Page 21 of Auctioned for Her Blood
“Stay,” he says in a way that stirs in my lower belly and makes me want to obey his quasi command.
But at the same time, his demand encourages me to run. This attention from him, and from Zuben, it’s all too much. I’m not used to it, especially not from two very different men, their apparent and inexplicable interest in me the only thing they have in common.
“Please excuse me.” I step away, but he touches my hand before I can escape and leans forward, moving his lips close to my ear.
Electricity wakes parts of my body I barely knew existed as he traps my hand, preventing me from running up to the stage.
“Come back to me.” His voice growls against my ear. “Soon.”
His voice vibrates into my body and his heat radiates, increasing the strength of the strange electricity already coursing.
My fingers still engulfed in his, I look up into his eyes but can’t fully read what I see there. This man is interested in me, of that I have no question, but I’m confused about the nature of his interest.
While we talked, his attention seemed romantic, and when he growled in my ear—unmistakably sexual—but right now, his interest seems more like curiosity, like I’m some kind of puzzle he’s not finished solving.
Dropping my hand, Ryker grins and winks in a charming, joking way that’s already starting to seem familiar. Perhaps I projected my own desire onto his earlier expressions and words. I overreacted to his friendly flirting. It doesn’t mean anything.
“Areyougoing on the auction block?” he asks.
I shake my head.
“You should. I’ve heard it’s for a good cause.” His eyebrows rise. “I dare you.”
“Sorry.” I back a few steps away. “I’ve got to go.”
Turning quickly toward the stage, I bump into a rotund patron, his belly hanging over his cummerbund. “I’m so sorry.” I stammer to the man, and then dash through the crowd to take a seat at a table at the edge of the stage, next to Mia and her intern Rico.
Mia and her assistant Rico can handle this auction without me, but I need something to do, something to distract me from the way I feel around Ryker—dangerous, mysterious Ryker.
On stage, Zuben is reading a short script that Shana prepared, and I remember the touch of the tall elegant man’s lips on my injured hand, the way he looked into my eyes when he tenderly kissed my cut palm.
So much for distractions.
Another round of heat shudders through me and dampens my barely-there panties. I can barely breathe now, barely think. Clearly it’s not just the nighttime I can’t handle, because I met Zuben in the daytime.
As overwhelmed as I feel, I have no doubt about one thing—something inside me has awakened tonight. Something scary and exciting. Something I dread, yet want to explore. It’s all confusing and crazy, but every instinct inside me is screaming that nothing in my life will ever be the same again.
Up on stage, Zuben shakes his head, lowers Shana’s notes, and then goes off script.
“Sanctuary House helps hundreds of young people each year,” he says, his voice strong and clear. “This is a good cause, run by competent, caring people, so please, open your wallets and bid generously. Some of Philadelphia’s finest restaurants and venues have donated dinners and tickets for the dates on the auction block, so I encourage you to bid on the chance to share an evening with one of the individuals who have volunteered their time.”
“Now.” He gestures to the side. “I will hand the microphone to our auctioneer, radio host Gloria Sanchez.”
He walks off the stage as our emcee calls up the first person to be auctioned—a former player from one of the local sports teams. The date with this sports guy includes dinner at a fancy restaurant and floor seats at a sporting event—basketball, I think. I should know who the tall man is, but the electric charges buzzing through my body are scrambling my thoughts.
I need a task. Something to keep me occupied and distracted from my wild sexy mood and this raging desire inside me.
Standing, I turn to Mia. “I’ll help Shana escort the winners to the front, okay?”
Mia shrugs, and I join Shana at the edge of the stage.
“Hey,” I say to her. “Need some help finding the bid winners? Two sets of eyes are always better than one.”
“Sure,” she nods. “Teamwork makes the dream work.” Shana’s glowing. I’ve never seen her so elated, and with the huge donations from Ryker and Zuben, I guess she has a good reason. Unless…do these men affect her in the same way they affect me?
Nah. I’ve got nothing to worry about there. Shana is hopelessly devoted to her wife of sixteen years, even if only the last few years of that marriage have been official.
The final bid for the basketball date comes from a middle-aged woman, and a spotlight is trained to where she’s standing. She looks like she’s had way too much plastic surgery, her skin unnaturally smooth and her eyes too open above her clinging and sparkling gown. Shana goes into the crowd to escort her up to Mia as I watch the crowd bid on the next “lot”, a dinner and symphony date with our communications director, Shelly.
