Page 67 of Wrapped in Their Arms

“One-forty-five!”

“One hundred and fifty thousand credits!”Theblue-haired woman’s voice was clear as a bell, ringing out across the audience.

Noelle’s heart pounded in her ears.

BlessedVirgin, let her win—please, let her win,she thought desperately, shifting her feet as the auctioneer gestured excitedly.Shehad no idea what the blue-haired woman’s plans for them was, but at least she didn’t look like someone who would want to eat the three of them for supper.

“One hundred and fifty thousand, bid byMistressGillybrandofYonnieSix!”she exclaimed.“DoIhear one-sixty?”

There was a tense moment—a ripple of uncertainty through the crowd.TheTrollox’smiddle head looked fromBurntoBrighttoNoelle, a slow, ugly smile spreading across his tusked mouth.

“Five hundred thousand!”he thundered, his deep voice making the air itself vibrate.Theaudience gasped, a sea of tentacles and claws and hands lowering in defeat.

Noelle’s mouth went dry.Sheglanced sideways, catchingBurn’sjaw working with fury, his fists clenched at his sides.Bright’sface had gone pale beneath his tan.

The blue-haired woman hesitated, lips pressed tight, then shook her head with a small, elegant gesture.

“Too rich for my blood,” she murmured, lowering her hand and shifting back into the shadows.

The auctioneer beamed.“Fivehundred thousand credits, doIhear five hundred and ten?No?Goingonce…going twice—sold!Soldto the fineTrolloxgentlemale in the front row!”

The crowd erupted in a strange, discordant cheer—alien voices barking, hooting, and trilling in a cacophony of sound that echoed painfully inNoelle’sears.Sheswayed on her feet, nausea rising in her throat.

Madre deDios, what’s going to happen to us now?

TheTrolloxwas already rising, shoving aside lesser bidders as he lumbered forward, his three heads bobbing in excitement.

Bright slipped his arm around her shoulders, steadying her, andBurnleaned close, his voice a harsh whisper.

“Fuck.Justhold on, baby.We’renot gonna let that bastard hurt you.Iswear it.”

Noelle nodded numbly, letting herself lean into their strength.Thesilver filigree collar was cold against her throat, a physical reminder of her captivity and helplessness.Butbeside her,BurnandBrightstood firm—herKindredwarriors…her only hope.

Please,she prayed silently,don’t let this be the end.Therehas to be a way out.Therejust has to.

But as theTrolloxreached the edge of the stage, grinning his greedy, three-headed grin,Noellefelt her heart sink.

The nightmare was just beginning.

36

BURN

Burn watched with narrowed eyes as theTrolloxlumbered closer, the auctioneer trailing at his side with a sycophantic smile and the silver remote clutched in one webbed hand.Themassive creature—who had to be twelve feet if he was an inch—loomed over them, casting a shadow that swallowed even the harsh light of the stage.Histhree heads bobbed and turned, but the attention of all six greedy yellow eyes was locked right onNoelle.

Their new owner’s payment went through in a ripple of digital sound and a glittering hologram of credits spinning across the air.Burnsaw the auctioneer’s lips curl with pleasure as she handed over the pain collar remote.

TheTrollox’smiddle head—clearly the one in charge—bent low, leering at all three of them.Hisbreath hitBurnlike a gust from an open sewer—hot and fetid with an undertone of old blood and something meaty that made his stomach churn.

“Well, well—hello, my little piggy-wigs!”Hebared his tusks in a parody of a grin.

Noelle shrank back, trying to shield her bare breasts with her arms, only to jerk as the collar shocked her—again.Burnheard her faint, stifled gasp and saw the way her eyes filled with pain and shame.

“Ah—she’s wearing a non-con collar,” theTrollox’smiddle head observed, tongue flicking between its teeth.

“Yes indeed,Sir.Butdon’t worry—the collar only works to keep her from touching or pleasuring herself,” the auctioneer assured him.“Hertwo males can touch her and she can touch them, as you saw earlier—if that’s what you desire.”

TheTrollox’sgrin widened, all three heads grinning at once, though the right one still snored wetly and the left seemed to be giggling to itself over a joke only it knew.Themiddle head’s voice was a deep, gravelly rumble that reverberated throughBurn’sbones.