Page 90 of The Cute Psycho

The noise coming from the stage brings me back to reality, and I shake myself from my musings.

Five almost naked women take the stage just as the music changes from lively to seductive. For a second, I'm confused, since the atmosphere looks identical to the one at the bar. Mauro, though, is quick to explain what's going to happen.

All five girls are available for one round, and each will be bid on individually.

"One round?" I ask, confused at the terminology, and Vlad grimaces.

One after another, the girls are auctioned to someone in the crowd. When the fifth one's been called, all the men who won make their way to the stage, slapping the women around and tearing the clothes off their bodies.

"What." I frown, but it's soon clear what one round meant.

The men are quick to unzip their pants, and that's the last thing I see as Vlad suddenly twists me in front of him, blocking my view of the stage.

"Don't watch," he whispers, holding me tightly.

"Why? Isn't that the whole point of us being here?"

"I don't want you watching naked men." He tips my chin up, ensuring I look into his eyes. "I want you toonlysee me." He smiles. "You're not the only one with the jealous streak," he jokes.

Warmth unfurls inside my body at his pronouncement.

"Is that so?" I let my hands trail up his muscular arms, feeling the tension bubbling under his skin.

He catches my errant hands, bringing them to his mouth, his teeth nibbling at my fingers.

The volume of the music decreases, moans and shrieks resounding in the room.

"I'm the only man you can look at," his tongue does wicked things to my fingers, and my breath hitches every time he sucks the tips into his mouth, "the only one you can touch..." He trails his lips over my wrist, right above the pulse point, "The only one you can fuck."

Words fail me as I become lost in his seductive gaze. How is it that he can be so detached one moment, but so suave the next?

"Will you... keep me?" I ask, my voice small. For the first time, I'm asking what I've wanted to know from the very beginning.

One arm tightens around my waist as he lowers his mouth to my ear.

"Keep you? You're mine, Sisi. You go where I go, in Hell or beyond." I feel him smile against my skin. "Dead or alive," he says and chills spread across my skin. "Even if I have to kill you myself."

"As long as you never abandon me." I lean back so he can see the seriousness in my gaze. "I'm yours. Dead or alive." I must be insane to agree to such a thing, but for him, I'd do just about anything.

"I'm glad we're on the same page." He smirks, toying with a long strand of hair. "Because I'd miss your lovely heartbeat."

"You'd kill me if I left you?"

He doesn't answer, his smile wide.

Only when we hear Mauro's voice announcing the next event does Vlad let me turn around, keeping a possessive arm around me.

As everyone stops at the bar at the other end of the room for refreshments, we're invited by one of the employees to follow him to get to Seth.

I hold on to Vlad as we go down some dimly lit corridor before we stop in front of a row of cages.

"Lord," I whisper when I see eyes glinting in the darkness of the room, all curious and full of pain. I'm momentarily struck by what I'm seeing, and Vlad tugs me forward, shaking his head at me.

The employee opens one of the cages to reveal Seth, already dressed in a clean shirt and pants, his gaze empty and numb as he glances at us.

"This is your controller." The man gives Vlad a tiny device,explaining that Seth has a chip implanted in his brain, and the controller zaps him into obedience.

"I'll leave you to get acquainted. Ten more minutes until the main event." The man winks. "You don't want to be late for the fun." He laughs as he steps away.

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