Page 14 of The Devil's Touch
“Bidder number thirty-five, could you please grace us with your presence on stage?”the auctioneer requested.
The spotlight fell on me, hitching my breath for a second.But then, I knew there was no going back.I plastered a seductive smirk on my face, sauntering to the stage.
I wanted so badly not to look in his direction, but my will wasn’t in alignment.My eyes strayed from the crowd of hungry, lustful men, meeting his burning gaze.His face was cold, hard, and unreadable.Those blue eyes, which always held harshness, reeked of something else.
Rage.
I didn’t care.I looked away from him.He started this when he thought he had me right in the middle of his palms.
“The gorgeous woman here with me—bidder number thirty-five has made it clear that she’s willing to give herself up for whoever it is who can afford her.”My throat tightened at his words.“The bidding starts at two hundred thousand dollars!”
My legs felt light on the floor.
“Two-fifty!”
“Three hundred!”
“Three-fifty!”
Beads of sweat formed on my skin, my lungs slowly thinning out as the world around me started fading into oblivion, leaving just me and the devil.My eyes kept finding his unconsciously, waiting, searching for any flicker of emotion in those blue eyes that reminded me of the Antarctic ice on a cold, merciless night.My vision started blurring out.
“Five hundred!”
I froze, my eyes settling on the blonde-haired male whose eyes devoured every inch of my body with a malicious and sinister intent.It made my skin crawl and I could feel the champagne from earlier coming back up.
“Do I hear five hundred thousand dollars?”the auctioneer repeated, his voice seemingly sounding like a shrill bell.
It felt like a horror movie was starting to play out before me.
“Two million.”
The world stilled.Everything else quieted and a strange air burst through my lungs, feeling like relief, like liberation.
I knew that voice.Voice of smoke, sin, and lust.
My eyes met with a harsh, unforgiving pair in the crowd, seizing my breath.
“Do I hear two million dollars?”the auctioneer put it out there for confirmation, earning him the kind of silence that made ice grow under my skin.
“Sold to bidder number thirty-six for two million dollars.”
****
Ididn’t know how Ifound the restroom.My legs were light on the floor, leading me anywhere, anywhere away from him, delaying the inevitable.My eyes burned with unshed tears, tightening my throat, wrapping around my neck like an invisible noose.
I didn’t know why I was so terrified.I didn’t know why I was trembling so hard, pushing back against the door like that would stop him from finding me.
I glanced around the large restroom, dragging my trembling self to the sink.I turned on the faucet with shaky fingers, dipping my dark, manicured fingers through the water, hoping it’d soothe the volcano erupting inside me.
“Breathe,” I looked into the mirror, murmuring to myself.
As if you could outrun the devil.The voice nagging at the back of my head chose that moment to crawl out.
I shut it down.
I grabbed the edge of the sink so hard, I felt it restrict the blood flow in my veins.
Then, I felt it.That sensation that made me feel like ice was growing under my skin.I murmured a little prayer beneath my breath, hoping desperately that it wasn’t who I thought it was.
