Page 21 of Savage Assassin

“Can you bring her forward?” I motion to the guard standing just behind her. “I’d like to take a closer look.”

His face looks absolutely bored as he steps closer, taking her arm and maneuvering her a few steps out of line. I’m not the first one to ask, and everything about the guard’s bearing suggests that he’s ready for the auction to be finished with so he can get off work and do literally anything else.

It also suggests that he’s not paying as much attention as maybe he should be.

I lean forward, looking as if I’m inspecting her more closely–her skin, her hair, trying to get a look down the cleavage of her slip. The conversations around me are growing louder as the excitement in the room increases. I take advantage of that to speak to her in a low voice, so low that I have to hope that she can hear me.

“Just hold on, Elena. I’ll have you out of here soon.”

She makes no sign whether she heard or not, but I nod to the guard, who tugs her back in line.

I step back, too, and as I do, I find that I have to regain my bearing a little. I hadn’t expected to be affected, being so close to her–especially under these circumstances. But the moment I leaned in, I felt her tense, smelled the soft, warm, powdery scent of her skin, and in a split second, I felt awantlike I hadn’t felt in years.

A sharp, visceral bolt of desire that, in the aftermath, makes me feel slightly ashamed. I have no intention of buying her for any reason other than her rescue, but it makes me feel as if I’m no better than the other men here. As if that brief moment of arousal brought me down to their level, regardless of my intentions.

She’s beautiful. You can’t deny that.

I look at her as she’s maneuvered back into line, her inky black hair spilling over her shoulders in sharp contrast to the slick ivory silk clinging to her tanned skin, her face more calm and composed than I would have ever thought she could manage. The other women look as if they’re in varying stages of panic, bargaining, or denial. Still, Elena’s expression is carefully blank, as if she’s transported herself somewhere far away from here.

It’s not just her appearance that’s stunning. It’s everything about her.

I’m going to have a hell of a time outbidding the other men.

I turn away, looking for a waiter with another glass of something alcoholic as I ignore the throbbing in my cock, awakened by that brief moment so close to her. I can feel it pressing uncomfortably against my thigh, half-hard and swollen, and I clench my jaw against another wave of shame that I can be aroused in these circumstances.

It’s been a long time since I’ve lost even the slightest control of my desire. But she does something to me–and it’s not something I can entertain.

She’s a job. A mission. And right now, if you allow yourself to be distracted, you’re going to fail that fucking mission.

“Gentlemen!” Diego’s voice comes from the door leading into the courtyard, and a hush falls over the crowd as everyone turns toward where he’s standing. The anticipation in the air is thick and sickening, and I grit my teeth as I turn with the rest of them, schooling my face into my best impression of the same eagerness that the rest of the men are exhibiting.

“It’s time for the main event–what I know you’ve all been waiting for.” Diego raises his voice with a flourish, and it’s clear that he’s enjoying the showmanship of it all, the chance to be the center of attention. “If you’ll all follow me–”

Diego leads us through the courtyard and the sprawling open space of the first floor, to a huge open room at the back of the mansion that’s been set up exactly as if for an auction. Rows of chairs face a stage, with a podium on one side, and spotlights shining down in the center for where the girl of the moment will likely be.

This is it.I don’t allow myself to think too much about it as I find my seat, or contemplate all the ways this could go wrong. If I do, it only makes it more likely that it will.

“What are you hoping for?” the man next to me–a tall, slender man with a thick mustache and wearing a tan suit–asks, his tone conspiratorial. “A virgin? Or do you prefer one with a little more experience? I find I like to break them in, myself.”

I can feel the small muscle in my jaw leap as I fight to keep my expression relaxed and pleasant. “I don’t know that I have a preference,” I tell him, hearing the words as if they’re coming out of someone else’s mouth. “It’s more of a thing I just sense in the moment, when I see her. Who the right one is.”

“Ah. A spiritual man.” The man next to me smirks. “Well, we all have our idiosyncracies, I suppose.”

I’m saved from having to respond by another light coming up on the stage, as the same short, rotund man from earlier comes to the podium and clears his throat loudly. “Gentlemen, the auction will begin shortly. If you will all turn your attention to the stage–”

The lights shift to a soft pink, and the first girl is brought out. It’s the tall blonde who had suggested that she’d be compliant if I bought her–not that I can blame her, seeing some of the other candidates. Her face has a clear expression of annoyance, as if she knows that by being the first one out, she’s the most likely to be purchased by someone who isn’t here to spend a lot of money or buy a girl he intends to prize as an expensive commodity. That doesn’t bode well for her, and she appears to know it.

The bidding starts, and I begin to calculate this part of the plan in my head.

In order to not seem suspicious, I’ll have to bid on girls other than Elena. In order to have enough resources to buy Elena, no matter how high the bidding goes, I can’t really afford to win any of the others, despite how much I might like to, in order to be able to let them go back home afterward. So I’ll have to carefully balance my bidding, so that I’m always outbid until it comes time for Elena–who will almost certainly be the last one–to be on the stage.

It’s a risky plan. It always has been. But it’s the one most likely to work. If it doesn’t, she’ll go with some other man, to be hurt and abused, and it will be my failure that caused it. If the plan doesn’t work, I won’t get a second chance to save her.

Ithasto work.

Elena

I’ve never been so afraid in my entire life.

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