Highest Bidder Collection - Lauren Landish Page 0,136

or they will be banned and prosecuted. The Submissives must also obey all rules, or buyers can take legal action and no money will be paid.

With the accepted terms and conditions, the willing participants of this auction are as follows.

I turn the page, and there she is. She's the first one tonight.

A large movement at the entrance to the room makes me turn. My blood runs cold. Joseph Levi. He looks me in the eyes behind his mask before taking a seat on his own at an empty table across the room.

Thick waves of smoke from the cigars a few men are smoking cloud my view of him. Out of everyone here, he’s the only one I’d consider telling what’s going on.

Zander and Lucian know. But the other men? I couldn’t give a fuck.

But Joe wants a Slave. And I’m tempted to let him know why I’ve allowed her to go up for auction.

Why I’m eager and grateful that she accepted Madam Lynn’s proposal.

I don’t know exactly what she said. But I do know that I’ll have my kitten how I rightfully should in less than an hour.

My heart’s beating frantically in my chest, and my nerves are high. I just want this to be over with.

“It’ll be fine,” Zander says, putting his paddle down on the table. “No one wants to fuck with you.” He meets my eyes but I instinctively look back to Joe, whose eyes are on the stage.

The already dim lights in the room lower, and the room darkens.

With a click, the spotlight shines on the thick red curtains. The auctioneer, dressed in a simple black suit and slim black tie speaks into the microphone, “Good evening, gentlemen. Let the auction begin.”

The curtains draw back slowly, and my skin prickles with a mix of emotions.

My kitten is standing front and center. Alone on the stage with lights shining on her sun-kissed skin. It’s so bright that the scars are hidden. You can’t see from here how they speckle her shoulders. But I know they’re there.

She stands with her hands clasped in front of her, no rose present, and her head bowed.

My lungs still in my chest, and my grip tightens on the paddle.

She’s going through with it. She’s really taking this leap of faith.

“We’ll start the bidding at five hundred thousand dollars,” the man says, and I raise my paddle silently. I’ll gladly hand over my entire fortune to have her. I only need this one chance.

“Six,” Joe’s voice rings out in the room, and my jaw clenches. My body heats with anger as I feel the eyes of every man in the room on me.

“Six hundred thousand, do we have seven?”

I raise my paddle silently, not trusting myself to speak. “Seven to the gentleman in the right corner.”

Katia’s head lifts slightly, and she looks up at me. Her eyes are wide and pleading. They fall as Joe yells out, “Eight.” Her fingers play along the hem of her sheer black dress.

I know she’s frightened, for many reasons, and I fucking hate that she’s suffering in yet another way. Fear of a different man taking her.

“She’s mine. Nine hundred thousand,” I spit out, standing from my seat and making my position known.

“Gentlemen, please. The rules will be followed,” the auctioneer reminds me, but I refuse to sit.

“One million,” Joe says, looking straight into my eyes and then back to Katia. “Kneel,” he yells out and her legs waver slightly. But she resists. She looks up at him with her bottom lip trembling. She’s fucking terrified.

“Kitten. You will bow for me,” I say confidently. As she lowers herself to the floor, bowing for all to see, I raise my paddle again.

“One million and one-” the auctioneer starts to say, but he’s interrupted by the sound of Joe’s chair scraping across the floor as he storms out. He brushes past a few men and it’s obvious that he’s pissed off. But he’s conceded. Her preference and obedience toward me have been made clear.

There’s a murmur in the room as the auctioneer clears his throat and speaks into the microphone.

“One million one hundred thousand, going once,” he says, but his voice lacks enthusiasm and he doesn’t even bother looking around the room.

My eyes are focused on my sweet pet, obediently bowed on the shining wooden floor of the stage, her eyes straight ahead, focused on the fabric of the curtains pressed against the side of the stage.

“Going twice.”

I watch as she takes in a shuddering breath and her eyes