Ladies room. She searched in vain with her gaze, praying she could make her escape. Where’s the ladies room?
“Christy.” Henry reached her, his cologne about knocking her over. His suit stretched across his hefty form, straining at the buttons.
He was wearing a triangle pin.
And she had just put on hers. The last thing she needed was for him to know that she was with the “kink set.”
Too late for that.
She tried not to be stiff as she said, “Hi, Henry.”
He took her hand in his fat one. “When I heard you were going to be here tonight, I had to come.” He looked at her pin. His eyes glistened with excitement. “And to find out you’re a member of the club. Very exciting.” He seemed to get a good look at Christy’s expression. “Don’t worry. The nice thing about our interests is that we don’t go around telling people about them or other people we know in the lifestyle. And you a submissive, no less. We seem to be a match.”
Christy felt ill but worked up a smile and tried unsuccessfully to draw her hand from his. “I’m not in the life—”
He cut her off as he squeezed her hand harder and she winced. “Looks like I’ll get that date after all. You’ve been playing hard to get for far too long. Tonight will settle it.”
She took a deep breath, trying to think of someway to politely put him off as she managed to pull her hand from his. “Henry—”
“Christy?” A masculine voice came from behind her. A familiar voice.
A thrill caused her to shiver from head to toe as she turned and faced Zach Nikas. Eight years ago she had left him… And had regretted it long after.
Their gazes met and held and she didn’t think she would ever be able to breathe again. He was as magnificent as he’d been when they had dated, maybe more so. His black eyes were as intense as ever and his black hair gleamed in the light from the chandeliers. His olive complexion and the cut of his features reflected his Grecian ancestry. His suit fit perfectly on his tall, muscular form and his sexy smile made her toes curl.
Seeing him brought a wave of memories that started with the amazing times they had spent together and ended with the reason why she’d broken up with him. She’d thought about him so many times since then and a part of her had thought about what it might be like if they had a second chance. Now that she had a better feel for the part of him that she hadn’t understood back then, she wondered if things would be different if they had stayed together. But they had each moved on with their lives, end of story.
Yet here he was, larger than life.
“Zach.” Her throat was so dry that she barely managed to get his name out.
The magnetism that had drawn them together the first time was just as strong now as it had been then. Maybe stronger. She felt electrified just being near him. “It’s so good to see you.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” His smile was sending her heart into overdrive.
Henry cleared his throat. “Excuse me,” he said, jerking her out of her Zach-induced trance. He sounded irritated. “Ms. Clarkson and I were just speaking together. Do you mind?”
She cut her gaze to Henry. She had forgotten about him but could not believe how rude he had just been. He was glaring in Zach’s direction and she turned her attention back to him.
With a slight bow of his head, Zach said to Christy, “A pleasure seeing you again.” He started to turn away.
“Wait.” She placed her hand on his arm. “Give me a moment. I want to talk to you.”
“I’ll be at the bar getting another glass of wine.” He smiled but she could tell he wasn’t pleased by how rude Henry had been. “Can I get you anything?”
“Yes.” Christy moved her hand away. “A chardonnay, please.”
He met her gaze for one long moment then and then gave Henry a nod and walked away.
When Zach left, she turned back to Henry. He looked a little put-off but then he smiled. “I suppose we’ll have plenty of time together once I buy you at the auction.” He bowed. “Until then.”
Another sick feeling traveled through her belly as she watched him wade through the crowd and then she couldn’t see him anymore. Being forced to spend an entire weekend with Henry—she couldn’t imagine anything worse as an outcome to this auction.
Is it too late to back out now?
She glanced at Larry and Jeff who were oblivious to what was going on and she mentally sighed. They were vanilla, not what she truly wanted. But being with one of them was a far better prospect than being with Henry.
When she faced the direction of the bar she saw Zach talking with a couple of women with red corsages…and they each had a gold circle pin, meaning they were submissives, and their corsages told her they were up for auction.
She sucked in her breath. Zach had a triangle pin, a Dom’s pin. She hadn’t even noticed it before. But he wasn’t wearing a white boutonniere, so he wasn’t a bidder.
He smiled and laughed at something one of the women said. Then he turned his head and met Christy’s gaze. Her heart seemed to stop. It was like the very first time she’d seen him, all over again.
Electrifying.
He excused himself from the other women, who looked disappointed, and he came toward her, carrying two glasses of white wine. When he reached her she caught his clean, masculine scent. Thoughts of what it had been like making love to him rushed through her mind. It had been nothing short of amazing.
What would have happened if she hadn’t freaked out and bolted?
“Your friend?” Zach’s gaze flickered in the direction Henry had gone.
“Not exactly.” She held back another groan as Zach pulled out a chair for her at a small table. “Henry’s the CEO of one of my suppliers. He’s had a thing for me and he doesn’t know what the word ‘No’ means.” She sat and Zach pushed the chair in before taking his own seat.
Zach’s gaze slowly traveled over her as if he wanted to memorize every curve of her body. “What man wouldn’t want you that badly?”
Fire seared her through and through and her cheeks heated.
When his eyes met hers again, he studied her for a long moment and the corner of his mouth curved. “Christy Clarkson. You’ve changed.”
More heat flooded her as he gestured to her pin. “Maybe a little,” she said.
“I seem to remember something about this lifestyle…upsetting you,” he said. “And now you’re here.”
“I came with friends.” She rushed her words. “This is my first time.”
He nodded, looking at her thoughtfully.
“How have you been?” she said, her words soft amidst the murmur of conversation around them.
He gave a little smile and it seemed like there was something more in his words when he spoke. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” She bit her lower lip. “And I’ve thought about you a lot.”
He smiled. “I would have welcomed a friendship at least.”
“I know you would have,” she said.
He looked at her with that crooked smile that she’d always loved. “You didn’t want any part of even a friendship then. You thought I was some guy with a psychotic hidden life. And here you are sitting with me now. Do you feel safe since we aren’t alone?”
He always loved to tease me, she thought. He hasn’t changed.
She teased him back. “I am not too worried about you in a room like this.”
He glanced at her pin. “Something tells me it wouldn’t freak you out now.”
She glanced down at her hands that were folded in her lap. “You would be surprised to know,” she said, “that I’ve thought about being alone with you a lot since we split up and—”
“After you left me,” he corrected.
“Okay, you made your point.” She offered him a smile. “I was saying, I have thought about you a lot since I left. I couldn’t get my thoughts off you and that part of you I ran from.”
She couldn’t believe she was actuall
y telling him all of this, but she couldn’t help herself. She’d regretted leaving him. His interest had caused her to research and understand him better. The more she looked into it, the more regret she’d had.
“You never called.” He leaned back in his chair. “What part of you was intrigued by the bad boy side, but couldn’t bring yourself to come back to me? You just didn’t feel safe, did you,” he stated.
“I almost called a hundred times.” She gripped her wine glass. “But, you jumped into a relationship with Brittany Larson right away. I figured it would not last long, and then two years later you were engaged to her. At that point, I wasn’t going to call and tell you I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
“I wished I’d have known.” His dark eyes had a seriousness about them. “I would have called. Brittany was nice, but she wasn’t you.”
Thoughts of Zach with Brittany made her heart hurt. “I imagine she was into that stuff with you.”
“I think she put up with it,” he said. “She loved me and knew ‘that stuff’ was part of the package deal. I love introducing people who haven’t tried it, bringing them along slowly, and watching them get into it. With her, it never quite worked. It isn’t the same when the other person doesn’t share the same passion.”
“So, you are still into it?” She asked, then realized it was a dumb question. While talking with him she’d fallen back in time and forgot where she was and the fact that he was wearing one of the pins.
He gave her that crooked smile again. “Probably more now than at that time. I won’t change.”
She moved her fingers up and down the stem of her wine glass. “It isn’t something you hear about every day.”
“It can make a relationship challenging.” He picked up his wine glass and swirled the golden liquid. “It’s hard enough to have regular every day interests match up. When you add that certain component to a relationship…well, lets just say some pretty special ladies, like yourself can get eliminated, or eliminate themselves.”
She leaned forward and put meaning behind her words. “I don’t want to be in the eliminated category anymore, Zach Nikas.”
His intent gaze took her in. “How did you end up here?”
She settled back in her seat. “It took some time, but I got over being freaked out by what I saw—the pictures of the women you had on your computer.” She swallowed, not sure she should be spilling everything like this. “I started to look at all of that stuff online.”
He looked intrigued. “And?”
“The more I read and looked at it, the more I liked it and I thought about you. It gave me a better understanding of all of it and what you like and why.” She glanced down then back at him. “It actually drew me more to you. By then, like I said, you were involved with Brittany and I didn’t know what happened to you after that.”
He continued to study her, like he was trying to figure her out. “You’re here, but it doesn’t sound like you’ve actually tried it.”
“Only in my mind… Every night before I fall asleep.” Warmth traveled through her at the thoughts of her fantasies. “I haven’t had anyone to try it with.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I am telling you this.”
He leaned closer. “I had a feeling you had it in you. The way it happened was a bad introduction, finding the pictures and some of the equipment. It was too much before you were ready to know about it.”
Zach studied her. “Take off the pin.”
“Why—?” she started. For some reason the look in his eyes had her taking off her pin without question.
A voice came over the sound system. She looked in the direction of the podium where Garth stood with a microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please join us in the ballroom,” he said. “The auction is about to start. Bachelors and bachelorettes, please meet behind the stage. Everyone else find a seat and we’ll get started.”
“We were supposed to mingle with bidders.” She returned her gaze to Zach. “I only met a couple of men. I didn’t think they would start so quickly.”
“I arrived early and talked with a lot of people,” he said. “Interesting what you can learn about people in just a short conversation with them.”
“That’s true,” she said before looking toward the door leading into the ballroom.
The low murmur of the crowd grew a little louder as everyone migrated. Her stomach twisted. She had to face the fact that she might end up being with Henry at a resort for a whole forty-eight hours. Even though she would have her own room, she wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to push himself on her for more than just a weekend in each other’s company. It would not be pretty if he tried.
Would those other two men bid on her? Would they be willing to bid more than whatever Henry had planned?
Unless Zach would bid on her…but he didn’t have on a boutonniere She would be happy to give him whatever it cost, although it could possibly break the bank.
She turned to face him with a proposition on her tongue.
He was gone.
Chapter 3
Christy’s heart pounded as she waited to be called on stage, her escort at her side. She was the last one to be auctioned off and the crowd had started to thin. Habit and her nerves had her twirling a lock of hair with her finger.
Earlier, Leslie had won the bidding for the Navy SEAL and was nowhere to be seen. Roni had been snagged by a man who looked sexy in a primal way…almost dangerously so. Christy only hoped her friend wasn’t getting in over her head and would be safe. But then Roni had told her that this was a safe, vetted crowd.
She peeked through the draperies and saw Henry in the first row wearing a smug expression. She did groan out loud this time.
One of the two men she’d met earlier, Jeff, sat in the third row. She had kept an eye on him and Larry, hoping one of them would outbid Henry. Larry was out of the picture now since he had already left with a stunning model-beautiful blonde. The fact that he hadn’t waited for her and had chosen someone gorgeous, hadn’t surprised Christy in the least.
She wished in the worst way that Zach was a bidder, but since he wasn’t wearing a white boutonniere, she knew he wasn’t. It was a small consolation that he hadn’t had a red carnation pinned to his chest that would tell the women that he was up for auction.
But if he wasn’t a bidder, and he was wearing a gold pin, what was he doing here? Maybe he was a bidder.
She looked around for him but couldn’t see him.
Even if he wasn’t a bidder, he was the one she wanted. It was a weekend only with one of these guys. She wanted more than a weekend with Zach.
Earlier Zach had been in the third row from the back. Throughout the night she had watched people in the audience and mentally notated which individuals purchased a bachelorette or a bachelor.
“Christy Clarkson!”
Her stomach pitched as she fixed a smile on her face and stepped onto the stage. Her escort led her toward center stage and she waved to the audience—what was left of it—and continued to where the MC waited.
“Christy is the owner of Baubles and Beads, a boutique in downtown Baltimore.” The MC made a circle with his finger, Christy’s cue to turn around. “One of you lucky men will spend a weekend with Christy at an Arizona resort.”
Light applause was followed by the MC stepping back and the auctioneer saying, “Take home Christy. Let’s start the bidding at fifteen hundred dollars.”
Surprise almost made her drop her jaw but she managed to remain poised. He had started the bidding out higher than what he had for everyone before her, which was the minimum bid of one thousand.
It was no surprise, however, when Henry raised his hand, indicating his bid. To her relief, Jeff immediately bid against Henry.
She bit the inside of her lip as the biding went back and forth and her eyes widened the higher it went until it reached eight thousand dollars.
Henry was the highest bidder. When the auctioneer said, “Do I hear nine thousand dolla
rs?” he looked to Jeff who shook his head.
Christy wanted to hide. Not Henry, not Henry…
“Going once, going—” The auctioneer gestured toward the back.
A familiar voice called out from the back. “Ten thousand.”
Zach.
This time her jaw did drop from shock as she saw his tall form at the back of the room. She couldn’t believe that he had just bid on her. He wasn’t one of the bidders. And he bid such an enormous amount of money for her.
Henry was looking over his shoulder, scowling, as he stared at Zach.
“Eleven,” Henry called out.
“Twelve,” Zach said, his voice remaining calm.
Unlike Henry who shouted, “Thirteen!” His features had started to turn purple.
“Twenty.” Zach calmly jumped to the higher amount and Henry’s eyes nearly bugged out.
Christy wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to stand as weak as her knees were at that moment. This was crazy.
“Do I hear twenty-one?” The moment the auctioneer looked at Henry seemed to draw out forever.
Henry folded his arms across his chest and scowled. “Let him have her. I’m done.”
“Twenty going once, twice—sold to Mr. Zach Nikas.”
Christy remained on the stage, stunned.
“You may join the winner now, Ms. Clarkson.” The MC said and the escort took her arm again and directed her to the stairs leading from the stage and saw Zach waiting for her, that sexy smile on his face.
Her escort walked with her down the steps then turned her over to Zach.
“Are you crazy?” She spoke in a hushed tone. “Spending that much money on me?”
“Would you rather go with the gas bag?” Zach sounded amused as he took her arm.
“No.” She looked into his dark eyes. “I just can’t believe you spent that kind of money.”
“You’re worth every cent, Christy.” His look was intense, hungry, and she felt heat throughout her. “Besides, the money goes to charity.”
“How are you a bidder?” she asked. “You don’t have a white boutonniere.”
Zach shrugged. “It must have fallen off.”
The Auction Box Set Page 2
