I Thee Take (To Have And To Hold Duet #2) - Natasha Knight Page 0,72
liked Dante. He can be charming. When he wants.
I hear the sound of a harp. Pretty music. Soft music. Music that doesn’t belong here. It’s coming from beyond the heavy curtains separating the vestibule from the room beyond.
The gong strikes as two women pull the curtains aside.
Dante and I stand side-by-side taking it in, the opulence, the excess. The money. So much money you can almost smell it.
Candles are being lit around the room. Backup I guess, as thunder claps and the lights dim then return.
We step in and the curtains are dropped behind us.
Men in suits stand talking, smoking cigars, drinking what I’m sure is the finest whiskey. About fifteen of them. Half that number are weaving through with trays of drinks and food. Six soldiers stand along the perimeter of the room.
The lights go down. This isn’t because of the storm outside.
I notice the absence of women in here. Even the servers are men. When the gavel hits the podium, I shift my attention to the older man standing on the left of a small stage where the curtain is still down.
“Gentlemen,” the man begins elegantly.
I take the opportunity to look around, searching for Pérez or anyone else I might recognize. I don’t. But like Charlie said, these men are likely decoys sent in to make the purchase and keep the identity of the buyer secret.
“The final piece of tonight’s auction. This is a special offering from our friend, Mr. Felix Pérez with slightly different rules.”
Again, I look for him. For our friend. But he’s nowhere to be found.
“She’s a beauty, as you’ll soon see…” he begins as the curtains lift and I see my brother watching the stage in my periphery. Every nerve ending in my body comes alive. As my blood begins to pump red hot through my veins, the drumming against my ears muffles Dante’s muttered curse.
“She’s a gift for you. Each of you. Here for your pleasure to close a successful evening,” the man continues. The rising curtain reveals feet shackled together, the chain between them allowing only minimal movement, effectively hobbling her. Chain links climb along slender legs each binding a shackled wrist to those around her ankles.
“There’s only one rule: take your fill.”
There’s a woot from the men as more of the woman is exposed.
“Highest bidder will have first use of her, then the second highest and so forth and so on until you’ve all had a turn. We’ll begin the bidding in a moment once you’ve had a good look.”
Her sex comes into view, the slit visible to the pleasure of the gathered men. Her flat belly is next, then her breasts, small and taut. Her face held high, hair behind her shoulders, cheekbone bruised where Felix had slapped her. The bright light is blinding her, making it impossible for her to see them. This sea of men.
Making it impossible for her to see me.
To see that I’ve come for her.
42
Scarlett
“You won’t be walking out of here tonight.”
Did she mean that literally? Because if this is Felix’s plan for me, then I’ll be fucked by every man out there in turn.
I hear the woot of the onlookers once the curtain is fully raised. I can’t see much of them and I think that’s on purpose. The spotlight follows me even when I turn my head.
A man calls out a ridiculous number and makes a lewd comment. Several laugh out loud as the auctioneer chuckles into his microphone, tapping his gavel twice to get everyone’s attention.
“You haven’t even seen it all yet,” he notes in a sing-song voice.
Two sets of hands take hold of my arms and force me to turn. When they do, I catch a glimpse of the blinking red light coming from the top corner of the room.
Felix is recording this. Is it for me? Well, I should say is it for him? To show those who won’t pledge loyalty to him what happens if you are his enemy? Or is it to hold onto after these men leave. Material to blackmail them when it suits him.
Not that it matters one way or the other for me. My ending doesn’t change, camera or no camera.
The soldiers pull me forward making me bend all the way over. I fight but it’s no use. I can see them now, the men in the room. The spotlight is on another part of my anatomy and now I can see their faces. There’s more than a dozen of them.