“A drop of blood,” she says, handing Mullock the knife.
He takes it from her then encircles me, making a big show of running the blade of the knife over my breasts, then down my stomach.
I can sense Langston in the crowd, ready to jump to my aid at a moment’s notice.
“Get on with it,” I hiss through my teeth.
He snarls back and then slices the blade superficially across the top of my breast, causing more than a drop of blood to ooze out of my skin. The crowd hisses and snickers.
“So original,” I say, not impressed at all by him.
He frowns, putting the knife back on the tray.
“A kiss from a stranger,” Miss Kiff says next.
I don’t wait for Mullock to take his time deciding how or where he’s going to kiss me. I grab his cheeks and plant one on his lips before he even has time to realize what happened.
The crowd chuckles as Mullock growls. “I’m supposed to be inflicting the debt, not you.”
I roll my eyes. “Then hurry up; we have a game to play.”
“An item of clothing,” Miss Kiff says.
I freeze. It’s not that I really care if I’m naked in front of these men. I just don’t want to have to play the rest of the game without my dress on, which is what I assume is the item he’ll ask me to remove. I only have two items of clothing on—my panties and the dress. The low-cut front leaves no room for a bra.
Mullock studies me a moment, once again encircling me.
“If you want me to remove the dress, then you’re going to have to unzip me.”
“Your panties,” he says, shocking me.
The crowd boos.
I’m thankful as I shimmy my g-string down and then fling it in his direction.
“I don’t want to be distracted looking at your ugly ass body,” he mumbles under his breath.
I smile and shake my head.
Mullock walks over and picks up the whip before Ms. Kiff even finishes her sentence. “And one lashing.”
He whips the whip hard against my back before I have time to prepare. I stumble forward in my heels, but I refuse to show any more weakness. My body can’t handle the sudden force, though, and I fall to my knees, my hands landing on the ground in front of me.
More snickers and catcalls as I finally stand up on my feet, watching Mr. Mullock and Miss Kiff walk off the stage.
As I scramble off, my cheeks flush even though I didn’t have to do anything remotely embarrassing. I make it back to my seat before the next man takes the stage.
“I yield,” he says before his punishment even starts.
“Me as well,” the next man says.
I frown, realizing that may be how the games go. I may be one of the only people who will do any of the dares, debts.
The dealer begins shuffling the cards, and then he looks at me. “Would you like to keep your remaining card or trade it in?”
“Keep,” I say, knowing it’s a ten.
He deals me four more cards.