Page 92 of Hell to Pay

The woman let out a strangled cry of pain and another paddle went into the air.

I understood now. The Showcase let bidders gauge the temperament of the women up for sale. It let the men determine if the women were docile or feisty, if they’d fight or submit.

The anger that had been simmering in my veins started to boil.

The man on the platform tugged at the woman’s underwear and the sound of the fabric ripping tore through the silent crowd.

He tossed the underwear aside and put his hand on the woman’s back, shoved her upper body down so that she was bent over at the waist, tits and hair hanging.

The man stepped away from the woman to give the crowd a better view of the woman’s spread legs, then slapped her ass.

She said something angry in a language I didn’t recognize and four more paddles went up.

The doorman was busy now, clocking the raised paddles, noting their numbers.

I looked at Lilah, saw that she was frozen and staring at the platform, wished I could sweep her into my arms and take her away from this place.

Wished she’d want me to.

But I knew she didn’t. We were here to get intel on Imperium Fratrum’s operation, and that was what we were going to do.

The man on the platform stepped behind the woman and unzipped his pants, then freed his cock. He positioned it between the woman’s thighs and thrust into her hard and fast.

She cried out in pain and let loose a string of curse words that sounded like Czech.

Several paddles went up in the crowd.

He fucked her hard and without emotion, and the woman gradually quieted until he finished, grunting as he came, his face expressionless.

Several paddles were still rising in the crowd, the doorman tapping furiously on his tablet.

The man put his dick back in his pants and tugged the woman to an upright position. She was crying now, her earlier fight gone, and she let him lead her off the platform and back into the crowd.

An expectant hush settled over the cavernous room.

“The next product up for bid is 2654135BL.”

I looked around, but for a long moment, no one moved.

Then Lilah stepped forward.

59

LILAH

I movedtoward the platform without waiting for the Bastards, not entirely sure that if I left it to them they’d come.

The crowd parted as I started moving, making way for me once they realized I was the next product up for bid.

I only got a few steps before Nolan, Rafe, and Jude caught up. I felt better then, less exposed even though the entire room had their eyes on me as I stepped onto the platform.

I’d felt sick watching the other man rape the brown-haired woman, but that wasn’t going to happen to me.

I was with the Bastards. They would make sure I was okay.

I was surprised how sure I was that it was true.

They followed me onto the velvet-covered platform, and for a few seconds, we just stood there, none of us quite sure how to start.

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