Page 4 of Purchase Power
“Such a stick in the mud. That’s why I love you, though.”
David was the only man who could casually declare his love for Noah and not have it turn into a “thing” that ended their friendship. Not because Noah hoarded homophobic tendencies.I simply do not… trust other men’s intentions.There was a reason Noah didn’t make many friends with either gender. Women often didn’t understand his history, or wanted something from him he could not give them. Men? They could be worse. Noah was the first to admit that his male brethren used words loosely, as if they were cookies to lure people in only to give them expensive, traumatic cavities.
He was a bit biased, though.
The manager popped back into the display room the moment the waitress brought the next rounds of drinks. She popped the cap off David’s beer and placed a napkin down for Noah’s scotch. His hand wrapped around the stout glass. When he turned back around, the most recent woman up for auction stepped out from behind the manager.
Noah had to double-take.
There were two other women before this one, and neither of them came close to his radar, let alone pinged it. They had been beautiful. Beautiful trouble, as Noah liked to think of such women. The tablets on the coffee table in front of Noah and David listed details about every woman up for auction that night, but the other two hadn’t earned anything but a passing glance. Noah wasn’t interested in a Domme, but the first woman up that night had been a buxom brunette with big, doe eyes and a “hunger to serve.” Everything about her had screamed experienced submissive looking for her next twenty-four-seven commitment. Noah had been with women like that. Those that weren’t turned off by his lack of commitment to the lifestyle had urged him to go to therapy. Not very much fun at the end of the day.
Besides, he only loved obedient beauties in the bedroom because they gave him less anxiety. They asked fewer questions. They were there to get dominated, get off, and get out of his life. Sometimes they came back for more, but by that point, Noah had his fill. They were all the same in the end, anyway.
This girl, though… there was something different about her.
Perhaps it was the way she examined her surroundings, as if she didn’t know how she got there. That was the first thing Noah noticed about her. A naivete that was as natural as those full lips. Nothing about the young lady looking directly at him through the mirror was sweet innocence, though. She had been around a couple of blocks, but she had retained an air of optimism not often found in the ladies who frequented these events.Optimism. There’s something you don’t see every day.Those big eyes took in everything around her, processed it, and promptly dumped it onto the floor again, as if there were better uses for her eyes.
She kept looking at Noah. Well, notlookingat him, since she was more than likely looking at her own reflection – but didn’t it seem like her eyes pierced through the glass, searching for his?
No. That’s preposterous.For one thing, Noah Gabriel was allergic to unbridled positivity. This woman absolutely oozed it, from the dimples on her round face, to the way she boldly approached one of the other windows and touched up her hair.I wonder what her real hair color is…The manager prattled on about the woman’s more pertinent vitals, imploring the potential buyers to pick up their assigned tablets and take a gander at more information.Lucy. Her name is Lucy. You’ve got to be kidding me.Dye her hair red and put her in a poodle skirt. She had the same level of spunk as Ms. Ball. While nobody would ever mistake Noah Gabriel for Desi Arnaz, he related to the straight-man exasperation that plagued the poor guy on that show.
“She’s cute.” David grabbed his tablet with one hand and nursed his beer with the other. It was the perfect cover for Noah to pick up his own tablet and turn on the screen. The club’s app had conveniently switched to the next woman. Plenty of opportunity to swipe through a handful of sultry photos of Ms. Lucy Craig, Freelance Writer. “Cute enough to spend a few thousand on, plus housing costs? Dunno about that.”
Noah held the tablet closer to his face, peering at the real Lucy over the plastic rim of the tablet. What was it about her, really? He desired to stare at her pictures of tight dresses and silky lingerie, but he was constantly drawn to the extensive profile provided. Instead of selling herself based on her sexual or subservient skills, Lucy Craig left behind three solid paragraphs outlining her vigorous education and how this was “her first time enjoying the world of clandestine affairs.” Every picture, whether she pulled her face back into a sultry expression, reeked with that shining smile and an air that she didn’t know what she was doing, but she’d have fun.
He glanced up again. The manager had stepped aside. For some reason, the Boisterous, Bubbling Beauty was flush in the cheeks as she slowly walked by the windows, biting her lip in trepidation and running her fingers over the knot in her coat.
The moment she was in front of Noah and David’s window, she untied the sash of her coat and pulled the whole thing open.
“Oh ho ho.” David sat forward, tablet forgotten on the coffee table. “A free fucking show! That’s what I’m talking about.”
No, Lucy wasn’t completely naked beneath her coat, but the bra and panties didn’t leave much to the imagination.That’s a serious push-up bra.That underwire barely held in those tits.She really must be twenty-six. Extroverted with perky breasts.Dangerous combination. Because Noah may have eschewed women with too much optimism for him to handle, but he was a sucker for strong abs and proportional, grabbable breasts to go with them.
What? He was still a man beneath all that trendy cynicism!
“You ever…” David held up his thumb and forefinger, comparing the space between fingers to the size of Lucy’s faraway breasts. “Imagine what it would be like for a chick to get naked, put her ass up in the air, and spread her legs wide open for your hungry-ass cock?”
Leave it to David to have the perfect glass of cold water to throw on Noah’s head. “I really hope there was a hyphen between hungry and ass, but not ass and cock.”
“You don’t have an ass-cock?”
“No.” Noah’s gaze meandered back to the woman who had tossed her coat over the stool and now slowly turned around, giving everyone a fantastic view of her tight ass and the curvaceous qualities of her back. There wasn’t a part of her unprepared for the ogling looks she was definitely receiving through the glass.Bids start at five thousand? She may not have a lot to offer besides her looks, but she’s going to go high and fast.Fast. High and fast.Hardand fast. Exactly how Noah would give it to Ms. Craig should he ever come across her on a regular night at the club. Lucy was the exact type of woman he’d seduce for an hour, before conveniently forgetting she existed as soon as the pleasure subsided and he went back to business as usual.
Damn. Too bad she was a month-long commitment. Even if Noah didn’t mind spending the money, it was so… impractical. Keeping a woman housed, fed, and cared for over the course of thirty days so he would have the divine opportunity of fucking her whenever he wanted was impractical.
“You’re into her, huh?” David snorted. “Don’t look at me like that. I can tell.”
Noah supposed his friend could. Five minutes ago, Noah hadn’t been crossing his legs. Nor had he cared about the other women’s profiles as much as he now stared at Lucy’s. Was he the only one who snapped his head around when she blew a kiss to the window with a little hop in her step?Her fake blond hair is ridiculous, but I suppose it matches her personality…Blondes were very vivacious. Didn’t matter if they were born with the yellow locks or if a competent salon helped make it happen.
Yet the more Noah became aware of his cock in his pants, the more he told himself that it was a stupid venture. If he genuinely wanted to fuck Ms. Craig, he could get her number from the management. Or he could come to the club a little more often and hope to see her there when her thirty days with whomever were up.“Let some other man have her. What’s it too me?”That’s what he wanted to say. That’s what practical Noah Gabriel would say.
Lucy pressed her chest and hands against the window, giggling.
“Wow,” David said. “If you’re not putting in a bid, I might.” He glanced at the tablet. “It’s already up to twenty thousand. Should I blow my load now, or wait until later?”
“You’re actually going to bid?” Noah didn’t know if he was more surprised that David planned to actually participate at all, or that he might be a contender for Lucy’s carnal company. “Where are you going to put up a woman? Besides, don’t you already have a sugar baby and some other girl on your immediate hookup list?”
David shrugged. “It would be a bit much to juggle, but for the right ass, I’m willing to make sacrifices to my schedule. I’ve got that bachelor pad in Brooklyn a girl like her would love. Wallsjustthick enough that we can scream a lot, but the neighbors will definitely hear my prowess, if you know what I mean.”
