James extended his hand to affirm the handshake. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Luciana," his large hand, took hold of hers firmly, not tightly, not to extend his strength or exert his manliness, but simply to shake and initiate a reciprocation of her invitation. Before he could continue the conversation with questions such as, [i]Further use? Now you have me curious.[/i] or [i]Let me have the slave, you're so kind.[/i], another bid inflated the price by several thousand dollars.

A gloss screened over James' eyes. He really did not want to bid over $10,000. The competition was starting to become more interesting. He did not want to make the err of bidding just to bid, to show he could beat Dominik just for the sake of beating him. Did he really want the slave, a male slave? He stared at Alex, noticing how lonely he actually was. 

"$10, 050," he said at last.