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In the morning, my body is sore in the best way possible.
We slept more than the night before. Both of us were exhausted from days of little sleep and stress. But whenever Luka woke up in the night, he would reach for me and pull me close to him, making sure I was there. And several times, that led to us finding comfort in one another’s bodies, clinging to each other until we found release from the fear that has become a near-constant in our lives over the last week.
After I shower, Luka has me again, this time pressed against the bathroom wall. The steam from the shower is still heavy in the air, settling on my skin like a fine mist. Our bodies slip and slide together. Luka holds onto me with a crushing grip that I’m sure will leave bruises on my waist, but I don’t care.
I wrap my legs around his waist, tip my head back against the wall, and stifle a cry as pleasure rips through me like a bolt of lightning. Luka comes and buries his head in my neck, pressing kisses to the sensitive spot beneath my ear.
When the knock comes at the door, he hugs me tighter and shakes his head. “I’m not going to let you go.”
“We have to,” I say, listening as the knocks grow more insistent the second time. “Just three more days.”
Luka growls, “Three days is a lifetime.”
I grab his face and kiss him long and hard, our lips soft yet urgent on one another. His tongue sweeps into my mouth, threatening to steal my sense, but when a third set of knocks raps against the door, I peel myself away from him, wrap a towel around my body, and go to the door.
It is Kari, looking just as nervous as the day before and once again holding a red dress for me to wear.
This one is closer to the one I wore the first day—tight and mid-thigh length—except it is strapless and the top cuts across the middle of my chest, exposing an incredible amount of cleavage.
“I look like I’m wearing a corset,” I complain, trying to stuff myself back in the dress. Kari is waiting outside, so I don’t have time to try and tape down my chest or do anything to keep myself from busting out of the seams.
“You look incredible,” Luka says from behind me. His hand is on my waist, but his voice is sad. Because he knows I look this way for the other men to appreciate. I am dressed this way for their eyes to devour me.
I spin around and arch my body into him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I love you.”
He kisses me, making my stomach flip and my knees go weak, and when I leave with Kari, I turn and look at him one more time. He smiles, but the emotion doesn’t reach his eyes. I can’t blame him.
Kari studies me for any signs of a breakdown as we head to the lounge, but I’m too focused on finding the energy to make it through another day to care.
Just like the day before, the women are lined up in front of the fireplace with Edgar in front of them, hands folded behind his back. When he sees me approach, he beckons me with a wave and then waits until I’m in position to clear his throat.
“Today is about showing the men that you can handle more than just pleasure,” he says. “For the first hour of the day, you are all going to complete a different chore. However, let’s not forget the lesson from yesterday. If anyone asks you to stop or take on a different chore, then you must listen. Be obedient.”
My sense of self-respect almost demands I refuse to take the duster Edgar thrusts into my hand, but just at that moment, the bidders began to arrive, and I see Luka walk into the room.
His black mask covers the most beautiful parts of him, but it lends him an alluring air of mystery. His suit today is coal gray and crisp, and his black shoes are perfectly shined.
Edgar claps his hands, announces to the bidders what the first event today will look like, and then waves for all of us women to begin our work.
Several of the girls in purple dresses are tasked with cleaning out the fireplace, others are sent to the kitchen to take care of the breakfast dishes, and the rest of us set about dusting and mopping and cleaning windows all around the first floor of the inn. The bidders split up to watch whichever woman they are most interested in, which leaves Luka, Fox-Face, and the man in the maroon mask lingering close to where Maddie and I are working.
Maddie’s purple dress is a loose shift today with thin straps that crisscross around her neck and across her chest. It barely brushes the tops of her thighs, so every time she leans forward to put some weight behind the mop, she flashed a peek of her backside, which the men can’t seem to ignore.
Fox-Face and Maroon Mask take up position directly behind her, though far enough away that we can’t hear their commentary.Thank goodness. And Maddie doesn’t seem to notice she is being watched at all. Her eyes are focused on the floor and nothing else.
“How are you doing?” I ask her quietly as she mops closer to where I am dusting picture frames and knickknacks on a long buffet table.
“Fine.” The word is clipped and harsh.
I narrow my eyes and move closer to her. “I know this has been hard on you. Understandably so. I just want to let you know that you can talk to me if you need—”
“I don’t need anything from you,” Maddie says, glaring at me. Her thin top lip is pulled back and her blue eyes are vibrant and shining with emotion.
The first night, Maddie seemed to cling to me. She was frightened, and I did my best to comfort her.
Now, however, she is being openly hostile and treating me like her enemy.
“You and I are on the same team,” I remind her. “Don’t let the Cartel manipulate you so easily.”
