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She tucks the spare cigar between her breasts slowly and then puts the other in her mouth, puckering her lips around the end. “Care to give me a light, then?”
The end isn’t cut. This girl has no idea what she is doing with the cigar or with men.
“You aren’t supposed to be outside.”
“I’m supposed to make sure the guests are having a good time,” she purrs. “So, that’s what I’m here to do.”
I tuck my lighter in my pocket, and her shoulders slump, the cigar slipping to the corner of her mouth.
“You weren’t so eager to please yesterday,” I remind her.
She hastily pulls the cigar out of her mouth, twiddling it between her fingers. “I was seriously reprimanded for my breakdown yesterday, and now I see that I was wrong. Now, I know my place.”
If Eve could hear her now, she would be even more persistent about saving these women. This girl has been brainwashed and it only took them one day.
“I also see,” she says, batting her eyelashes and moving closer to me, her hips swaying with every slow step. “That I was wasting my time on the wrong sort of men.”
“I see nothing has changed, then.” I glare down at her, but it does little to curb the enthusiasm in her eyes. She reaches out and strokes one finger down my arm. I shift away from her touch. “I’m not the kind of man you want taking you home.”
“You don’t know what I want,” she says quietly, her blue eyes blinking up at me. She looks down at herself, pushing her chest out further. “I know I’m in this purple dress and there are women in red who are more experienced, but none of them are as eager as I am.”
I look away and curl my lip. If the girl wasn’t so pathetic, I’d push her aside for her shameless begging.
She tosses her red hair back over her shoulder. “None of them want to please you as much as I do.”
I hold up a hand to stop her from taking another step towards me. “I’m only going to say it once more: go find someone else.”
The girl steps forward until her chest is pressed against my hand. I yank my hand back quickly, narrowing my eyes at her, but there is no sign of fear or shame, just yearning. “There is no one else. Not after the way you treated Number Seven inside.”
It takes me a moment to realize she is talking about Eve. I shake my head. “What do you mean?”
“The way you went easy on her during the obedience event,” she says. “All of the other men were cruel, but you were gentle. I want a gentle man.”
My behavior was rather obvious, I suppose. I should have stayed quiet and let Eve do whatever she had to do to maintain our ruse. Instead, I allowed my jealousy and protective nature to take over. And now I have a girl chasing me around like a lost puppy.
“I’m not gentle,” I snap. “I just don’t like for my slaves to perform for others. Believe me, when we are alone, Number Seven does whatever I tell her to.”
Without missing a beat, the girl steps forward and rolls her body against my side. “I’ll do whatever you tell me to. Right now. You don’t even have to pay.”
I sigh. “Go away. That’s what I want you to do.”
She hesitates for a moment, and I wonder whether she isn’t going to go back on her word and continue pestering me to buy her. Instead, she quickly throws her arms around me before I can stop her, and then spins away and walks back into the inn.
* * *
The rest of the day is less organized than the morning’s event. It is more like the day before, the bidders and women mingling together.
Rather than join the crowd, I stand along the edge of the room with the two female bidders. Overall, they seem to act as though the entire week in the inn is an inconvenience. During the obedience training this morning, they stayed quiet, rolling their eyes when the women were performing. I have the sense they would be happy to have the entire week over with so they can simply make their bids.
The men, however, seem to be growing more eager with every hour that passes.
The first day, everyone—aside from Fox-Face, perhaps—was on their best behavior.
Today, though, the men are letting their cruder instincts into the light.
There are rules against the women doing anything explicitly sexual before being purchased, but several of the men are pushing the boundaries as far as they can. Women are straddling bidders as they sit around tables drinking and playing cards. It is obvious most of the women are not having a good time, but a few of them are putting on a real show—Maddie included.
I try to keep my distance from her, but she continually pops up whenever I turn around.
