Page 2 of Master B-0361

“For those who are new, pay attention. I’ve said this before, and I’ll continue to repeat it. What you buy is yours. You can do whatever you want with it. Fuck it. Kill it. Share it. Marry it. Love it. Eat it. Destroy it.” Hesitation. “I don’t care so long as you follow the rules. Your business is your own. Keep it that way or you may come to regret it. I can’t stress that enough.”

“If you look down the arm of the chair, you will see a button. That is how you will bid.Do notpress that button unless you are sure you have the money. There is no lay-a-way plan or loans. If the slave is too much for you to afford, don’t bid. At the Gardens, there are no such thing as accidents. If you bid, youwillbuy. If you don’t have the money, I will take my payment from you from the outside world, and you can stay here with me and the slave you so desperately wanted. This life can be simple if you just follow the rules. They’re easy. Complete acceptance into the Garden of the Gods is not. Honor your contract, abide by it, and Alpha status will be yours.”

We all turned our heads as lights ran the length of the room, traveling over the entrances where the slaves were lined up. My heart was racing. My hand was shaking. I knew I should wait on buying another slave, but I had prolonged this enough. It was almost time to move on and as hard as it was for me to let go, I couldn’t deny what was inside of me.

It was always wishing for the impossible…

Waiting…for her...

Master B-0361

They say when you meet your soulmate, you know. Time stops. Everything you thought you knew no longer matters. It’s not your life anymore;it’s the life you can build around them.

It’s true.

I once was a believer in love. Maggie had been everything to me. She was the first girl to sweep me off my feet. The first one I had ever said ‘I love you’ to. And I had loved her with every fiber of my being. We’d given our virginity to each other. Started planning and dreaming of a future. Every second was small caresses and kisses. It was so different than the cold life I’d lived before that. She brought life to the deadness I hid inside and warmed my frozen state. Fed it with her constant affection. But then she’d met Jake Princeton,Master Five, and all that changed.

She fell for him, and I lost her. Not that it stopped me from trying to get her back. For years, even after they married, I did everything I could to show her I was still here. That I still cared. One child. Then, she got pregnant with another. I would have taken them both to care for as my own. She had no interest in my offers or pleas.No interest in me.With her death, andthen his suicide, I lost everything. Every hope. Every dream. Every chance I ever had to get her back. The warmth, gone. The affection, gone. Revenge,gone.

Some say true love can only happen once in a lifetime. Perhaps they’re right.

“God, she is so fucking hot.”

I glanced over to Master One-thousand-twenty-nine, nodding as a leggy blonde cautiously walked onto the stage. Although I didn’t know the Master very well, I was just glad it was him by me and not Pete, who’d left for the blank slates once the introduction ended. A few random comments I could handle. Shit talking and gossiping was not how I wanted to spend my night.

“What’s your type? Are you looking for anything special?”

Special? Yeah…a dead woman. But I’d never find another Maggie here. Maggie had been one of a kind. Just as beautiful on the inside as the out. Strong. Graceful yet every bit the leader.

“I’m not too picky.”

I lifted my drink, chugging back the vodka as the Master nodded, clicking the bidding button. His attention was on the stage, and mine…it was living in memories I couldn’t escape.

How many hours was I going to do this? No,how many years?How many auctions would I be chasing a ghost?

My head leaned back, and I closed my eyes. Time drifted as I laid there, staring into happy, love-filled eyes. Back to when she was mine. When she loved me too. It was the loud voice next to me that had my lids shooting open and me leaving Maggie.

“Hell yes. She’s mine. I’ve got to collect my new slave. Have a good night, Master Three-sixty-one.”

As I nodded, I glanced around seeing how empty the room had become. There was only one person left on my row, and that was a good forty chairs down.

“I need another drink. I’ll follow you out.”

I stood as the Master did, ignoring the announcer’s voice as we headed to the aisle. I reached for my wallet, jerking to a stop as I realized I wasn’t in my suit. I was in the damn God costume, which was ridiculous, if I wanted to be honest. A moment of confusion had me spinning for my wallet on the chair, only to turn back to the aisle as I remembered that I didn’t bring it. Fuck, I was buzzing more than I thought.

I stepped for the aisle again, not able to continue as almond-shaped light brown eyes connected with mine. She was walking to the stage, a mass of blue sheer material following behind. Dark hair that reached the length of her elbow swayed as she spun to look back at me. Even as she neared the stairs, she was peering over her shoulder.

And what was I doing?

Was I blindly walking back to my seat? Sitting? Fuck…I was.

Did she look like Maggie? Aside from the color of her hair and the shape of her eyes, I wasn’t sure. She had magnetism, and fuck if it didn’t suck me right in like Maggie’s used to.

That still didn’t make her Maggie. That was almost enough to cause me to stand and forget this silly feeling. If it wouldn’t have been for the fact that I needed someone new, I just might have.

“Up for auction is b-eight-forty-two.”

I couldn’t get sense enough to pick up the bidding button before lights flashed on the screen from another Master. The slave stood straight but I could see the small steps back and forth she took. Her eyes were wide. Her lips were parted. She was on the verge of running but knew better as she forced herself to stand straight through the sways. If that wasn’t a red flag, I didn’t know what was. She wasn’t taking her status easily. She wouldn’t be an easy slave. She was a fighter to her core…but hadn’t Maggie been one too?

---