Theirs To Take(25)

Arthur wouldn’t have done this to me. Gabriel was lying — they both were. Out of the two of them, I’d thought Gabriel the more compassionate, the one just a little more human, but I was wrong. He was just as cruel, if not crueler, than his brother.

Syn had returned with a bottle of water and held it to my mouth while I drank it down, but he’d not said another word, and truthfully, I wasn’t sure I wanted him to. There was one thing about the night I’d been taken that nagged at me but I couldn’t think about that now. If I did, I might not be able to breathe.

I stood bound to that pole, my arms stretched so far above my head that I had to stand on tiptoe. I didn’t know how long they’d make me stand here like this as the men of the camp ogled me, some standing behind me in pairs to discuss various details of my anatomy. Not a one of them touched me though and I knew I had the brothers to thank for that. Whenever I would glance at the RV they had disappeared into, I would see Syn’s eyes on me, especially if there were men nearby. Somehow, I felt protected even from a distance, even by him.

The heat of the sun burnt my shoulders and I grew thirstier as the day wore on. I wondered if they’d contact my father now, ask a price and return me to him. I knew it was naïve to think it, but it comforted me, until I thought of the other girls, that is. I suspected the majority didn’t have daddies with money to buy them back.#p#分页标题#e#

My gloomy thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching cars. I turned to watch the cloud of dust as several vehicles approached. Gabriel and Syn came out of the trailer, both casting a quick glance in my direction before turning to watch the motorcade.

“Get the girls. Line them up,” Syn called out.

I heard commotion behind me as the women filed out. The vehicles came closer and my heart thundered in my chest, wondering what would happen to us now, to me. Wondering if and by whom I’d be bought. What that buyer would do to me.

When the first car came to a stop, Syn and Gabriel went to greet them. The other vehicles parked, one by one, and men piled out of each one — men and one woman. All had bodyguards with them and from the looks of them, out of the two dozen people, the woman appeared to be the most cruel as she scanned the group of women before bringing her gaze to rest on me, the scowl on her face turning into a smirk, her eyes narrowing into slits.

The buyers approached in a cluster, Syn and Gabriel leading the way, Syn talking to one while Gabriel wore his usual stern expression.

“This is a lovely sight to greet us, Gabriel. You’ve outdone yourself,” the woman said, looking me over from head to toe, raising her eyebrows at my throbbing, hot bottom.

“Evangeline is troublesome,” was all he said.

“I like a little trouble,” the woman countered.

Gabriel glanced my way and I could see in his eyes that she bothered him. “Let her down,” he said to one of the guards. “Take your place in line, Evangeline.”

My heart raced. One of these men, or the woman, would buy me. I’d become a slave for the next three years of my life, if what the brothers said were true. If they really did intend to release us after that time. But why would they? Wouldn’t we be a danger to them if they did? It didn’t quite add up.

I didn’t think of that though when a guard let me down. Instead, I rubbed my wrists and arms, trying to get the blood circulating again.

“Move,” the guard said, gesturing to the line.

I watched as the other women stood neatly lined up, hands at the backs of their heads while the buyers looked them over, circling the naked women, evaluating, touching. It took a nudge from the guard before I joined the women in line, clasping my hands at the back of my head as I’d been told to do earlier.

Lara was crying already, as were several others whose names I did not remember. Something happened at the far end of the line and I turned to see Helena pushed to her knees while a man walked off toward a desk they had set up to the side.

Syn and Gabriel watched all of this, no one speaking but for murmurs. Asking questions, I presumed. When buyers began to circle me, I kept my gaze locked straight ahead. I would look at no one. I would feel nothing.

The woman came to stand before me, the weight of her gaze demanding I meet it, but I refused. Why did I hate her more than I hated these men? Why did I find her more depraved?

“So you’re troublesome,” she said, lifting a breast, weighing it.

I swallowed, my lips tightening, my breath audible as I tried to hold my position. I knew what would happen to me if I didn’t. Syn stood entirely too close with that cane at his side.