The Auction (2 page)

He stopped at the front of the crowd and tossed a leather bag with gold coins on the block at my feet.

“Count it if you like,” he said. His accent was thick, his mouth not used to forming words like ours, probably because of the sharp and pointy teeth these creatures were said to have. Another shiver went through me, and the tension in my body spiked higher.

Since the attention was now on him, and his identity—at least his species—had been identified, he tossed the cloak to the ground, his need for subterfuge over. A collective gasp went up from the crowd. I felt myself go unsteady again and reached for the auctioneer’s arm.

The monster stood at about seven feet with dark red skin, the color of dragons. His face and body, for the most part, were like a man. Arms, legs, feet, hands . . .
claws
. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, so I could see his musculature looked the same as most males I’d encountered. Though he was perhaps more defined than they were. I was afraid to know what was hidden by his pants. My imagination ran wild with gruesome speculation. Maybe some kind of barbed cock like a lion?

All things considered, he wasn’t ugly. He wasn’t what I was used to, but his appearance was strangely and dangerously compelling. When he looked up at me, his eyes glowed an eerie orange like the fire I was beginning to believe he breathed. He smiled a secret smile. His teeth were sharp enough to end me with a single snap of his jaw.

Despite all my fear, wetness dripped between my thighs. The fantasy of the stranger, though playing out differently, was coming to life. And something in my brain responded sexually to him, whether I wanted it to or not.

The spell was broken when the auctioneer spoke. “Why? What interest could you possibly have in a . . .”

“The females of my kind are dying off. We have . . . needs. Be glad I paid you. I could have just taken someone. I’m showing you respect by paying. If I’m pleased with my purchase, I may send more of my kind here for future auctions.”

No one was giggling anymore. I could practically feel the women at my back, standing stiff as statues, in hopes that this creature wouldn’t turn his interest toward them.

Every man in the crowd was probably thinking about me bent over a stool somewhere while this beast had his way with me. I wasn’t sure if the idea repulsed them or turned them on. I wasn’t sure if it repulsed me, but though it scared me, I knew it turned me on.

They wouldn’t fight for my virtue because it wasn’t worth a war. We’d all coexisted peacefully until now. More or less. And I had proven to be nothing but trouble.

If it had been Lizbeth, they would have charged him with sticks and flaming torches. After all, he didn’t have an army with him. He was alone. They simply found me not worth the effort to fight for. Well, fuck them.

A moment later there was a rippling along his spine. I could only see the edges of this change as it moved into his shoulders. Then he had wings, like a dragon.

He moved to the edge of the platform, his hand outstretched, palm up, as if he were trying to appear nonthreatening. “Annabelle.”

He spoke my full name, tasting it in his mouth. From him, it sounded like both a blessing and a curse, a sunny afternoon and a devastating windstorm at once.

If it had been one of the other girls, she would have put her quivering little hand into his, her eyes going all watery, her flushed breasts heaving underneath the simple white gown. He would have scooped her up in his arms and flown away. The city would have talked about it for years, embellishing the tale more each time it was told. To some, it would have been a horror story, to others, an unlikely romance, and to still others, a story for a quick wank before bed.

But it wasn’t one of those other girls. It was me.

My little rebellions had become so much a part of me that I couldn’t give in. I quickly scanned the area around me. The path of least resistance was through the line of girls still waiting to be sold. How would I survive outside the city?

Run now. Think later.

I ran straight for the girls as if they were bowling pins and I were the ball.
But the platform wasn’t a smooth lane and I wasn’t a ball. It was a many-splintered wooden thing that seemed about ready to collapse. In fact, I was sure if too many people got on it, that it would, which was why I was running the full length of it, hoping enough of the men would follow me like some dumb, horny herd and bring it crashing down.

The girls scattered, and I jumped off the back of the platform. The shock of the hard ground shot up through my legs. Then I ran. There was no crash, because no one was following—only the monster.

I ran across the field, scrambled over the fence, and left the city’s official boundaries. I was
out there,
the place where no one was supposed to go or explore. Off in the distance, maybe a mile away, was a rocky mountainside. If I could get to that, I would be able to hide in nooks and crannies too small
for the massive beast.

Even if I managed that, however, there was still the matter of food, and staying warm, and general survival and loneliness and . . .

My mind shut off the constant whirring of everything below the current issue of running. The situation suddenly felt even more ominous; the sun was no longer on me. At first I thought a cloud had covered it, but it wasn’t a cloud. The creature was flying over me, his massive wingspan causing a dark shadow to fall. No matter how fast I moved, I couldn’t get out of his shadow.

Then there was a roar, and I was on the ground. I clawed at the dirt, trying to get away from him as his hands gripped my waist, holding on hard. His wings were still out, making him appear even larger and more terrifying. His breath came hard, and somehow I knew it wasn’t from fatigue, but excitement from the hunt.

I stopped struggling because it was pointless. If he didn’t kill me, I would find a way out. No way was I going to live with this monster, assuming, of course, that I lived.

Then he broke the silence between us. “I knew I picked the right one.”

Those words started a faint tremble that moved along my arms and into the rest of my body. What did that mean?

“I can’t go with you,” I said. My voice managed to sound less hysterical than I’d expected.

“You’re already with me. We already left.”

Semantics.

He was warm, warmer than people. I didn’t know what his species’ core body temperature was, but getting cold wasn’t going to be an issue with him. I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the images that suddenly assailed me. It was wrong on so many levels—I couldn’t count that high.

He removed one of his hands from around my waist. Without thinking, my fingers moved to trace over the fleshy part of my hip, to feel the indentations left by his claws. It had been a hard enough grip to leave a mark, but not hard enough to break skin.

“How do you speak my language so well?” I asked.

He made a sound that may have been a chuckle but sounded like a growl. “Your people have been here a century. We’ve allowed your civilization and even aided its formation and growth. You think we can’t pick up on your rather crude speech patterns? You are our experiment and our entertainment. We are your gods. Of course we can speak your language.”

I was offended that he thought he was smarter than me or better than me. Than us. These creatures lived in caves. Of course we were smarter and better than them. It wasn’t even a question.

“What do you intend to do with me?”

In answer, he allowed his claw to trace lightly around one of my breasts, then he rolled me to my back, keeping me there with one hand, while the other traced downward, stopping just above my pubic bone. A whoosh of air escaped my lips in a sigh that should have been a scream.

“I think you know the answer. And don’t bother telling me how disgusted you are. My kind has a better sense of smell than yours. I could scent your need on the air when our eyes met.”

That didn’t mean I actually wanted to be naked with him or do any of the myriad things we would do once I was. I tried again not to think about what might be in his pants.

His gaze traveled the length of my body. “You’re filthy.”

“You really know how to turn a girl on,” I quipped. Being a smartass for two more minutes was easier than admitting defeat. And if I gave in to the screeching fear howling in my head, I wouldn’t have the mental cognition to form a new plan to escape him.

The growl happened again. “You shouldn’t roll in the dirt so much. We’re going to stand, and you aren’t going to fight me or run again. Do you understand?”

My eyes met his. “I
will
fight you, and I
will
run. And unless you kill me, some day I
will
escape. Count on it.”

He shook his head. “I’m not sure whether I find you stupid or endearing.”

I didn’t bother resisting when he picked me up because I didn’t have the energy left, and the field was too open. I needed to wait until there were places to hide where he couldn’t reach me. A moment later, we were airborne. A few minutes after that, we were at an opening in the side of the mountain that I’d been running toward. The irony that I’d been running headlong at his dwelling almost made me laugh.

The inside of his dwelling felt like a place someone could live in comfort. It was more technologically advanced than I’d expected, and it made me wonder how such creatures could manipulate technology with those claws. As if in answer to my question, his claws retracted, which admittedly made his fingers look a little odd. I tried not to stare. Those large, strange hands were going to be on me, and weird-looking or not, I’d rather they be on me without the claws engaged. His wings also went back to their resting place. When he turned, I almost couldn’t tell he had wings.

With the wings and claws put away, I could pretend he was just a larger-than-average man. No monsters. No dragons. Just a trick of the light.

Another creature stepped out from a different part of the cave. Whereas the one who had bought me had dark red, almost brown, skin and a black mane of hair, this one had blond hair with skin of greenish blue. His eyes were red instead of orange.

He leaned casually against the carved-out doorway. “Why didn’t you buy two?”

Having another woman with me would be comforting, and I felt both guilty and excited over the prospect.

“This was the only one who appeared to have enough fight in her to remain interesting. And she ran, which complicated things.” The other one’s eyes twinkled at that. “I’ll visit the next auction in three months if you like.”

“No, I’ll go. I don’t need you to pick my mate for me.” He pushed off the wall and moved toward me. I tried to back away, but the red one blocked my retreat.

I must have been in some kind of shock, because it had just occurred to me that they were speaking my language. They had their own, and yet they’d been speaking so I could understand them. A moment later, they were clicking and hissing and gesturing in their language. It was so alien from anything I’d ever heard or seen that I knew even if they made the attempt to teach me, I’d never learn it. Maybe they
were
smarter. The machines and buttons and strange technology seemed to indicate as much.

The greenish-blue dragon took my arm and led me toward the door he’d entered through. I turned to the red one, but he’d already left. I could hear his wings in the wind.

I tried to pull away, suddenly feeling on display. “What’s going on?” There was panic in my voice. It wasn’t as if I felt safe with the other dragon, but I’d had a few more minutes to get used to him.

“He’s loaning you to me while he gets food.”

He pushed me through a narrow area that opened out into a den-like, circular room. It was a bedroom—
his
bedroom. The bed was a large, round, elevated platform upon which a soft, thick cushion of the same size rested. Several blankets were rolled up and tied with cords on the floor.

I felt my stomach drop. If the other one was out getting food and I was being loaned for that period of time, I was about to have all my questions about dragon genitalia answered. But not without a fight. My energy and determination returned now that I had a new and different adversary. When he turned away, I ran from the bedroom, through the narrow hall, and back into the main living area. There was another doorway that I guessed led to the other guy’s bedroom. I ignored it in favor of the main entrance.

The mouth of the cave stood open with no door. I stepped out and went into a free fall, the wind zipping past and burning my face as I plummeted to what was almost certain to be my own death. A moment later an arm hooked around me and we flew back to the dragon lair.

When we were safely inside, he said, “Now you see why I’m not concerned with you running. Go ahead, run. Fling yourself off the edge of the cliff if you like. He’ll just go buy another one. Either come with me back to my quarters, or stay out here and await punishment.”

He disappeared down the hallway, and I made a face in his direction. I didn’t like the sound of punishment, but I wasn’t going to voluntarily go in there with him, either. I knew what he intended to do with me, and though neither of them were grotesque––in a strange way, they were hot––I couldn’t bring myself to obey even though I knew it would be the smart thing.

I
should
be in there seducing him, taking the one type of power I still possessed instead of resisting and having to play the game at a disadvantage. But I couldn’t bring myself to. Blow jobs with normal human men behind the learning center had been one thing. This was so far outside my experience that I felt like a virgin again.

Why couldn’t he drag me, kicking and screaming, chasing me down and tackling me like the red one had?

Instead of following him, I crawled back over to the entrance and looked down. It was high, but there were landings along the way. But how to get down in one piece? And then where? These creatures—or at least their kind—had killed my parents and others who had strayed outside the protected boundaries of the city. I had no illusions they wouldn’t do the same to me when they got bored. I was probably a food group to them.