “One dollar. The prize of the Bryson family, the wife of Mr. Kevin King, going for the low, low price of one dollar. Do I hear two.”
It wasn’t a question. Not the way he said it. He was toying with everyone, showing them just how much power he had even in this room full of the world’s most notorious people.
“Do I hear two?” he said again deliberately, without breaking eye contact with King.
The crowd shifted uncomfortably, clearly on the verge of mutiny, but it was obvious none of them were going to do a thing about it. No one was willing to defy him.
High in a back corner, a man partially obscured in shadow looked at Reaper defiantly. He fingered his paddle like he might raise it just to make a point. My heart raced nervously.
“The Mad Wolf is getting ideas.” Reaper’s voice still had its playful edge, but there was something viciously pointed in the way he reminded the man, “Too bad he plans to gobble up another tasty morsel.”
Reaper looked around, daring someone to cross him. When no one said a word, he sauntered over to the podium to bang a gavel. “Sold to the handsome devil onstage! Looks like Kevin King’s wife is mine for the night. Don’t worry, Kevin…I’ll treat her right . You can collect her tomorrow at my party, after the hunt.”
It was the most erotic display of power I’d ever seen.
“You were fucking magnificent, darling,” Reaper purred as soon as he’d walked me backstage. I tugged his head down for a kiss, savoring the feel of his tongue against my mouth, wondering if there was time for more before the next auction item.
Someone cleared their throat.
Ophelia and Styx stood there grinning.
Styx offered me Reaper’s jacket, the one I’d left with her at the party. “You’re my hero.”
Ophelia bit her fist as I tugged the jacket on. “Your husband’s face was…chef’s-kiss perfection. I still have lady wood from it.”
Reaper gave her a look of distaste, then focused on me even though someone was waving him back to the stage. “They’ll take you to one of the auction rooms where winners can enjoy their spoils. You’ll be safe there, but I’ll be late. Don’t wait up for me.”
It turned out late meant early. Reaper staggered back into the room the next morning, waking me from a fitful sleep.
“When a notorious sex club owner bought a night with me, this wasn’t exactly how I envisioned spending it,” I mumbled.
He gave me a tired smile. “I’m surprised you overcame your brat tendencies and didn’t push the panic button just to get my attention.”
“Thought about it.”
He kissed me deeply, but when he pulled back, I realized with a jolt of fear that he had blood on his hands.
“Not mine,” he said reassuringly, heading into the bathroom to start the shower. “Not King’s either unfortunately.”
I gave him some space, and he reemerged from the bathroom minutes later, looking utterly drained. “You weren’t the only brat running amok last night. A mob princess reneged on the sale of her virginity—decided to offer it up to her husband instead.” His eye roll made his feelings on the rights of husbands abundantly clear. “There was an attack from people who hadn’t been invited and shouldn’t have been able to get past my security. An item was stolen from the fucking vault, and two of my security people were injured in the midst of this collective chaos.”
I lifted the covers and patted the bed. “C’mere.”
He climbed in with me and rested his head on my lap. “Styx, Ophelia, and Grim have gone to bed. Az will wake me if anything else comes up.”
I ran my fingers through his damp hair, and his eyes started to close.
“Mmm…it was a bad night, but coming back to this makes it all better.”
I kissed his forehead. “It’s about fucking time you let someone take care of you too.”
“You thinking of claiming that job?” he murmured sleepily.
“Already have, darling. You’re as much mine as I’m yours. Now get some sleep. You promised to take me to a party later.”
He huffed a laugh, then his breathing deepened and he fell asleep.
I stared down at him, overwhelmed by my feelings. Everything had been worth it if we got to be together. I‘d do whatever it took to secure a future with him.