Buy Me (Mistress Auctions #1)
Alexa Riley
To Neda at Ardent Prose
Your support, encouragement, and motivation were there when I needed it most.
Thank You
1
STELLA
“No, try the white or cream nightie and tone down the makeup. She looks more like a showgirl than an innocent virgin.” The woman named Samantha is barking orders at the girl who is getting me ready. The assistant hops to and races off to find the right outfit, her long, curly red hair bouncing behind her.
I cringe inwardly at the comment. I'm not sure I want to look like a showgirl or an innocent virgin, but what choice do I really have? I’ll do whatever will get me the most money at this point. I've made my bed and now I have to lie in it. Figuratively and literally. Maybe it wasn’t me exactly who made the bed, but I sure helped tuck myself right into it. If I’m doing this, I might as well get all I can out of it. If switching out a nightie and playing up my virginity will do that, then that’s what I’m going to do.
“She's right.” At her words, I look over to the woman standing at the station next to me. She most definitely looks like a showgirl, but I'm pretty sure that's what she's going for. “Innocent virgin will get you a whole lot more money.” She winks at me and starts applying more lipstick to her already very red, plump lips. The lipstick makes her big blue eyes pop, and I can’t help but be envious of how utterly gorgeous she is. It’s like she stepped right off the pages of Maxim magazine. She has to be at least five feet nine, and if she wears the heels she has sitting on the ground next to her, she’ll be well over six feet and almost all legs. Her shoes look like they cost a couple thousand dollars, making me wonder why she’s even here if she can afford shoes like that.
Slipping off the topaz dress, I examine the white nightie the redhead brought back.
“How much more?” I ask, unable to help myself. I need a hundred grand for this to actually be worth it. That’s the amount that will keep my father from losing our land, which he so easily gambled away. A piece of land that my mom fought to keep alive, gone after one poker game my father should’ve never been in. How could he be so stupid? Or does he just not care? I wonder what he’d think if he knew what I was doing to get the money back. I’m sure he’ll find out soon enough, when I’m not home in the morning. Come tomorrow, I’ll be owned by some random man and I’ll no longer be a virgin.
“Hmm.” She stops applying her lipstick, giving me a full once over. “Virgin, right?”
I nod my head, wondering if it’s that easy to spot a virgin. Is there, like, a sign on my forehead that I’m not seeing?
She gives me a wicked smile. “They always go to the highest bidder, and you’ve got the whole ‘innocent’ thing going too. Men eat that shit up. I'd say at least two hundred thousand.”
I'm sure my eyes bug out, because she laughs at my response.
“I'm Kim.” She reaches her hand out and shakes mine. She’s got such soft skin and her nails are perfectly polished. I look her over. She’s so put together she looks like she’s not entirely real.
“Stella,” I reply.
“I gather that, as you’re a virgin, this is your first time at the Mistress Auction?” She arches an eyebrow at me, a half-smile playing across her red lips.
“All around virgin you could say.” I try to joke to help with some of the fear snaking up my spine. It’s an eerie feeling, knowing there is a group of men not far away, waiting to buy my body. Waiting to buy me.
“This is my fourth. The same guy just keeps buying me. When our contract is up, I always come back, and each time I go up he buys me again.”
I can't tell by her tone if she likes that or not. “Sounds kinda sweet in a weird kind of way. Why not just go ahead and extend your contract with him?”
Each person who is bought as a mistress is locked into thirty-day contract. You get half your money up front and the other half when the thirty days are over. The buyer has to pay an additional ten percent to the house so the mistress isn’t responsible for fees. That’s what I gathered from the mountains of paperwork, non-disclosures, and extensive medical exams I had to endure to enter into the Mistress Auction. If it wasn't for all of that, I’m not sure I would be doing it. Everything seems to be done to protect everyone, and though I’m desperate, I’m not willing to risk my life. When your contract is up, you can enter into a longer Mistress agreement at a newly negotiated price with your current buyer, but if it wasn't a good fit you’re able to enter the Mistress Auction again if you like. I didn't want to be anyone’s mistress, though the perks do seem rather nice. Your every need will be met, and your only requirement is to be ready and willing when your buyer comes knocking on the door of wherever he’s put you. I want to be more than someone’s property, so I know this will be my one and only auction. When the contract’s up, I’ll be going my own way.
“Got to keep him on his toes,” Kim says, breaking into my thoughts. She gives me a wink like I should know what that means. It all seems a little silly to me, but now I know how she afforded the expensive shoes.
“What if he doesn’t bid on you?” She seems so confident, but I guess if I looked like she did I would be too.