girls. They like obedient, pretty and quiet.”
Perhaps I ought to scream my head off . She must’ve read the defiant thought from my expression and warned, “If you disobey, I will personally strip that sweet flesh from your bones and then sell your worthless carcass to the worst possible brothel I can find where I can guarantee your body will be ravaged by disease before the year is out. Am I clear, sweetness?”
I shuddered with real fear. CoCo’s threat was not idle. There’d been whispers of terrible things…of consequences too horrific to talk about in the light of day. I didn’t doubt CoCo’s threat and it scared me into compliance.
It hardly seemed possible that a week ago I’d been waving goodbye to my friends as I loaded onto the plane to Europe, planning to spend a year abroad as part of a college immersion program. Right now, my parents believed I was settling in with my host family. It would be several days before they realized something was amiss. By then, only God knew where I’d be.
That’s how I came to be hanging like a piece of meat, blindfolded, subjected to pokes and pinches by total strangers, as they inspected what they considered chattel up for bid.
“She is untouched, yes?” one accented man asked with a salacious grunt, pushing a fat digit roughly into my shrinking folds, mortified to my bones that I was being subjected to such an invasion. I bit my lip to keep from crying out. He chuckled and twisted a sensitive nipple. “She is a succulent fruit, eh? I like the American girls…they are so much fun to break.” He pushed his finger deeper inside, past the knuckle and I jerked against the assault, biting my lip so hard I tasted blood.
Polite laughter ensued and tears wet my cheek.
“If you continue to fuck her with your finger, she will no longer be a virgin,” a dark voice said, a hint of warning in that smooth timber. I automatically turned my head in the direction of the sound. “And her value will drop. Isn’t that so, CoCo?”
CoCo’s nervous titter followed as she said, “Yes, yes…she is a temptation, isn’t she? But please, gentlemen…for the sake of preserving what is most special about her…no insertions until after you’ve paid for the privilege. Then you may do as you like to her young body.”
A paper-thin sheath barely covered my body and did little to shield me from the cold in the room. The temperature was only chilly enough to perk my nipples but not enough to cause shivering.
“And you are certain she is pure?” the man asked, his hands gently spanning my waist and framing my hips to squeeze the firm muscles of my rear. I’d been a competitive dancer for years and even though I no longer competed, my body had retained the muscle built from years of diligent practice. In fact, my dancing friends had teased that I’d grown soft because my breasts had filled out and my hips had rounded whereas they had remained lean and taut from maintaining a rigid diet combined with their rigorous training. My breath wheezed painfully in my chest as my heart thundered against my breastbone. His touch was different from the others, as if he appreciated the value of what he held in his hand; unlike the brutes who had likely left bruises in their rough handling.
“Of course,” CoCo answered assuredly, her tone almost subservient and so unlike the tone she’d always used with her crop of girls. “Our physician did a thorough examination. Her hymen is intact.”
My cheeks burned hot at the casual mention of my private matters. Suddenly, my decision to abstain until marriage seemed a foolish and romantic notion when faced with losing it to a total stranger who’d simply purchased my virginity for his own pleasure. I fought to contain my trembling but I felt like a leaf buffeted by a stiff wind.
“Her skin is exquisite,” he murmured with what sounded like faint surprise. “Where did you find her?”
Again, the nervous laughter and CoCo redirected with a
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