The Lottery (10 page)

“Benefactor?”

“Well, what else should I call her, your Mistress? That’s just
too gross even if it is more accurate. She is putting up with you right now and
footing the bills for your lodging and food, right? And I don’t want to know
how you are repaying her, believe me. There is only so much a sister needs to
know.”

“Actually, she still hasn’t demanded payment, and I am not sure
if she will.”

“Really? She is still ready to throw you out, hmm?”

“As rude as I have been to her over the past couple of days, I
can see why she isn’t interested in spending any time with me.”

Bailey searched his face, and he wondered if she saw the marks of
fatigue he had seen in the mirror. “Rude? Ethan, I have never known you to be intentionally
rude to anyone who did not deserve it. So does she deserve it? And if not, why
are you being ugly?”

“I don’t really know yet if she deserves it. Only reason I can
come up with is Ophelia.” Ethan shrugged his shoulders, looking but not seeing
out the window from where he sat. Turning back towards her, he added, “It
drives me insane knowing all these women had nothing better to do then to drop
millions of dollars for the chance to win an opportunity to force a man to have
sex with them.”

“Well for one, she isn’t truly forcing you to do anything. You
chose to place yourself into the lottery. If anyone is forcing you to do
anything, that would be me. So be mad at me, not her.”

“Bailey, you didn’t force anything. I chose to do this, and I
could never be mad with you. But still, these women pay astronomical sums of
money just to have me service their needs, whether it is the lottery or a
contract, or worse. Even after all these years, I still can’t fathom why we’re
subjected to this. There is no love, no true affection, every one of these
relationships is destructive and causes pain and anguish.”

“Ethan, all people have needs, men and women. Loneliness is a
very strong emotion.”

“Loneliness? Come on, Bailey. Just because you buy someone
doesn’t mean you’ll chase away the loneliness inside. Entrapping someone
doesn’t bring about intimacy.”

“Is that truly the way you see your situation? Have you ever
considered that maybe it was her one shot at seeing what it was like to have a
relationship with a man? I know the way men are treated is deplorable, but if
you can look at the other side for just one moment. Most women will never have
any relationship with the opposite sex at all. Most choose the same sex just to
avoid the horrendous loneliness. You can understand that, I’m sure.”

“I’ve never been lonely. Before the accident I had mom and dad,
and I have always had you. Besides that, women have always been there paying me
for my time, up until a few years ago. I rarely had a moment of free time alone
before that witch Ophelia. I ran away from them sometimes just so I could be
alone. I guess I’ve never experienced loneliness.”

“Don’t kid yourself, Ethan. You are one of the loneliest people I
have ever met. Just because women have fought to spend time with you doesn’t
mean they really cared about you. They only wanted your body. Remember your
words from a few moments ago. You can’t force intimacy.”

Ethan just watched his sister, a hardness filling him. He turned
away so she wouldn’t see that side of him. “I’ve had relationships. I’ve had
women care about me. Not
all
the
contracts were horrid situations.”

“You are deeper in denial than I ever realized.” Bailey ran her
hands over her face in aggravation before looking up at him with anger etched
on her face. “Do you really think the women you spent time with cared for you? What
happened to them once Ophelia had her way with your reputation? Did any of them
step up and stand at your side to protect you or vouch for you? Where are they
now? They were nowhere to be found Ethan. They let you rot, and didn’t give one
thought to how you would survive.”

Rising from the bed, he stalked over to the desolate window in
the room. His back toward her, he felt the heat of his anger spread over his
face. He refused to argue with her while she was sick. She didn’t have the
strength for this.

“Not every woman is like Ophelia, hard and uncaring on the
inside. Is it really that difficult to believe a woman simply bought a ticket in
hopes of intimacy outside the bedroom? To find the mythical needle in the
haystack? To feel real love? Give her a little break. She hasn’t demanded
anything from you yet, maybe she just wants friendship, real intimacy. You are
so jaded, brother. I know that deep down you desire love as well. Why do you
think you’re working so hard to save me? There is no one left for either of us,
and I’m the only person who loves you for being you.”

****

Karlyn sat soaking in the large claw-footed tub in her large
bathroom. The studio had been incredible enough to convince her to buy this
loft, but if it hadn’t, then the bathroom would have done her in. The vision
the women had in creating a luscious retreat within this home was genuinely awe
inspiring. French doors graced the end wall, and the balcony covered with
greenery and riots of color were easily seen from the tub.. It was a safe haven
from the world where she could relax.

Karlyn looked at her toes as she lifted them out of the water and
saw she had wrinkled. She had spent too much time soaking and the water was
cool. She pulled herself up and grasped the fluffy towel from the bench at the
end of the tub.

Wrapping the towel around her body, she sat down at the vanity
and looked at her reflection. Her long blonde hair fell in wet, curling strands
around her shoulders, and if she looked hard, she was sure she could find
paint. No matter what she did to it, it was never as shining and bouncy as the
women she saw throughout the city. Her pale skin was almost translucent, as if
the sun’s rays had never touched her, and she thought she looked sickly. Of
course, her blue eyes were her one true beauty, and she felt pride radiate
within her each time someone commented on how beautiful they were.

Sighing inwardly, she knew that there was little she could do to
ever make herself a true beauty. Luck just wasn’t in her corner in that regard.
Plain she would always be. And without money or power, alone was all she could
ever expect to be. Maybe she needed to let things happen between her and Ethan
just so she could say that she had the experience of being with a man.

Looking above her own head in the mirror, she caught a glimpse of
Ethan standing in the doorway. Their eyes met in the reflection, and Karlyn
wasn’t sure, but she swore she saw hunger in his gaze. But then again, she had
never truly seen what lust looked like in a man’s eyes when they were directed
at her, and why ever would he be giving her
that
look?

“I’m sorry about intruding. I called out when I walked in, but
you must not have heard me.” He continued to stare, not moving away as she wished
he would.

“Relaxation is a wonderful thing. I guess it made my mind wander.
I’ll be done in a few more minutes, and then you can use the bath.”

Instead of retreating, Ethan stepped inside the room. Entranced,
he seemed pulled to her like a magnet. Anticipation coursed through her veins,
but she couldn’t move, could only watch him move closer to her.

He stopped just behind her then knelt to the floor, grasping her
damp hair and pulling a brush from the top of the vanity. He raised the brush
to her scalp and lightly tugged it through, his eyes never leaving hers in the
mirror.

He continued to stroke the brush through her tresses, a moan
escaping her lips as her eyes closed and her head slid back in ecstasy. One of
his hands moved to the base of her neck, holding the weight of her head as he
continued to brush the unruly wet curls. After several more minutes of measured,
languid brushing, he set the brush back down on the counter. Moving the
weighted mass of hair to one side of her shoulder, she opened her eyes,
suspicious of his next move. A war waged inside her, she was so wary.

****

Lowering his head, Ethan nipped at the supple skin on her
shoulder. Leisurely running his soft lips over her skin, he tasted her. Tilting
her head slowly to the side to allow him more room to lave her, he felt the
gentle but guarded permission she gave. She tasted of berry and he continued to
lick and nibble the skin of her shoulder, and followed the curve of her neck,
biting the swell of her earlobe softly.

Sliding her off of the bench, he pulled her into his lap as he
continued to softly bite and lick her neck, entranced with her taste. Resting
his hands on either side of her waist, he pressed his heavy erection into the
base of her spine. Thrusting her rear slightly, he surged, pressing himself
closer. His hands lifted until they were just under her breasts. Her nipples hardened
further within his grasping fingers.

Lifting his fingers up, he pulled the edges of the towel down so
he could look at her beautiful breasts over her shoulder. Both hands filled
with soft flesh and he used the sides of his thumbs to rub the nipples to
harden them further. Sliding from under her, he laid her on the soft carpet of
the bathroom and then kneeled over her, pulling the bath towel from her body.

Running his hands along her thighs, he looked down at her beauty
and loved the soft curves she possessed. There was no malice or intent in her
eyes as there had been in the women who contracted him in the past. Instead, he
saw her curiosity, her self-consciousness, and her innocent desire. The other
women had always directed the passion, with an end point already in mind.
Karlyn was nearly lost in her passion. She yielded to the feelings he was
creating in her body and for that, he thought her to be the most beautiful
woman he had ever seen in his entire life. He bent down to kiss her navel and
then lower, closer to her mound.

Nudging her pale thighs open with his palms, he caressed her,
desperately needing to see her sex. He lowered his head until he was eye level
with her glistening folds and breathed her scent deep. She smelled sweet, light
like an airy day, and he had to taste her. Raising his mouth to the center of
her sex, he swiped his tongue, licking her from clit to the bottom of her
folds, her taste, her feel, unlike any woman he had ever been with. Her fingers
entwined in his hair as he drank her juices and licked at her tender flesh.

He rubbed a single finger around her tightened nub, feeling how
hard and extended it was with desire. Within a few strokes of his finger to her
clit and his mouth on her sex, she was becoming liquid in his arms, her loud
moans echoing in his ears as her release hit her quickly.
How responsive, how vocal.

Sliding away from her core, she writhed under him, already
seeking her next release. Her breathing quickened even more as he rested on his
arms, facing her pussy. Slowly he pressed one finger into her to test how tight
she was. But he could not get his finger in past the knuckle. Her barrier was
still intact.

Sitting up quickly; completely stunned and shocked, he could only
look down at her as questions flew into his head. She suddenly looked
embarrassed and grasped the towel around her naked form. Tears formed in her
eyes, but she refused to let them fall, and he watched as she held tight to her
composure.

“You’re a virgin.”

“Is there something wrong with that?” Defensiveness thickened her
words.

“Virgins don’t normally go around buying tickets to win a sex
slave for a year.”

“Well…maybe…maybe I was tired of being a virgin, and I was ready
to get it over with.”

“You kept your virginity intact this long, and you chose the
lottery to end it?”

“It isn’t like I have had the choice of many men in this day and
age.”

“Most women use toys to end their virginity and get some
satisfaction until they can eventually get a man. But you waited. For what?”

“I don’t know. You will think me more naive than you already do,
but I guess I always hoped I would be one of the lucky ones that would meet a
man who loved me.”

An eyebrow raised, he looked at her. No words came.

“Yes, I can see by the look on your face that you know as well as
I do that I am a hopeless romantic. So what? So what if I am? Is there a law
against that?”

“No. No law.” Ethan stood up, wanting her more now than ever, but
also knowing that he absolutely did not deserve her virginity. She wasn’t like
the others. She was fresh and new, and he was completely unprepared for the
feelings that rushed over him at the thought.

He turned his back on her while he tried to gather his composure
and gain control over his raging hard-on. His whole body trembled from desire
and the only thing he could think about was plunging inside her sweetness. It
was as if her purity could absolve some of his sin, even though he knew it
really never would. But he could live vicariously through her inexperience,
like looking at the world with fresh eyes. The floor of her bathroom was not
the place she should lose her virginity. He would make it special for her.

“We can’t do this now.” Quickly turning back to her, he lowered
his hand to help her up from the floor, where she sat stunned. “You need to get
dressed and ready for your celebration dinner.”

Staring into her eyes, he yearned to kiss her, but he stepped
back. “I will let you get dressed so I can shower and get ready for dinner.” He
strode from the room and closed the door behind him. He closed the door,
leaning against the frame for a moment to regain his composure. It was then he
heard her sniffling, and he wondered what caused her tears to flow.

Chapter Nine

The pair walked down the quiet residential street to the
restaurant. Karlyn enjoyed the way her dress floated around her as she walked,
as she rarely wore anything except her grubby jumpers. A warm breeze floated
past and reminded her that winter’s chill had finally been surpassed by the
renewal of spring. She flushed when Ethan grasped her fingers in his, entwining
their fingers. Never having experienced the simple joy of having her hand
clasped within the masculine heat of a man’s hand, she reveled in the moment
and refused to pull away. Having him quietly walking beside her was somehow
soothing, even after his dismissal earlier that evening.