all.
Jade
I’ve been sold like something off eBay.
I’m no longer Jade Winters but a number belonging to Lord Tolas.
When he opens my cage and yanks me out by the ankle, he smiles at the sound of my screams. He then releases me and snakes a hand around my waist to pull me up against his chest. The smell of his musk and sweat churns my stomach, and I feel like I’m going to be sick again.
“I hope you are worth the credits, little one.” He trails a claw down my throat to the valley between my breasts, causing my skin to crawl in revulsion. “I do not like to have my time or my money wasted.”
Madam Pim appears beside him. “I assure you that will not be the case with any of my merchandise, Lord Tolas. If you would care to follow me, I have prepared the master suite for you.”
“For the price of this one, the suite had better be complimentary,” the male warns her.
He presses the small of my back and forces me to walk with him. Eyes follow us with their jealousy. I never expected anyone to bet on me, let alone a whole bunch of aliens. I glance over my shoulder to the cage only to find the raven-haired male who lost to Lord Tolas leaning against it with his arms crossed.
The look of murder on his face causes my breath to hitch. Why did I want him to win? I shouldn’t have wanted any of the aliens to buy me. Yet when I locked gazes with him, there was something about the male that tugged me closer.
I wanted him to buy me.
I wanted him to win.
But he lost, and now I’m being taken away by this hideous monster.
The realization is enough to seize the air from my body, and my legs threaten to liquify with each step. If not for the alien’s grip on me as he steers me down a narrow passageway and into a cold room, I’m certain I would collapse.
“…and if there is anything else you require, please do let me know.”
The madam’s voice drags me from my stupor. I wasn’t even aware she was talking, since my pulse drowned everything out. All I can focus on is the rise of my chest as I’m locked and sealed in a brand-new cage.
Except this one is tastefully decorated. A four-poster bed sits on the middle of the floor, draped in luxurious fabrics that form a canopy overhead. Mirrors decorate the ceiling, and the only window in the room is covered in thick steel bars. When the madam closes the door, it’s like she’s just nailed the lid onto my coffin.
I back away on instinct, but the blue alien grabs me and spins me to face him.
“Are you frightened of me, little one?”
Of course I fucking am. Not only does he disgust me in every sense of the word, but he just purchased me at an auction I wanted no part of. I’ve been abducted and enslaved, and now I’m about to be violated. Who wouldn’t be frightened of that?
“No,” I answer, hoping to express the same confidence feigned in my voice.
The alien’s mouth twitches. “You should be.” With his free hand, he removes his shirt and sheds it like a second skin, revealing corded blue muscle with white spots running down his front. “I enjoy pain, but I enjoy inflicting it even more.”
I snap my gaze upward, panic flaring through me.
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of breaking you like I did the last one. No, I’m going to enjoy you for as long as I can.”
When he sticks a hand into his pants, I clench my eyes. I know it’s ridiculous—the alien just purchased me, for fuck’s sake—but I don’t want to see his junk. If I do, it’ll make what’s about to happen a reality, and I want to stay blind to that for as long as possible.
“If you do not want to see me, then I shall continue my inspection from earlier, since it obviously makes you uncomfortable,” the creature says, shuffling toward me. “I do take delight in your apprehension.”
I release my lids just as he hauls me across the room and throws me onto the bed. My stomach heaves at the sight of the alien draping himself over me. His beady eyes travel the length of my body slowly.
“You are a strange species.” He slides his claws down my leg, further increasing my revulsion. “Nothing to protect or shield