5 comments/ 19712 views/ 13 favorites The Midnight Auction By: Nameless_Rose Guy had passed the faded sign a hundred times. Probably more. "Auctions Every Friday at Midnight," it said. The sign was planted on the side of the road in front of a tumbledown building whose corrugated iron roof had once been painted white but was now a dirty, rust-mottled grey. The walls had that faded maroon look that barns get after half a century of neglect. He had never been inside the building and had never seen another living person in or around it, but the place had been there for as long as Guy had been commuting to and from Tipp City. Sometimes he wondered if it was just a hallucination he had every time he passed this particular barren stretch of highway. Not tonight though. The auction building had lights blazing through every window and its parking lot was full to capacity. Dozens of vehicles had also been parked in the surrounding fields. It was like there was a fair in town. Guy looked down at the luminescent numbers of the clock on the dashboard and saw that it was 11:43. Almost midnight. And it was Friday. He looked at the dashboard clock again and saw the date: 10/30/10. The night before Halloween. Guy gave a little shiver. He always tried to forget about Halloween, but somehow it always crept up on him. On a whim, he swerved his car and drove through one of the fields, flattening stalks of some non-descript plant that never seemed to change or grow. He parked between a yellow Volkswagen Bug and a jet black Mustang. Ahead of him was a row of cars that included an ancient and dented El Camino, a semi-truck and a sleek red sports car that Guy thought might be a Ferrari. There seemed to be quite a diverse group out here tonight. What exactly was it that this place auctioned. He had always assumed that it was just farm equipment, and maybe odds and ends belonging to people who had died. For some reason, a low-grade nervousness began to eat at him as he approached the flaking double doors that marked the entrance to the auction building. He could hear a low buzz of voices coming from inside, and when he put his hand on the door handle he had to fight the urge to turn around and get back into his car. He was being stupid. It was just the time of year. Goddamned Halloween. When he opened them again he realized that he was clutching the door handle so hard that his hand hurt. Guy took a deep breath, then another. He pulled on the door and it swung open without making a sound. It led into a long whitewashed corridor that was illuminated by dirty over-hanging fluorescent lights. He walked down the hallway, towards the doors that stood at the other end, unable to justify exactly why he was doing it. The sound of voices grew louder with every step he took and the closer they became, the more he wanted to turn around and bolt. A low-level panic was gathering in the pit of his stomach and crackling along his nerve-endings, and as far as he could tell there was no concrete reason for it. When he opened that door all he would find behind it would be a bunch of farmers trying to get the best deals on remaindered tractors. That's what he had to keep telling himself in order to keep his legs propelling him forward. When his hand closed around the door handle, his palms were slick with sweat and every hair on his body felt as if it were standing on end. Every instinct in him was howling at him to get out and get out now. Guy took a breath, told himself to stop being such a scared little bitch, and pushed open the door. Human beings had instincts for a reason. That was Guy's first thought upon entering the vast auditorium beyond the doors. His instincts had been trying to tell him that here was danger, and he hadn't listened. But how could he have been prepared for something like this? How could anyone be prepared for something like this? The auditorium was packed with people, but the term "people" could only be applied here in the loosest of ways. Some of them did indeed look human, but the others were monsters; it was the only word Guy could think of to describe them. There were huge, scaly lizard-men, men and women with horns curling out of their temples and blazing red eyes, others even stranger. On his right was a shirtless man with iron gray skin and a pair of sinuous bat's wings protruding from his shoulder blades. To his left stood a group of beautiful women who all looked exactly the same and who all shone with the same preternatural blue light. The moment Guy walked into the auditorium he felt dozens of pairs of eyes immediately fix upon him. He tried to shrink into himself, to become as uninteresting as possible, but in this crowd he stuck out. He wondered if he would even be able to turn around and go back through the door before something got him. He had just decided to take his chances when an amplified voice cut through the chatter of the crowd. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please make your way to your seats. The auction will begin in five minutes time." Guy found himself suddenly hemmed in on all sides by creatures moving towards the rows of folding chairs which had been set up in front of a small stage on the far side of the auditorium. He moved with them, caught like a fish in a powerful current, and found himself sitting down between a man who looked like he had been carved out of a granite boulder and a thin and very handsome, middle-aged woman with her blonde hair set in an elaborate bun. He was relieved to see that out of all the things here, she was one of the most normal. She could have been a school librarian. Then she turned her head and smiled at him and he could see that she had fangs. "What brings you here?" she asked. She had a slight, Eastern European accent. "Oh, just thought I'd see what the place had to offer," Guy said, trying to keep his tone airy. He forced himself not to stare at her fangs. "I've never seen you at any of the other auctions." "I've never been to one before," Guy said, quite truthfully. "Well, you're in for a treat then. I've heard that tonight's is going to be especially good." "Why's that?" He tried to ignore the granite man on his left, who was staring at Guy as if he had never seen anything quite like him before. "Supposedly there are a lot of exotic items on the list of sale this year." She glanced down at the antique watch she had around her wrist and remarked. "Two minutes until Halloween." "Do you do this every year?" "Of course not. Only every half-century." "But the sign says every Friday." She laughed, and Guy couldn't help but notice how very red her lips and tongue were and how her fangs looked to be about two inches long. "The Emcee has a sense of humor. He could have picked anywhere in the world, but it had to be here because it would be ironic. And it's in the middle of nowhere; we're not likely to be interrupted all the way out here." "Oh," Guy said. "And to be honest, I think he was hoping to attract a few breathers. He likes to play with them." "Breathers?" "Mortals. The Living. Take your pick of terms." The woman turned in her seat a little so that she could stare at him, her eyes running him up and down, and then her scarlet lips curled into a wicked smile. "You're human aren't you?" Her voice was low, barely a murmur. "I—I--" Guy stammered. His brain was shutting down. If any of these creatures found out he was human they would kill him, he was certain of it. "Oh you are, aren't you!" she sounded delighted and he saw that she was beaming. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, but a lot of them have probably spotted you already." "Are you going to kill me?" Guy asked, his entire body numb. She laughed, "Of course not, silly boy. Everyone who attends the auction is protected by the truce. As long as it lasts, no one in this room may harm another." "Does that include me?" Guy asked. "You're here, aren't you?" "I guess I am," he said, some of the panic leaving him now that he no longer felt sure he was going to be eaten alive in the next few minutes. "What is your name, human?" the woman asked. "Uh, it's Guy." "Guy," she said, tasting the word. "You don't really look like a Guy to me, but who am I to say?" "What's your name?" There was a moment of chilly silence. "I do not give out my name as easily as you do." Guy looked down, his face first flushing and then draining of blood. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." "You may call me Carmilla." "Like the book?" "Just as you say." "So Carmilla, what--" But before he could continue, all the lights in the auditorium went out. They were plunged into darkness for a moment and then the little stage in front of them was suddenly blazing with light. "Ladies and Gentlemen," a voice said. It seemed to come from all around them. "Welcome to the Midnight Auction." A man walked out onto the stage, dressed in a tuxedo the color of spilled blood on a dark night. He wore a black mask tied over his eyes but that didn't disguise that fact that those eyes were as far from human as it was possible to be. It looked as if the man had a fire blazing inside his skull and that his eyes were the windows looking in on it. They danced with golden flames, flickering with his every movement, devoid of pupil, iris, and white. There was a scattering of applause from the audience and then silence descended. "You are in for a treat boys and ghouls." The Emcee said. "You've never seen wares like I've got to show you tonight." The black velvet curtain behind the Emcee pulled slowly back to reveal the dark stage beyond. Then the lights began to fade up and Guy had to force himself not to gasp when he saw what was on the stage. An enormous cage stood behind the Emcee and in it was the biggest wolf he had ever seen. It was pure white and had silver-blue eyes that actually glowed in the lights shining upon it. The creature was snarling and growling deep in its throat and the sound permeated to even the back of the auditorium. It made the hairs on the back of Guy's neck stand up. "Look at this beauty, Ladies and Gentlemen," The Emcee said, his voice low and caressing. "She was caught in the wilds of Siberia only a week ago and now she's here for you." He capered offstage, and when he returned a moment later he was holding a long metal rod. "Now," he said, and when he spoke the rod crackled and emitted a shower of blue sparks, "What do you say we see what she really looks like?" There was a chorus of encouraging noises from the audience and the man approached the cage. He stuck the prod in through the bars, jabbing it at the wolf. The creature gave a whining howl and then lunged at the bars, its jaws snapping. "She's a feisty one ladies and gentlemen," the Emcee called as the crowd chuckled. The wolf lunged again but this time she was repulsed by a burst of blue sparks from the prod. In the moment that the device touched her, she changed. For the briefest moment it was not a wolf that lunged and snarled at the Emcee, but a woman, a naked woman, pale and savagely beautiful with long white hair and piercing blue eyes. "There she is!" the Emcee called to the audience. "One of the last true shapeshifters left running wild! She's more wolf than woman, but I'm sure that could be remedied by the right trainer! Do I have any bids?" A man several rows in front of Guy raised one hand. The Emcee pointed at him. "Your bid sir?" The man held up one hand into the air and displayed something in his palm. At first Guy thought he held a handful of glowing coals but then he saw that they were rubies, each nearly the size of a chicken egg and glowing in the beams of the spotlights overhead. "Ah!" the Emcee cried, gesturing at the rubies. "Phoenix eggs! Impressive. Can anyone make me a better offer?" Guy looked again at the rubies and saw that they did indeed look remarkably like eggs. They weren't faceted, but smooth, and upon closer inspection, the light coming from them seemed to emanate from within. Another man stood up. He was sitting on the end of the row in front of Guy. He had to be nearly seven feet tall and was dressed all in black leather. He had a thick leash held in one massive hand, at the other of end of which were tethered two enormous wolf-like dogs. He reached inside of his coat and produced a large glass bottle. The moment he pulled it out, the entire auditorium was illuminated by blue moonlight. It made the powerful spots seem like the feeble beams of pocket flashlights. The audience murmured, apparently impressed. "Quicksilver!" the Emcee shouted. "Well, I'm afraid I like that offer better. Anyone think they can top this gentleman?" No one in the audience stirred. "Very well. Going once! Going twice! Sold to the gentleman with the dogs. You can collect your prize after the auction." The man in leather sat down and the Emcee made a gesture at the cage. It rolled off of the stage as if pulled by invisible ropes. There was a scattering of applause and then the next item for sale was brought on. Guy had to fight not to stare open-mouthed as a girl in a silver sequined bikini marched onstage pulling a centaur at the end of a long leather lead rope. He had the body of a huge black stallion, but the torso and head of an incredibly muscular, dark-haired man. The bidding for the centaur was intense. At one point, Carmilla even put in a bid, pulling a curved golden dagger out of her purse and holding it in the air. Guy noticed that it had a peculiar pearly glow coming off of it and that the glow seemed to illuminate Carmilla alone. She was outbid almost at once, however, and did not seem to want to pursue the matter. "Honestly," she whispered to Guy, "I've had centaurs before and they're not worth that much. I wish I'd had enough to bid on the werewolf though." She looked wistful. The centaur was taken by a woman with crimson hair and a pair of curving black horns protruding from her temples. The next item for sale was a large iron cage full of what the Emcee told them were "Freshly caught pixies, all the way from Ireland!" The pixies were about six inches tall and had the forms of naked women. Each glowed with a rosy golden light and each had a pair of delicate golden dragonfly wings. "How do the bids work?" Guy whispered to Carmilla, as he watched a tiny dwarf of a man a few rows in front of him start out the bidding on the pixies by offering up the biggest diamond Guy had ever seen. "The bidder simply offers something they believe to be a worthy trade for the item on the stage. The Emcee determines who has made the best offer and gives that bidder the prize." Her eyes followed the bidding. "Can you only bid objects?" He asked. "What about money?" Carmilla snorted and turned away from the action for a moment to give him a disdainful look. "And what use have we for human money? It will just change in the next century. You can bid more than just objects. You can bid creatures." As she said this, she gestured to the dwarf-like man who had begun the bidding. He had pulled the occupant of the seat next to him to her feet and was displaying her to the Emcee. She was a girl with pale green skin the color of spring leaves, long emerald hair, and a pair of purple and gold butterfly wings sprouting from her back. She wore only a ragged slip that was made transparent by the light from the overhead spots. Guy could see every contour of her well-made body and he saw that her hands were bound behind her back with an iron chain. "Well I don't think anyone can top that Ladies and Gentleman!" the Emcee cried, a note of unmistakable greed in his voice as he turned his fiery eyes on the butterfly girl. "Sold to the gentleman with the faery." "Where do the auction items come from?" Guy asked Carmilla as the cage of pixies was wheeled away by the girl in the silver bikini. "Some are tribute to the Emcee. Some he buys from hunters. Some are given in trade." Guy stared at the Emcee, watching him joke with the audience, but not listening to his words. For some reason, out of all the creatures here, it was he of whom Guy was the most afraid. "Who is the Emcee?" he whispered as the audience laughed at a joke the man told. "If you can't guess, then perhaps it's best I don't tell you." Carmilla said. "There are some things it is better for a breather not to know." "What else can you bid?" Guy asked, fascinated by the process in spite of himself. "Service." She looked at him pointedly. "Years of your life. Your soul." "Your soul?" Guy repeated, but before Carmilla could say anything in response, the Emcee's voice boomed through the auditorium. "Now ladies and gentleman, this is the moment you have all been waiting for!" He did a little twirling leap across the stage that brought him in front of a huge box shrouded in scarlet velvet. Guy had not even noticed them bringing it on. The Emcee gestured to it as he talked. "This is my featured item of the evening! Only once before have I had the pleasure of sampling merchandise such as this and let me tell you boys and ghouls, it certainly was a pleasure!" There were catcalls and excited murmurs from the audience. "Without further ado, I give you..." he reached behind him and whipped away the velvet shroud. "Melusine!" The Emcee stood before a huge iron-barred cage, inside of which was a creature that floated some two feet off the ground. It was the most beautiful thing Guy had ever seen. It had long ash blonde hair and large silver eyes. Its body was lithe and graceful, shrouded in an ethereal white robe. He could not tell its gender; it was androgynous, the perfect mixture of masculine and feminine beauty. The creature turned its head and its wide silver eyes found Guy's. Out of all of the hundreds of people in that auditorium he knew that it was looking at him and only at him. Their gazes locked and he felt himself falling, drowning in those pale eyes. His cock began to stiffen and in a moment he was harder than he had ever been in his life. He wanted this creature more than he had ever wanted anything. He would give anything for it. Anything. Those eyes promised him paradise. The audience was whispering excitedly all around him and Carmilla was regarding the creature displayed upon the stage with undisguised awe. "What is it?" Guy breathed, hardly aware of his lips moving. "Moroaică!" Carmilla whispered, and would say nothing more. "Now," The Emcee said, not having to raise his voice at all to be heard. "Who would like to start the bidding?" Things began happening too fast for Guy to follow. One person after another held up their hands and bid for the creature. Guy looked at it again. It was still staring at him, promising him pleasure beyond his wildest dreams should he be the one to win it. Guy raised a hand slowly into the air. He found himself shouting at the Emcee. "I bid my soul!" From beside him Carmilla gasped. "No you stupid boy, it's not worth that much! Bid use of your soul, not the whole thing!" "I bid three years use of my soul!" Guy said, and he had the strangest feeling that Carmilla was somehow speaking for him, using him like a puppet. "For one night with the creature!" Eyes turned to him from all across the room and Guy felt himself wanting to sink low in his chair, but something kept him sitting upright. It was like he had lost all control of his own motor functions and his body was being steered by someone else. The eyes of the Emcee turned on him and then narrowed, the flames in them flashing bright for one brief moment. "I see we have a breather here with us this evening Ladies and Gentleman," he said softly. Guy felt as if he was being ex-rayed by the man's flickering eyes. "Can anyone top that offer? Three-years use of a human soul." He sounded almost delighted. "That is something I have not had for a very long time, and for only one night with Melusine. Going once," the Emcee called, his voice booming through the silent auditorium. "Going twice." Silence reigned and Guy found that he was holding his breath. "Sold," the Emcee shouted, sounding triumphant, "to the breather in the fourth row." After that, things were a blur for Guy. The clearest sensation was the intensity of his arousal. He felt as if he were on the verge of exploding at any moment. Just the thought of being near Melusine, of being able to touch it, to stare into its silver eyes was making him so horny that the merest touch would be enough to send him over the edge. The auction ended a little over half an hour later and Guy found himself rising from his seat and stumbling over to meet the Emcee in front of the stage. The Midnight Auction Before he could go, Carmilla grabbed his arm. "You owe me a favor, boy," she hissed. "I just saved your soul and probably also your life." "Get off of me," Guy snarled. "You ruined it. Now I only have one night." "You're under its spell already," she replied, sounding disdainful. "No mortal could handle more than a night with one of the Moroaică. You are lucky I bothered to speak for you at all." She stalked off towards the exit, and did not look back at him. Guy struck off towards the stage, his legs feeling as if they were made out of rubber, his cock pulsing like a live wire in the confines of his jeans. He waited in line behind the dwarf with the butterfly girl, and captivated as he was by Melusine, he couldn't help but admire what he could see of the faery's voluptuous little body. The Emcee and the dwarf fell into conversation which ended with the former handing over the cage of pixies and the latter shoving the faery-girl forward into the Emcee's waiting arms. As the dwarf walked away, whistling and staring at the cage of pixies swinging from his arm, Guy heard the Emcee address the faery. "Lovely," he said, and he ran his hands down her back until he was cupping the cheeks of her ass in his palms. "Wait backstage for me. You're going to be my treat this Halloween." He sent her off with a sharp slap to the behind and she hurried out of sight. Guy stepped forward. "Ah!" the Emcee cried, turning to regard him with his burning eyes. "The breather! Tell me, how did you enjoy my auction?" "It was very...interesting," Guy said, wishing he could think of a better adjective. The Emcee laughed. "It certainly was. They usually are." "So," Guy said after a few seconds of awkward silence, "How does this thing work? How do I give you three years use of my soul?" The small part of Guy that was still sane screamed at him to listen to what he was saying; to think about what he was giving up. But the voice was tinny and distant. It was eclipsed by the image of Melusine. He would do anything to possess such a creature. Giving away his soul for three years was a small price to pay for such a joy. "Oh don't worry you about that," The Emcee said, flashing Guy a grin. His teeth were very white and just a little bit sharper than human teeth should be. "All you need to do now is give me a way to contact you." "I could give you my cell number," Guy said a little doubtfully. The Emcee laughed. The sound made Guy's nerve-endings tingle. "No, I was thinking about something a little bit more... intimate. Give me your hand." Guy held out his hand. The Emcee seized it and pushed the sleeve of his shirt up to his elbow. Hot and cold shivers began to crawl up Guy's body and then pain seared through his arm. The Emcee had made three deep slashes in his forearm with his fingernails, which for an instant looked to him like long black talons. Guy stared down at his arm and watched as the cuts began to drip blood. Then the Emcee released him and the cuts healed before his eyes, transforming into three pale scars, one on top of the other. "One of these will disappear each year," The Emcee said, as if nothing untoward had happened. "When your skin is no longer marked, your soul is yours again. Until then, every time I have need of you, the scars will burn and I will let you know what you will have to do." "How?" Guy flexed his wrist, staring at the scars. They still throbbed dully, like wounds that had only just begun to scab over. "Oh, you'll find out," the Emcee said, and the flames in his eyes shivered and danced. "Now, what's say I get you set up with Melusine? I have a room in the back for just such a purpose." He began to walk off towards the stage and Guy followed him. "How long do I have her?" he asked. "Until dawn. Sunrise is when all we ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties must retire." "What?" "Nevermind. Just follow me." The Emcee led him backstage, past the system of ropes and pulleys that controlled the curtains, and into a long, dimly lit corridor. At a door about halfway down the Emcee stopped and turned to face Guy. He reached inside of his tuxedo jacket and produced a tarnished silver cigarette case. He removed a cigarette and then offered the case to Guy who, a little bemusedly, took one. The Emcee lit up and then tossed the lighter to Guy. "So," he said and took a deep drag off of his cigarette. He let the smoke trickle out of his nostrils before continuing. "Do you have any idea what you've bid on, breather?" Guy fumbled to light his own cigarette. "No," he said once he'd gotten it lit. He hadn't realized his hands had been shaking so badly. "I didn't think so." The Emcee regarded Guy for one long moment. "Well, I don't have the time to explain it to you, but let me give you a bit of advice." "Yeah?" Guy said, trying to sound unconcerned. He realized that he was puffing on his cigarette even though it had gone out. The Emcee waved a hand in front of Guy's face and the cigarette ignited again all of its own. "Don't try to fight it. Let things take their course and you might come out of this with your sanity intact." "I have no idea what you're talking about." "Of course you don't. But do what I say. You owe me three years and you're not going to be much use to me as a gibbering lunatic, are you?" "Look, I appreciate your advice but I know what I'm doing." This was a lie, but Guy was desperate to be alone with his prize. Precious minutes of their time were slipping away as he stood here listening to the Emcee's riddles. "Sure you do." The Emcee clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll leave you to it then." Without another word he turned and walked back down the corridor. Guy took one more nervous puff from his own cigarette before pitching it. He took a deep breath, tried to ignore his throbbing, aching cock, and turned the doorknob. The room beyond was small and dingy but a large and luxurious bed dressed in red satin was shoved against one corner. On one end of the bed, it's ankle linked to one of the bedposts by a thick silver chain, sat the creature for whom Guy had bid three year's use of his soul. Close up, it was even more beautiful than he had thought from where he sat in the auditorium. But now he saw that he had been wrong in thinking it androgynous. The creature perched on the bed was indisputably female. The evidence of this was clearly visible through the transparent shift that had been wrapped around her body. "Hello master," she said, and her voice was like music. He had to clear his throat before he was able to speak. "Hello Melusine," he said. He couldn't think of anything else to say, so he stared at her, examining her from head to foot. He had thought when he had seen her on the stage that her hair was ash blonde, but now that she was close to him he could see that it was closer to white. Her eyes remained that same unnatural silver, but he realized that the rest of her features had altered slightly even since he had entered the little room. Her face was now more heart-shaped, her lips plumper, her neck longer and more graceful. She was now the very image of Guy's ultimate woman, the sort of creature a man dreams of when he's alone in the dark but one he knows that he can never possess. The silence spun on and Guy couldn't think how to continue. Then Melusine spoke again. "May I touch you, master?" Guy's mouth was dry and his voice came out as a hoarse croak. "Yes," he said. The silver chain clinked as Melusine rose from the bed. She knelt in front of Guy where he stood in the doorway and took his hand in one of hers. She raised it to her lips and kissed his knuckles. Then she turned it over and kissed the palm. Her lips were strangely hot and the caress almost made his knees buckle as pleasure surged through every nerve-ending. He gasped and stumbled backward. He would have fallen if Melusine's hands hadn't been there to steady him. She ran her hand up his legs and then reached for the button that held his jeans closed. Guy stared at her, his entire body beginning to shake as she slowly undid his fly and pulled his pants down around his ankles. He was wearing boxer-briefs and his erection strained against them. "Is this alright, master?" Melusine whispered, her lips inches away from his crotch. "God yes," Guy breathed and he reached out to brush his hand over her cheek. Her skin was unnaturally warm, almost hot. He wondered what kind of creature she was, but then he decided that he didn't care. Her hands were on the waistband of his underwear and then she was pulling them down. His cock sprang out, flushed and stiff as a pillar of stone. Melusine gave a strange, almost greedy cry when she saw it and then took it in one of her pale hands. Her touch was hot and it sent a jolt of electricity through him and before he knew what was happening he was coming. His hips jerked wildly and every nerve in his body caught on fire. The room before him dimmed and he wondered briefly if he was going to pass out. His seed exploded out of him and Melusine opened her mouth to receive it, taking every last drop and swallowing it with the appearance of great delight. Her pink tongue emerged to lick her lips and capture any come she might have missed. As the spasms began to dissipate Guy started to get embarrassed. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't usually—-I mean I've never--" Melusine smiled up at him. "Do not worry yourself master. I take it as a compliment. And we still have many hours before dawn." So saying, she grasped his cock gently in both hands. Guy flinched at first, his flesh still incredibly sensitive, but in a matter of seconds he found himself beginning to get hard again. Desire rose up in him once more, and if anything, his need was more intense than it had been before. "May I take you in my mouth, Master?" "Yes," Guy whispered. She opened her mouth and then closed her plump lips over the head of his cock. She sucked it for a moment with every sign of delight and then began taking him deeper. Every inch of him disappeared down her throat and she began to suck hard, bobbing her head so that he slid in and out from between her slick lips. The inside of her mouth was even hotter than her hands, so much so that at first it was almost painful, but any discomfort soon melted away into bliss. Nothing had ever felt so good. Nothing. Her tongue stroked him, her mouth drew hard upon him, and it was a matter of minutes before he was coiling, tensing and then exploding once more, shooting his load down her throat. He felt her muscles contract as she drank greedily, taking every last drop of his seed. He moved to pull away, his breath coming in harsh gasps, but she wound her arms about his waist and held him there. She withdrew from him slightly, licking her lips. Then she began to lap delicately at his shaft with her tongue, as if she were sampling some exquisite sweet. By the time her lips closed once more over the head of his cock he was writhing and groaning, his hands knotting themselves into fists in her pale hair. She sucked and teased and stroked him right to the brink of yet another orgasm and then she pulled away. Guy moaned, reaching blindly for her, not wanting the pleasure to ever stop. Dimly, he wondered how this was possible. No woman had ever made him feel like this. "Oh God," he said. "Don't stop, please don't stop." Melusine regarded him with her wide silver eyes. There was something different about her. She was no longer so pale. Her skin was flushed a delicate pink and there seemed to be a faint sort of radiance surrounding her. In response to his plea she rose up from where she knelt and raised a hand to the gossamer shift tied at her shoulder. She undid the knot and it fell to the ground so that she stood naked before him. Guy's breath left him in one long rush and he fought the urge to kneel at her feet. Her body was ivory flushed with rose, her nipples two tiny pink pebbles capping perfect breasts. His arousal burned inside of him like molten metal. "Please Master," she said, and she lay down upon the bed, a sprawl of ivory on sheets of crimson satin. She spread her legs wide, displaying her pussy, pale and smooth and entirely hairless. Her labia were small and coral pink and slick with moisture. "Please fuck me," she said, her voice ringing like silver bells in his ears. Guy could only do as she asked. He was helpless not to. He stumbled to the bed and lay down on top of Melusine, who guided him inside of her with a smooth thrust of her hips. Her pussy was so hot that he gasped, almost wanted to pull away. No natural woman could possibly feel like this. But this wasn't a natural woman. She was unbelievably tight, unbelievably wet, and now that he had gotten used to it the heat was exciting, dangerous. He began to thrust slowly and rhythmically, sliding in and out of her, savoring the sensation of being clenched so tightly. She moaned and wriggled beneath him and as his pace quickened she gave a little musical cry. Her pussy contracted around his cock in an orgasm and Guy groaned, thrusting into her so hard that the headboard began to thump against the wall. His own climax came shortly afterwards. He gave a series of sharp, desperate thrusts and then he felt her coming on his cock once more and was sent over the edge himself. His seed shot into her and she cried out again, louder than before, a cry of joy and ecstasy as he spent himself deep inside of her. Guy collapsed on top of her, panting, his cock still twitching from the intensity of his climax. Melusine shoved against his shoulder and there must have been more strength in her slight frame than he had guessed, because he felt himself being rolled onto his back. Melusine straddled him, taking his cock lightly in one hand and guiding it inside of her once more. They moaned together as he entered her and she began to ride him at a slow and maddening pace, not letting him control his pleasure. He had to fight against the desire to explode again inside of her. He closed his eyes and tried to think of depressing things, of naked grandmothers and dead puppies, but it was no good. All that he could think of was Melusine on top of him, of her tight pussy clenching him and riding him. He came twice more, one orgasm after another, in the space of twenty minutes. He was beginning to feel a little drained now. The world seemed to be going in and out of focus. The only clear thing was Melsuine. She was now on her hands and knees in front of him and he was thrusting away inside of her as she looked back at him over her shoulder. "Yes master!" she moaned, and he felt her come again. "Please master, go faster, faster!" He had to oblige her. It felt as though he had no choice in the matter, even though his muscles were beginning to ache and his vision was starting to blur around the edges. How much semen could a man afford to lose? He came again, once, twice three times, and then his knees gave out and he collapsed on the bed, gasping for breath. "Melusine!" he croaked as she giggled and positively flowed on top of him and onto his cock once more. She was definitely glowing now, a silver radiance that emanated from her skin like an aura. "Yes Master?" she said as she began to move her hips, sliding up and down on his cock. He was still hard, still aching with desire, but the rest of his body was losing the will to go on. He felt drained, exhausted. "Please Melusine make this stop!" "I have to take all of you Master," she said, increasing the pace of her movements. "I need every last drop before you will be truly satisfied." "But I'm so tired," Guy murmured. The blackness was beginning to take over his world now, but Melusine was still riding him and his cock was still hard. "Then sleep, Master," she said, bending down to kiss his cheek her pussy clenching and unclenching rhythmically around him. "I will work you as you rest." That was when consciousness left him. ************ When Guy woke up it was still dark, but a pale light had begun to creep up from the horizon. He turned his head and the muscles of his neck screamed at him. He tried to rise but he felt incredibly weak, like he was suffering from a nasty bout of flu. Melusine sat on the edge of the bed, regarding him with her large silver eyes, her gauzy shift wrapped once more about her. But Guy saw that she didn't really look like much of a "her" anymore. Melusine's features had altered again and now she looked as she had when Guy had first laid eyes on her; a perfectly androgynous creature of staggering beauty. "Hello Master," it said. "Hello." Guy's voice rasped. His throat was parched. "I'm glad you're still alive." "Was there any doubt of that?" The creature looked a little sad. "Sometimes I take too much from my Masters," it said. It sounded almost apologetic. "I am also glad that you are not insane, Master." "Thanks, I guess," Guy said. He reached down and gingerly touched his cock with one hand. It had finally been allowed to go limp and when he touched it he winced and pulled away. It felt chafed, raw. "Dawn is approaching. I have only a few moments left here. I would like to thank you, Master." "For what?" Guy tried to turn over on his side but his muscles gave a howl of protest and he decided against it. "For freeing me. At dawn I will no longer be in bondage. You did not bind me to you for longer than a night." "Oh," he said dully, struggling once more to rise. "Good." His head was pounding and it felt as if his ears had been stuffed with cotton wool. "I may visit you again Master, in dreams." Melusine came towards him and bent. It kissed his brow lightly and then turned to face the window. A ray of pale sunlight flickered into life and in that instant, Melusine disappeared. Guy stared at the place it had been for a moment and then he was swept into a dark and dreamless sleep. He woke for the second time in the late afternoon. His body was still incredibly stiff, but he could at least move. He heaved himself off of the bed and collected his clothes. He felt like he had the mother of all hangovers. For a moment he wondered if last night had been only a vivid dream brought on by some drugs he didn't remember taking. Then he looked down at his forearm and saw the three pale scars that had been etched there. He touched them with one finger and winced; they were still sore. Not a dream then. He hadn't really thought it had been. Guy dressed as fast as he could and stumbled out of the little room. The auction house was completely deserted. The only evidence that anything had occurred there were the occasional scrap of trash strewn throughout the auditorium. His was the only car parked outside. As Guy got behind the wheel and drove off he began to go back through the events of the night in his mind. For the first time he began to wonder what three years use of his soul might mean to the Emcee. Then he thought of Melusine and a throb of desire went through him. He moaned and shifted in his seat. Whatever was in store for him in the next three years, it was worth it. He had been granted one night in paradise. How many men could say that? The End