The Auction (2 page)

Yet he’d been captivated when she turned her head, sneaking a glance at the men who were ready to shell out a sizable sum to take a woman home for a month as their submissive sex toy. Not that fifty thousand was all that much in the scheme of things, not when you were worth millions.

There was something in her gaze that caught and held his attention, a kind of secret fire behind those innocent blue eyes that he wanted to explore further. After all, it wasn’t as if he were choosing a life partner, or even someone to drape on his arm at the endless events he was obliged to attend in his role as business magnate. This girl was just a toy—an amusing diversion he would use for a month and then forget. Not one to lose out on what he wanted, Adam made his bid high enough to shut out the others around him.

Now he sat across from the woman, whose nakedness was covered by a white satin slip that clung alluringly to her curves. She kept biting her lower lip, and her hands were playing nervously with the silver pen resting on the table in front of her.

Franklin Jasper also sat at the table. He was a tall, lean man with iron gray hair and a stern visage, his lips drawn down in a perpetual frown, deep lines bracketing his mouth. He put his hand on the papers in front of him.

“This is the final draft of the contract, compiled based on our discussions, Mr. Wise, and on Carly’s prior agreement to the basic terms.”

He pushed a copy toward each of them. “Please read it over. You’ve both already agreed to the basic protocol, conditions, duties and responsibilities. This just ties together the loose ends. Mr. Wise, you have the original, slave Carly, you have a copy. Mr. Wise, once you approve of the content, please sign where indicated and pass it over to the slave for her signature.”

Adam picked up the contract and began perusing it, glancing as he did so at Carly, who was staring down at her copy. Her curls had fallen over her face so that he couldn’t see her eyes. Her mouth was slightly pursed as she concentrated, the tip of her pink tongue appearing between red lips.

He looked again at the pages in front of him. He was already familiar with much of the content, as it had been developed and discussed with him during the week leading up to the auction, but he skipped to the page he hadn’t seen, which included Carly’s hard limits. He was pleased to see she had only one:
don’t break the skin or draw blood
. This made sense to Adam, and he approved. 

He picked up the pen that had been placed beside the contract, his hand hovering over the signature line as the enormity of what he was committing to sank in fully. The whole bidding idea had begun as a kind of lark when he’d first heard about the BDSM auction. “Why not?” he’d joked at the time. “Women are only after my money anyway. We might as well be upfront about it.”

But now, sitting across from the woman who was, for all intents and purposes, entrusting her life to him for the next thirty days, it didn’t seem like a joke at all. He was going to have total control over her, and be completely responsible for her, a woman he knew next to nothing about, except that she was a submissive masochist and willing to sell her charms for a hefty fee.

Well, this was what he’d wanted, wasn’t it? A submissive sex slave to play with to his heart’s content, and then send packing before she tried to weasel her way into his heart, or far more likely, his wallet.

Forget the romance, the wooing and the waiting games. He’d gone down that road one time too many in his forty-one years. No, this was much cleaner and more honest on both sides. A transaction between informed and willing parties. What could be simpler?

Taking the pen, he signed the document and slid it toward the girl.

She met his eyes for a moment, and behind the nerves he could see gritty determination and a certain strength. Seeing him regard her, she looked quickly down, reaching for the pen. Her hand shook very slightly as she signed. What was going through her head, Adam wondered. Was she as aware as he was of the import of what they were doing?

Franklin, who had risen from his seat, was suddenly beside Carly. He took the contract and put a hand on Carly’s shoulder. “You now belong to Mr. Wise. You are his property. Kneel on the carpet at once and keep your head bowed.”

Carly slid from her chair and knelt with her back straight, her curls again obscuring her face as she looked at the ground. Franklin continued to address the girl, “You no longer have any say over your person or your actions for the next month, except as Mr. Wise permits. While this is not, strictly speaking, an enforceable contract in a court of law, it is binding insofar as any breach of the terms of the contract during its time frame will result in forfeiture of all monies owed, and you will not be permitted to enter another auction with us
ever
. Your portion of the award money will be kept by
Erotica Auctions
for you until the successful completion of your slave term. Is that clearly understood?”

“Yes, Master Franklin,” the woman said to the floor. Based on her nervous mannerisms, Adam had expected her to squeak, but her voice was sultry and sexy in a way that went directly to his cock.

Turning to Adam, Franklin said, “I’ll make a copy of this contract for our records, and get Carly’s suitcase. I won’t be a moment.”

Left alone, Adam regarded the kneeling girl. Her head still down, he saw that she was again worrying her lower lip and he thought of kissing that luscious mouth then and there, but controlled himself. The contract had said nothing of kissing. Whipping, binding, fucking every possible orifice, yes, but kissing—was that considered too intimate? The irony of that at once amused and irritated Adam, and to distract himself from this line of thought he barked, “Stop that.”

The girl looked up. “I’m sorry, Sir, stop what?”

“Stop biting your bottom lip. It’s very unattractive. I can’t believe your trainers didn’t beat that out of you on day one.”

“Oh!” Carly touched her mouth with her hand. “Please forgive me, Master.”

“Hands at your sides.” Adam snorted. “And don’t call me that. I’m Adam. Or Sir if you absolutely insist. You are Carly. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Mas—Sir.”

She looked down again. Her cheeks were flushed, her nipples visible beneath the silk slip. Adam sat in silence watching her. What in the world was going through her head? Beneath her submissive façade, did she regard him with contempt, even hatred?

What did it matter? This wasn’t a love match, nor was it permanent.
Erotica Auctions
had represented these slave girls as of the highest caliber in every respect. If he was unhappy, he’d been assured, he could sever the contract and get his money back, less the quite substantial nonrefundable deposit, naturally. Still, with that kind of cash changing hands, he doubted they would be offering up inferior merchandise.

She was guaranteed disease-free and she was on birth control. Not only that, she’d signed the waiver regarding condoms, which pleased Adam, as he abhorred the annoying little things. Who cared if her submission was genuine or just an act? He would get his money’s worth—he would see to that.

Adam’s thoughts were interrupted as Franklin stepped back into the room. Adam stood as he entered, accepting the contract the trainer handed him and folding it into the inner pocket of his jacket. Franklin handed him Carly’s suitcase, which Adam took, wondering what was inside. Whatever was in there, she wouldn’t be needing much. He planned to keep her naked, save for leather, rope and chain.

Franklin extended his hand. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you, and I trust you’ll find full satisfaction with slave Carly.”

Adam shook the man’s hand. “Thank you. I intend to.”

Once Franklin had gone, Adam turned to Carly, still kneeling quietly on the carpet. “Take off that collar. You’ll wear this instead.” Adam reached into his pocket and held out the collar he’d chosen for his slave girl.

Carly reached behind herself, her hands slipping beneath her thick hair to unbuckle the slim strip of black leather from around her neck. She let it fall to the ground and, lifting her hair from her neck, she bent her head forward in a submissive gesture that pleased Adam.

Bending down, he buckled the soft red leather collar around her throat and placed a small padlock through the clasp at the back of her neck, clicking it into place. Using the O ring at the front of the collar, he pulled Carly to a standing position. The red collar looked pretty against her white throat.

She was barefoot and clearly naked beneath the thin slip. It was a warm September evening and the car was parked just outside the building, so Adam supposed that was all right. “My driver’s waiting outside,” he said. “Come, Carly. It’s time to see your new home.”

Chapter 2

Carly stole sidelong glances at Adam Wise as his driver sped along the Bronx River Parkway toward the Scarsdale residence where she would be spending the next month. She liked the way his hair curled against the side of his neck. He had a good jaw and a prominent, slightly crooked nose. She guessed him to be in his late thirties or early forties, and he was in good shape. Yeah, he was probably just another rich, entitled bastard, but at least he was hot. She was glad he’d bought her, instead of the fat redhead with the freckles.     

Bought
her…

I can’t believe I’m really doing this. I am out of my mind. Crazy as a loon.

Melissa, the bartender at
Club de Sade
where Carly had managed to get a job as a waitress, had told her about the slave auctions and said they were always looking for beautiful, submissive women to train. At first Carly had just laughed, dismissing the idea out of hand.

When Melissa had mentioned the sums involved, and what a girl could earn for one month of “work”, Carly had stopped laughing.

“Is that even legal, though?” she questioned. “It sounds like prostitution, plain and simple. How can they get away with that?”

Melissa shook her head. “It’s a service, that’s all. Think of it like a dating service, except with a kink,” she’d grinned. “They just bring people together, really. What those people do in private is no one’s business. It’s a lot safer than just meeting some random guy at a BDSM club, when you think about it. The clients are as carefully vetted as the girls. They have to provide proof that they’re disease free and undergo a thorough background check for any criminal record. And they’re all loaded—they have to be with the prices the auction house charges.”

Carly had been laid off eighteen months prior, when the law firm she had worked for had closed its doors, and the unemployment had run out four months ago. She was already two months past due on her share of the rent for the house in Queens she shared with three other women. They had been understanding at first, but were now telling her to come up with the money or get out. She couldn’t blame them, but even working the part-time retail job she’d recently managed to garner plus the weekend waitress gig at the club, she could barely keep her head above water. Spending a month as some rich guy’s submissive sex slave and standing to earn more from that than she had in the past year suddenly didn’t sound so terrible.

Carly glanced again at Adam, disconcerted to realize he was staring directly at her. She looked quickly down at her lap.

Adam hadn’t said a word since they’d gotten into the car, and following his lead, neither had Carly. Now he put his hand on her leg, pushing the satin of her slip upward as he stroked her thigh. Her initial impulse was to push his hand away—she barely knew the man—but of course she did no such thing. She was property, his property, bought and paid for. She wasn’t about to fuck things up right out of the gate. If he wanted to touch his property, he had every right.

Think of the money,
she reminded herself.
Thirty-five thousand dollars will go a long way to getting you back on your feet.

Adam took his hand from her thigh. “Face me,” he ordered.

Though she was in her seat belt, she managed to turn herself toward him. His eyes glittered in the glow of the streetlights zooming past. He reached for her breasts with both hands, finding and twisting her nipples beneath the silk until she gasped in pain. She shot a glance at the driver, wondering if he could see them in his rearview mirror.

“Keep your eyes on me,” Adam said, twisting harder. Carly winced and sucked in her breath. Despite the pain, or partially because of it, she felt her cunt moistening. While he tweaked and twisted her nipples, Adam stared into her eyes, and again, as she had at the auction, she got the disconcerting feeling that he was staring past them into her mind, into her darkest secrets.

He let her go, leaving her nipples throbbing and engorged. “Sit back and face front.”

Carly’s heart was pattering rapidly as she shifted back against the leather. Unbuckling his seat belt, Adam slid closer to her, re-buckling himself in the middle seat so their legs were touching. Again Adam began to stroke her thigh. She looked down at his hand. It was rugged and masculine, the skin tan against her pale skin. His nails were well tended and he wore no rings.

His hand moved higher, his fingers stroking the inside of her thigh. Carly bit her lip and then remembered his earlier admonishment to stop doing that. His touch was light and sensual, and in spite of her nervousness, she had to admit it felt good.

“Spread your legs,” he said in a low voice.

Carly did as she was told, her heart kicking into a higher gear. Adam’s fingers edged toward her cunt, grazing the outer labia.

“Lift your slip. Ass on the leather and keep your legs spread.” Carly felt heat licking her cheeks and throat and silently admonished herself to get over it.

The week of intensive training at the hands of Master Franklin and Mistress Audrey had knocked a lot of Carly’s natural modesty right out of her. She and the other women who’d stayed in the dormitory at the rear of the auction building, or the slave quarters as they were grandly referred to, had been kept naked most of the time, even during meals.