Page 5 of Protected By Saint

“Six hundred and fifty thousand dollars!”

“We’ll take her for seven hundred thousand dollars!”

“We?” The man on the stage chuckles and a series of laughs follow. It’s a game to them. Twisted and exciting. Oh, how I am going to enjoy carving into any one of them that lands in our hands.

My gun is heavy at my side with the need to take out every one of these men, to watch their smug expressions drop when I plant a bullet between their eyes, but I contain myself. I did not become the president of the Steel Rebels MC by acting impulsively.

So, I wait.

And I wait…

Patiently, I stand in the crowd as the men continue bidding, tossing around money and egging each other on until none of them is willing to offer a cent more. Knox returns to me just as the auctioneer calls out for anyone else willing to bid.

“Priest and a few of his Steel Outlaw guys are still in the area and on their way. Fifteen minutes to ETA. I have two of our guys stationed at every exit,” Knox says at my side. I nod in acknowledgment, glad to hear my cousin and his men from our sister MC are still in the area and willing to offer support.

“Do I hear eight hundred thousand dollars—”

“One million dollars!” I call out calmly, but my voice carries to the man on stage. Of course, he can hear me but not the whimpering girl by his side, and I can practically see his face light up with excitement.

“Sold!” he yells, and the room breaks in disappointed groans as the girl is escorted from the stage and a series of annoyed glances are tossed at the man crazy enough to spend one million dollars on a single night with an untouched girl. I can sense the envy and judgment in their gazes, but there is one face that’s not gaping with the rest. One set of brown eyes that look like they’re going to pop out any second now that he’s spotted me.

As my girl is led off the stage and a small group of other women make their way out, one of the waitstaff approaches and gestures for me to follow him to complete the transaction, and I nod. My gaze stays on Derrick’s as I walk away, threatening him with my eyes, promising all the things he’s going to face now that he’s landed in our grasp.

With one last grin at the man, I disappear through a door.

Chapter Three

Jade

Stripped.

I’m trembling as a massive man pushes me into a room and locks the door behind me. I don’t bother screaming and kicking anymore. I’d been doing that all night until Buck threatened to shoot me if I made another sound.

As I walk away from the door to the furthest corner of the small room, I feel stripped bare. Of my dignity and faith in humanity. The sound of their laughter still echoes in my head, and it’s driving me to insanity. The way those men looked at me like I wasn’t a person, but commodity for them to fight over and play with.

Buck was right.

Putting up a fight only seemed to excite those monsters. The price shot higher every time I showed visible signs of distress, and now someone just won me for one million dollars. God, I shudder to think what will happen to me at the hands of a man willing to toss away that much money for a single night.

I need to get out of this place. Because it isn’t just one night. For this auction, I’ll have to spend one night with the highest bidder, but that won’t be the end of it for me. Buck said I’m club property now. My life as I knew it is over if I don’t figure out a way out of here now.

Looking around the small room, there is only a queen bed and a bare nightstand. It’s clear what the room is set up for, and there’s no means of escaping. The only window in the room is small and close to the ceiling, but maybe if I climb up on the nightstand, I can reach it and possibly squeeze my way out. There’s no telling how far I’ll fall if I even manage it, but I bet a few broken bones is better than what’s waiting for me.

Before I can try my luck with the window, the door suddenly opens, and I half expect Buck to walk in, but instead, someone else does—my buyer. I back up to the wall with a whimper when I recognize the man. He’s the one who won the bid, and now he’s here to claim his prize.

Is this it?

My chest rises and falls with heavy breaths as he enters the room, kicking the door shut behind him. He’s tall—I observed this about him earlier as he stood apart from the crowd. His black suit stretches across his broad shoulders, and his blond hair shines like gold. It’s one of the things that caught my notice, and now up close, I can see the color of his eyes. They’re blue, like the calm of the ocean or the skies on a cloudless day.

But despite they’re beautiful color, there is something about his eyes. He’s dangerous.

Perhaps more so than those loud men who were seated closest to the stage, sending lustful looks and nauseating jeers my way. Something about this man with his cool demeanor and a poise like a lion waiting to attack its prey screams danger.

I feel every bit like prey.

“Are you cold?” he asks, shrugging off his jacket before I can respond. A whimper slips out when I spot the gun tucked at his side, and I question if he brought that in to scare me. My body is trembling as he approaches me, and I shut my eyes tightly when he reaches out, anticipating the worst. I catch a whiff of his scent when he stops in front of me. It’s a blend of musk with warm woodsy notes. There is also a hint of refreshing citrus that offers a reprieve from the strong nicotine smell I’ve had to deal with for the last few of hours. The man’s scent is like a comforting embrace, one that I long to fall into, but I hold back, afraid to fall into yet another trap.

But…he doesn’t touch me.

---