That is, until one of the handlers grabbed at her shirt, and her curled fists flew.
Right into his nose.
The blood spray was immediate and the portly man in the wolf pelt vest howled, spinning away from her. More than a few vampires let out soft sighs at the scent of fresh blood. All were old enough to control themselves, but still . . .
“Fucking whore!” The portly man caught himself and stood, blood dripping down his lips. “I’ll kill you!”
She didn’t run and I couldn’t help but arch a brow as she lifted both fists. “Go ahead and try.”
Anthony rose from his seat patting a kerchief under his nose as if the blood offended him. I put a hand on his shoulder and shoved him back hard enough into his seat that he bounced.
“You’ll miss the show. I rather would like to see if she stops him,” I said.
Behind me, Raven laughed. “A bet, old friend?”
“Sure,” I said with a clipped nod. “What are the stakes?”
Raven stepped up beside me. “If she loses, I’ll take her and she’ll become my maid. If she wins, you purchase her for the Harvest Games. Can you imagine the stir a firecracker like that would make with the Duchess trying to turn her into a lady?”
“This is a waste of time,” Anthony grumbled. “This one is chum at best. Just look at her.”
I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out why he thought so, before turning my attention back to Raven.
“I’ll take that bet, friend,” I said with a grim smile. The chance of her actually beating a guard who outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds was slim, but for some reason, I had the sense she was stronger than she looked.
I held a hand out and Raven grasped it hard.
“Done.”
The pen warden circled around the woman and she mirrored his movements, never taking her eyes off him.
“She’s fought before,” Raven murmured. “Damn, I might not get my maid after all.”
He wasn’t wrong. I’d seen enough fighters to recognize the grace in her movements, the way she kept her feet from lifting off the ground, instead sliding them along.
She wasn’t as lithesome as some of the women who had been sold to fill harems of the lesser nobles. She also wasn’t as sturdy as the women who had been purchased for manual labor. Her breasts were full and her hips rounded, made for midnight sins that never saw the light of day. Her dark auburn hair was a matted mess precariously held up by a golden pin. Narrowed eyes glittered with a fiery anger that was so clearly alive in her, despite her situation.
Maybe that was what intrigued me.
The guard lunged at her then, open-handed as if to smack her in the head. She ducked, and as his back turned to her, she struck, hard.
“Ouch.” Raven winced. “She knows where the kidneys are. Perhaps I do not need a maid all that badly. I do so love to grab their plump asses, and I suspect that one might not be so. . . allowing.”
“Backing out already?” I laughed at him. “Coward.”
“You there,” Raven grabbed one of the auction attendants, “what is the girl’s name?”
She hesitated and then looked over her sheet, “Sienna.”
Anthony rolled his eyes. “We do not need any more women, and if you were so bored, why did you not stay for the festivities last night?”
I very carefully reached over and put my hand on Anthony’s shoulder as the girl—Sienna—moved around the pen warden, blow by blow driving him to his knees.
“Anthony,” I purred his name and the earl’s gaze dropped to my mouth. I slowly slid my hand up to his neck and then, with a speed that had him still thinking he wasn’t in danger, tightened my hold. “Question me again, and I’ll tear your head off and throw you out with the chum. Understood?”
He looked astounded, not that I blamed him. Typically, I kept myself in check.
But not today.
Not now.
I shoved Anthony back hard enough to send him sliding through the mud until he came to a stop against the bottom of the stage. Trembling, he touched at his throat.
“How dare you?”
I looked up just in time to see that the guard had finally landed a blow on the girl, straight to the stomach. She doubled over and when he lifted his filthy boot to kick her while she was down, I stood.
“Stop.” I let the command roll out of me, not using just my voice, but also tapping into the control every vampire had on humans.
The guard froze, and the girl forced herself to her feet. She paused for the scantest of moments before kicking him in the balls with all her might.
Laughter rolled through the crowd as the fat man fell over, wheezing. Sienna stood, visibly shaking but still . . .defiant.
Interesting.
“Well,” the auctioneer cleared his throat. “I don’t suppose any of you would like to open the bid?”
Raven snorted. “She won, Dom, thanks to your interference. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’d wanted her to win.”
My jaw clenched. “I was merely wagering for sport.”
“Anyone? Or should I just send her to the chum pens?”
A vision of her thrashing through the waves as her blood spilled out, her golden eyes dying in front of me . . .fuck me. I should just walk away.
Her eyes trapped mine. Fire and anger burning hot in them.
Defiant.
Wild.
Everything in me tightened. I wanted to fuck her. Even worse than that? I admired her.
“One hundred,” I called out.
“Are you insane?” Anthony choked as he crawled to his feet. “We’ve already spent our allotted money, and she’s not worth it.”
“A bet’s a bet,” I replied.
“Do I hear one-fifty?” the auctioneer asked, smiling at Raven who shook his head.
I looked at Anthony, took two strides and put my boot on his hand, holding him in the mud.
“Today is not the day, Earl.”
“Sold to the General! Thank you everyone, your wares will be delivered to you…”
The sound of the auctioneer faded as the girl took a step toward me, her body humming with energy that fairly drew my cock to life.
This was a mistake.
I should have left the girl to Raven.
“Let’s consider her a present for the Duchess.” I ground my heel into Anthony’s fingers. “Understood?”
Anthony glared up at me, but then nodded. “Of course. Whatever you want, General.”
What I wanted was to grab the girl and throw her up against the wall, burying my cock and my fangs into her over, and over.
Instead, I turned away from the stage doing all I could to not look back, forcing myself to keep on moving.
“Raven. You owe me a drink for taking that one off your hands.”
But it would take far more than a drink to forget those eyes.
Damn me, what had I done?
Chapter three
Sienna
"It's time to get ready, Miss. The Duchess will be coming by for inspection in less than an hour, and we've much to do to prepare." My maid’s soft voice tugged at me.
Two and a half days spread between a boat and a ride in a blacked-out carriage and I still didn’t understand just how the fuck I’d ended up here.