Page 75 of Bear
It’s obvious that I haven’t been paying attention because all at once there’s a girl next to me. I slide my gaze down her body, then give my lip a little bite. “Tell us about yourself, honey. Why do you think one of these men will bid on you? What’s the most compelling reason you can think of as to why these fine men”—I wave my hand in the general direction of the salivating crowd—“would want to pay big bucks to have you for the next two hours?”
I notice Kingston whisper to Elliot, who is frowning hard. Dear fucking god, I don’t know how Hunter expects to get her up here, but he promised he had it covered. My teeth grind hard as the brunette on stage with me shoots me a grin, then winks as she says, “Hi, I’m Kelly. I’m a psych major and a sister at Sigma Nu. And… I give the best blow jobs around.”
I clear my throat. Let the games begin… “Bidding starts at one hundred dollars.”
One girl after another comes up and does her best to tease and tempt the men in the room. I’ve seen more tits, ass, and pussy tonight than I have in a very long time.
Lennon’s face is unreadable as all of this is happening. She’s stiff, her arms crossed over her chest. I’ve seen several dudes look at her as if wondering why the fuck she isn’t in line to be auctioned, and a few more blatantly question her. It makes me go rigid every time one of them steps into her personal space, like they have the right. They don’t. She’sours,dammit. She’s done a good job of flicking them away like annoying gnats, but as we get closer and closer to the end of the line, I get more and more nervous about how this is going to go down.
I peek at Bear out of the corner of my eye, and he shakes his head. He’s in a fucking mood tonight, and I wonder if it has something to do with his damn shoulder again. We’d been so consumed with talking to Lennon about how to handle things tonight that I hadn’t even asked how the game went. Bad fucking friend I am.
I huff out a breath, glad to let Mason take over as the auctioneer for a bit.
Tucker ends up bidding on some girl and winning. He hauls off with his prize over his shoulder, heading toward the hallway of rooms with black ribbons on the doorknobs. Maybe that fucker realized bidding on Lennon wouldn’t be such a hot idea. Nice of him to pull his head out of his ass finally. My eyes swing back to the crowd in time to see Elliot and Archer take off together. At first, I inwardly cheer, thinking maybe it’s a good thing that she leaves of her own accord. That is, until one by one,ourunderclassmen slink away from the room, each giving a brief nod to Hunter on their way out.
My jaw works to the side as I try not to make it obvious that I’m glaring at Mason’s dickhead brother. He gives a soft chuckle that I obviously can’t hear, but it hits me in the gut like a cannonball. This is it. As the final few girls are auctioned off, I feel it in my bones that Hunter’s plan to get Elliot up here is going to be successful. Trying to appear calm, I laugh along with the crowd, throw them smirks, and wriggle my brows where appropriate.
The last girl has just been claimed when the ballroom door opens. Arik and Quincy stride through with a struggling Elliot between them. Poor thing, I can tell she’s trying not to make a big deal of it, but she really, really doesn’t want to be involved, it’s written all over her face. I guess that’s the problem with being an initiate. There’s always a part of you that wonders what is an actual test of your merit versus what’s simply brotherhood bullshit to put up with. So, she’s unsure what to do, and meanwhile, Kingston and Cannon are just standing there, watching her be brought up to the stage. They’re probably internally freaking out while trying to figure out how to get her out of this without creating a huge scene at one of the biggest events of the year. They’re all about their traditions and image.Good luck with that.
There’s some back-and-forth between our grunts and Elliot as they get her up the stairs. Clearly displeased, she tries to wrench herself free, but they’ve got her in a vice grip, singularly focused on the task Hunter gave them. Once she’s finally on stage, Arik and Quincy both give us grins and little salutes.
Playing my part, I grin wickedly at Elliot. “Well, aren’t you a pretty thing?”
She doesn’t respond, her eyes instead search the crowd. Hard to say what’s in her head, but it’s obvious she’s spotted Cannon and Kingston. I glance around the room, noting that Archer is still missing, as are Kai, Brendan, and Pierre. No doubt they had the job of securing Archer, thereby ensuring Elliot could be snatched.
She looks for all the world as if she’s going to attempt to flee. I catch Mason’s eye and subtly jerk it in her direction. Bear catches on as well, and all three of us move closer to her. She’s not going anywhere. We need this girl to cooperate. Looking into her eyes, I can’t figure out what the hell she has to do with our fathers at all. She’s young. Eighteen probably. A freshman.
A moment later, Kingston shouts, “What the fuck! She came with us. She’s not for fuckin’ sale.”
I press my lips together, hating to do this, especially when I spot Lennon rolling her eyes at me. I shout, “Opening bid starts at two—”
“Two hundred dollars.” Alec from my math class bids first.
Jesus, the way Elliot trembles when he shoots her an ugly grin makes my teeth clench. There’s obvious animosity between them. She stutters, “N-no,” her breaths shallow.
“Two twenty-five.” Mason catches her by the shoulder. “What’s the matter, baby? It’s for charity, remember?” He leans close and whispers loudly, “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.”
“Three hundred.” Archer has come out of nowhere. His mask is askew, and now that I take a second to look around the room again, Pierre, Kai, and Brendan have all returned. They’re hanging out, rather nonchalantly, as if they hadn’t just grabbed Archer to hold him hostage while Elliot was forced on stage.
Some idiot shouts, “Four hundred! How many times do you think she’ll suck my dick in two hours?”
Kingston immediately grits out, “Five hundred.” He’s fucking seething, his eyes glittering mad.
Bear catches my eye right before he looks down at Elliot, then grips her by the waist, lifting her for a moment. He nods, letting out a huffed growl. “Yep, you’ll do. Six hundred.” Elliot immediately elbows Bear in the gut, which makes him back away, hands up. He gives her a crazy-eyed look, which, because she doesn’t know him, might be scary as fucking hell. And she’s definitely unnerved since she’s shaking like a leaf.
The bids come in fast and furious, and I finally snap to and pay attention when we hit two thousand.
Hunter is watching me so fucking carefully that I sidle up to Elliot and throw my arm around her shoulders. “Come on, guys.” I trace my fingertips over her collarbone. I receive an immediate glare from Lennon as I shift Elliot forward. “She’s worth more than that to you, isn’t she?”
“Four thousand,” growls a gritty, rough voice.
Well, damn.I don’t think I’ve ever heard Cannon speak before, and from the dead quiet in the room, neither have many other people. There’s also the fact that he looks like a raging fucking bull about to charge up here and impale me on his horns.
Kingston bellows, “Duke, I think it’s gone fuckin’ high enough.”
I slide my tongue over my lower lip, my gaze bouncing in so many directions, it makes my head pound. That’s when I realize Hunter is not where he was before.Holy fuck, where is he?Sweat trickles between my shoulder blades and down my spine. I don’t care where he’s gone. This is our fucking chance to create the diversion to get Lennon out of here. My heart begins to hammer hard in my chest, a harsh surge of adrenaline rushing through my body. I meet Bear’s eyes and give him a nearly imperceptible nod. Mason, who is standing just behind me, puts his hand on my back and pats twice, as if to say,Finish it.
Lennon’s angry eyes are on us, and I hope like fuck she’s watching Bear for the signal. I keep my eyes steady on Kingston. “This isn’t your playground, Hawthorne.” I give a horrible, wicked-sounding chuckle. “Forty-one hundred.” The end of auction buzzer goes off. My eyes flick to Lennon’s, and hers widen as she sees Bear blink rapidly at her.
