Page 13 of Maxim

Then again, maybe I am. Maybe I died and I just don’t remember and this is a really bad afterlife reel. Even through the pounds of makeup she applied, you can see the outline of the purple bags under my eyes, playing into my corpse-like appearance.

“You need to stop sweating. Honestly, child, you are a mess,” she hisses as she dabs my forehead.

Wouldn’t you be a mess too if you were about to be sold like a prized animal at an auction?Does she think I actually want this?

I thought Father was insane for the pampering he made me do before, but this week it was next level. I had color applied to my light-blonde hair, making it appear more ice like, along with a trim. Since I had recently been waxed, that was skipped, and Iwas forced to have a light coat of spray tan applied, nothing too drastic.

The manicure and pedicure were probably the only treatments I had done that I enjoyed. That quickly changed when I was forced to spend time with the stylist who put me in all types of lingerie trying to figure out which look best on my body and what would attract buyers the most.

We won’t even talk about the classes I had to take that revolved around how to please a man and how to be the perfect submissive. All I will say is that I about died when they showed me how to deep throat a fake penis until tears were rolling down my cheeks.

“Your father wants to get top dollar for you. I don’t know how he expects for that to happen when you are so thin.” The stylist purses her lips. “Then again, men seem to like the childlike bodies these days for their playthings.”

Through it all, I kept waiting and hoping Father would walk into the room and tell me he changed his mind and I could come home. That going through this charade was punishment enough, but every time my door opened, it wasn’t him who entered.

I’ll never admit this out loud, but I miss him. I’d gladly take the worst of the worst punishments instead of this. At least then I knew I wasn’t alone. I miss the kids most, though. God, do they think I’ve abandoned them? Did he tell them that I won’t be coming home again? Do they think I’ve died?

They already struggled with the abandonment from their mothers, and now they are feeling abandoned by me. Something I never wanted for them. I hope and pray they know how much I love them and that I’m not gone because I want to be.

Szymon walks into the room. I can’t help but sway under his gaze, not with desire but because I feel like I might faint.

“Leave us,” he demands.

Please don’t leave me alone with him!I shout internally as everyone drops what they are doing and scurries out of the room. Once the door shuts behind them, he prowls toward me, never taking his eyes off of me through the mirror.

I flinch as he raises his large hand and runs it over my perfectly curled locks.

“Beautiful,” he murmurs.

When his hand reaches my shoulder, he moves it from my hair and wraps it around my throat. I can’t help but let out a whimper as he squeezes. Disgust rolls through me as his eyes flare with what I can only assume is desire.

“You know, I tried to save you, my pretty little doll,” he murmurs.

“Y-y-you did?”

He squeezes, tipping my chin up as he hums. “I did. I wanted to keep you for myself, but your father wouldn’t let me. He said keeping you so close to home wouldn’t be punishment enough and that I deserved better.”

“Do you believe him?” I ask lightly when he loosens his grip.

It takes Szymon a moment to speak, but when he does, he nods, making my heart shatter on the floor.

“I do.”

Szymon isn’t a man I would want to end up with, but it’s better to be with the devil you know than the one you don’t.

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry, my pretty little doll. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

“T-then why are you here?”

His eyes narrow as he stares at my rapidly rising chest.

“Because I just needed one more moment alone with you before I take you out there. Everything is about to change for you. and I wanted to give you a piece of advice.” He moves his hand from the front of my throat to the back of my neck andsqueezes. “Do whatever your owner asks of you. If you don’t, that will be a death sentence. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Szymon,” I say through uneven breaths.

This is it. This is really happening. There is no turning back now.