Released from Keaton's care for a moment, I moved through the room, feeling very mixed, but trying to look like my entire world was the best it had ever been.

I hadn't expected many things to be good about my first day. Especially given that I was still healing, but I had hoped Keaton would have delivered something a little more reciprocal. Perhaps it had been expecting too much of this new life, but I had no way of knowing yet. There was literally no one to compare him to.

After Keaton dealt with something, talking to a man I didn't recognise in hushed voices off to one side, he came back to me and took my arm.

"Now, courtesan, shall we continue are afternoon together?"

"Please," I replied. "I feel like we've only just begun."

"Oh, entirely. No one has seen how deliciously fuckable you are yet. I promise you, there's a lot still to come."

I smiled a part of me thrilled that he hadn't considered the earlier performance all there was going to be, the other part noticing he'd mentioned others seeing how fuckable I was. Did that mean he wanted to screw me in front of the rest of the room?

Of course it wasn't the first time I'd done that, but it was different to know it was coming and be with people I'd chosen to being in a room full of people I barely knew.

For a moment I found I couldn't think or breathe, my whole world going quiet. This new life was so out of my control. I was trapped, my life dictated by men who wanted to use me for one thing only.

"Courtesan?" Keaton asked, his voice cutting through the overwhelm. I sucked in a breath, finding his face and focusing on it. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied, although I reached out for him, my hands shaking enough to betray my words. He instantly pulled me back to his side and gave me some support.

"I don't like being lied to." Keaton spoke more quietly, a smile on his face despite the menacing tone.

"Sorry." I tried to look more normal. "I was just so eager to come to see you again, I may have rushed out a little soon."

"Do you wish to go?"

"Oh, no. Not at all. But perhaps I shouldn't be on my feet as much as normal. Would it upset you?"

Keaton stopped, lifting my chin with his finger so he could look at me.

"Normally, if someone made this kind of mistake I'd get angry, but there's something about you, courtesan. You have this air about you. I want to call it confidence, but I'm not sure it's that. You're different. You don't just simper and submit, but you still give a man what he wants."

"Thank you, I think," I replied and gave him a small smile.

He laughed.

"I like you, courtesan, but don't let it go to your head. I still expect you to learn to submit when you're with me."

"Understood, completely, master," I replied, trying to give him the most mischievous look I could. Again he laughed. This drew the attention of some of his friends.

"You're being very secretive with your new toy," one of them said, turning in his seat so he could get a good look at me. I wanted to smack him for what he'd called me, but I knew that would cause far more problems than it would solve. Instead I looked to Keaton, making it clear I wasn't going to give the man the time of day unless I was explicitly given the command to.

Keaton became more serious, looking at me for a moment before letting out a barely audible sigh. Suddenly his smile returned and his head came back up. Leading me over, Keaton held me close.

"Nothing secretive about Courtesan Auralia. She won the highest bidding of any courtesan with her unveiling only two days ago. She's quite the delight, and a person I've found I like to spend time with.

"Is that so? Why don't we all chip in a for a session then, bend her over this table and find out if her cunt's as good as the men at her unveiling thought, or if there was something in the drinks."

"Sorry, I'm not the kind of courtesan to feel she has to prove her worth. You want to fuck you'll have to hire someone a bit more desperate, however, if you stick around Keaton might let you watch as we make love."

Keaton chuckled and shook his head. I raised my eyebrow at him, the only sign I'd give him that I was checking I hadn't stepped too far out of line. His friend gaped, looking between us.

"You're not going to discipline her for that?" the man asked when Keaton merely kissed my forehead and pulled me in closer.

"And what do you want me to punish her for? For asking you to treat her like a person and not a sex machine? Or for making it clear she would prefer to have my cock inside her not yours? After all, I'm the one who has coughed up the money for her time."

"A courtesan should know her place." The man got up, pulling his shirt down before shaking his arms out. It was clear he was spoiling for a fight.

Keaton sighed loudly and then looked straight at him.

"And a companion should know he's to protect a courtesan and treat her with respect at all times. She knows her place. By my side, being every bit the courtesan I paid for. So I'll say it again if you want a different kind of courtesan, you pay for one."

"Hear hear," one of the other men said, getting up as well. He grabbed a glass from one of the trays a waiter held nearby and lifted it up. "To the highest earning unveiling in history. And a courtesan with a mind of her own."

Keaton grabbed another and then all the men around did the same.

"A courtesan with a mind," he yelled and then every man in the room echoed it. I felt my cheeks flush and was eternally grateful I was covered in paint and the redness couldn't be seen.

As they all lowered their glasses again I slowly moved over to the waiter, took a drink of my own and returned to Keaton. After making a show of trying to be a bit more serious and wanting everyone's attention, I looked to Keaton.

"To a companion with a heart," I said, not taking my eyes off him. He bowed towards me as the men repeated my toast as well.

As he slipped his arm around my waist again, I felt myself relax a little more. Somehow, I was back in control and feeling like I could handle everything, but I still didn't know exactly what Keaton had planned.

For the next few minutes, he introduced me to the rest of his friends, many of them politely asking how I was finding courtesan life, if waking up had been a shock and if there was anything I missed.

The array of conversation was refreshing, and for a moment I almost forgot where I was and who I was with, but I was still on duty, my task to keep Keaton happy and I couldn't afford to displease him.

A bored sort of shuffle of his caught my eye as I was telling a particularly curious man about old games and music. I quickly ended the conversation and looked just long enough at Keaton it gave him the opportunity to take control of the conversation.

"I must say, Courtesan, you're one of the few to talk about the past, but it's time to return to the present. Come, let me show you a little game we like to play."

"Gladly," I replied, slipping my arm into his again so he could lead me away. After letting go of me and instructing me to wait by one of the tables, he walked to the centre of the room, each head turning as he did. When he was in the dead centre he stopped and clapped his hands until he had everyone's attention.

"Who wants to play our usual game?"

There was a chorus of cheers, and two of the waiters rushed to fetch a large table from one side of the room and move it to the middle. Within a minute the men in the room were all seated at it and the two submissive courtesans, Hannah and Erin, had gone to stand either side of Keaton. I still didn't move, his focus on the two small black bags he was handed and a deck of what appeared to be cards.

"Same rules and rewards as usual, gentlemen. The winner each round gets to pick from the bag of their choice."

"Only the two bags?" Trey asked, glancing at me.

"Aye. For today." Keaton looked to me, his expression unreadable. "Our newest courtesan isn't meant to be on duty today, so unless she wishes to join in once she's seen a few rounds, she'll not be playing."

"Why don't I watch a little and see," I said stepping closer. "I'd hate to miss out on all the fun."

Keaton gave me a small grin as he shuffled a deck. While I stood at the opposite end of the table, Keaton dealt the nine other men at the table and himself a hand of cards. As soon as that was done, he handed a bag to each courtesan.

In quick succession the men began playing. It appeared to be something akin to the poker she'd played as a teenager, the cards being held in the hand and more being dealt into a public pool, but the cards were different to a fifty-two card decks he was used to and when the players made sets they placed them down on the table and took the public pool of cards.

They played rapidly, no one taking more than a few seconds over their turn, until someone put down a third set of cards, and called the word fifty.

Immediately they handed over the cards to Keaton who offered the man, one of the youngest in the room, the choice of courtesan and bag. He picked Hannah, getting out of his seat and going to her. She opened the bag just long enough for him to put his hand inside. He withdrew a small object I couldn't see and then stepped back.

A moment later he shook his head, and Hannah put what appeared to be a small cube on the table beside the deck. Immediately Keaton dealt the man a new hand and he joined back in with the game. The rest of the men had continued playing like nothing had happened, until another declared he had fifty and repeated the process.

He picked Hannah as well, but he clearly chose a cube that had some kind of meaning as he threw it onto the table with a grin on his face, took Hannah's hand and led her to a nearby table.

While he sat, Hannah got down on her knees and reached for his trousers. Less than a minute later he was sat back, her head buried in his lap, bobbing up and down with an almost frantic speed.

Play continued, but Keaton glanced my way several times. I bit my lip. The game gave me so many questions, but it was beginning to become clear that he was hoping I would step in.

As a third man reached the target, they were forced to choose from Erin's bag. As they too led a courtesan away, I watched as he took her over to the more comfortable sofa like area, his hands already roaming her body and pulling her clothes off. Unable to tear my eyes away, I watched what appeared to be the briefest foreplay session ever, and then they were having sex in full view of all of us, Erin stradling him as if it was the best experience of her life.

Now Keaton truly looked to me. Play had continued, but there were no courtesans stood there and both were rather occupied.

My feet found momentum before my brain could truly process what I was doing. I walked around the side of the table, my eyes locked on Keaton's. As I walked the last couple of metres, Keaton reached out his hand and snapped his fingers to someone behind me.

"I was hoping you'd feel up to this," Keaton said as he was given another black bag. He passed it to me and returned to both dealing and playing, replacing any cards as they were taken from the centre and swapping cards with players as they asked for it.

Before long the first person since I'd offered myself up hit the goal. I tried to smile as he came towards me, eyeing me up as he approached. He reached into the bag, the sound of the cubes rustling together as he rummaged blind for one.

"Drat," he said when he pulled a blank cube out. Shaking his head while I tried to look apologetic, he added it to the pile of cubes in the middle of the table and began play again.

The next was also blank, my mind wondering what exactly was in the bag. Hannah then returned, taking up a position on the other side of Keaton but her companion didn't return to the game.

I felt more than a little relief, until I noticed that the jerk who'd called me a toy earlier had a large number of cards in front of him and seemed to be getting agitated, as if he was close to winning, but play moved past him, keeping me safe from him for another round.

Beginning to relax a little, I took advantage of my position to study them men before me. Keaton had an interesting mix of friends, but one thing was evident. They were all well dressed, with money to throw around.

But which one of them would be my winner? Only time would tell.