Page 38 of Seducing Selena

My dreams weren’t bad ones this time.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

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NICHOLAS

Achuckle rose behind me as I watched them take Selena back to our apartment. She was dragging, weak on her feet and I was amazed she was still standing. I wanted to follow her and make sure she was okay, but that wasn’t the right call.

We had to look impassive.

Turning, I found Delano behind me. “Impressive. She seems to be on the edge of breaking.”

“Possibly,” I said. “But I’ll leave the true breaking to Sebastian. He does enjoy it. Especially when there’s punishment involved.”

“Something we have in common,” he said. “Though I prefer my implements to have a little more bite than he does.”

I forced myself to smile. “You of all people know it would be unwise to permanently damage someone who could be merchandise.”

“I suppose that’s true.” He slid his hands into his pockets. “Again, I’m willing to pay whatever you like for her. Have you whipped her yet? Her skin is so pure, it makes me want to create a masterpiece on her.”

“Not yet. It will come soon, and I’ll keep your offer in mind. You didn’t bring any of your own slaves to keep you company?”

Delano’s eyes scanned over the dance floor in front of us, leaning against the railing that separated this section of the club. “I try not to mix business with pleasure, though, for that Omega, I would make an exception.”

Of course he fucking would. But he was getting close to Selena over my dead body. “And business?”

He glanced at me. “So far, everything is going well. Half of your auction lots have made it where they need to go. The other half are almost there.”

“Excellent. I’m glad to hear it.” It took time smuggling people.

Delano observed me, and the intentionality of it felttoocasual. “I’ll admit, I had my doubts. Your… caginess with this slave had my hackles up. But seeing the auction, and the three of you in action, it’s better. I think we’ll be able to have a healthy partnership.”

“May I ask what doubts?” I tilted my head. If there were rumors about us beyond his own mind, we needed to squash them now, before they took root, even if he said they’d faded.

Delano shrugged, focusing on a couple near us. A man in a suit and a female submissive collared on a leash. Tame by his standards, but she was very pretty. He knew everyone on that side of the club was here and playing consensually. I wondered what he thought of them. “It just seemed… convenient. No one in the world had heard of you, and suddenly the three Warwick Alphas were the premiere slave trainers and suppliers in the world? I’ve only survived this long because of my suspicions. Don’t be offended.”

I laughed. “I’m not.”

“Like I said, it’s better. If I hadn’t known anything about you, that might not have been enough, but I hope to see more. Regardless, you followed through. It’s the way it should be. Put them in their place. It’s the only way they learn. Though I might have only let her make the first mistake.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “You can’t have any leniency. But the rest was for us. We wanted to punish her more.”

My stomach churned. He was boxing us in and he didn’t even know it. Because now we couldn’t show any mercy to Selena whatsoever. And I’d said something that could put her in danger because she was my Omega and I wanted her to be okay. I’d made a mistake, and there wasn’t a way for me to take it back.

Except for me to actually put her in her place. My Alpha warred in me with the need to protect her and how to do it. Because by treating her like the slave she currently was, shewasmore protected from the piece of shit in front of me. But I didn’t want to fucking do that.

My instincts were rising, and I needed to get the fuck out of this conversation. Scenting Selena, watching her come, having to punish her and not fuck her was pure torture. Now Delano was dangling the idea of her torture in front of me, and I could feel rut hovering around the edges of my vision.

I needed to contact headquarters and find out how much longer this was going to take. It had been a week of him staying here. Surely—surely—they had enough dirt on him now to pull the trigger.

“Once all the merchandise has been accepted, I’ll have a proposition for you,” he said. “I know you’re the premiere in terms of sourcing that merchandise, but if you’re willing to entertain a wider source, there are some available.”

Matching his pose, I leaned against the railing. “I’m listening.”

“Naturally, I can’t give you all the details until I’m sure our business here is complete. But I will say that no one will miss these whores, and having… amply sampled the merchandise, they’ll do just fine. Especially for clients like myself who prefer our purchases to be expendable.”

Mother fucker.

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