Aurora beams. “Thank you.”
“Do you have any issue with her touching you? Being intimate?”
I should. I really, really should. I have deep feelings for Alaric, and that means I shouldn’t look at this woman and have things low in my stomach clench. I shouldn’t wonder what she tastes like. I lick my lips. “No, I don’t have any issues with that.”
A small, dark part of me doesn’t feel guilty in the least. Alaric has been with countless people before I met him and who knows how many since. I don’t hold that against him. Not really. He’s not indebted to Hades entirely by choice, but before coming to the Underworld, I was under the impression that he’d been pressured into the sex work. After meeting Hercules and brushing against others who work here, I don’t think I can believe that any more. They’re too concerned with consent to force someone to do anything, bargain or no. Even Hades is checking in with me, which boggles the mind.
I wonder what else I was wrong about?
Meg nods. “Up. Let’s see how Hercules did.”
I stand slowly. Aurora moves behind me to help me out of the silk robe. Beneath it, I wear a deceptively complicated lingerie set. Thigh highs and a garter belt. Panties and bra. Even an underbust faux corset. All in a creamy ivory that makes me think this might be something a bride wears on her wedding night.
Meg whistles softly. Hades nods once. “Well done, little Hercules.”
For his part, Hercules is blushing in a really sweet way. He picks up a length of fabric and walks to me. “You’ll start in this.”
I take it from him, and it unfurls into a dress. I raise my brows. “Isn’t this a little redundant? Why not just walk out there naked like you said?”
“I didn’t say you’d walk out there naked. You’ll end up naked.”
Meg moves up and presses a quick kiss to his mouth before turning to me. “It’s about a show, honey. The more we rile the crowd, the more money you walk away with. You start in that sweet little dress, and they’re going to be howling by the time Aurora gets you out of your panties.”
It makes sense when she puts it like that. “Okay.” I step into the dress and pull it up my body. It’s a loose sheath dress that covers me from shoulders to the tops of my knees, but when I eye the fabric, it’s nearly sheer. Depending on how they have the lights on the stage, the audience will be able to catch glimpses of my body through it, even if it hangs loosely around me.
“I’m placing bets on Malone.”
For a second, I think Meg’s talking to me, but she looks at Hades. “She really goes for the innocent thing.”
“So do you.” Hades gives a small smile. “Maybe I’ll bid on her for you, love.”
Meg arches her brows. “You give the best gifts, Hades.”
My jaw drops as he rises and ushers a muttering Hercules out of the room. I turn back to Meg. “Isn’t there some rule against the host bidding?”
“It’s the Underworld. The only real rules here are Hades’s, and he does what he wants.” She shrugs. “Besides, if he wins the bidding, it will reassure Hercules that you aren’t going to be whisked off to be ravaged by someone else for the next seven days. He’s been driving us both up the wall worrying about you.”
Something relaxes in my chest. I don’t know how I feel about being shared amongst three people, but I like Hercules, and neither Meg nor Hades seems that bad. Maybe this really will be okay. “I don’t think I’d complain about being in your bed.”
“Honey, I know you wouldn’t.” She grins. “Let’s go. We’ll be getting started soon.”
I jump when Aurora takes my hand, lacing her fingers through mine. She smiles. “It’s normal to be nervous, but it will be okay. Hades runs a tight ship.”
The walk to the public playroom seems to take no time at all. One moment Aurora is leading me out the door of Hades’s office and the next we’re following Meg into the darkened room. As promised, there’s a stage set up in the middle, complete with lights pointed right at it.
Meg steps up easily and spins in a slow circle. “You’re in for a treat tonight.” She was arresting before, but it’s like she’s amped everything up. She commands the stage, commands every eye in the room. “We have a true treasure in our midst—and she’s just for you. A virgin.” She motions with an imperial flick of her fingers, and Aurora tugs me up onto the stage. Meg gives the crowd a slow smile. “Not just any virgin, though. An Olympus virgin.”
Buzzing fills my ears, and I can’t tell if it’s my panicked thoughts or a murmur going through the room. Lean arms go around my waist, and Aurora’s whisper sounds in my ear. “Relax, Zurielle. You’re safe. I have you.”
I close my eyes for a moment and exhale slowly, doing my best to release my tension. I chose this. I am actively choosing it.
“Give her a spin, Aurora.”
Her arms slip away, and she takes my hand again, lifting my arm above my head and spinning me like we’re dancing in slow motion. My dress flares out around my thighs, and Aurora brings me back against her chest. She’s about my height and built petite like I am, but she feels strong enough to hold me up when my legs shake. “Here comes the fun part,” she murmurs.
Meg chuckles, low and husky. “We start the bidding at twenty-five thousand.”
It’s nowhere near enough. I need ten times that much to pay off the rest of Alaric’s loan, more when I add in Hades’s percentage. I start to look at Meg, but Aurora gives my hips a squeeze. “Trust us.”
Movement in the crowd. Meg laughs. “Twenty-five to my dearest Hades. You treat me too well.” Her gaze sweeps the room. “But I think we can do better than that.”
The only warning I get is Aurora’s nimble fingers at the back of my dress and then it’s fluttering down around my feet. I’m still clothed in more than a swimsuit, but it feels different. Especially when Aurora starts skating her hands over my sides. She’s not really touching me anywhere untoward, but it feels good. Really, really good. I shiver as her thumbs skate along the undersides of my small breasts.
“Look at that tight little body.” Meg’s voice has gone husky, as if she didn’t see me in this exact outfit less than an hour ago. “Untouched. Unbreached. I know you, friends. Tell me you wouldn’t get off on being her first, on being the one who introduces her to how good it feels to be filled, to come around fingers and cock and tongue.”
“Fifty thousand,” someone calls.
“Fifty thousand to Malone.”
“Sixty.”
She laughs. “Now we’re talking. Sixty thousand to our new friend in the back.”
Aurora gives me a squeeze. “Ready?”
“Yes,” I whisper. I’m not sure if it’s a lie or not. Things are moving too quickly. There’s too much to focus on, so I choose to focus on Aurora instead of the rest of the room. She’s my pillar in the midst of this, the one thing keeping the panic at bay.
She teases my bra straps over my shoulders, tugging them until she almost exposes me, and lifts her voice. “Seventy-five to see her pretty breasts.”
Meg shoots her an amused look but doesn’t contradict her. Especially when the woman from before—Malone—confirms seventy-five. “Stop teasing the nice bidders, Aurora.”