Chapter 2
Jolene
My Christmas Cherry Auction dress makes me feel like a celebrity, even with the hem unfinished. I emerge from Starla's bathroom, and the seamstress circles me.
Starla's busy with her eggnog recipe, and Bellamie is focused on the Krampus-themed charm bracelets she's making for a fundraiser.
I throw my arms out to the side and bend a knee, presenting myself. "All right, let's get this thing dialed in. In exactly one week, this dress is going to help me reel in my reverse harem."
The seamstress tugs the fabric around my breasts, her fingers quick and sure. Starla peeks over with her spoon and bowl in hand. "That dress is fire. Those guys will make it rain for you."
Bellamie looks up, both hands on the bracelet she's assembling. "You'll get won for sure. But what if I go on stage and nobody bites?"
I raise a finger to my lips, shushing her from across the room. "It'll work. It always does."
She fidgets with a charm. "How do you find so much confidence?"
"Confidence? Nah, just moving from one adventure to the next."
Starla laughs. "Yeah, like getting spanked by Krampus tonight, then in a week, auctioning your virginity to a pack of billionaires who'll breed you and marry you. Possibly in that order."
"No breeding for me… the implant… remember?"
"How could I forget your auction prep? Get an implant, quit your job, let the auction work its magic."
"Yep, and enjoy my final week of freedom. Well, this type of freedom. Once I snag my harem of billionaires, I'll unlock a whole new kind."
"So what do you actually want tonight? You can't hook up with a Krampus for real?"
"I have no intention of unmasking any of those beasts. The fantasy is all in the costume and the roleplay. I'm the naughty girl. He gets to punish me."
Bellamie shivers. "That's a hard no for me, being tied up and literally paraded in front of everyone."
"Or spanked." I wink at her.
"Worse!"
"Says the one who wants to be bred after the auction. I want time to enjoy my life of luxury. More than a few months with my guys before my body starts getting all..." A shudder runs through me.
Starla says, "Pregnant. It's totally natural."
"I'm not the mothering type yet. Someday I'll have kids… maybe. Should I tell the auction people to announce that as part of winning me—no guarantee of kids. I'm not done figuring out who I am. And who I'll be when I'm loaded? That's the real adventure."
Bellamie says, "I'll need you to be the same rowdy, vivacious friend who drags me into crazy shit."
"I can be the cool aunt."
The dress fitting is going great, making the auction seem so much more real. And then a really freaking hot older dude walks in like he owns the place–-straight off a romance novel cover. I hate to admit a ridiculous bias, but he’s far too attractive for this to be a home invasion.
But when he strides straight to Starla and pins her against the counter, I’m ready to spring into action. No home invader, no matter how sexy, is going to hurt my friend… except she knows him. Why hasn’t she mentioned him?
It’s all happening so fast, I can barely process it. Why is she letting him lick drips of eggnog off of her?
I have so many questions. But for now my fitting wraps up, and Starla wants to try her dress on next, no doubt so this guy can see, but we’re not supposed to tell anyone we’re in the auction ahead of time.
She must know he’ll keep quiet.
“What are you wearing, young lady?” Starla’s dad’s voice bellows from the front door. “I thought you were entering the eggnog contest, not the…” He gestures wildly.
“It's not for tonight.” Starla’s response gives me a chuckle but fails to address her father’s concern.
Her stepbrother, Ryker, walks in behind her dad. Both stare, wide-eyed, but the lust in Ryker’s eyes is completely different than the disapproval in her father’s.
“Where do you plan on wearing it?” Her dad asks the question she can’t answer.
“It’s for a Christmas thing.”
“Thing?” He won’t accept her answer.
She stands a little taller. “It’s a Christmas charity auction.”
That’s dangerously close to— Apparently her dad’s heard of it, because he’s furious. She spills the whole deal, arguing with her dad and brother about appropriateness, but it’s the other guy’s reaction, the one who was licking eggnog off of her, that really surprises me.
He says, “There’s no way my best friend’s daughter is going to sell her virginity.”
Surely she would have told us if she had a thing with him. Now is not the time to focus on that. Her dad grounded her from going to the auction. Who grounds their twenty-two-year-old daughter?
The rest of the dress fitting is marred by the argument. I bet this is more than the seamstress bargained for.
I wait until we’re in the car on the way to the Krampusnacht festival to help Starla brainstorm how to sneak out so she can get to the auction. And even though she swears there’s nothing between her and her dad’s best friend, Bellamie and I are certain he’d like to change that.
Too bad he missed his chance. As of Friday, we’ll all have new lives with the guys who win us in the auction.
The parade kicks off, and I scream so loud I scare the little girl next to us when the Krampuses come into sight—towering figures of fur, curling horns, and rusty sleigh bells clanging on chains.
They stalk the route, growling at onlookers, tossing little burlap sacks labeled "COAL" to squealing children.
Waving wildly, I vie for their attention. One Krampus locks eyes with me—or so I think. It's hard to tell with the mask. He stomps toward our spot on the curb.
Excitement surges.
He veers at the last second, zeroing in on Bellamie. He's choosing her. No! It's all wrong. She doesn't want this.
But when he turns her around so he can spank her, I catch a glint of something in her eyes. She finally gets it—the fantasy.
Krampus grabs her wrists, draping a leather binding over them, pausing, and giving her a chance to back out. I can't breathe, I'm so ecstatic that she gets this opportunity. Will she take it?
I don't even care if I get a Krampus. It would mean so much more to me for her to break free from her good girl persona and see how exciting life can be.
Krampus works the leather around her wrists, tugs the binding, and pulls her into the parade. I'm losing my mind, once again causing the little girl next to us to stand closer to her mother. More proof I'm not ready for kids.
I try to grab the attention of other Krampuses parading past us, but tonight's not my lucky night.
The dark clanging of Krampus chains and old sleigh bells gives way to joyful bells and reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh, marking the end of my chance for a Krampus.
It can hardly be a bad night when I get to see real live reindeer. They're pretty amazing.
And if I have to bank my luck, I'll save it for the auction.
The reindeer and sleigh pass, allowing my sights to land on a burly, rugged, sexy AF dude in a flannel shirt and overalls. My heart sends out new fireworks. Who needs Krampus, when this guy exists?
Our eyes meet, and I'm certain of it this time because there's no mask in the way. My ovaries beg me to get rid of the implant. I've never felt like this before.
Then he abruptly looks down. I follow his gaze. He stepped in reindeer poop. Yuck.
Only then do I notice the shovel and wheelbarrow he's toting. He gets to work cleaning the street.
Starla grabs my arm. "We have to find Bellamie."
She's not wrong. And I'd be foolish to jeopardize my chances at the auction by falling for a poop scooper. But still… there's something about him.
If the auction doesn't work out, like last year when the virgins weren't able to make it because of a blizzard, I can track this guy down. It can't be that hard to find out who provided cleanup for the reindeer at the parade.