Page 43 of Lightness In My Dark

Even though Cole was attending the charity, he insisted on driving the limousine. He said he wanted to pamper the bachelor. With so much money in one place and a couple of celebrities attending, the benefit was a spectacular display, which brought a swarm of media.

Cole parked in front of the hotel, where a red carpet stretched from the curb to the doors. He ran around to open the door. I exited the limousine, put my hand out, and Wren grasped it. Cameras flashed from both sides of the red carpet. I ignored all questions, drawing Wren closer to me, squinting my eyes from the glare of bulbs. Inside, we exchanged our coats for ticket numbers. My eyes shot to Wren’s low-cut dress that stopped midriff. It was so not Wren, yet so her. I surfed her body until our eyes met. It was the first I saw of the dress. Wren’s wide smile halted me in place. She fed her arm through mine and subtly tugged to get me to move.

While we walked to the gala, I stole glances at Wren on my arm, her beautiful face stunned by the enormity of the event. It was huge, held in two large ballrooms; one for the blackjack and roulette tables and one craps table; and the other for dinner and the auction stage. The blackjack tables had minimum bets, starting at one-hundred dollars and upwards, three-fourths of the winnings went to charity. It was difficult to hear in the gambling room with all the dinging and hollering over wins.

I led us into the dining area to find our table. While Wren approached the woman with the table assignments, I fantasized about what I’d like to do to her in that dress. My hand would run along the front open slit that stopped mid-thigh, pausing for a reaction, and continue up her inner thigh.

Wren broke my perverted thoughts when she said, “We’re near the auction stage.” She held our name cards.

There were some people scattered at the tables. Estelle had her arm up waving, walking toward us.

“Finn! Just the person I was looking for. Could you please come with me?” Estelle gave Wren a hug, offering air kisses to each cheek. “I’m sorry, dear, for taking him away. It will only take a moment.”

By the time I returned, Wren was no longer in the dining area. I drifted back to the tables, scanning the crowd, until I noticed her standing behind Cole at one of the blackjack tables. Our eyes met, my feet moved with a magnetic force in her direction, and I wrapped my arm around her. Cole lifted his fists in the air and shook them with ayes. The dealer pushed a pile of chips toward him, while keeping three-fourths of his winnings. I patted him on the back and congratulated him. I asked Wren if she wanted to play.

“May I?”

I told her to wait a minute as I retrieved a thousand dollars’ worth of chips. Her mouth dropped when I put the chips in front of her.

“Finn, this is too much money. I only wanted to try it out.”

I indicated to the table. “This is a hundred-dollar minimum table bet, so it will go fast if you don’t make any winnings.” I bent to kiss her cheek. A reddish hue spread across her face. “I’m sure you’ll win. Besides, it’s for charity. Do you know how to play?”

She said yes, so I made myself comfortable behind her to look at her cards. Wren lost the first hand. The next round, the dealer dealt her a five and six. Cole had two sixes, so he split them, a few other players had decent cards, and the dealer had a ten and one card hidden. Wren hit for another card, and received a nine, Cole hit for a ten and six, he hit again on the twelve, and received a ten, so he folded that set. When everyone completed their bets, the dealer flipped over the hidden card to reveal a six, which forced another card of eight. Wren won the round. She was adorable as she clapped her hands before making perfect piles of her winnings.

A half hour later, with Lindsey and Carter joining us, Wren cashed in what little winnings she had left. An announcement came over the intercom, requesting everyone to make their way to the dining room so dinner could be served. Unfortunately, Lindsey and Carter were seated elsewhere. We sat among the other six individuals at our table: two couples and two single men. I noticed their eyes wandered toward Wren and the other women seated. My jaw clenched, knowing they were imagining undressing and doing things to Wren. They were men. That’s what we do. The jealousy spawned its ugly head within me, hitting hard. I never had such a reaction.

I leaned over and kissed her on the temple, my eyes diving low between her breasts, down to her naval. Wren had a hold on me, a desire to be with her, to be in her… well, I always had the latter. A poison only she could cure. I craved for her attention and body. It made me weak and out of control, along with a strange possessiveness. I hated to be powerless. Wren was the cause.

She had a puzzled expression. “Finn? Did you hear me?”

I gurgled a bit of my drink and swallowed. “What was that?”

“Did you want to try some of my salmon?”

How cute. She wanted to share some of her food. Fuck! Why couldn’t she offer me her body instead? Shit, my cock keeps growing. It’s like a fucking water balloon, expanding with every warped thought. I manscape, but things are heating down there.

I covered my lap with my napkin. “No, I’m good. Thanks though.”

“Are you okay?”

My hand rubbed down my face to purge whatever was taking hold of me. “Yeah.” I loosened my bow tie. “Isn’t it hot in here?” Wren shook her head. I downed a glass of water and sat back for a moment.

Dinner continued with idle conversation around the table. After dessert, the wait staff cleared away the plates, silverware, and empty glasses. Estelle took to the stage with Margaret next to her.

Estelle moved close to the microphone. “Hello.” A loud screeching noise forced her to cover her ears. Margaret adjusted the microphone and whispered something to her. “Please accept my apologies. Margaret informed me I was standing too close.” People giggled. “I want to let you all know that the bachelor auction will take place in a half hour on this stage. We need your participation and money for our wonderful causes. We have extremely handsome men,” she pointed to me, “for auction.” This garnered more laughter. “I mean, for a date. You will not be disappointed. Bring your purses,” she paused, “or your wallets and let’s beat last year’s donation totals.” Everyone applauded as they left.

Estelle took my hand and brought me around to the back of the stage, where nine other men waited. She introduced us to each other. Then she gathered the committee women, including Wren, and made more introductions.

A beautiful woman by the name of Courtney took my hand and said, “So you’re Finn. I’ve heard so much about you.”

I turned toward Wren when I said, “Did you now?”

She hadn’t let go of my hand. “Not from Wren. The other women were talking about you.”

My smiled faltered from disappointment. “I hope it was all good.”

Her eyes ran along the length of my face and body. “Of course. And they weren’t lying.”

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