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Engles slowly shook his head. “You’ll regret this one day.”
Reyes turned in the direction of the auctioneer. “Five million,” he reiterated in a loud voice.
That old saying, a pin drop, fit the moment. No one contradicted Engles who didn’t have a death wish.
The gavel came down in a hard crack. “Sold, the human Angelica, to the bidder Brogan Reyes.”
He moved swiftly toward the stage and held out his hand to Angelica.
“Fuck that.” She turned away, moving toward the stage proper. The two doms now stood at the top of the runway, whips in hand, ready to take charge of her if needed.
She topped in her tracks. “Shit.”
His decision to buy her might have been impulsive and incredibly stupid, but if he didn’t want to lose the entire game, he knew exactly what he had to do. He had to make her submit to him right now, in front of his peers.
Rising into the air, he levitated in her direction. Her eyes opened wide as she stared at him. “You’re flying. Are you on wires or something?”
She didn’t even know the truth about the world she’d entered. As he landed, he caught her around the waist in a grip so tight that she cried out in pain. “You’re hurting me.”
A slight roll of laughter moved through the audience. “Just the beginning, sweetheart,” a voice called out.
“Fuck you,” she shouted at the crowd.
But he gripped her harder until she turned to stare at him and felt silent. “Let’s get something clear right now. You belong to me from this night forward. You’re my slave, Angelica. Got it?”
He hated that this worthy woman would also have to learn the art of adopting a hated role, but it couldn’t be helped. He’d just saved her life, although that was something she probably wouldn’t understand for some time yet. But more than anything, he needed her to submit to him in front of his fellow Starlin members.
She turned to stare at him, her eyes wide with horror. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I just bought you at auction, you’re my slave, and you need to learn your place. I want you to show these fine people that you understand your new role.”
Using a pressure point between her shoulder and neck, he pinched hard.
She cried out in pain. Inwardly, he recoiled, disgusted at himself for hurting her, but it couldn’t be helped. He pushed down on her at the same time so that she began to lower to her knees.
A spattering of applause rolled through the club.
He kept up the pressure until she’d landed on the wood runway, her hand gripping the back of his leg for support.
“Stop, please stop.”
“What do you call me, Angelica? Use the correct address, and the pain will go away.”
She looked up at him, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I can’t believe this is who you are.”
The look in her eyes of pain and disappointment tore at him, but he couldn’t stop now. He’d already made an enemy of the one man he’d needed to keep on his good side; if he didn’t uphold his cover now, he’d never get inside the Starlin inner circle, find the name of the man who ruled this group.
“Then I guess you never really knew me.” He smiled, still pinching her hard. “Now what’s my name? What do you call me from this moment forward?”
He increased the pressure so that she cried out again.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what to call you.”
“It’s simple: master. You call me master. Say it, loud enough for everyone to hear.”
“Master.”
“Louder, slave.”
“Master. Master.”
“One more time. What do you call me?”
“I call you master.”
“We finally understand each other. Good.”
He released his hand from the slope of her neck and she fell forward, facedown on the runway.
Applause resounded from the ballroom, letting him know he was on the right track.
Turning to the doms, he called out, “I want shackles brought to me right now, for both wrists and ankles, preternaturally charged.” When they stared at him slack-jawed, he shouted in a resonant voice, “Do it now.”
The men leaped like he’d struck them, though they were thirty feet away. Angelica remained prone, only partially conscious. Half a minute later the doms returned, levitating in swift flight down the runway. A few seconds more and the job was done, the shackles sealed and cutting into her skin.
A third burst of applause sounded and he knew he’d finally done his job well enough. Though he would be wise to stay and parade her around, Angelica was in serious pain now and he’d had enough.
Leaning down, he gathered her up in his arms.
She moaned softly, regaining consciousness. “My arms and legs hurt and I think my wrists are bleeding.” Her speech was slurred.
He hated that he’d hurt her so much. Unfortunately for her, things were about to get even more complicated. For one thing, he intended to shift into altered flight, a form of teleportation that would allow him to pass through solid matter. He’d be moving fast to get her out of the building, but that level of speed always hurt the average human.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “But this next bit is really going to cause some pain.”
Without trying to explain further, he flew her straight through the cavern wall. Her screams echoed in his ears, but she might as well get adjusted to her new reality as soon as possible.
Within his mind, he formed a picture of the two-story mansion he’d had built not far from the Starlin headquarters and like a homing beacon, the location drew him in. Within seconds he landed in his foyer.
He was about to explain that they’d be heading to Engles’s after-auction gala, but Angelica pulled from his arms, whirled, and threw up all over his entry rug. She shook head-to-foot, the long scarf trailing in the vomit.
Holding her arm in a strong grip, he held her upright.
His housekeeper appeared. “Master Reyes? What’s going on?”
“Mathilde, we have an addition to the household, a human. I just flew her in and she’s airsick.”
Mathilde frowned as her gaze took in the shackles. “Master, what have you done?”
“Just fix her some tea and get her a robe. Do it now.”
“Yes, master.” She left the room, heading back to the kitchen.
Angelica groaned and tried to lift a hand to her head, but the shackles prevented her. She stared at them. “You’ve bound me with chains? Oh, God, my head hurts almost more than I can bear. And my arms feel like they’re on fire.”
