Chapter 3

KAEL

The first man to bid on me was the one in the expensive suit.

His name was Kael. I learned that when the woman with the clipboard handed me a folder with his information. Age thirty-six. CEO of a tech company. Wealthy and private. No previous auction history.

"He's new," the woman said, which meant nothing to me. "Be professional, be safe, and remember you're in control. If anything makes you uncomfortable, use the panic button."

I nodded, even though I didn't feel in control of anything.

The suite they took me to was colder somehow. All glass and steel and minimalist furniture. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. 

Everything was expensive, but nothing was warm. It felt like a hotel room designed by someone who'd never actually lived anywhere.

Kael was standing by the window when I arrived, looking out at the city lights. He didn't turn around immediately. He just stood there, his hands in his pockets, his shoulders tense.

When he finally turned to face me, his ice-blue eyes were unreadable.

"Hello, Sienna," he said. "I've been waiting for you for so long." And then he walked toward me.

"The auction finished," I said, confused. "They said you were ready."

He studied me for a long moment, like he was trying to figure something out.

"Do you know who I am?"

"The woman said you're a CEO. She said you were new to the auction."

"Did she?" He turned back to the window. "What else did she tell you?"

"That's... that's all she said."

He was quiet for a long time. I stood there, unsure what to do, feeling like I was supposed to be doing something but not knowing what. 

This wasn't how I expected tonight to go. I'd prepared myself mentally for something aggressive, something transactional. But this felt different. This felt like something else entirely.

"Have you done this before?" he asked suddenly.

"No," I said. "This is my first time."

He closed his eyes like hearing that caused him actual physical pain.

"Don't lie to me," he said quietly.

"I'm not lying. This is really my first time."

He turned to look at me again, and for the first time, I saw something in his expression besides coldness. Maybe he cared whether I was telling the truth or not.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

The question caught me off guard. It felt too intimate, too real for what this was supposed to be.

"My mother is in the hospital. She needs surgery. Fifty thousand dollars."

He flinched like I'd hit him.

"And this seemed like a good solution?" he asked, and there was something sharp in his voice. Not anger exactly. More like disappointment.

"It seemed like the only solution," I said.

He walked to the mini bar and poured himself a drink. Whiskey, I think. He didn't offer me one.

"Come here," he said, sitting on the couch.

I walked over slowly, my heart beating faster. This was it. This was the part I'd been prepared for but wasn't actually prepared for.

He watched me as I moved toward him. When I got close, he reached out and took my hand. His grip was firm but not rough.

"Sit," he said, gesturing to the space next to him.

I sat, confused. He was still holding my hand, looking at it like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"When did you last eat?" he asked.

"What?"

"When did you last eat something?"

I tried to remember. "This morning, I think. Before the auction."

He closed his eyes again, and that look of pain crossed his face.

"We're going to order food," he said. "You're going to eat. And then we're going to talk."

"But... isn't that not what I'm here for?" I asked, confused.

He looked at me, and his expression was so sad it made my chest hurt.

"No," he said. "That's not what you're here for."

We ordered food from a restaurant downstairs. Expensive food that I picked at because my stomach was in knots. Kael sat across from me at the glass dining table, watching me more than eating his own meal.

"Tell me about your mother," he said.

So I did. I told him about her job, about the collapse, about how she raised me alone after my father died when I was young. I told him things I hadn't told anyone except Maya. And he listened, really listened, like what I was saying mattered to him.

"What was your father like?" he asked.

The question hit something in me. I hadn't thought about my father in years. My mother never talked about him, and I'd learned not to ask.

"I don't know," I said honestly. "My mother said he left. She didn't like to talk about him."

Kael's jaw tightened. He looked away, and I could see him struggling with something internally.

"I'm sorry," he said finally, and he sounded like he meant it. Like he was apologizing for more than just my father's absence.

After we ate, he led me to the bedroom.

The bed was massive, covered in black silk sheets. The room was as cold and minimalist as the rest of the suite. Floor-to-ceiling windows here too, but the curtains were drawn.

"I want you to understand something," he said, standing in front of me. "I paid a lot of money to be here with you tonight. But I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do."

"But I thought—" I started, confused.

"I know what you thought," he said. "And I know why you're here. But I need you to understand that consent matters. If at any point you want to stop, we stop. No questions asked. No judgment."

I nodded, still confused about where this was going.

"I'm going to touch you now," he said, like he was asking permission. "Is that okay?"

I nodded again.

He reached out and cupped my face in his hands. His touch was gentle. His thumbs traced my cheekbones, and when he kissed me, it was slow and careful, like he was afraid of breaking me.

I felt something shift inside my chest. This wasn't what I'd expected. This felt almost tender, and that terrified me more than anything else could have.

His hands moved to the zipper of my dress. He unzipped it slowly, waiting for me to tell him to stop. I didn't. He slid the dress off my shoulders and let it fall to the ground.

Standing there in front of him in just my underwear, his eyes were looking straight to my breast. His finger slid in between my anus as he spit in it. 

He guided me to the bed, and when we lay down together, he held me. His hands moved across my skin.

I couldn’t believe how fast things got hot between us. One minute we were just kissing on the bed, his hands sliding under my thighs, and the next his clothes were gone. He was rock hard already, his cock thick and throbbing as he pushed me onto my back. I was soaked, my pussy aching for him.

“Fuck me,” I whispered, spreading my legs wide.

He didn’t waste time. He grabbed my hips, lined up his dick, and slammed into me hard in one deep thrust. I gasped loud, my back arching off the bed. God, he felt so big stretching me open like that. He pulled back almost all the way out, then drove in again, even harder. 

The sound of his hips slapping against mine filled the room, his dirty smacks that made me even wetter.

He fucked me like he couldn’t get enough. Fast, rough strokes, banging deep every time. My tits bounced with each thrust and he leaned down to suck on one nipple, biting just hard enough to make me moan. “You feel so fucking good,” he growled against my skin, never slowing down. His balls slapped against my ass as he went harder, grinding his pelvis against my clit on every thrust.

I wrapped my legs around him, digging my heels into his back, pulling him deeper. Every inch of his cock rubbed all the right spots inside me. My pussy clenched around him tight, juices dripping down my thighs. It was raw and intense, he was straight-up railing me, the bed creaking under us. I loved how strong he felt, how he took control and just fucked me senseless.

He flipped me over onto all fours without pulling out. From behind he was even deeper. He gripped my waist hard and started slamming into me again, faster now. I pushed my ass back to meet every thrust, moaning like crazy. His hand reached around and rubbed my clit in quick circles while he drilled me. 

The pressure built up so fast, my whole body was tingling, legs shaking.

“I’m gonna cum,” I gasped.

“Me too, baby,” he grunted, fucking me even harder.

That pushed me over the edge. My pussy squeezed his cock tight as the orgasm hit me hard. Waves of pleasure crashed through me, making me cry out and tremble. I came so intensely my vision went blurry for a second, my juices flooding around him.

He kept thrusting through it, groaning loud. Then he buried himself deep one last time and came too. I felt his cock pulse inside me as he shot hot cum deep in my pussy, filling me up. He kept moving slowly after, like he wanted to enjoy every last twitch.

We collapsed together, breathing hard, sweaty and satisfied. He kissed my neck softly while I lay there glowing, my body still buzzing. Every rough thrust, every moan, every second of him fucking me hard it was perfect. I already wanted him again.

Afterward, we lay in the dark, not touching but not separated either. I could hear his heart beating, feel his breathing next to me.

"Does it hurt?" he asked quietly.

"Does what hurt?"

"What you just did. Selling yourself like this."

I thought about the question for a long time.

"Yes," I finally said. "But my mother hurts worse."

He was quiet for a while.

"I'm sorry," he said again, and this time I didn't know what he was apologizing for.

We lay there in the darkness, and I realized I didn't want him to leave. Even though I didn't know him, I wanted him to stay.

"Will I see you again?" I asked.

He was quiet for so long I thought he wouldn't answer.

"No," he finally said. "You shouldn't see me again. It's not safe."

"What do you mean it's not safe?"

But he was already getting out of bed, already getting dressed. He pressed thirty-two thousand dollars in cash into my hand and kissed my forehead, like I was someone he loved and was saying goodbye to forever.

"Protect yourself, Sienna," he said. "From me. From all of this."

And then he left.

I stood there holding the money, confused and heartbroken and terrified.

Because something in his voice told me he wasn't just talking about tonight.