Page 17 of Taken by Moonlight

“It tightens around a guy’s crotch like a snake squeezing prey. Men love it. On a good night, she can command $5,000 asession.”

TMI. I wondered if she was related to Norm and that got me thinking about Norm and bed sportand…

Ewwww. Not a great visualimage.

All the women were shifters with considerable assets. Sheila the boa shifter had a vagina that squeezed tight. Maybe shifter men liked danger withsex.

Maybe I could get away with telling the audience I was a praying mantis shifter. The kind that ate my lover aftersex.

Somehow I doubted anyone would believeme.

The auctioneer began his introductoryspeech.

The first woman stepped on the block with a spring to her step and a smile to her face. The auctioneer rolled off the opening bid in a bored voice. Dismay filled me. These women, who were perfection, were commanding the room with their wide smiles and their flirtatiousattitudes.

And commanding the prices, too. Glinda, the second one on the block, fetched a staggering amount of $90,000.

Almost six figures, for one night ofsex.

Maybe they all had magick hoo-has.

By the time Sheila with the glitter stepped up to the dais, I sensed the energy in the crowd rise to a fever pitch. Last chance to bid on abeauty.

The auctioneer praised the woman on stage, explaining in vivid detail her flexibility and acrobatic ability inbed.

“Sheila here is a boa shifter, and trust me, all her parts coil tight to give you the maximum pleasure in bed. She’s a sinuous beauty who is flexible in ways you can only imagine. Show them, Sheila,” the auctioneerrumbled.

The woman did a handstand, and spread her legs apart, twisting her body. Her vulva glittered like a disco ball. I halfway expected “Staying Alive” to start playing in thebackground.

Hoots of approval and cheersfollowed.

And I was supposed to follow that up? I felt like I was back in seventh grade in the talent show audition, following Becky Gunther and her fiery twirling baton with my Robert Frost poetry reading. No one cared about Robert Frost when there was a chance the entire school could catch onfire.

Who cared about an inexperienced human psi as a lover when you could have a gymnastics snake shifter with a magick hooha?

As I watched the shifters raise their bidding cards and the price soared, my heart sank. No one would bid that much on me. Even though Norm guaranteed me $25,000 cash, I couldn’t be certain any shifter in the house tonight wanted to spend that kind ofmoney.

Not on a Plain Jane human girl who didn’t know bedtricks.

Finally, after commanding the highest amount - $120,000 – Sheila shimmiedaway.

Glitterworked.

“Now, for the finale, gentlemen. A special last minute addition to tonight’s program for your viewing pleasure,” the auctioneerannounced.

Viewing pleasure? Was I a movie, a flicker across a screen, a porno vision inwhite?

At least this crowd was more refined. I hadn’t seen one shifter playing one-handed pocket pool. Shifters were good at that, reining in their primitive urges to save them for the finalact.

Someone pushed me out onto the stage. I blinked at the bright lights, wishing the floor would open and swallowme.

Maybe being homeless wasn’t such a badthing.

Heels clunked against the wood stage as I clumsily navigated my way to the dais and stood there, facing the crowd. I felt like a doll on display, or ahorse.

“Item number five, a human psi female, approximately 23 years old, fresh off the farm, untouched. She has been certified as a virgin by my personal physician only moments ago. We’ll start the bidding at fivethousand.”

Silence. Heat suffused my cheeks. Guess fresh off the farm wasn’t what this crowd liked, unless it was primebeef.