The Auction Read Free

too many people got on it, that it would, which was why I was running the full length of it, hoping enough of the men would follow me like some dumb, horny herd and bring it crashing down.
    The girls scattered, and I jumped off the back of the platform. The shock of the hard ground shot up through my legs. Then I ran. There was no crash, because no one was following—only the monster.
    I ran across the field, scrambled over the fence, and left the city’s official boundaries. I was out there, the place where no one was supposed to go or explore. Off in the distance, maybe a mile away, was a rocky mountainside. If I could get to that, I would be able to hide in nooks and crannies too small for the massive beast.
    Even if I managed that, however, there was still the matter of food, and staying warm, and general survival and loneliness and . . .
    My mind shut off the constant whirring of everything below the current issue of running. The situation suddenly felt even more ominous; the sun was no longer on me. At first I thought a cloud had covered it, but it wasn’t a cloud. The creature was flying over me, his massive wingspan causing a dark shadow to fall. No matter how fast I moved, I couldn’t get out of his shadow.
    Then there was a roar, and I was on the ground. I clawed at the dirt, trying to get away from him as his hands gripped my waist, holding on hard. His wings were still out, making him appear even larger and more terrifying. His breath came hard, and somehow I knew it wasn’t from fatigue, but excitement from the hunt.
    I stopped struggling because it was pointless. If he didn’t kill me, I would find a way out. No way was I going to live with this monster, assuming, of course, that I lived.
    Then he broke the silence between us. “I knew I picked the right one.”
    Those words started a faint tremble that moved along my arms and into the rest of my body. What did that mean?
    “I can’t go with you,” I said. My voice managed to sound less hysterical than I’d expected.
    “You’re already with me. We already left.”
    Semantics.
    He was warm, warmer than people. I didn’t know what his species’ core body temperature was, but getting cold wasn’t going to be an issue with him. I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the images that suddenly assailed me. It was wrong on so many levels—I couldn’t count that high.
    He removed one of his hands from around my waist. Without thinking, my fingers moved to trace over the fleshy part of my hip, to feel the indentations left by his claws. It had been a hard enough grip to leave a mark, but not hard enough to break skin.
    “How do you speak my language so well?” I asked.
    He made a sound that may have been a chuckle but sounded like a growl. “Your people have been here a century. We’ve allowed your civilization and even aided its formation and growth. You think we can’t pick up on your rather crude speech patterns? You are our experiment and our entertainment. We are your gods. Of course we can speak your language.”
    I was offended that he thought he was smarter than me or better than me. Than us. These creatures lived in caves. Of course we were smarter and better than them. It wasn’t even a question.
    “What do you intend to do with me?”
    In answer, he allowed his claw to trace lightly around one of my breasts, then he rolled me to my back, keeping me there with one hand, while the other traced downward, stopping just above my pubic bone. A whoosh of air escaped my lips in a sigh that should have been a scream.
    “I think you know the answer. And don’t bother telling me how disgusted you are. My kind has a better sense of smell than yours. I could scent your need on the air when our eyes met.”
    That didn’t mean I actually wanted to be naked with him or do any of the myriad things we would do once I was. I tried again not to think about what might be in his pants.
    His gaze traveled the length of my body. “You’re filthy.”
    “You