Chapter 5
Bonnie
Frustration and bubbling fury dogged my steps throughout the week. My big idea of presenting my lingerie range at the department store couldn’t have gone worse.
Half of the stock I’d spent countless hours creating and perfecting was lost, and I had no way of getting it back. All because my emotions had got the better of me, and I’d run rather than face my accusers.
If I went to the police, I risked them siding with the shop assistant and her manager.
I couldn’t afford a shoplifting charge, and my claim was too outlandish and my actions damning.
Crucially, there was no label on my designs.
I hadn’t wanted to add something the store owner immediately would want to change, so I’d left it off.
A naive mistake which left me with no evidence they were mine.
That realisation was why I’d taken to my heels.
Defending other people was far easier than defending myself. I’d failed so hard I’d made my head spin.
A different impulse guided me today. It had directed me to the warehouse on Deadwater River. The huge red-brick building owned by the infamous skeleton crew. I was here because I needed to try something new. Something fun.
I’d signed up for the predator-prey game Jessie had whispered about.
I had to burn up the energy under my skin. Energy that was in some part built up by the American guy who’d chased me from Crowley’s. The big, dark-eyed, muscular man in a tight mechanic’s shirt had sent a wave of heat through me that made me forget my nerves.
Our chemistry had been off the scale.
Flirting with him had been as easy as breathing, until he name-dropped the awful specimen I’d dumped ice water over, buddying up to him on his phone call and confirming he’d been at that sex-pests-are-us party.
Clearly my judgement was off. My momentary crush was yet another billionaire rich boy I wanted nothing to do with.
Sex, on the other hand, had become a desperate, clawing need I couldn’t shake.
Inside the warehouse, a huge man with a skeleton print bandanna hiding his lower face escorted me through darkened corridors to an office. He rapped on the door.
A voice called out, and I was admitted.
My belly tightened, but those pesky emotions nearly always turned into anger, and I had to keep a lid on it.
For once, I wasn’t going to blow this. Like I had the topless waitressing and the lingerie pitch.
I’d made friends with Genie again, if only to get the lowdown on this game.
She’d spilled details but chickened out of entering it.
I needed a hard chase and an even harder fuck more than I could say.
Another, more intimidating masked man sat behind a black desk, a bright spotlight shining on me but not hiding the tattoos all over from his hands to his neck.
“Bonnie Braveheart,” he rumbled in a Scottish accent.
I inclined my head. We’d already spoken on the phone, but Shade, as he was called, told me all applicants had to attend in person so there was no mistaking what we were signing up for.
I could only imagine how bad wandering in unknowingly might be.
Shade picked up a clipboard and centred his gaze on me.
“Ye already know the basics of the game, but I’ll recap.
On Friday night, twenty men will hunt five women in our basement.
Once you’re in, ye cannae leave until one of those men has fucked ye on the floor, against a wall, or over a pile of bodies if that’s how it goes down. ”
A shiver ran down my spine at the threat of violence.
“They’ll be caged until the siren, then on release, they’ll fight to claim ye. Injuries happen, generally more to the lads than lasses, but broken bones and getting knocked unconscious aren’t uncommon.”
I had no idea how, but I knew he was smirking under that mask.
“Can I fight back?” I asked.
“Aye, do. Give as good as ye get. Just don’t mistake the fact that ye will be caught.
Once you’ve been fucked, your game is over, and the man who made the claim is your new owner for thirty days and nights.
Ye can’t refuse or reject him. It’s might over right down in that basement.
You’re committing to be together for that time, with only a couple of hours of personal time allowed per day in the first week, rising to four after.
Meaning ye sleep, eat, and do everything together.
Ye fuck daily, as a minimum. When I say he’s your owner, you’re his, too. It works both ways.”
The more he talked, the more I wanted to do this.
Despite the terrible previous week, my life had becoming unexpectedly easier since the incident at the department store.
Genie had a call from our landlord who’d given us two months’ free rent and a reduced rate after.
Our bills dropped, with our apartment getting a special rate for all utilities from a local service provider who’d taken over the complex.
It was as if some financial fairy godmother had waved a wand over me at just the right moment. Maybe the universe was correcting wrongs.
Whatever the reason, it offered an opportunity I couldn’t deny. When would I ever have the chance of a month off work again?
“I agree to everything you’ve said.”
Shade inclined his head. “Any other concerns or matters to discuss before ye sign on the line? Ye said ye wanted kids, but there’s no other restrictions listed.”
Children felt like such a faraway decision, even if I really did want them one day. Just as badly as I wanted my own business.
“There’s only one thing I care about. I don’t want to be paired off with some grey-haired billionaire.”
The tattooed man shrugged. “Nae bother. I won’t put ye in for the silver fox special.”
I wiggled my fingers, he handed over the clipboard, then I signed away my rights for a month of well-needed distraction.