Chapter 59
CHAPTER 59
NORTH CAROLINA
A dria stood at the top of the entrance stairs, the spotlight cutting through the noise as she addressed the crowd. “Welcome, everyone.”
From her elevated position, she scanned the room. Her eyes lingered on familiar faces and quickly dismissed the unfamiliar. Callen was nowhere to be seen. Under normal circumstances, it would be ridiculous to see him at an auction for his son’s sexual service, but Callen’s actions were routinely ridiculous.
Her stomach twisted, and she forced herself to keep her expression neutral.
“Tonight, you will be presented with not one, but three of my fresh charges.”
Every eye shifted to her.
“You may have heard rumors. All I ask is that you let your own eyes decide what’s true.”
Adria told herself it was for their safety. That this was part of the plan. That what they were doing was strategic. But that didn’t make it feel any less like betrayal.
“Tonight’s attendance is larger than prior auctions. As such, we’ll be doing things a little differently. ”
She paused and gave the room a smirk. “When you are ready, please join me in the ballroom.”
The double doors opened as she approached, revealing a modern cocktail lounge with an opulent chandelier hanging in the center. Black and white high tops were scattered throughout the space. The room dripped in gothic opulence, but it was the far wall that held the party’s true center of gravity.
Three glass pedestals. Three men on display.
Bryson in the center. Kaydon to his right. Seth to his left.
They were magnificent. Silent, still, powerful in their restraint. Their hands behind their heads, bow ties the only scrap of clothing left on them. The glass cases had been her idea. A layer of separation, a breath of safety. She told herself it would make things easier.
A ripple of attention moved through the crowd as guests took them in. Adria watched Bryson closely. Somehow, impossibly, he had shifted from shadowed menace to pliant object. In ten minutes. Maybe less.
“Why are they under glass? We can’t touch?”
The complaint was loud, entitled.
“They’re decorations,” Adria replied smoothly, voice laced with charm. “Don’t worry. We have plenty of time.”
She ran her finger along the curve of Seth’s glass, noting the rigid stillness of his body. He was trying too hard to look unaffected. Adria knew him well enough now to read between the lines. He was anxious.
She gave him a soft smile. He blinked, muscles easing.
Good boy.
Tomorrow, they’d be gone. That thought stabbed sharper than expected.
The black-tinted car would pull away from the estate, and Adria would watch. Even with Jonathan under her thumb and Callen nowhere in sight, the inevitability of their departure hung over her like storm clouds.
She was halfway through her next circuit of the room when Seth’s gaze shifted. His attention snapping sharply to someone behind her.
Adria turned.
It was the redhead. She was stunning, sleek, poised, utterly confident. Adria watched as she glided across the floor like she owned it. Like none of this fazed her. Her gaze flicked over the boys, but there was no hunger in it. Just calculation.
Adria’s spine tingled. Something about the woman itched at the edge of her memory, but Adria couldn’t place it.
Her instincts flared. Not a threat, exactly. But something to watch.
As she made her rounds—polished smiles, careful compliments—her eyes kept darting back to the woman. Eventually, Adria gave up pretending and crossed the room.
“I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Adria,” she said, extending a hand.
The woman clasped her hand with confidence. Her brown eyes scanning Adria like she was reading a file. “Kate. Callie’s cousin. She fell ill and sent me to check out your merchandise.”
“First time?” Adria asked, voice light.
Kate nodded, though her eyes returned to the boys. Her flush was subtle but real.
“It’s hard to find a good match for someone else. Are you sure Callie isn’t well enough to come herself?”
Kate tilted her head. “This is your auction, right?”
Adria nodded.
Kate’s gaze returned to the pedestals. No more pretense this time—she was evaluating. Auditing.
“Any injuries I should know about?” she asked .
Adria blinked. “Of course not.”
Anger surged through her, cold and fast.
“They’ve been well cared for. If your cousin has doubts about my reputation as a Dom, she’s welcome to speak to me directly. And as for the three of them—” Her voice sharpened, each syllable cutting. “They will go nowhere that will injure them. Is that clear?”
A hush fell. A few heads turned. Adria realized she had stepped in close, her body leaning aggressively towards Kate.
Kate merely raised an eyebrow, as if watching her reaction unfold like a case study.
“Protective,” Kate murmured. “Not what I expected.”
Adria forced herself to inhale. Steady. Recenter.
“Yes, well. These days, we have to be.”
Adria didn’t wait for a reply.
Turning on her heel, she weaved through the crowd again, the pounding of her heart louder than the music. The moment she was out of Kate’s eyeline, she exhaled shakily.
She needed to play the part tonight—Domme, hostess, auctioneer. In control. Survival in this world meant she needed to play her roles to perfection.
“Adria.” An older gentleman stopped her mid-step, brows raised in mild confusion.
“I heard they are being sold as a set only?”
Adria swore under her breath, startling him.
“Al, yes, let me clarify that. Excuse me.”
She moved toward the center of the room, her heels clicking across the marble floor.
Clearing her throat, she lifted her chin. “I apologize,” she said, “but it was just brought to my attention that I neglected to mention that tonight’s merchandise will be auctioned off as a set.”
The crowd murmured .
“We have to take all three?” someone called out.
Adria opened her mouth, prepared to strike back, but Kate beat her to it.
“Why? Do you think they’re too much for you?” Kate’s voice cut through. “They are not too much for me.”
It was meant to be helpful. But Adria’s blood simmered at the mental image of the boys on their knees for her.
Keep it together. You planned this.
She forced her voice into something charming and measured. “I assure all of you,” she said, “they will make an excellent addition to any household. They enjoy the company of both males and females.”
A man’s voice rang out. “What about the largest one? Does he need to be restrained?”
Adria’s stomach dipped. Her eyes flicked toward Kaydon, whose slow, wicked grin unfurled like a challenge.
“Why don’t we find out?” she said.
At the clap of her hands, the glass tubes hissed and rose into the ceiling. A collective gasp rippled through the room. For a moment, the crowd looked at the three men as though they were creatures in a dream.
“Who wants to play a game?” Adria asked.
Hands flew into the air.
Eric and the staff began clearing space in front of the pedestals. Adria focused on keeping her voice light, her posture easy, but inside, she felt like the floor was tilting beneath her.
“Each of you,” she explained, “one at a time, will issue a command to a slave. It must be something they could reasonably do while on the pedestal. If they fail, you win them until dinner.”
The game began. Commands were playful, harmless at first. Jump on one foot. Kiss the pedestal. Touch yourself. Easy. Predictable. But Adria knew the crowd. Knew how quickly curiosity could devolve into something else. Something darker.
She kept her expression calm, her mind racing through the choreography she had arranged.
Seth was first. Beth, her plant in the crowd, gave the command: Kiss your neighbor.
He tried, stretching dramatically between the two platforms, making a show of almost catching Bryson’s lips. He fell, just as planned.
Adria released a breath she was holding.
“First winner is Beth,” she announced, handing her a leash and collar.
She reminded herself again: This was for their safety. For survival.
The next guest—a man she didn’t recognize—stepped forward for Kaydon.
“Fly.”
Laughter erupted. Adria’s jaw tightened. She raised her hand to quiet the room.
“It has to be something that is possible,” she said.
The man’s stare drilled into her. His tone changed. “Suck that one’s dick.”
This one Adria couldn’t intervene with, when she had just allowed Beth to request a kiss. Kaydon’s grin increased as he licked his lips seductively. Not one of them took anything seriously.
Tallest of the boys, he took a step back. “Might wanna make room, brother.” And with a swift motion, he leaped from his pedestal to Bryson’s.
The two collided with each other. Bryson teetered on the edge, but Kaydon steadied him. Kaydon knelt down, his face never leaving Bryson’s as he took Bryson’s cock into his mouth. His tongue started on the tip with gentle licks before Kaydon sucked in Bryson’s full length. Earning Kaydon a moan from Bryson .
Adria pressed her legs together, a flush creeping up her neck.
She turned, desperate for distraction—and met Kate’s eyes.
The redhead wasn’t watching the men. She was watching her.
That simple, pointed gaze hit Adria hard.
The cheering swelled as Kaydon returned to his pedestal, triumphant.
“Next,” Adria called out.
It was Kate. Stepping in front of Bryson, the two looked at each other for an extended time. Adria’s heart squeezed.
They knew each other.
“Touch your forehead.” The room erupted again in laughter, but Adria’s stomach sank as Bryson refused to move. He was purposely throwing the game. Dianne was meant to be his partner, not Kate.
There was a whooshing in her ears as she handed the leash and collar to the redhead. Adria tried not to sound petulant as she said to the crowd, “We have another winner.”
Kaydon was supposed to be with Callie, but not wanting to risk another mix up, Adria nodded at Dianne, who was next.
Dianne requested that Kaydon do a handstand. And Adria held her breath, praying that Kaydon would understand the change. Kaydon awkwardly attempted a handstand and fell off the pedestal, earning Dianne a leash.
Only a few hours to go.
She repeated it like a prayer.
This evening was going to kill her.