A Million Dirty Secrets Read online

  “I assume you’re still cool with my twenty percent cut?” he asked, shuffling the papers.

  “Nice try. We agreed on ten percent,” I said, not one bit amused by his attempt to hustle me.

  “Right, right. Ten percent. That’s what I meant.” He gave me a wink that made my skin crawl, then he pushed the contract across the desk and handed me a pen. “Just sign here … and here.”

  I scrawled my messy signature above the lines he indicated, fully aware that I was signing away the next two years of my life. It was a small price to pay.

  Shortly afterward, I was ushered into another room where I was told to strip down and put on the skimpiest bikini that I’d ever seen. It really left nothing at all to the imagination, which I gathered was probably the point. The men wanted to see the merchandise before they paid top dollar. I got that, but it didn’t make me feel any less exposed and vulnerable. From there, a hair and makeup stylist did her thing, making me look simply elegant and, surprisingly, not trashy.

  After that, Scott secured lucky number sixty-nine to my stomach. I kept my head held high as I joined the other women in front of the two-way mirror. The worst part was that while God only knew who or what was on the other side of the mirror looking at me, I couldn’t see them. What I could see, though, was myself. I wasn’t conceited by any means, but I had to admit that I looked good compared to the other women.

  I had never considered myself drop-dead gorgeous, but I was good-looking. My blond hair was long and thick. My eyes weren’t anything special, a dull blue, but once upon a time they had been full of life. That was before my mother’s illness had taken a turn for the worse. I wasn’t perfect in the body department, but I wasn’t too fat or too skinny, and I had curves in what I always imagined were the right places. All in all, a good showing, I hoped.

  One by one, the women were pulled out of the room. At first, I thought it meant they were being chosen over me, and I felt like the fat kid in gym class who was always the last one to be picked. But then they called my number and I made my way toward the same black door I had seen the others before me disappear through. Once I stepped inside, I was led to the center of the room. All around me there were smaller areas with glass walls. Each room was furnished with one dimly lit table lamp, a telephone, and a cushy red velvet chair. It was obvious that the only thing the occupants of the rooms had in common with each other was money—and lots of it.

  The first room was occupied by a sheik with dark sunglasses, a long white headdress, and a business suit. Two of the women who had been in the hallway with me earlier were on either side of him, showering him with kisses while rubbing his crotch and chest. I averted my eyes in embarrassment, only to be faced with a man in another room.

  This guy was huge, like big-as-a-house huge. He reminded me a lot of Jabba the Hutt. A picture of Princess Leia chained next to him flashed across my mind, and a shiver ran down my spine. I had never been one to imagine myself as Princess Leia as a child, and I most certainly wasn’t going to start now.

  In the room next to him was a tiny guy with two huge bodyguards standing next to him. Their hands were crossed in front of them, and I imagined that was probably the closest they had ever come to being relaxed. The little guy had his legs crossed all dainty-like and was sipping on some fruity sort of drink with an umbrella sticking out of it. His white jacket hung casually over his shoulders like he was just too cool to actually put it on. I guessed the male variety was more his type. I couldn’t imagine he’d be that threatening. He was probably there to score some pretty young thing to keep up pretenses in the public eye while secretly sneaking someone in the back door, if you get my drift.

  I looked toward the last room and sighed inwardly when I saw that the light was out. Apparently whoever had been in there had already made his selection and left, which didn’t give me much hope about the remaining assortment.

  And then a small orange light flickered from the darkened room like the ember on the end of a recently puffed cigarette. I looked closer and could faintly make out the lines of a body sitting casually in the chair. The figure leaned forward a bit to readjust his position, granting me a better look at him, but not enough to be able to make anything out.

  “Gentlemen,” Scott said with a clap of his hands as he came to stand behind me. “This is the lovely Delaine Talbot, item number sixty-nine on our list tonight. I believe you have all of her specs, but allow me to highlight some of her finer attributes.

  “First and foremost, she has come to us of her own accord. Obviously, she’s spectacular to look at, which can make life infinitely easier for those of you who require a partner to attend social functions. She’s young, but not too young, so your friends and family will find it more believable that you have a traditional type of relationship, if that sort of thing is important to you. She’s educated and well-mannered, has all her teeth, and is in good health. And there’s no drug problem to be bothered with, which means no detox period to hold you back from what you really want to do with her … and to her.

  “And probably the most valuable asset of all is that her innocence is still completely intact. This, my fine gentlemen, is a grade A virgin. Unsullied, untouched … pure as the fresh-fallen snow. Perfect to train, no? With that said, let’s start the bidding at one million dollars, and may the luckiest bastard win,” he finished with a huge fake smile. He turned to wink at me and then stepped off to the side.

  The platform that I stood on in the middle of the room began to move, and although it wasn’t exactly on warp speed, it still caught me unawares, and I stumbled a little before I regained my balance. Around and around I went while the bidding process began. There were no audible sounds of voices, just the occasional buzz as the lights over the doors illuminated. I could see the men pick up the telephone beside them and speak into the receiver before their light lit up, so I assumed that was their method of placing bids.

  I had no idea how high the bids were going. I just hoped that it ended with enough to pay for Faye’s surgery. After a while, the sheik and the tiny guy dropped out, leaving Jabba the Hutt and Mystery Man to battle it out. Sure, I had no idea what Mystery Man looked like, but he had to be better than drowning in a pool of Jabba the Hutt.

  The bidding between the two of them began to slow down, and I was becoming increasingly dizzy from spinning around on the platform. In truth, I just wanted it to be over with so that I would know my fate and could get on with it. I was still secretly rooting for the mysterious stranger.

  Jabba the Hutt’s light was the last to flash, and I knew the bid was back to Mystery Man, but he wasn’t answering. I started to panic when Scott came back into the room and stood next to me. He smiled at Jabba and then cast a questioning brow in Mystery Man’s direction. I knew it was obvious by the look in my eyes that I was pleading with him, and I had no clue whatsoever if it made a bit of difference to him one way or the other, but I had to try.

  The seconds ticked by agonizingly. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, and I felt light-headed and dizzy. I knew that I was going to pass out at any moment if I didn’t get some oxygen to my brain, but I was holding my breath, praying that Mystery Man would come through for me and that I wouldn’t regret willing him to be the winner.

  “It looks like we have a win—” Scott started, but abruptly stopped when the light above Mystery Man’s room lit up and the buzzer sounded.

  I sucked in a much-needed breath, feeling my brain tingle with the life-giving sensation. My head shot toward Jabba the Hutt. I sighed in relief when he shook his head and waved his hand dismissively in the air before struggling to push out of his chair to extinguish the light on the table.

  “You have a new owner, Miss Talbot,” Scott cooed, a little too close to my ear. “Why don’t you walk on over and meet your master?”

  “I’m not calling him master,” I seethed, loud enough for only Scott to hear me as he forced me to step down from the platform.

  “You’ll call him whatever he wan
ts you to call him if you want the cool two million he just paid for you,” he retorted, grabbing my elbow and guiding me toward Mystery Man’s room.

  “Two million dollars?” I asked, astounded. I tried to yank my elbow out of his grip because his manhandling was not part of the deal and he was really pissing me off. However, he grabbed me again, more firmly this time, and pulled me forward.

  “What? Not enough? Greedy little thing, aren’t you?” Without giving me a chance to respond, he opened the glass door to Mystery Man’s room and entered with me in tow.

  The odor of cigarette smoke attacked my olfactory sense, but strangely, I wasn’t repulsed.

  “Miss Delaine Talbot,” Scott introduced me to the figure still shrouded in darkness. “Congratulations on your win, Mr. Crawford. I have a feeling she’ll be worth every penny.”

  “Have the contract sent to my address,” a deep, sultry voice said from the shadows. The cherry on the end of his cigarette blazed and lit up his features dimly before he disappeared again. “And take your hands off my property, for Christ’s sake. I’m not paying for damaged goods.”

  Scott released his hold on me immediately, and I rubbed at the spot on the back of my arm, knowing there was going to be a bruise there by morning.

  “As you wish.” Scott bowed unceremoniously. “Take your time with the room, but be careful—she’s a feisty one.”

  I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to do, so I just stood there awkwardly for what seemed like forever.

  When I had about convinced myself that he might actually be planning on the two of us staying there for the duration of the two years, he finally sighed and butted out his cigarette. The light clicked on, momentarily blinding me, because my eyes had become accustomed to the dark. When they had adjusted again, I looked at him.

  My stomach flipped, and I swear I think my heart skipped a beat … or two … maybe three.

  He was gorgeous. And I was having a really hard time not ogling him. He simply sat there smirking as I took him in. He was dressed in a tailor-made suit, black on black. He wasn’t wearing a tie, and the top buttons of his shirt were undone to reveal his collarbones and a brief peek at a sculpted chest with a smattering of hair. My eyes followed the tight tendons of his neck to his prominent jaw, shadowed with the beginnings of a beard. His lips were succulent and the perfect shade of deep pink, his nose was straight and perfect, and his eyes … my God, his eyes. Never had I seen a hazel so intense and infused with so many different colors, or a man with lashes that long. His dark brown hair was cut short, longer on top with the front spiked. He was quite possibly the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.

  He raised his hand and raked his long fingers through his hair. Whether it was in aggravation at my ogling or out of habit, I had no idea, but it was sexy nonetheless.

  I started to question why someone who looked like him would need to go to the extreme of purchasing a companion when he could obviously have anyone he wanted. But then he opened his mouth, reminding me that this was no fairy-tale encounter and things were expected of me—things I had to do whether I wanted to or not.

  “Well, let’s see if you’re worth it,” he sighed as he undid his pants and pulled out his massive cock.

  I looked at him dumbfounded, because surely he didn’t expect me to lose my virginity to him in a disgusting place like that. I mean, I knew I was his property, but really?

  “On your knees, Delaine, or the deal is off and you can go home with the lard-ass in the other room. He really seemed to want you,” he said with a sexy smirk while he stroked his glorious cock. “Show me your appreciation.”

  Problem number one: I had never given a blow job in my entire life.

  2

  gag reflex check

  Lanie

  “Delaine, you’re wasting my time, and apparently my money.”

  “You want me to … Here? Now?” I asked nervously.

  “Did I stutter?” Mystery Man asked with a raised brow.

  I sank to my knees in front of him and swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. Thank God the floor was cold, because it wasn’t until then I noticed how insanely hot it had become in the small space. Heat rolled off me in waves, and I knew I must have looked redder than a hot iron. Deep breaths of air were vital in order to keep my nerves from making me throw up in his lap. That probably wouldn’t have gone over very well.

  He sighed in aggravation, and it only made my heart beat faster. “Put my cock in your mouth, Miss Talbot.”

  I leaned forward and took it, finding that I couldn’t even get my hand all the way around it. Sweet Jesus! He couldn’t have really expected me to fit something like that in my mouth. I made the mistake of looking up at him. His brow was raised expectantly, and there was a tic in his jaw; for just a split second he looked almost as nervous as I was. I mentally shook my head because surely that wasn’t the case, so I went back to the task at hand, which was definitely a task and absolutely something I was expected to get on with.

  I was sure I looked stupid as I studied his cock, trying to figure out the best way to go about doing this. All those late-night sleepovers with Dez insisting I practice things like kissing and blow jobs suddenly didn’t seem so silly. I knew my way around a banana okay, but then those bananas would’ve had to have been jacked up with some serious steroids to compare to Mystery Man’s cock.

  There was a spot of something wet on the head, and I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to do about that, so I opened my mouth and licked at it with the tip of my tongue. I heard him hiss minutely and took that as a positive sign, so then I kissed it, but the kiss wasn’t at all sexy. It was more like kissing my uncle Fred on his bald head, only not at all like kissing my uncle Fred on his bald head. Jesus, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, and my floundering was making my mind go to a very silly place. It was my defense mechanism. I recognized it for what it was, but that didn’t change the fact it was happening at a very inappropriate time.

  I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly, trying to find that very small place inside where I was a sultry vixen. A picture of his face invaded my thoughts, and I suddenly became more emboldened. I wrapped my lips around the head and gave it a little suction. Then I opened my mouth wider and took as much of him in as I could, which wasn’t much. Like I said, the thing was huge. I was almost certain I was going to develop a serious case of lockjaw.

  “Come on, you can take more than that,” he challenged me.

  I pressed forward until the head of his dick hit the back of my throat and I thought the corners of my mouth were going to split wide open. This would’ve been far easier if I’d had one of those snake jaws that unhinge to swallow their prey. And that’s about when I really started praying that I wouldn’t actually dislocate my jaw.

  I pulled back and moved forward again, but this time I guess my gag reflex decided it wasn’t going to cooperate. When I gagged on him involuntarily, it set off a chain reaction. In my hurry to squelch the gag and not hurl all over him, my teeth bit into the sensitive skin on his dick. He yelped in pain and then shoved me away before practically crawling up the back of his chair to get away from me and my murderous mouth.

  “Goddamnit!” he shouted, and then started inspecting his dick. I hadn’t even broken the skin, the big baby. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! Have you ever even sucked a dick before?” Anger marred the features on his face. Even scowling, he was still beautiful. “Because that is undoubtedly the absolute worst blow job I have ever been given.”

  It was official; I hated him.

  “I’m sorry. I just never—”

  “You’ve never given a blow job?” he asked incredulously. I shook my head. “Jesus Christ!” he mumbled as he ran his hands over his face and took a deep breath.

  His insensitivity to the situation, or maybe his hypersensitivity to it, set me off. Even though I knew I should probably keep my mouth shut—because, let’s face it, he could pretty much do whatever he wanted to me—I just co
uldn’t take it.

  “You and your glorious, colossal cock can kiss my ass!” I yelled with as much emphasis as I could, but I wasn’t done there. “I may not be the type of girl who goes around shoving dicks in her mouth all day—I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have paid two million dollars for me if I was—and I’m sorry if I hurt you, but even if I was experienced at this sort of thing, I … There’s just no way in hell anyone is going to get something that massive crammed down their throat. You’re a freak of nature, but at least I tried, you jerk!”

  Me and my nonexistent brain filter had obviously just contracted a hideous case of diarrhea of the mouth. I was probably about to lose the contract and ruin everything. He just sat there and stared at me. His face contorted from surprise to anger, and then he looked confused and maybe a little constipated. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times as if he was about to say something and then thought better of it. Another moment passed before he turned his head to the side and then back to me.

  “So, what you’re saying is that you think I have a big dick, and it might be kind of spectacular?” he asked with a smug grin.

  I sat back on my heels and crossed my arms over my chest, completely mortified with embarrassment because, yeah, I guess that was what I’d just said, technically. But I wasn’t about to admit it for a second time.

  “Do you have any sexual experience at all?”

  Again I shook my head.

  He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair once more. He looked like he was a thousand miles away, probably contemplating whether or not he was going to keep me. And then he finally tucked himself back into his pants and stood up, towering over me.

  “Let’s go.”

  “Where are we going?” I was ready to beg him not to sell me to Jabba the Hutt.