Free Your Favorite Girl (YFG Series) by Steph Sweeney Page A

floor.
    When the door closed, I felt the elevator going up.  It beeped once and then stopped.  We'd only gone one floor.
    He carried me into a lobby with a cobblestone floor and a ceiling two stories high.  I could hear a large fountain, but when we passed by the source of the rushing water, I saw that it was actually a large Jacuzzi designed to look like a natural creek pool, and several people lounged either in it or upon a smooth rock jutting out of the water.  Some of them were naked, others in bikinis and Speedos. Through the haze of the steam, they watched me.
    On the left was a doorway leading to a cafeteria.  Sean went on to the back of the lobby and up a few steps into a hallway that came to a T.  He went to his right and then through a door on the left.
    I saw sheepskin carpet, just like in the Showcase Hall.
    Then Sean flung me off his shoulder and I braced myself for impact.  To my relief, I landed on what had to be the softest bed ever designed.  I sank so deep for a moment that I could swear it was swallowing me up, encasing me like a cocoon.
    I thought Ted's bed was top-of-the-line .  This, though, felt like lying on a cloud, so comfortable I actually felt safe for a moment, until I felt movement on the bed and the panic washed over me again.
    He was going to fuck me before he killed me.
    At least I would die in comfort.  Hell, I might even fall asleep for one divine moment.  I couldn't even keep my eyes open to witness my own imminent death.
    Slowly, a body lowered on top of me.  I felt a soft thigh, a small hand, a knee, then a kiss on the cheek.  I opened my eyes to find Kate snuggling against me, smiling, tears streaming down her cheeks.
    "Shower and get dressed," Sean said with a baritone voice.  "You have one hour."
    The door clicked shut and Kate threw her arm around me, squeezing hard.
    He was gone, and I was still alive.
    "Does this mean . . . ?" I asked, my voice trailing off.
    Kate nodded and wiped one of her wet cheeks.  "I think so.  I don't think they would have brought you to me.  I talked to Patton.  Did they hurt you?"
    "No, not really."
    "Sean didn't do anything?"
    "He just carried me here."
    "Thank God," she said, hugging me again.  "Did Brian act weird?"
    I laughed nervously and sat up.  "A little," I said, immediately stunned by the size and luxury of the room.  It had everything.  A full bar, a kitchen, a hot tub on a raised platform, two rows of theater seats facing a giant white screen, a small glass-front room with gym equipment, a big make-up area that looked like a Hollywood green room, and an open doorway leading to what I assumed was the bathroom.
    "This is where I live," Kate said.
    "It's amazing."  The more I studied the room, the more wonderful things I discovered, including two ten-foot marijuana plants in large ceramic pots near the bar, basking in the golden glow of an overhead light system.
    "I call it the most luxurious prison cell in the world ," Kate said.
    "No kidding," I said, not fully comprehending what she'd said.  Then it hit me.  "Wait, you're not locked in, are you?"
    "Seven at night till seven in the morning," she said, sighing.  "Unless I'm called to a meeting or for an evening appointment with a client."
    "Kate."
    She turned to me, and for the first time I saw the trouble in her eyes.
    "You're a prisoner here," I said, meaning for it to sound like a question.
    Kate raised her arms and let them flop down to the bed.  "I really can't complain.  I can have whatever I want."
    "Except freedom , Kate.  I thought this was your job."
    "It is my job."
    "It's not a job if you can't leave.  This is slavery!"
    "No, it's okay, really. "  She scooted a little closer.  "I signed up for it.  I knew the whole deal."
    "They explained it to you?"
    "In detail," Kate said.  "About my living situation, anyway.  I didn't know about the girls, any of that stuff, until I signed the papers."
    "Did they drug you before or after you signed?"
    Kate waved