Creole Fires Read Online Free PDF Page A

auctioneer. With a lewd smile of understanding, the skinny little man lifted the young girl’s skirts, exposing her slender bare feet,a portion of her calf, and a glimpse of her thin white cotton drawers, just above the knee.
    “Stop that!” she shrieked, jerking her skirts from the auctioneer’s hands. Her defiance brought a ringing slap that echoed above the crowd, but still she held her ground.
    “She’s young, boys. Needs a man’s hand to teach her her place, is all.” The auctioneer smiled at the bidders, easing the tension.
    “Six hundred,” the gangly bidder said, and again the girl smiled, turning to face him more squarely.
    It was then Alex saw them—a pair of aqua eyes so vivid they took his breath away. It was her eyes he’d noticed before, he realized, her eyes that had drawn him into the crowd. He had been sure he had only imagined them.
    “One thousand,” Fortier said with finality.
    Cursing his bad luck and shaking his head, the gangly bidder walked away.
    “Is there none here who can see the potential of this young girl?” the auctioneer asked, hoping to gouge Fortier for a few dollars more. He raised her arm and drew back her sleeve. “She’s got good, strong muscle. Seven years left on her contract. Surely you can imagine the delights she could bring … with just a little patience.” He grinned and patted her bottom, sending a wash of color to the girl’s pale face. She closed her eyes a moment, fighting to bring her embarrassment under control, but she continued to look straight ahead.
    “She’s a thief,” Fortier called out. “None will pay more.”
    “I’m not a thief!” the girl threw back at him. “I’m not!” That brought a second stinging blow.
    “Hold your tongue,” the auctioneer warned, cruelly gripping her arm. “Give Mr. Fortier a smile.”
    When he released her arm, the girl proudly drew herself up. She watched Fortier a moment, correctly assessing his determination to own her, looked to her friend who was still vigorously shaking her head, then dropped into a sweeping curtsy. She smiled at Fortier so sweetly it seemed someone had turned on the sun.
    “Mr. Fortier,” she said, her voice soft and dripping with honey. “I’m honored that you should find a pitiful creature such as myself worthy of your attentions.”
    Alex didn’t miss her faultless speech, nor the hidden venom with which she spoke. He didn’t miss the disdain for Valcour Fortier that her honeyed words belied.
    But he almost missed her tears.
    When she moved her head, they glistened on her smooth cheeks like raindrops, a sorrowful contrast to the smile that lit her face.
    “Twelve hundred,” Alex called out, and could scarcely believe he’d said the words.
    “Fourteen,” came Fortier’s bid. After a contemptuous glance in Alex’s direction, he looked back at the girl with undisguised hunger, confirming Alex’s fear that he wanted her in his bed. It was well known in the
Vieux Carré
, the French Quarter, that Fortier had a penchant for young, untried women—the younger the better. This one would more than whet his appetite.
    “Two thousand,” Alex said, and the crowd fell silent. Only the rattle of a prisoner’s chains marred the stillness.
    Fortier laughed softly, but his laughter sounded forced. “I wasn’t aware your tastes ran to those so young. Had I but known ….” He shrugged his shoulders in a gesture of nonchalance, but his dark eyes screamed his fury.
    “Have her brought to my carriage in an hour,” Alex instructed the auctioneer, ignoring Fortier’s lewd remarks. “You’ll find it at one twenty-one Royale Street. I’ll have a draft there waiting for you.” The auctioneer nodded, and a fat guard led the girl away.
    Before she had disappeared from sight, Alex was regretting his actions.
    “What was that all about?” Thomas asked with a touch of amusement that only increased Alex’s self-directed ire.
    “I haven’t the remotest idea. Sometimes I even amaze