Highest Bidder

by Le Carre, Georgia

  He began to move. For a few moments, I tried to ignore his intention to separate from me, but he curled his hands around my ribs, lifted me bodily, and pulled out of me. I gasped at the loss of our warm, wet, joining, but he deposited me on the bed next to him.

  I shut my eyes to hide the emotions inside me.

  After disposing of the used condom, I felt him settle in the space beside me. I waited for him to immediately rise and get out of the bed. When a few minutes passed and he didn’t move, I began to feel a bit of warmth flood into my chest again. Perhaps he would be here until the morning.

  “How do you feel?” his quiet voice filtered over.

  “I’m fine. I am perfectly fine.”

  “Good,” he said, “because we have a long night ahead of us.”

  “Have you not had enough?”

  “Have you?” he countered.

  I was immensely sore but we only had tonight. Nothing could hold me back. I shook my head. And he reached for me again. I felt my body open up to him like a flower. I screamed his name three more times before my eyelids shut.

  It felt as if I had closed them only a few minutes before morning arrived. I felt him move beside me, then his warmth was gone. I opened my eyes to the vivid reminder of all that had happened the previous evening. It all still seemed like a distant dream.

  For a while, I considered pretending to be asleep. My chest tightening with apprehension when I heard him moving around the room quietly. I thought that he would wake me up, at least say goodbye, but instead I heard his footsteps heading towards the door.

  I instantly shot upright.

  True enough, he was heading towards the door, fully dressed.

  “Brent,” I called out, my tone sounded strangely lost and small.

  Stopping, he turned around to glance at me. He didn’t say anything, just waited.

  I hated him for not saying a word, for not caring, for treating me like a whore. I knew I couldn’t say what was in my chest, my heart, my belly, my skin, my mouth, my sex. I couldn’t tell him I didn’t want him to leave. Ever.

  He quirked an eyebrow. How distant he had become. Last night, he had worshipped my body, now he was the mysterious, secretive billionaire again.

  “How are you going to send the funds?” I asked, putting as much nonchalance as I could muster into my question.

  “The club will wire it to your bank account,” he responded. “You’ve already provided the information, I believe.”

  I glared at him.

  He turned fully to face me. “What is it?” he asked. “You’re doubtful you’ll receive it?”

  “No, but how am I supposed to explain one million pounds in my account?” I asked sullenly. “To anybody?” I hated talking to him about money, when all I wanted to do was have him inside me again. I wish I had never fallen asleep. I wish I had let him have me one more time.

  He shrugged his shoulders without looking up. "A gift sounds reasonable enough."

  “A gift of one million?”

  “Why not? You picked up a rich boyfriend. I don’t see what the problem is.”

  “Don’t send it yet,” I said. “I’ll think about how to receive it, and get back to you.”

  “alright,” he agreed easily and turned away from me again.

  I couldn’t let him go. “You will send it, then,” I asked, my fingers plucking at the delicate embroidery on the sheet. “Won't you?”

  He smiled sarcastically. “Don’t you trust me, Freya?”

  Knowing that I was parting with him for good, made me very, very sad. “I don’t know you.”

  He sighed. “Should we draft a quick contract of goodwill, then?”

  I nodded.

  He placed a quick call, and a few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. It was his assistant. After speaking to him, he returned with a pen and a blank sheet of paper. He sat down for a little while to scribble on it, and when he was done, came over to my side to hand over the agreement.

  I saw his signature across one bottom of the page, and the next line drawn to put mine.

  I took it from him and signed.

  He took a picture of it, and then handed the paper over to me. “Take care,” he said to me, and made his way out of the room.

  I rose to my feet refusing to let myself feel anything. This was, after all, what I had signed up for. I’d receive more money than I could ever have dreamed of. And I had been luckier than most. No one knew, but I had held this man in my mind for the longest time. I had absolutely nothing to complain about.

  Freya

  I didn’t want to go home smelling of Brent so I decided to go to Maddie’s place. I arrived at her home a few minutes past eight, certain that she would have left for her job at the physiotherapist’s clinic, but just as I inserted her spare key, the door was jerked open from inside the house. My hand flew to my chest in shock.

  “You're back!” she exclaimed, her eyes filled with a mixture of curiosity and worry. Without preamble, she pulled me into her living room. “Are you alright?”

  “Yes, I’m perfectly fine.”

  A few minutes later, I was settled on her sofa with a hot mug of tea clasped in my cold hands.

  “What happened?” she asked, unable to hold back any longer. “Are you alright?”

  “Stop it, Maddie, I’m fine. Quit looking so worried. I just did what a lot of girls are now doing when they are teenagers.”

  “Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath.

  I eyed her over my mug. “Why aren’t you at work?”

  “I took the day off, in case you needed me. I didn’t know what state you’d be in.”

  That touched me. “Oh.”

  “So it was really okay?” she asked again. “I don’t know how to believe that. It must have been traumatic.”

  “It wasn’t actually.”

  “Are you lying to me?”

  “I’m not,” I responded immediately, “I got lucky.”

  Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

  I thought for a moment what aspect of my great fortune I should share with her first.

  “How much did you make?” she asked curiously.

  “The other girl’s got between thirty thousand and a hundred and ten.”

  “And you?” she asked, “you set your reserve at fifteen-thousand, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Come on, what did you get?”

  I raised the mug to my lips. “One million,” I mumbled.

  She laughed. “I don’t think I heard you right, because it sounded like you said one million.”

  I put the cup down, and arranged myself. “You didn’t hear wrong. I got one million.”

  Her jaw dropped. “One million what? Pounds?”

  I nodded.

  She unfolded her legs from underneath her and sat upright. “Is this all a scam?”

  I shook my head and reached forward to grab my drink.

  “How can it not be a scam?” she exploded. “What mad maniac pays one million pounds for one night with a girl?”

  I abandoned the drink. “Brent Lucan.”

  At first, the name did not register with her. “I mean. You haven’t got the money yet. So maybe they have no intention of payin—” She stopped suddenly. “Did you just say Brent Lucan?”

  I nodded.

  She shot out of the sofa and started pacing the floor “Are you serious?”

  I nodded again.

  “That Brent Lucan?”

  “That Brent Lucan,” I confirmed.

  “The Duke of Leighton?”

  “Well technically, his father is the Duke, he’s just a lord now until his dad passes—”

  “Whatever,” she cut me off. “What the hell was he doing there? He buys virgins?” She leaned away in wonder. “Wow, just wow. On the surface, he seems so regal, but behind closed doors, this is what he’s into?”

  “He claims he doesn’t usually buy virgins.”

  Her face screwed up in distaste at the blatant li
e. “Really?”

  “Yeah,” I responded.

  “So what was he doing there?”

  “He owns the club.”

  She stopped pacing, and looked thoughtful. “And so ... Did he buy you to save you ... Did you still have to sleep with him?”

  “Why would he save me?” I hissed, remembering the moment I had hoped he had done it because he wanted to protect me. “For a moment … I thought he did it because of our families, but he didn’t.”

  “You slept with him?”

  “He paid a lot of money for it, didn't he?” I mumbled.

  “Wow. Wow. Wow. Have you told Ella yet?”

  “I sent her a text, but I think she’s still sleeping.”

  We both remained silent like that for a little while, both lost in our thoughts.

  Eventually she asked. “But why you? Did he do it to spite you? Because of what happened years ago?”

  “I asked him the same question.”

  “And?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “No response. I think, he still resents me for it.”

  “Well, if that was the case, he wouldn’t have paid so much money … unless his plan is not to give it to you. Has the money been sent to you? Have you checked your phone for any alerts?”

  “I told him not to send it.”

  “What?” she shrieked. “Why?”

  “How am I going to explain one million pounds in my account? I’ll be flagged down for money laundering or something.”

  “Who’s asking you to explain? It was a gift. They’ll just call both parties to confirm it.”

  “That was the same thing he said, and it made sense but it wasn’t what I wanted.” I didn’t want her to read into what I truly wanted, so I rose to my feet with my mug in hand. “And what about Mom? I don’t want her finding out I sold my virginity at an auction.”

  She came after me. “Freya, why are you dragging this? Call him right now and tell him to send the money. Get this mess over with.”

  I focused on making myself another mug of tea while she watched me, surprised at how calm I was. “Freya!" she called, and when I still didn't respond she realized that something was off.

  “Freya what’s wrong ... did that bastard hurt you?”

  I shook my head and poured the hot water into my mug. My mother would have had a heart attack if she knew I was not properly brewing my tea in a teapot, but she was not here to witness my transgression so ...

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  I stirred the mix until my mouth could open. “I want to see him again.”

  Freya

  I pretended to be nonchalant and let Maddie watch me with open-mouthed shock until I couldn’t take it any longer. “You’re going to catch some flies if you don’t close your mouth,” I said. Taking my mug with me, I returned to the living room.

  She followed me.

  I sat down on the couch and looked up at her.

  She had closed her mouth and appeared to be working my words out in her brain. “Are you planning on having a relationship with him?” she demanded.

  I responded as honestly as I could, “I don’t know what I can have with him. I have this … this … connection with him. It’s strange, weird and bizarre, but it’s there…alive and beating like a heart. I know he doesn’t feel the same. This morning he was going to walk out without even saying goodbye, but I couldn’t bear the thought. My body actually wanted me to run to him, fall at his feet and beg him not to leave. Of course, my head didn’t let me do anything so ridiculous so it came up with the next best option. If I had not done this, who knows if I’d ever see him again?”

  “Wow,” she said. “Freya, you’re one insanely lucky girl. I was expecting some kinky old bastard to buy you, instead you ended up in bed with basically the only guy you've ever even shown an interest in.”

  My head snapped up then. “What?”

  “And don’t you dare try to deny you’ve been lusting after Brent Lucan for years! You shut up and sit down whenever he comes on TV. Should I remind you of how many magazines you have of him?”

  “Okay, now you’re just lying. He isn’t even on magazines much.”

  “True, but every one he has been on, you own. It’s actually beyond lucky. It’s incredible. I can't believe he’s the one you slept with. He’s all you wanted. Wait till Ella hears this new … development.”

  “For fuck’s sake, Maddie.”

  “Oh wow, you’re cursing with the f word now,” she crowed, and began cackling like an old witch. “You’ve tasted the forbidden fruit and become an adult.”

  “I’m going to bed,” I said, and rose to my feet.

  A few minutes later, I collapsed on her bed.

  She jumped right in beside me.

  “Maddie, I’m really tired,” I said, hiding my face in her pillow.

  “Just tell me one thing before you sleep. Was he good in bed?”

  I sighed. I knew she wasn’t going to leave till I did, so I gave her a response. “Yeah, he was good.”

  “Just good? No details?”

  “When I wake up.”

  “Okay, just tell me this. Was he big?”

  I felt myself flush. “Yes.”

  “Oh, my God. You lucky bitch you. How big?”

  “I didn’t take out my tape measure, okay?”

  “alright. Ella is going to be so upset, though. You not only scored on the ‘good first time’, you found a man with a donkey cock. Even I’m jealous.” She grinned to show she didn’t mean it. “Go to sleep, then. I’ll make you something to eat for when you get up.” She shut the door.

  I clenched my eyes shut, to try and stop the scenes from my night with Brent Lucan from flooding into my head, but no such luck. My head was full of the sound of our labored breathing as his cock thrust in and out of me … the sensation of my hands in his silky hair, the taste of his skin in my mouth.

  I tossed and turned until I fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.

  * * *

  The sound of my cellphone jarred me awake. I dragged my eyelids open and saw Maddie trying to leave the room quietly.

  “What is it?” I asked, groggy with sleep.

  “Uh.” She turned around. “I didn't want to wake you. You got a text.”

  “Oh?”

  “It’s from Barclays bank,” she answered.

  My heart caught in my throat. Without realizing it, I pulled the covers just a little higher. I suddenly felt cold.

  “It was alerting you to a deposit. He sent the money, Freya.”

  A few seconds ticked by before I could nod in response. I felt empty and numb. “Thanks,” I said, and shut my eyes.

  She didn’t leave. A little while passed before she spoke again, “Do you want dinner? I’ve made chicken casserole.”

  I knew she wasn’t going to leave me alone so with a nod, I rose to my feet and followed her out. I sat at her tiny dining table by the corner while she served up two plates of her famous broccoli rice chicken casserole. We began to eat quietly as I tried to sort out the terrible pain in my chest.

  He had cleanly cut off all contact between us. There would never be a reason to get in touch with him again. I didn’t want to care, or feel anything, but the fork clattered from my hand as I turned to Maddie. I spoke before I could stop myself, “He didn't want to kiss me. What does that mean?”

  Maddie raised her gaze to mine, but didn’t say anything. She looked a bit sad.

  I picked my fork back up again and pushed my food around. “Perhaps he …”

  “Perhaps he what?” she encouraged.

  “I don’t know.” I picked up my phone on the table and unlocked it.

  A few seconds later Ella was on the line. “Tell me everything,” she responded, her mouth full.

  “Ella, what does it mean when a guy doesn’t kiss you?” My voice lowered. “I mean … when he sleeps with you.”

  She sounded confused. “What are you saying?”

  “Nothing,” I muttered. In fact, I alr
eady knew what it meant. It meant he didn’t want to.

  “You mean while they're both having sex?”

  “Yeah.”

  She burst out laughing.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I never heard of a man that didn’t want to kiss a woman. It usually only happens with prostitutes. Kissing is deeply personal, and when they're fucking someone random for money, they don’t do it. That way they can continue believing they haven’t given anything important away. I guess it keeps them sane.”

  I lifted my gaze very calmly to Maddie.

  She watched me with worried eyes.

  Ella went on, “I suppose in a man’s case, it could be he’s just chasing the release, nothing else. Maybe that is what guys do when they are hate fucking.”

  “What the hell is that?”

  “You know when you hate someone’s guts, but you want to fuck them at the same time. Why are you asking by the way?” She stopped, and went quiet.

  “Woah! Freya, did you ... did some guy not want to kiss you?”

  “Hmm …”

  She went silent again. “How much did you get?”

  “One million,” I answered, the enormity of the amount hitting me all over again.

  She choked on whatever she was stuffing her face with. When the coughing episode passed, she rasped into the phone, “Are you joking?”

  “I’m not, and it’s all thanks to you, babe.” I handed the phone to Maddie, then I rose and returned to bed.

  Freya

  That evening, I returned to work as though absolutely nothing had happened. However, a lot of things were now different.

  For one, I didn’t need to be there any longer, but I remained. I served customers with a smile, cleaned the floor with a mop when a child threw his food on it, put up with a drunken customer who pinched my bottom as I passed by his table. All the while thinking how life can change in a day… I was no longer the girl I’d been just a mere night ago.

  Throughout my life, I had felt an emptiness I could not explain, like something was missing. Then it had meant nothing, but not anymore. Not after last night. Now I knew exactly what the craving was for. Until my body had joined with his, I had not known that I was just one piece. Another piece fitted perfectly with my piece and only when the two pieces were together was I whole and complete.