Roll For Initiative

41. Lucian

Earlier That Day

I wake up Saturday around noon, too hungover to even care what time it is. My whole-body hurts, and I want to stay under the covers. Jayme drove us back to my apartment, but first, I made him stop at the liquor store so I could stock up. I was driving myself mad last night trying to figure out what I did or said to make her stop us like that. I think I finished off the bottle. The look in her eyes before she walked away ripped my heart out. It made me feel like I had lost her before I even had her.

Jayme said I needed to let her know how I felt, and maybe it would change, but he didn’t see the way she looked at me. No, I don’t think we will end up together. Fuck, after last night, I don’t know how to even get back to what we were. I’m obsessed now. I fucking feel like I am craving her. She is all I can think about. I can smell her shampoo on my pillows. I swear, when I was drinking last night, I could hear her talking to me. Then there are the things I want to do to Theo for fucking touching her. Thank God I don’t own a gun because I’m quite sure I would have driven to his house last night. Ugh, fuck this hangover. Everything is spinning.

“Rise and shine, sleepy head!” Jayme comes bursting into my room.

“Fuck off!” I whip one of my pillows at him and put another over my head. I think if I suffocate myself long enough, I will pass out.

“Nope, it is after 12. You are getting your ass up. Get showered, and we are going out.” He throws open my curtains, blinding me with the afternoon sunlight.

“Dude, I want to throw up, shower, throw up again, then sleep. I don’t want to do anything right now.”

“Bro, I got us a fitting in 45 minutes for some suits for tonight; I have a limo picking us up at 5:30 sharp and two tickets to Vixen's yearly auction. You know how crazy FoxDens was a few months ago; Vixens just so happens to be tonight!” He proudly shows me two black envelopes in his hand, with the word Vixens in gold lettering on the front. Fuck, I don’t know who this man’s connections are, but damn, when he wants something, he gets it.

“FINNNEEE!” I groan as I try to walk to the bathroom. The room is still spinning, and thankfully, Jayme is there to grab my arm and steady me.

“Dude, I’ll help you to the shower, but I am not washing your ass. I don’t love you that much.” He laughs as he helps me into the bathroom. He really is a great friend, even if he is a pain in my ass.

When 5 o’clock rolls around, we are both standing in my front room, dressed to the nines. The suits we were able to get were rush fitted, thankfully needing bare minimum alterations. They are snug and exude wealth. Something Jayme is used to, but I feel like a poser trying to play a part. He is taking care of everything tonight. We have a suitcase full of money, and each has a mask. Just like at FoxDen, tonight is all about anonymity. Only cash transactions and all contracts will be signed in front of the two co-owners. It’s their annual charity auction. Now, the auctions here are a bit different. You aren’t bidding on art or vintage antiques. No, you are bidding on people.

I know it seems weird, but it is all consensual, and it goes to a good cause. Vixens is donating to a women’s group that helps women out of domestic violence situations. The organization even helps women get new identities if needed. How it works is that each woman writes her bio, and no one uses their real names tonight. Every bidder receives a folder with all the women’s names and bios, their limits and likes, and sexual preferences. Then, the bidding begins. When a woman is won, she gets half the money, and the other half goes toward the charity. When we went to FoxDen for theirs, three women went for almost 1/2 million each. Sometimes, it scares me how much money can fly around in these places. Hence why Jayme said he will take care of everything. He says he is going to win us one or two women to share, and he even booked us a black card suite for the night.

“This is going to be fucking awesome!” He says as he straightens his tie for the hundredth time.

“I hope so. I need to get my fucking mind off of her.” I cried in the shower. I actually fucking cried.

When I woke up, I looked at my phone and saw that I tried calling her at least 15 times last night. All were unanswered. She left my drunken texts on read. I’ve lost her. Right now, I don’t give a fuck about us dating or sex or any of that shit; I just want her back in my life. Out of the 15 years we have been friends, we have never fought, never walked away mad, and never gone more than 12 hours without at least a text. We are coming up on 24 hours soon and I feel like I ruined everything last night.

I pushed her too far, too fast. I don’t even know why I pulled her to me and kissed her when I was questioning her about his abuse. I just snapped. I wanted to claim her and prove I was who she was meant to be with. Show her that I am the one who has always been there and will always be there. But it scared her apparently, or she realized she didn’t feel what I felt and that the thought of being with me wasn’t what she wanted at all. All I know is I feel lost right now without her. God, I sound like a fucking sappy romance movie. Yuck!

“Dude, did you hear me?” Jayme nudges me. Apparently, I zoned out and missed half of what he said.

“What? I didn’t catch that last part.” Actually, I didn’t catch anything after he said what kind of woman he was looking for. Tall, all legs. Thick thighs to crush his head or something along those lines. I don’t know.

“I asked if you got a chance to look at the masks we got. They are sick, much better than FoxDens. Those shit plastic ones are nothing compared to these, look.” He holds his up and then hands me a leather mask that covers the upper part of my face but leaves my mouth uncovered.

Mine is a wolf. Hmm, Cassie always did say my spirit animal was a wolf. How fitting. Jayme has a lion for his mask. It goes well with his blonde hair that he decided to leave fluffy and wild tonight. As much as I want to text Cassie again, I won’t. Shit, I don’t even think I am going to bring my phone tonight; they make you lock it up anyways. I toss my phone on the charger by the couch before putting on my suit coat and shoes.

Jayme splurged and got us one of the VIP suites for tonight. He made sure it had my favorite item, the St. Andrews Cross. I think my obsession came from my first sub, Marianne. She loved to be strapped to the cross, always wore the hottest leather harnesses, and never wore anything else. It was great. She loved to be punished. That’s what I need tonight, I need a pain slut who wants to be punished. I zoned out again because all I could hear was Jayme yelling from down the hall.

“Let’s go fucker. We have ass to destroy.” Jayme shouts from the open front door. Great! My neighbors probably heard that.

We pull up to Vixens at 5:45. The auction kick-off starts at 6, but I don’t think they will begin the bidding until 6:30. They have to lay all the rules out first. I need to grab a drink to settle my nerves. I regret not bringing my phone because we might not be going home until tomorrow morning. What if she calls or texts me? What if she needs me and I don’t answer? Nope! I need to stop obsessing now. Plus, she and Theo are going out tonight. I swear to God, if he hurts her, I don’t care how powerful he is; I’ll ask Jayme if he has any connections that are hitmen.

We are able to find an empty table toward the back of the crowd. Everyone has a mask of some sort on tonight. It is cool. You can really be yourself in these places without feeling judged. We take our seats as the cocktail waitresses pass out the bio folders. Time to pick the women we want to bid on. Jayme finds his quick. Goes by the name Star, sounds like a stripper name to me. She’s tall like he likes, brunette, tattoos, and piercings; oh, look, she has nipple piercings too. Got to love those. Yep, he is going to win her! He said she was 12th on the list.

I am taking my time, looking over each girl, trying to figure out what I would even want for tonight other than a pain slut. My eyes trail over each bio, reading them like a damn menu. There are so many girls on tonight’s lineup; it’s crazy. I glance around the room, taking it all in again. I notice there are a lot of masters with their “pets” here tonight, and that makes me think of Cassie again. I honestly don’t think she is a pet; she freaked out about the collar. Most pets would either not show emotion or be overjoyed at the possession. She just looked pissed. Wait, he said he wanted her to wear it tonight with a black dress. There is no fucking way he would bring her here.

I scan the room, fully aware that I won’t see anyone’s face tonight. But I don’t need to see her face. I have been around her for 15 years; I could pick her out of a lineup anywhere. I know every line, freckle, and scar on her body. I looked over the room 3 times before being satisfied that she isn’t here. Thank God. He must have just taken her out for a date, then maybe back to his place or something. Fuck, I do not want to think about that; I will start seeing red again.

Jayme orders a scotch on the rocks with a twist, and I get an old fashioned. Another waitress walks around in a lace thong, stilettos, pasties, and her leather mask. She is passing out bidding paddles to everyone.

“Hey, maybe we can use these in the room tonight.” Jayme jokes as he smacks the paddle against his hand.

I go to say something snarky when the lights dim, and a spotlight shines on stage, illuminating a stunning, dark-haired Goddess of a woman. She radiates power and has a commanding presence on stage. Fuck, she must be a dominatrix here.

“Ladies. Gentlemen. Welcome to Vixens. My name is Madam Odette, the co-owner of our wonderful club. I hope you are all ready for tonight’s auction! After each winning bid, you are to report to the office to the right of the main bar in the back. We will take care of all the paperwork there, and you can claim your winnings. There is a two-woman limit tonight; let’s not be greedy. Our charity tonight is “Women’s Heart and Home.” It is a shelter that is near and dear to my heart. They have helped countless women out of domestic violence situations across the country, and with your help tonight, we will be able to make one of our largest contributions ever. I can feel it. Now, everyone, play nice, and let the bidding begin.”

The room erupts in applause as she walks off stage. I am getting more excited as I look over the folder again. Some of the women are being offered by their Dom’s. That has always been strange to me. I could never offer up my sub to another person.

A man walks up late and sits at the table next to us. His mask is a devil, reddish black leather, with horns, too. He is alone like we are, but I don’t see a bio folder. Is he even bidding? Or is he doing what a lot of Dom’s are doing tonight, entering his sub into the auction? I have no clue.

The first girl comes on stage. She goes by Tina. She’s cute. According to her bio, she is 5’4”, 26, blonde, and has blue eyes. But looking over her stuff, I see she is against threesomes and impact play. Only light bondage, too. Pass. She ends up going for $95k, which is a good start for the first bid. Usually, the first few winning bids aren’t high. The guy who won is in his late 60’s and looks like a scummy human. Damn, I hope just over $47k is worth her time with him tonight, good lord.

The next couple of girls are a bit more to our style. Jayme tries going after a tall 23-year-old with jet-black hair that hangs almost to her waist. But unfortunately, she ended up going for $350k. She barely had any limits, so she was extremely popular. Oh well, there should be more.

I go back to flipping through the bios when they are bidding on woman number 6, Sasha. She’s beautiful but not my type. I turn page after page, searching for just the right one to help me get my mind off Cassie. I turn the page to girl number 10.

Girl number 10 goes by the name Liana... Brown hair... 5’5”... hazel eyes... 24... fuck this cannot be happening.