Wild for Him

disobeying his orders.

Wanting her to know just how serious he was, he stepped closer, backed her up against the sink, and braced his hands on either side of her hips on the counter. His face was very close to hers, and he could smell something sweet and fruity, with a hint of rum… like a mai tai.

'I thought I told you to stay put while I handled Jason.' She opened her mouth to say something, but he was quicker. 'I can't do my job effectively if I don't know where the hell you are. When I tell you to wait somewhere, it means you don't leave the area. With anyone. Especially Craig.'

'Jason was the threat,' she said, keeping her voice hushed. 'Not Craig!'

'I don't like him,' he snapped. Ben knew his aversion to the man was irrational and based more on the fact that Craig wanted Christine for his own, but at the moment he didn't care.

'I asked to use his private bathroom after Leanne deliberately dumped her drink on me, which is why I'm standing here half-naked.' She held her arms out to her sides, giving him a delicious glimpse of all that creamy flesh being plumped up by her push-up bra. 'I'm trying to clean up the sticky mess, and I didn't anticipate an interruption!'

So that explained why she smelled like a fruity drink he wanted to taste. And it didn't surprise him at all to discover that Leanne was behind such a juvenile stunt.

He tipped his head, the beginning of a grin chasing away the brunt of his anger. 'Is your life always filled with this much drama?'

'Not until you became a part of it.' She smiled sweetly.

Now that he'd gotten all that tension off his chest, he straightened and stepped away from her. He kept his gaze on her face, but his peripheral vision, and his vivid imagination, had no problem conjuring her figure from the neck down. A sexy black bra encasing her small, firm breasts. A smooth, flat belly. Skimpy lace panties. Slim, sleek thighs… and those damned dominatrix, high-heeled boots.

He swallowed hard and hoped her gaze didn't stray any lower than his waist, or she was bound to find more than she bargained for. 'You have to remember that first and foremost, I'm your bodyguard. There is a viable threat against your father, and your family, and that includes you, as well.' Especially her. 'My job is to keep you safe, and it will go so much more smoothly with your cooperation. Got it?'

She nodded. 'Yes, sir.'

'Good.' Grabbing her top and skirt off the counter, he thrust both at her, covering as much of her bared body as he could. 'Put your clothes back on. You can shower at home. I've had enough excitement for one night. As soon as you're dressed, we're getting the hell out of here.'

STANDING in her dark, quiet kitchen. Christine stared out the window over the sink to the moonlit backyard and took a sip of the hot chamomile tea she'd made. Closing her eyes, she savored the soothing, relaxing warmth as it spread its way down to her stomach.

Regardless of the late hour that was way past her normal bedtime, and despite feeling utterly exhausted after everything that had transpired at Envy earlier, she hadn't been able to fall asleep. She'd spent an hour tossing and turning in her bed with a myriad of thoughts running through her mind, and when the clock on her nightstand hit one A.M., she decided to resort to her good ole standby of tea to help her unwind and hopefully enable her to sleep. She had a busy day at the office tomorrow and couldn't afford to have her mind fogged by lack of slumber.

She sighed, still unable to believe how her evening had turned out. What had began as a fun outing with friends had ended up being a night she wouldn't soon forget.

After leaving Envy, the drive home with Ben had been quiet, and once they'd arrived at her place, he'd conducted a whole house search even though her security alarm had still been on and untripped. That didn't matter to Ben, who insisted that until he was no longer in charge of her, this would be his routine whenever they arrived home. She had to admit, the man was thorough and efficient when it came to her safety.

Since her damp clothes had been clinging to her, she'd headed straight for her bedroom, stripped her clothes back off, and took a long, hot shower. By the time she was done and went in search of Ben, he'd already retreated to the guest bedroom and had shut the door.

She took another drink of her warm tea. Other than the incident with Jason, then with Craig in his private office, she'd had a great time with Ben. He'd meshed well with her friends, and he played the part of her steady beau exceptionally well. Almost too well, considering how comfortable she'd been sitting on his lap, how sensual his touch felt on her bare thigh, and especially how territorial he'd been when he'd found her seminude in Craig's bathroom.

Remembering the simmering heat in his gaze when he'd noticed her standing there in her bra and panty ensemble, then again when he'd crowded her against the vanity, a shiver rippled through her and tightened the tips of her breasts against her cotton camisole.

Her overwhelming reaction to Ben no longer surprised her at all. He made her burn with need, made her think about all the things she wanted to do to him, and with him. Sinful, shameless things she'd never done with any other man before.

She wasn't a virgin, but since her breakup with Jason she'd come to realize that she was far too inexperienced when it came to all that sexual foreplay a couple usually enjoyed before the main course. For that matter, she was pretty damned innocent when it came to positions, too. The only one she was intimately familiar with was missionary style, and there was so much more she wanted to know, learn, and experience.

As she finished her tea and set her cup in the sink, she thought about what Madison had said to her earlier tonight, about giving Ben a bit of a shove in the right direction. But in order to do that, it meant she'd have to shed all those rules of propriety her mother had drilled into her head for so many years. Being a demure good girl and suppressing her own desires hadn't gotten her much in terms of sexual gratification, and the thought of being a little wicked and wanton now held a whole lot of appeal.

But embracing that sexually assertive woman within her meant being bolder in her pursuit. More daring in her quest to please herself, instead of doing what everyone else expected of her. It also meant not settling for less than what she wanted.

And what she wanted was Ben Cabrera.

'You can't sleep either, huh?'

As if her thoughts had conjured him, Ben's deep, husky voice sounded from somewhere behind her. Turning around, she found him across the kitchen, standing in the doorway, the moonlight streaming through the window, illuminating him like a dark, fallen angel. Leaning casually against the frame, his corded arms were crossed over his bare chest, and he wore a pair of gray sweatpants that rode precariously low on his hips and revealed a good amount of his taut, rigid belly. Lower, the soft cotton emphasized everything that made him so heart-stoppingly virile.

Her mouth went dry, and she swallowed hard as she slowly, leisurely dragged her gaze back up the length of his gorgeous, well-built body, until she finally reached his face. Already, a light stubble had formed on his lean jaw, and his hair had been finger-combed into a wildly disheveled style that flaunted that sexy, bad boy image of his.

Lust, strong and undeniable, licked through her like a live flame. She knew her shot at seduction was now or never, that there was no better time than the present moment to go full force after the man who'd inspired some of her most erotic fantasies over the past few months.

'No, I couldn't sleep either,' she said, her voice soft and low.

Gathering her confidence, she strolled across the kitchen toward him, wishing she was wearing a pair of her high-heeled shoes that gave her a bit more of a height advantage. Without them, and because Ben was so big and tall, she felt incredibly delicate and feminine when she finally came to a stop in front of him.

'It's all your fault, you know,' she said, blaming him for the time she'd spent tossing and turning in her bed.

He arched a dark brown brow in amusement. 'And just how am I to blame?'

'Because you make me feel hot and restless, and that isn't conducive to sleep.' Smiling, she reached up and touched the tips of her fingers to his unshaven cheek, watching as his gaze darkened with awareness. 'You feel it, too, don't you?' she whispered.

'Feel what?' he replied, his gruff tone giving away his attempt at nonchalance.

'This attraction between us.' Stepping even closer, she skimmed the pad of her thumb across his full bottom