“What?”
“Dayum, girl, you either dumb or clueless.”
I read her name tag just so I didn’t call her a bitch. Paulina. “Clueless.”
“And lost from the looks of it. You aren’t wearing cuffs, which means you’re either a lesbian or looking to get cuffed. I’m thinking lesbian.” I didn’t know how to respond. Strangest conversation of my life. Paulina waved a hand, dismissing me. “Never mind.” She sprayed water into a metal jug and slid it to me. I took it, and she yanked my hand, brought me closer, and kissed me on the lips. “Don’t move,” she said. “They think I am a lesbian. Are you? ’Cuz I need pointers.”
I gaped at her.
“Girl, smile like you like it, or you’ll ruin my cover.” Bewildered, I stretched my lips. “That’s better. These horny bastards keep coming, and I need this job. Can’t be banging no beast in the back with a full bar, you know. Lesbianism is freedom down here. Anyho’, what’cha you doing here? I thought ya all burned down there.”
“Down where?”
“Down below my store. It caught fire. Didn’t you know?”
I realized she’d mistaken me for someone else, but didn’t feel like explaining. She reminded me of Hanna, who talked a lot, and she seemed friendly if a bit out there. “No, I didn’t know.”
She released my hand and barked obscenities at the beast who’d ordered a beer. In so many impolite words, she told him to wait. “Anyho’,” she continued, “my bakery caught on fire. No cake, no bake, no money, so I called my best customer and told her to hook me up. Rey, Alpha Beast’s pair, hooked me up here. Shitty job watching all this debauchery, but it pays. I’ll save up enough to rent something in New City and start up again.”
“Sorry to hear about your place.”
“Did ya hear about Dewlyn? Got hitched to the man beast.” Dewlyn. I’d heard that name somewhere. I frowned, trying to remember. “Yeah, she up there somewhere ridin’ the clouds. If you see her, tell her hi from me, would ya?”
“Definitely.”
“Since you’re new here, and I sort of know ya, let me give you some pointers. If you came here to hook and earn, you’ve got serious competition, since all the girls here are bought and paid for. It’s free pussy.”
“Paulina?”
“Yes?”
“You think you could give me a whiskey on the house?”
“It’s all on the house.”
“Okay, then. A bottle?”
“I don’t know. Are you askin’ or tellin’ me?”
“Telling.”
Paulina fetched a bottle, and I popped it open and drank some. My stomach rose, my throat burned, and I didn’t care. I swallowed and put the bottle down. I figured it would help me cope with my shitty situation and get me through this strange chat. “I’m bought and paid for. Twenty bucks.”
“Dayum, girl. Only twenty?”
“That’s what I said too.”
“Bought with no cuffs means he gonna share yo ass.” I drank some more. “Who the cheap bastard?” she asked.
“Mayhem.”
She leaned in across the bar. “You. Lie.”
“No lie. Honest.”
She tucked her purple hair behind her ear. “I swear God sent him to Earth to repopulate us with beautiful creatures.”
I snorted. “I’m pretty sure he knows that.”
“He does. I told him so.”
“Don’t do it anymore, please.”
“Pompous prick, huh?”
“I said that too.”
“I’d bang him if he wasn’t into anal.”
“What?” I squealed.
“Anal, you know. Ass sex. He don’t do pussy. Told me so himself. After that, I quit trying to bang him and got my lesbian on.” She lifted a finger. “Hold that thought. I gotta go. Be back.”
Stunned, I slammed the half-empty bottle on the bar, then turned in my chair.
Anal.
Oh boy. No way. Nope.
Under the sparkling globe, beasts with nude women on their laps sat around tables. They drank dark ale, rolled dice, and sucked on nipples, the fingers of their other hand doing God knows what under the table.
A scream sounded to my right.
I whipped my head and saw a woman chained to the wall. A beast behind a mask flicked a horsewhip. It hit her back. She screamed again. Instead of stopping, he flicked her bottom. Another woman approached and knelt. She spread the tied woman’s ass cheeks and buried her face between them. I blinked. Now, I’d seen things at the circus, behind the stands, under the stands, and at night on the rides, but nobody had ever beat anyone who screamed for more.