Right. What happened if he wanted a virgin? Would he toss her back to Jake if she told the truth? What kind of sick fuck only wanted to do it with virgins?
“Do you prefer virgins?” she asked.
“Why can’t you answer a simple question? You got something to hide?”
She released a breath. “No, I’m not a virgin.”
He looked relieved. “What about sex? What are you in to?”
She hesitated, wondering what the best answer was. On the one hand, she didn’t want to engage in any sex at all. On the other hand, she didn’t want to risk being returned to Jake if that’s what Ben was looking for. “It depends...”
“On what?”
“On the guy.”
“Do you have any limits?”
Everything is off limits to perverts who prefer to pay for sex. But she couldn’t blow her cover, and in truth, her mind drew a blank, even though one of the Scarlet Auction questionnaires she had signed had listed a bunch of kinks. If Ben was a halfway normal super-sexy guy, she would have been open to trying something different and out of the ordinary. There was something about him that messed with the logical part of her brain, and so she answered stupidly.
“Maybe.”
“You can’t think of any off the top of your head?”
“Like I said, it depends on the guy and how comfortable I am.”
She felt a little better with that statement, like she had salvaged some of her IQ.
“And how comfortable are you right now?”
“Well, to be honest, not perfectly. I’ve never, um, done anything like this before. And we just met.”
“You know what you signed up for with the Scarlet Auction?”
Feeling a lump in her throat, she only nodded. His voice was too serious for comfort. Jesus, she had better get the info she needed and get out of here. Sooner rather than later.
CHAPTER TEN
“So you got yourself a pretty cute chick,” Jason said to Ben as they stood in the living room while Derek mixed drinks at the bar and the women chatted amongst themselves out on the patio. He passed Ben a joint.
Feeling more relaxed now that he had changed into a gray t-shirt and pair of jeans, Ben took a hit and returned it. “Calling women ‘chicks’ is such a nineties thing. Maybe an eighties thing.”
“Hey, you used to talk like that, too.”
“Yeah, used to.”
“Anyway, I’m glad you changed your mind. I would’ve considered sharing Lisa, but it’s better you got your own chick.”
Ben glanced at Lisa, whose stick figure reminded him of a pre-pubescent girl. His gaze went to Montana—or Kimani, rather. He had discovered her name when he’d opened his phone and saw the text she had sent. Even though she looked just as hot in his shirt and sweatpants as any of the other three barely dressed women, a part of him couldn’t wait to see her naked again. She didn’t have model-perfect proportions, but she possessed a confidence in her body that was as sexy as anything.
Derek handed out the drinks, which Kimani declined.
“My chef is away because his wife is in labor,” Jake announced, “so I sent Vince to get pizza. Tomorrow, one of you wenches is responsible for making lunch and dinner.”
“I don’t cook,” Lisa replied.
“Neither do I,” Ryan echoed. “I can maybe make ramen if you have any around.”
“Well, you’re gonna have to learn to cook or suffer the consequences,” Jake said. “I’m gonna lay down some ground rules here. This is how it works in my cabin—my castle. You wenches do whatever we tell you. You sleep downstairs. You call us Sir—each and every damn one of us. And if you’re good wenches, you’ll get rewarded. If not, you get punished.”
Kimani’s jaw tightened.
“So live it up while you can tonight. Tomorrow, we get serious,” Jake finished. He wrapped his arm around Claire, who was wearing a skirt and top borrowed from Ryan. “Right, wench?”
“Yes, Sir,” she answered.
Lisa draped an arm over Jason’s shoulder. “Can’t wait for the fun to begin. Sir.”
After getting two glasses of water, Ben walked over to Kimani, who stood by the porch railing. Against the backdrop of the sun setting behind the lake, with the sky colored by vibrant orange and pink hues, she looked like something out of a romance flick.
Accepting the water, she seemed a little surprised. “Thank you. You’re not going to try to get me drunk?”
“I prefer a woman to have all her faculties when I seduce her,” he said.
Her lashes gave a quick flutter, and she drank the water as if it were alcohol she needed to fortify her nerves.
“Seduce? You paid for me.”
“Doesn’t mean I get to force myself on you—unless you prefer it that way.”
“Prefer it that way? You get off on rape scenarios or something?”
He returned a cool stare. There was heat in her tone, which seemed unwarranted given his behavior toward her.
“If she gets off on consensual role playing, then sure,” he replied.
“If she doesn’t, then you wouldn’t?”
“That would be logical.”
“So, if a woman didn’t want to do a particular thing, you wouldn’t make her?”
“Why do you ask?”
“It’s just that your buddy Jake said we’re supposed to do whatever you tell us.”
“He’s not my buddy. But I thought that’s what you signed up for?”
“What if I changed my mind?”
Shit. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “Changed your mind about what?”
She took a deeper breath. “About sex with a stranger.”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
“Not exactly.”
“Sex with a stranger isn’t something new, is it?”
She narrowed her eyes. “I take it it’s not new for you?”
He held her judgmental stare. “I asked you first.”
“I may have had a one-night stand or two—back in college. When I was a horny eighteen-year-old.”
“Are you saying you’re not horny anymore?”
She bristled. “Sex just isn’t as big a deal anymore.”
“That’s too bad.”
She bristled even more. “I’m busy now. I’ve got a career and rent and student loans to pay.”
“Luckily, you’ve got this week to make up for your abstinence.”
“I didn’t say I was a monk and haven’t had any sex since college.”
“Good to know.”
She shook her curls in indignation. It was almost too cute.
“Your turn,” she snapped. “You’ve had a lot of one-night stands with strangers?”
“That wasn’t the original question, but yes, I’ve had one-night stands with strangers. I don’t know if your definition of ‘a lot’ is the same as mine. But, like you, I’m busy. One-night stands are easier. I’m not looking for a relationship right now. I take it you aren’t either.”
“Of course not! Especially...”
“Especially what?”