Page 15 of Hayes
Even if I did have time for romance, until recently, no one has ever looked at me and thought I was beautiful. I’ve been the ugly duckling that just recently gained her swan wings. My breasts have only recently swelled into something other than a flat chest, my hips have grown into a womanly curve, and my frizzy hair has finally tamed enough to style.
“Prove it? If you expect us to pay more because she’s a virgin, then we demand she be examined first,” says a middle-aged man with balding hair and a protruding belly so big he probably needs a mirror to see his own cock.
I scowl at him in disgust. It will be my luck that he wins each round, and I’ll be stuck giving him all of my firsts.
It doesn’t matter. My firsts mean nothing to me—it’s just a body. What matters is that my family can eat, and I will be able to get my revenge once I’m won and married to a man in this room.
Peter grabs my chin forcefully.
What the hell?
I grab his arm, trying to yank myself free without revealing too much of who I am to these men.
“Do you see how her cheeks flushed a bright crimson pink when I said she was a virgin? Do you see how she dresses? How she reacts to your stares through her almost sheer dress? Have any of you seen her before, even though she lives amongst us?”
Silence.
“I’ve had her watched for ages, knowing she would one day ask for this arrangement. I’ve never seen her with a man. I could call for a doctor to examine her, but that would do little more than prolong this process. Once we sell her first kiss, it will be obvious to you all. And if it’s not, then you’ll get to experience her for free if it can be proven that she’s not a virgin.”
Peter releases me as murmurs spread through the room. My eyes lock on one man—the man who has proof that I’m a liar. That I did share one first with a man—a kiss.
It was more than a kiss. It was kisses. It was touches. It was grinding and indecency, and I shouldn’t have stopped him. I should have let Hayes take everything. I could have still sold my body, my life to a man here, but I would have experienced everything first. It’s true I wouldn’t have gotten the same level of money, but surely I would have gotten six figures in total—enough for my family to survive on for a while.
Hayes, with his green eyes and soft smile, stares at me, meeting my gaze with a knowing look of his own.
Damn him, he’s going to rat me out. Even if I am a virgin in all other ways, it’s not going to matter. The others won’t believe it, and I’m going to lose lots of money if Hayes outs me.
But then the man gives the tiniest shake of his head—letting me know our secret is safe.
I let out a breath and quickly tear my gaze from the only man here I would want to have kiss me, touch me, fuck me. That is until I realized he’s the kind of man to frequent these events. Now I want to destroy him like I want to destroy every man here.
“Good, then we will start with the first round of bidding—her first kiss,” Peter says.
Here we go.
I lick my lips automatically, as if trying to entice these suckers to bid more on me. I can’t imagine anyone spending much money to be the first to kiss me. I’m not expecting much—a couple of thousand dollars if I’m lucky.
“The winning bid will have twenty minutes to claim as many first kisses as he wants from her. But he can only kiss where her skin is currently exposed, nothing beneath her clothes.”
My skin crawls—twenty minutes to kiss one of these vile men. How am I not going to puke midway through?
“Let’s start the bidding at fifty thousand,” Peter says.
My jaw drops. No man here is going to pay fifty grand to kiss me for twenty minutes.
But hands immediately fly in the air. My heart stutters in fear at what I’m doing here. I thought I was strong enough, determined enough, cold enough. I thought I would easily be able to shield myself from what the expectations of me would be when they only paid a couple thousand for a kiss. I can’t imagine what’s going to be expected of me for fifty thousand.
Peter starts chattering like a true auctioneer, and I can barely keep up with the bidding. My eyes fly around the room at each man as they lift their hand, bidding on me. I don’t know who I want to win. I don’t know any of the men here. Most aren’t attractive. Most are at least a decade or two older than me. But there are a handful of men who are close in age to me and are mildly attractive. I would prefer any of them.
And then my eyes flicker to Hayes. I meant to let my eyes just pass over him like I have every other man here, but when I look at him, I know who I want to win. I want him to win every round.
But if what Peter says is true, Hayes is nothing but a playboy with little money. He won’t try to win me in the end. The best I’ll get is for him to win one of these early rounds.
More bidding happens, though, and yet Hayes doesn’t raise his hand—not once.
He already got to kiss me for free—why pay for another kiss?
“Going once…going twice…” Peter starts. “First kiss sold for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
