Chapter Text
Prapai was not one for these kind of places, to be honest, but his business associate was hard to reach. He’d just come off a three week business trip, wanted nothing more than to relax, and refused to meet Prapai anywhere but here. Since Prapai wanted that contract signed sooner rather than later, here it was.
Even if it was a blood auction house.
By the rules of human and vampire society, these places were perfectly legal. The humans chose to auction themselves off—with very strict contracts of what their new owners could and could not do to them. The contracts ranged from anywhere between one to five years, one year being the minimum.
Personally, Prapai was not the type to pay for either blood or sex, thank you very much. Vampires that liked to buy their food at places like this treated their humans as just that—food and amusement. It left a bad taste in Prapai’s mouth.
He settled at the table with Sakda and handed him the leather folio with the contract inside.
“What, not even a hello?” Sakda drawled, kicking back in the round booth, an amused smile on his face. Sakda was an older generation, and he’d been turned in his forty’s or so from appearances, the hint of crow’s feet around his eyes.
“You made me chase after you all the way here,” Prapai retorted mildly. “Please sign the contract before I lose all patience.”
“Alright, fair. I thought you might want to participate since you’re here.”
“No, thank you. I want to go home and lounge in front of a TV. I have earned it.”
“Your choice.” With a shrug, Sakda pulled it toward him and pulled a pen from his pocket to sign with.
The stage at the front of the room lit up briefly to call the audience’s attention toward it. Everyone at the myriad of small tables scattered around the main floor glanced up, and depending on their interest, either kept watching or went back to their conversations.
Prapai almost ignored it as well, but as he looked away, from the corner of his eye he saw something. Something that drew his attention back again.
Now that was a very beautiful man.
He was dressed like a college student, in jeans and a button-down white shirt, nothing sexy about his clothing. He stood tall under the lights, looking blindly ahead, a bland expression on his face. Prapai tried to estimate his age. Nineteen, perhaps? No more than twenty, surely. He was young. Probably young enough to be that college student he appeared to be.
The auctioneer started off with a smooth voice, rattling off facts. “Ladies, gentlemen, and gentlefolk, we have here a blood slave for auction—”
Tsk. Why must they keep using that antiquated term. It struck Prapai all wrong.
“—who is offering a one year contract, standard terms applying. Sky is a nineteen-year-old architecture student. He’s untouched by other vampires. Who will start the bidding?”
He’s shaking, Prapai realized. Sky stayed perfectly still, expression showing nothing, but his hands were shaking as he gripped them tightly. He was scared and trying not to show it.
What the hell had forced Sky’s hand to bring him here? Unlike the other humans who chose this method, he wasn’t doing it for a thrill, or a kink, or any pleasant reason. He was likely the type that fell into the second category: desperation.
The price was already at half a million and going higher by the second. Prapai watched his face and something in him stirred. Pity? Interest? He didn’t know. He couldn’t put a finger on it.
All he knew was that he absolutely could not trust any other vampire in this room with Sky.
“Sakda.” Prapai didn’t take his eyes off Sky.
“What?”
“You got a bidding token?”
“Uh, yes.”
“Registered to you?”
“Not yet, I wasn’t sure if I was going to bid tonight.”
“Let me have it.”
Sakda snorted. “Didn’t you just say you weren’t into this kind of thing?”
“I’m not but I won’t leave here without him. Token, quickly.”
Sakda was definitely laughing at him on some level as he handed over the token. Prapai keyed it on, entered his name and ID number, and then hit register. Fortunately, these things were instantaneous.
They were also capable of just putting in a bid instead of an automatic bid that went over what another did. How interesting.
“One million and three hundred thousand, do I have one million five? One million five?”
Prapai wasn’t interested in drawing this out. Let’s cut to the chase. He entered in five million and hit bid.
The auctioneer paused, looked at the screen on the podium, and visibly blinked. “Everyone, we have a bid at five million. Will anyone go above five million?”
A flurry of whispers, some chatter, people going back and forth to talk.
“No bidders above five million? If there are no other bidders then going, going, going, sold! I ask the winner to please meet with us behind the stage to review the contract and collect your prize.”
“Too bad you lost,” Sakda offered as he lifted a wine glass to his lips.
“I didn’t,” Prapai corrected as he stood.
Sakda choked on the wine, needing a second to pound a fist against his lungs. “You paid five million for him?!”
Not interested in justifying anything, Prapai just winked at him and left the table, taking the winning chip with him in case it was needed for verification.
The next person came up for auction but Prapai had no further interest in tonight’s proceedings. He had his own bundle of trouble to deal with now. He moved further past all the tables and through a discreet door to the left of the stage, which an employee held open for him. It led into a small room with only a table, six chairs, and not much else. There, in the chair, was Sky still looking very nervous and with a brave face on.
He was even more enchanting up close. Oh dear. Prapai had fragile willpower even on the best of days. This would be a challenge.
A woman in a solid black dress and red pumps on approached him with a professional smile pinned to her face. “May I see your token and identification?”
“Of course.” Prapai handed both over, letting her check them, then accepted his ID card back.
“Thank you. Are you familiar with how this works?”
“I have a surface level understanding of it. I’ve never bought someone before. I understand there is a contract that he and I need to negotiate and sign.”
“Correct. The contract is enforced, with penalties on both sides that must be paid if broken, so do keep that in mind. Mr. Prapai, please sit next to Mr. Sky and review the terms he’s set down.”
“Certainly.” Prapai settled in next to his human—was it wrong to think of Sky like that? He just couldn’t think of the man as a slave, that icked him out on so many levels.
Sky was wary of him but didn’t utter a single comment, only his eyes saying otherwise. Prapai gave him a smile, and leaned in, careful to not touch as he whispered in Sky’s ear. “Relax. I will not hurt you.”
Sky blinked at him, brow furrowed a bit in confusion as if he couldn’t fathom what Prapai meant by that.
This might be more of an uphill battle than Prapai assumed, winning this one’s trust.
Well, let’s start with the terms. He accepted the contract, which had been filled in on Sky’s side, and reviewed the terms.
First, blood donation was available once every two weeks, more in an emergency.
Second, sex was allowed as part of the feeding.
Third, the contractor must maintain the level of care of Sky’s father, with details of which hospital he was in.
Ah, as expected. Sky was here out of desperation.
Prapai lifted his head to ask Sky directly, “What is your father’s condition?”
“Recovering,” Sky answered steadily. “That’s the best way to put it. My father was in a very serious car accident two weeks ago. It broke multiple bones, bruised his lung, and ruptured his spleen. It’s taken three surgeries to get him in a stable condition. He’ll need another three or six more surgeries over the next year, depending on how things go.”
Great Buddha, no wonder Sky felt overwhelmed. The medical bills would very quickly rack up at this rate. “If he has all of these surgeries and the correct care, will he recover completely?”
“Well enough, or so the doctors assure me. He’ll never be completely a hundred percent after this but his quality of life will be okay.”
“Is he the only parent you have?”
Sky gave a tight nod.
In that moment, Prapai gave himself a mental pat on the back. Good job, him. Good job listening to his instincts. Any other vampire in this place would have just taken advantage. Not given Sky the help he so desperately needed.
Prapai turned the page, expecting more conditions, only to be met with nothing more than a blank space. That was it? That’s all Sky demanded, was help with his father’s medical bills?
Did this man not understand his worth?
“What of school?” Prapai queried in confusion. “You are an Architect student, are you not?”
“School can wait for a year.”
No it bloody well couldn’t. Prapai refused. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and wrote in: All school expenses covered for the next year.
Sky made a noise of protest and grabbed his arm, trying to stop him. “What are you doing?”
“If I must negotiate for you, so be it.” There, that was better. Oh, no, wait. He tacked on another condition: All living expenses paid for.
“I didn’t ask for that either!”
“Hush, you’ll thank me later.” Prapai cheerfully flipped to the next page. Ah-ha, now they were at his part of the contract. The only thing typed in for his terms was regular feeding and sex, which was standard.
He thought about it, then wrote in: Sky must live with me for the next year.
There. Now he was happy.
Sky stared at the words and made a noise of dismay. “You want me to live with you?”
“Again, you’ll thank me later. Alright, madam, are we set?”
“Only if Sky agrees to terms and signs.” She gave Sky a look that said don’t be an idiot, sign that!
Sky was still bemused, he kept looking at Prapai like he wasn’t sure if he was in some kind of strange fever dream, but he took the pen when Prapai offered it and signed the bottom of the page.
At least he was smart enough to take advantage even if it did confuse him. Prapai took the pen from him to add his own signature underneath.
“Gentlemen, if you’ll give me a moment, I’ll scan this in so you both can retain a copy. Just a moment.” She stood but gave Prapai a long, black jewelry box before leaving the room.
Prapai had an idea of what was in that box and when he opened it, sure enough, there was the slave’s collar inside. Pretty, no doubt, with its black velvet and ruby in the center. He had no intention of making Sky wear it. With a snap, he closed the lid and tucked it into his suit pocket to dispose of later.
“You’re, um, supposed to put that on me.”
He looked at Sky, this man he had just bought, and gave the most gentle smile he could. “You are contracted to me, but you are not my slave, and I will not treat you as one. While we’re on the subject, I can assure you of a few other things. First, you need never fear my fists nor my temper. I’m not abusive to people. Second, I will never feed from you or have sex with you without your full consent. Third, you don’t need to worry about anything while with me. Not your father, not school, not living expenses.”
There was that damn caution again, like Sky couldn’t fully trust any word coming out of Prapai’s mouth. He had a bad feeling Sky had been hurt before by people he’d trusted, hence why he couldn’t put faith in anything Prapai said. Even with a written contract between them.
“Why are you being so generous with me? To a man you just met.”
“I have a serious weakness for beautiful men that are both smart and loyal. You,” Prapai lifted one of his hands to place a gentle kiss on his knuckles before meeting Sky’s eyes levelly, “are my kryptonite.”
“You,” Sky returned in kind, “confuse the hell out of me.”
Oh? There was a spark of sass in this man. Good, Prapai hated doormats. “Just wait until you really get to know me.”
“The way you say that concerns me.”
It should. Prapai had tried imposing limits on himself before, but…it proved both tedious and boring. For Sky, he’d pull out all the stops.