Sutton had selected the sweet-hot daughter of one of the evening’s more important guests and slipped a flute of champagne into her hand. He whispered in her ear and she laughed, turning her face up to his in answer, fluttering her lashes and teetering nervously on her pink Prada heels. I wasn’t close enough to hear what he said… but then I didn’t fucking need to be. One look at Sutton’s face and I knew. The game was on.

Her gown was short, but elegant… and expensive enough to forgive the expanse of creamy cleavage it displayed. Sutton smiled darkly and shifted behind her, drawing her a step back, against him and closer to the carefully manicured hedges on the outskirts of the party. He spoke to her… she blushed deeply… They both kept their eyes on the other guests. At first, his hands rested at her slender waist… but then one of them slipped behind… and disappeared.

I watched long enough to see the girl’s hand tighten on her glass. Then she shifted those expensive shoes apart… just barely, very discreetly… Not enough that anyone else would understand. But I did.

He hadn’t heard a goddamned word I’d said. He didn’t give a shit that this wasn’t the time or the place. Or that we’d spent better than two million on this event. I tossed back what was left of the scotch in my glass. The evening had only just begun… and I was already on fucking damage control.

A dozen feet away, couples danced sedately… men elegant in black tie and ladies who glittered tastefully with diamonds. Small groups clustered around the bar and everyone held a sparkling glass. Lights that glowed pale yellow, like the color of candlelight were strung from expansive tree limbs that sheltered the outdoor pavilion. The music was classic, soft… and waiters moved silently with their silver trays.

I grabbed another drink, determined to play interference. Not to save his ass… and not to get him laid either. We both knew the rules of the game. Hell, I’d been mostly responsible for inventing them. But tonight my focus wasn’t on the competition. It was about making sure this event brought in enough cash to keep Envisager Inc. on top, right where it had always been, and right where it belonged. That, and making sure my right hand man didn’t bring the whole night crashing down in scandal on top of us.

“Looks like Boothe couldn’t wait,” Ben said, coming up to touch his glass to mine. His blue eyes were shining with the same dangerous excitement I was feeling, but his smile was uncertain. “He takes more goddamned chances than all the rest of us combined. But Christ, you gotta admit,” he lifted his glass toward the couple, “he fuckin’ aims high…”

I shot a look at that lone hand still resting so casually against the girl’s waist. They continued to watch the dancers, and I could see their lips moving as they spoke to one another. Anyone else watching would have simply seen an attractive young entrepreneur being charmingly, but respectably attentive to an attractive young brunette at a social gathering. But her eyes were enormous and I knew that smile on Sutton’s face. The girl’s hemline was ever so slightly shorter than it had been before and tight against her thighs… There was nothing respectable about it.

“Just make sure her father doesn’t come looking for her,” I shot out under my breath. “I don’t know what the fuck that asshole is thinking… This isn’t a game night. And there’s no goddamned win worth the risk he’s taking. There are too many fucking politicians here for this kind of shit…”

Ben nodded and took off toward the senator, catching a waiter with a platterful of iced shrimp as he went. I stood my ground, doing my best to look casual, smiling and nodding… making small talk with guests who strayed too close… redirecting them after a minute or two, to chat with someone else. All the while, grinding my teeth and furious inside, waiting for Sutton to finish what he’d started. Furious at myself for having created the game in the first place… and hating the part of me that still ached to best him at it.

I dropped my empty glass on a passing tray and picked up a fresh one. Not to drink, but to have something cold in my hands… something to distract me. I knew exactly what was happening and so help me, even though I’d sworn I was finished with all of it, I could still feel the pull of the game. I’d never found anything that could compete with the thrill, the challenge, and the excitement of putting everything at stake. My cock stiffened, responding to memory…

“But there are people everywhere…,” she’d objected over the pounding beat of the concert, even as she’d rubbed her ass against the hard bulge in my jeans. “I don’t think we can… not here…”

I caught the sound of the girl behind me with Sutton. She had gasped and I knew from the sound that he was inside her. Fucking her in plain view, and yet no one even knew… If we were lucky…

“No one will even know, baby,” I’d told my date as I’d slipped my fingers under the hem of her little skirt to stroke the wet spot on her panties. Her pussy lips had been firm, eager… she had been just as excited by the idea as I was… “Too many people and too much noise… You can come right here… Just stay close, and dance with me… I’ll be the only one who knows, the only one who can feel you coming on me…”

The whole crowd had been on their feet and moving with the music. I’d unzipped and slipped my cock inside the elastic edge of her panties, letting the big head of my cock seal the rest of the deal. And she had moved just like everyone around us, bouncing up and down to the music…

Except she’d tilted her hips and come down hard, impaling herself on my rod and crying out, adding her voice to the deafening music and the roar of the crowd. I’d held her waist lightly, giving her the freedom to dance us both to a pounding climax. That had been five years ago, and the first time I’d had sex in public. But it hadn’t been the last. Almost a year had passed since that very last time… and since I’d sworn off for good.

But I still ached, wanting the danger, wanting the risk… hungry for the rush that came with the conquest. And while I could control my choices, I couldn’t seem to control that need. God knew, I had tried. And Sutton knew too. That’s why he had chosen tonight, and had made sure that I’d seen him. He was issuing a challenge…

To rejoin the game.

It had always been a competition between us. In the boardroom, developing deals, even fundraisers like this evening. Together we had created a tech empire with the potential to shape the global future. We had pushed ourselves and each other, driving toward that single goal. And up until we’d reached it, that single challenge had been enough.

But we were risk-takers by nature, lost without the constant thrill of pursuit. When we’d achieved our goals in the business world, nights like this one had become commonplace, with the rich and the famous… the moguls and the politicians… all vying to hand over cash to Envisager. We had the best minds in the world working for us, with us. Everyone who had written a check tonight knew it was an investment that couldn’t fail. But in becoming two of the wealthiest men on the west coast, we had also become jaded with everything that had come too quickly… almost too easily. In only a few short years, the only challenge left had become the danger of losing it all just as fast. For money becomes dangerous when there’s enough to buy privilege… and forgiveness.

That’s when we started the game and put everything on the line. We risked our companies and our reputations, everything… all for a fast fuck or a secret blow job. It was all for the thrill, all for the challenge. Risky enough, but riskier still, once the wagering began… That was when I finally knew, that for me at least, it had to be over. The name of the game? Public seduction.

The rules of competition?

The riskier the setting, the higher the score.

The more innocent the girl, the bigger the payoff.

The harder the conquest, the harder you strive

and the harder you fuck.

Oh, and no matter what… Don’t ever get caught.

They say money is the root of all evil. But they’re wrong.

I am.