The Highest Bidder by Sommer Marsden Read Free Book Online Page A

felt like she was no more than warm blood and soft bone.
    If not for her arms steadying them by bracing against the wall, she was almost sure they’d have dropped to the floor right there.
    A tentative knock sounded and she had to steady her breath before calling out, ‘Yes?’
    And she still sounded flighty and twittery.
    ‘Um … we’re ready for him. And you. We have been. I hope you’re …’ the words trailed off and then Annie snorted and mumbled, ‘done’.
    ‘If I blush any harder, I’m going to burst into flames,’ she told Nick. And then she pulled her knickers up.
    He didn’t say anything, just tugged the ends of her hair so she was forced to take a step toward him, her skirt drifting back down around her hips and then her knees.
    ‘Don’t run,’ he whispered, kissing her. ‘Don’t run.’

    Nick watched her as he waited for his turn. Twin spots of colour still decorated her pale cheeks and made the caramel coloured freckles on her nose stand out all the more. He had to shake off the thoughts now cavorting in his mind. How desperate she had sounded. Desperate for him, a realisation so startling it was like a punch in the face. How she’d bent to his will, presented herself, taken him with her willing backward thrusts. How she’d sounded as she tried to stifle her noises. Her fingernails whispering on the wall. The thick and prolonged spasms in that sweet pussy as she came.
    He’d loved the way she kissed him before and the way she kissed him back after.
    The smell of her still filled his nose and if he inhaled deeply, he could smell the mingled scent of them. He smelled like sex. Which meant she did too.
    He caught her looking, her intelligent brown eyes still sparkling with leftover arousal and the glow of release. My God, how gorgeous could one woman be? Her hair was a wild perfect mess and he remembered it tickling his chin as she moved under him, her orgasm driving her clit against his fingers.
    He lifted a finger to his face as she watched and smelled it. The scent of her was all over his skin. She blushed and smiled and looked away – but not for long. She looked back quickly, biting her lip as she called out the next bachelor’s name for him to walk.
    Her nipples were hard buttons pressing up from beneath the thin material of her blouse. He could see them spiking the fabric and even with a bra on, they were so hard that his mind was suddenly full of the image of rolling them over his tongue before biting the tips.
    You’re going to give yourself a hard-on, genius …
    She finally called his name and Nick moved forward on feet that felt numb and heavy. He could hear her, stumbling over her words, cut at first but then what she was saying leaked into his head.
    ‘Nick is an … um … he’s a refurbisher. He’s six foot three, one hundred and ninety-eight pounds with gorgeous blue eyes …’
    She blushed and he nearly stopped on the stupid runway. He felt like an idiot but he was doing it for a good cause as Annie had pounded into his head about a zillion times while trying to convince him to do it. How her friend was so awesome and really needed this and it would make her so happy and …
    ‘He deals in taking not so beautiful things and making them beautiful. In nostalgia.’
    She smiled at him and his stomach dropped. The five other guys were much more accomplished than him. There was a doctor, a neurosurgeon, an attorney, a fireman and a dentist.
    I redo furniture. Sometimes houses. Sometimes art … but …
    He was going to let her down. There was no way he’d garner the kind of money these guys did. He felt like a horse’s ass and it was all Nick could do to finish what he was supposed to do on stage and not flee the scene as it were.
    He wanted to make her happy and he’d probably be lucky to earn enough for a dinner, let alone enough to make a difference to research.
    He fisted his hands to keep him calm. He’d have to think it over. There had to be a way to make things