Page 11 of Taken by Moonlight

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Puzzledas Dante’s scent issue made me, I forgot all about it once I entered the back area of theclub.

The Fizzy Area, staff called it. Otherwise known as the Champagnerooms.

I don’t know about other clubs, but Crossroads had an entire section devoted to private dances and sex parties. Each room was named after a vintage or a liquor. The Pinot Room was for clients who wished a discreetexperience.

The Whiskey Room was where the girls took men who liked more roughaction.

The largest room, the Dom Room, allowed seating for 150. It featured a stage and a dais. Dom stood for Dom Perignon, but we joked it was the Domination and Submissionroom.

I’d heard of wild sex parties taking place there. Nothing I ever concerned myselfabout.

Only tonight, I’d agreed to monitor the clients as they bid. Norm promised I’d getcompensated.

Tonight, small linen-draped tables with plush chairs replaced the theater-style seats. Crystal vases filled with budding pink roses sat in the middle of each table and the air was redolent with the fragrance. Maybe the flowers were to disguise the scent of horny shifters eager to bid on a favoritelady.

Where wasNorm?

There.

Electronic tablet in hand, the werepython stood on stage making notations as he stood next to a tall man with a receding hairline also consulting a tablet. His formal wear looked cheap and ill-fitting compared to theclients.

Four women milled about. All four were staggeringly gorgeous, and not just by means of artificialenhancements.

The prizes for the shifters to bid on, Iguessed.

Two blondes, one brunette and one redhead, they were tall, statuesque and buxom, with long legs and slender figures. Their long hair spilled down their backsides, which were covered with red satin robes. Red stiletto shoes covered their perfect, manicuredfeet.

They could have been supermodels. Maybe in the shifter world, they were. All four flashed shifterauras.

Human auras varied by person. But shifter auras always had a distinct, thin line of green ringing them. Green for their earthy side, Iguess.

Though these women’s auras all glowed yellow, calm, perhaps even bored, there was that telltale greenline.

Disappointment filled me. I kind of hoped they’d be human. That would be fascinating, seeing how a human woman conducted herself during a live auction of herbody.

Then I shook my head. Why did I care? It wasn’t as if I wanted to observe for lessons in how to sellmyself.

Though the money would benice.

Norm spotted me. “Peyton! Go place these bidding cards at each table. Three to atable.

Taking the stack from Guy on the stage, I put three cards on each roundtable.

My right pocket buzzed. I pulled out my phone and glanced at thetext.

That sinking feeling became nausea. EarlBrown.

you owe us $25,000 by Tuesday,peyton.

The interest had tripled tonight, since I had failed to pay before the close of the business dayFriday.

I don’t have it. I can give you partial payment,I textedback.

Tuesday morning, I would owe the Browns $25,000. If I didn’t pay in full, they’d kick me out of the house where I’d been born, raised, and lived for 23years.

The house that been in my family for threegenerations.