“Oh, and then Gavin. Now, he isn’t to my tastes.” Cal put his arm around Gavin’s wide shoulders. “Nothing personal, of course. But I know quite a few of you ladies and gents who are salivating for a piece of this hunk, am I right?”
Cal held the crowd in the palm of his hand, their yells and laughter feeding into his frenzy of showmanship.
He moved down the row and pulled Brianne into his side. “And, I’ll admit folks, I’ve had more than just a sample of little Brianne here. And she was good to the very last bite, I can promise you.”
Brianne was still checked out, and waved to the throng like she was a homecoming queen instead of slave whose rape was the topic of discussion.
“Now that they’re all here, I have a question for all of you good people out in the audience. Which one of you is going to fuck little Brianne here?”
A roar went up, and some of the men on the front row moved in closer.
“And how about Gavin?”
Another roar with quite a few high-pitched cat calls from the women.
“And finally, Stella?”
The room shook with stomping feet and yells, one of the men below climbing the first two stairs before some others pulled him back down, all laughing.
“That’s what I like to hear! Now, I’m going to let them mingle a bit, and I expect everyone to be on their best behavior.” He glowered at the younger men hovering near the front of the stage. “We do this the right way. The real fun won’t start until tomorrow. So, behave with the Acquisitions, but of course, you are welcome to misbehave with each other to your hearts’ content.”
Cal bowed, and applause coursed through the room. Lucius gripped my hand and pulled me down the stairs. He elbowed through the men hanging around the stage, and I kept my eyes down to avoid their leers. I still heard their voices, their words, their promises of violence and violation.
“Back the fuck up.” Lucius shoved one of them and barreled the rest of the way through the crowd and to the bar. He pushed me ahead of him and caged my body from behind. It was protective, but also too close for me. I needed air. I’d rather be in my quarters than here.
I craned my neck around to search for Dylan, but the mass of people blocked my line of sight.
“Give me an old-fashioned. Two of them.” Lucius’ chest was warm against me, his hands on my hips. “You’re doing fine,” he whispered in my ear. “That was the big show for the evening.”
The bartender poured the drinks and set them down in front of us. I took mine; the taste was bitter on my tongue, but the rush of warmth from the alcohol was welcome. I drank quickly, the liquid burning as I downed it.
“Easy, Stella.” Lucius took my almost empty glass.
I leaned my head back on his shoulder and spoke into his ear. “Please, Lucius. I don’t want to feel it.”
His fingertips pressed into my hip. “Getting drunk tonight will only make tomorrow worse. You have to stay strong.”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
“I don’t.” I did. I just needed to hear it, to know how much worse things could get.
“Because if you can’t stay strong, I’ll make sure your father suffers. I’ll make sure you suffer.”
I snorted and snatched the drink back from him, downing it. “Yeah. I think my suffering is a given with or without my good behavior.” I avoided the topic of my father. His kind eyes flashed through my mind, though I supposed they weren’t truly kind, not anymore. “Got anything else? Anything to stop me from marching right back up to that stage over there and telling all your pals to go shove their Acquisition right up their asses?” I ordered another drink.
“Plenty. Are you going to suffer tomorrow? Yes. But I can make you suffer every day after.” His voice darkened and he gripped my hip painfully. When the bartender set the drink down, Lucius knocked it away. “You’re mine for months and months. I can think of all sorts of nasty things, Stella. Far worse than anything you could ever dream up. Pain, torture, violations that will make tomorrow seem like a pleasant memory.” He moved his hand around the front of my thigh and cupped my pussy as he pushed me into the bar, my ribs crushing painfully against the wood. “If that’s what you want, then by all means, go on up to the stage.”
I tried to squirm away from him, but he only pressed me harder and his fingers sank farther between my legs, massaging my core through my jeans.
“Get off me,” I growled.
He ignored me, his fingers making my body come alive when I wanted to stay numb.