Chapter 2 #2
The twinkle of wickedness in his eyes. The sly smirk as he told me Devin, Alexei, and I were “welcome to share.”
“In fact, that would be a perfect bow to tie on this whole thing. Share in the winnings, and show that conniving bastard just how far we’re willing to go to keep him in his place.”
My father wanted us—all three of us—to take this young woman’s virginity. She must be important to Ferrara somehow. There were rumors, after all, that he had a daughter.
“And in this case, as you all can see, our sweet little virgin is a very special lady indeed.”
That just about confirmed my suspicion, then. If this wasn’t Robert Ferrara’s only daughter, she had to be someone even more special. A long-lost foreign princess, maybe. A literal alien from outer space.
“You sure you didn’t know about this, Jonny?”
It was Alex’s icy voice that came to me, the volume strategically low so no one around us would hear the tension building at our table. Any sign of us being out of control, any whiff of infighting, would reflect poorly on the Buteras.
But I sensed the accusation he leveled at me, and I channeled my father as I gave him a look in response. It was the kind of look that said Ask me that again and see if you come through it unscathed.
“So we’re gang-banging in a whole different way now,” Devin spoke quietly, shaking his head through the cruel irony of it. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
“We’ll start the bidding at twenty-five thousand dollars.”
The number was damn-near offensive. My car was worth more than that, and they wanted this lovely woman to sell herself for it? Luckily, the numbers started climbing rapidly. By the time the bidding was at $150,000, which still wasn’t enough, I was at least a little less pissed off on her behalf.
“We can do better than this, fellas! Look at that tight little body!”
As if anyone in the room could look anywhere else. But him pointing it out this way, calling attention to her body and the way it was being commodified, made me feel like a disgusting letch.
I clenched my jaw, grinding my teeth at the thought of all the mouthbreathers in the crowd who were leering at her, stomping their feet like this was some kind of competitive sporting event.
The asshole auctioneer shoved the girl forward, making her stumble a little, throwing off her precarious balance in those fucking impractical shoes.
Despite my reservations—and I had more than a hotel during tourist season—I dutifully began to bid when the time came. Lifting my paddle when it seemed like someone else in the crowd was getting too comfortable, always keeping us ahead.
No matter how much I wanted to claim I was just doing business, though, the longer the bidding went on, the more this became bigger than some mission for my Pops.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the girl, the prized virgin with soft curves and a shining waterfall of dark hair and, despite it all, a ramrod straight spine that she was steeling against her own fear.
Sure, part of her appeal was the outfit, the dolled-up face she’d pulled together, the glow of her skin under the stage lights.
But she was magnetic regardless. An average girl I may never have looked at twice on the street, but if I did, if I was fortunate enough to stumble into noticing her, there was no way I’d be able to stop looking after that.
Ernie was neck-and-neck with me in the bidding. All the way in the front row, right where the poor girl could see him. Take in the horror of the possibility that that absolute gremlin of a man would get a chance to touch her.
And as much as I loved the idea of beating Ernie at this little game just to revel in his loss, each second a stronger conviction was solidifying itself in my chest. I couldn’t let this girl, stunning and precious and pure, fall into the hands of some bastard like Ernie.
Not one of the brutes in this crowd was fit to touch her. Hell, they weren’t fit to breathe her air.
I wasn’t either, of course.
But I’d at least know how to give her body every wonderful feeling, every priceless experience of pleasure she’d yet to feel so far.
Devin and Alex and I would approach this job the way we approached them all; failure would not be an option.
And I knew the second I was inside her, I wouldn’t have the tiniest ounce of regret.
I used to wish I was a better man. The type who, in this kind of situation, would save the girl just for the sake of saving her and wouldn’t lay a finger on her untouched skin. But fuck if I didn’t feel myself wanting her, my body coming to life with fiery need. It had been too long.
Too many hours dedicating myself to the family business and the legacy I’d inherit and the dangers of my day-to-day life, and far too long since I’d last let myself succumb to my baser pleasures.
It sure wasn’t right, but if this girl had put herself up to be deflowered, I wasn’t too good a man to take her up on the offer.
I was going to pay pretty handsomely for the privilege.
“Christ, she’s young,” I heard Devin say under his breath, but I could hear the tense need underneath it.
“Old enough,” Alex said coolly. “We’ll do what needs to be done.”
“And what a chore it’ll be,” I said, sarcasm dripping thickly from my words. I met each of my tablemates’ eyes, and we exchanged something that suggested a smile even though none of us showed so much as a twitch of our lips.
Was it my ideal, sharing a woman’s body with these two men? Sharing any woman with anyone?
No.
I was the type who held what was mine with an iron grip, and the women who had filled that role in the past liked when I got a little possessive.
But something about the taboo of this whole situation, the idea of that sweet face on the stage bearing the hallmark flush and parted lips and faint sweat of intense pleasure as she took three cocks at once…yeah, it had a certain appeal. I adjusted my seat and kept upping the ante.
“And with that bid, we’re at a quarter mil! Hey, now we’re talking! Can I get two seventy-five?”
“Pathetic,” I breathed, and my two friends seemed to agree based on the steely looks in their eyes. I kept up my bidding, though, giving others the chance to pull ahead for a few moments before I upped the number again.
It was a delicate balance, making sure we were always on top without causing a fuss that could excite other bidders into increasing their dollar amounts too quickly.
Sure, we had a hefty sum squared away for this purpose, but a shrewd businessman would still try to get a bargain where he could.
I’d rather she choose to feel my touch, my body seemed to say, blood heating as I surveyed her face. Gorgeous features, delicate and smooth and symmetrical.
Though I could practically feel her fear like a chill in the air, this girl was doing a damn good job of maintaining an unbothered countenance, her brow unfurrowed, her jaw set, her lips full even as she pressed them together in the slightest sign of discomfort.
I’d happily pay her for the privilege of kissing those lips, I knew then, but god, not like this.
“These are the numbers that separate the boys from the men, and I’ve already seen our candidates for this gorgeous lady’s first fuck thin out. Who will win the prize? I guess we’ll see…”
The longer I watched the girl put on a brave face, the angrier I got at Ernie and the other dirtbags vying for the honor of her first time. My rage made time compress, until suddenly the number was high enough that I could almost worry, and then I’d had enough.
“Three million,” I heard my own voice say, a silence falling over the din of the crowd. Raising the paddle wasn’t enough.
I needed this young woman to know I wasn’t letting anyone else take her home tonight.
That she was as safe as she could possibly be considering she was here in the first place.
I gestured to Alex and Devin to follow me as I stood from my spot toward the back of the crowd.
We were a united front in this and in all things thanks to our “family” connection.
Soon, we’d be united in a whole new way. In the perfect heat of her body, in the experience of taking her. I was moving forward with even greater purpose when I spoke again.
“And an extra fifty K for you, Mr. Auctioneer, if we can end this right here, right now. My associates and I would like to get our night started sooner rather than later.”
Devin threw a look my way, and Alex kept his cool, but I could see skepticism in the set of his brow. But the auctioneer was the one whose opinion mattered for the moment, and when he accepted my bid, a sense of triumph came over me.
I carried it up to the stage until Alex, Devin, and I were all face-to-face with the item we’d just bid an astronomical amount of money for.
“You ready to get out of here, gorgeous?” Paying the money and signing any paperwork would take no time at all.
The girl’s eyes, a warm brown that was anything but ordinary, the richness in it already making me anticipate touching her, seemed to soften. Not quite melting like chocolate yet, but give it a little time.
“You…” she started to say, but then she looked to either side of me where my two companions stood. Wide-eyed and a little breathless, she said, “There are three of you.”
“More than she bargained for, I guess,” Devin said next to me. “Can’t promise we’ll be gentle tonight, but I have a feeling you’ll like it either way.”
The longer she looked between the three of us, the more my body could feel her responding to us in the same honey-slow, heated way I recognized in myself.
She even swept her gaze over each of us. Head to toe, like she was the one who’d won a prize, and now she was surveying her winnings. Devin might just be right.
I’d never been wrong about my instincts when it came to women wanting me, and even if this sweet virgin didn’t know what her desires really meant, she had them all the same.
I’d need to talk to my father about this whole fucked-up situation as soon as possible.
But tonight…well, tonight I’d enjoy this job I was born into and the rare gift it had given me of a gorgeous woman no one had ever touched before me.