Wild for Him

He was breathing hard by the time he was done, a quiet kind of fury brewing within him. 'You really shouldn't be so rude and unappreciative, Christine.' He pressed her up against the wall once again, then framed her jaw with one of his big hands so that she couldn't move her head at all, making her all too aware of just how truly helpless she was. 'I planned this little surprise birthday party down here just tor you and me, and you're not going anywhere until we're done celebrating. So, you might as well relax and enjoy yourself.'

She shuddered, and it had nothing to do with the chill in the air, and everything to do with what his words implied. 'If you don't let me go, I'll scream so loud your eardrums will break.'

He laughed, the sound arrogant. 'You go right ahead. It won't do you much good. Between the cellar being soundproof, and how loud it is upstairs with the band playing, you can scream all you want and no one will hear you.' The pressure of his hand on her face eased as he trailed his fingers down her chest to the slope of her breasts. 'In fact, I'm fairly certain that by the time I'm done with you, your throat will be raw from screaming.'

Bile seemed to fill her mouth. 'You're sick.'

Her words didn't affect him at all. He was too caught up in his own madness to care. 'I've waited patiently for you to come around. For months, I dealt with your rejections. For weeks, I've watched you with Ben, waiting for you to tire of him and come to your senses about me.' His voice rose with anger. 'I'm tired of waiting, Christy. I'm tired of you fucking another guy and being a whore when you should be mine.' In his rage, he grabbed one of the thin rhinestone straps holding up her dress and yanked it hard, ripping it off and sending those small crystals bouncing to the floor.

Terror spiked through her. She could see what was coming, knew that if she didn't keep him talking and distracted that he was going to rape her. Or worse. 'Why are you doing this, Craig?' she asked, her calm question belying the fear clawing inside her. 'I thought we were friends.'

'Friends?' His voice rose incredulously as he pushed away from her, his expression filled with disgust. 'You used me, Christy. I've helped you with your business and given you contacts. I was there for you after your nasty breakup with Jason, ready and willing to be the man you needed in your life. But all you did was take and take and take, then discard me like a piece of trash when you no longer needed me.'

His bitter words broadsided her, and she suspected that they stemmed from a whole lot more than just her. She was most likely just the catalyst that had sent him over the edge. 'You know that's not true,' she said, trying to reason with him. 'I've appreciated everything you've done for me.'

He reached out and caressed the backs of his fingers along her cheek, and she tried not to cringe in revulsion at his touch. 'Maybe you'd like to show me just how appreciative you are.'

She desperately tried to wrack her brain for some kind of stall tactic. 'Not here.'

'We're not going anywhere else. We're going to stay right here until I'm done with you.' That depraved light in his gaze shone brighter. 'Until I've used you the way you've used me. Do you know how long I've waited to get you alone and have you all to myself like this?'

She shook her head. 'How long?'

'Months.' His mouth twisted with rancor. 'A few weeks ago I had you alone in my office, half-naked in my private bathroom. If it hadn't been for Ben, you would have been mine then. Then, I tried to get you alone the night of the charity event. God, I was so close, too. You were drugged and you were so willing to do whatever I wanted.'

Thank God Ben had come to her rescue. 'What else?' she asked, needing to know everything.

'Those snakes you received in the mail? I sent them to you.' He looked very pleased with himself. 'I had it timed for me to arrive when you opened your mail that day. I sat out in my car and watched through the windows of your business as you took the package to your office. I was going to walk inside The Big Event as you opened the box and discovered the snakes.' His expression turned irate. 'I was supposed to be the one you ran to for protection. I was the one who was supposed to save you, but Ben was there. Always Ben!'

Christine couldn't believe what she was hearing.

'Nobody appreciates what I do,' Craig ranted angrily as he paced in front of her. 'Not you. Not my family. Not even my father! I'm the one who helped Charles Lambert win the election so that my father's development company could get the contract to rebuild the lower west side. I'm the one who sent those threats to your father to drop out of the race so Lambert and my father would benefit from all the extra income that new development would generate. But nobody appreciated what I tried to do. Especially not my father. Instead, he told me I was an idiot for doing something so stupid.' His rage over his father's slur was tangible.

Christine had to agree with Jonathan Crosby about his son's state of mind, but there was one thing that didn't make sense to her. 'But my father didn't drop out of the race.'

'I know.' Craig shook his head in mock sadness. 'And I did warn him that if he didn't step down that he'd lose what was most precious to him. And here you are now.'

His smile was pure evil.

'You don't want to do this, Craig,' she said, doing and saying whatever it took to change his mind. Because right now, she had no leverage other than her words that could save her.

'I'm so tired of everyone taking and taking and taking from me,' he said spitefully. 'Now I'm going to take what I want, and nobody is going to stop me. Not even your precious Ben. Tonight, you're all mine.'

'I'll never be yours, Craig,' she said, her voice strong and sure in her conviction. 'I love Ben, and nothing you do to me will ever change that.'

'Shut up!' he yelled, then backhanded her across the face, the force of it causing her head to snap to the side. 'Shut the fuck up!'

He knotted her hair in his fist, yanked back her head, and brought his mouth down on hers. She fought the kiss, the invasion of his tongue, refusing to give even a small part of herself to him. And that only infuriated him more.

His hands pulled at her dress and groped her, making her physically ill at the thought of what was about to happen down here in this isolated, secluded cellar. With her hands tied behind her back, struggling against him was futile. All she could do was close her eyes, detach herself from the situation, and pray that it was over quickly.

Chapter Seventeen

BEN glanced at his watch for the fifth time in so many minutes. It had been nearly twenty minutes since Christine told him she needed to go to the ladies' room, and he was still waiting on her. He shifted restlessly in his seat and glanced back in the direction of the ladies' room, but still, nothing.

'You know how women can be when they go to the restroom,' Kevin said, obviously sensing his impatience. 'She's probably fussing with her hair and makeup.'

Primping just wasn't Christine's thing. Sure, she always looked like a million bucks, but she wasn't one to spend a whole lot of time in front of a mirror. Something just wasn't settling right with him.

'Either that, or one of the guests waylaid her to wish her a happy birthday,' Ronnie suggested.

'Could be.' He knew it was possible that she'd gotten sidetracked, but something was gnawing at those instincts within him, and he wasn't about to ignore them. 'I'm going to go to look for her.'

He strolled back toward the restrooms and glanced around the general area. He circled the dance floor and then into the main bar area to check there, too. Still, there was no sign of Christine, and he blew out a frustrated stream of breath in order to keep his growing anxiety at bay.

One of the bar waitresses passed by him with a tray full of drinks. He recognized the woman as Jodie, who'd delivered cocktails to their table a few times tonight. Pretty much everyone at Envy thought that he was Christine's boyfriend, and he used that to his advantage now.

He stopped the young woman, who looked up at him with a harried smile. 'Hi, Jodie. Have you seen Christine?' he asked hopefully.

'Actually, yes I have,' she replied. 'Mr. Crosby had me take her down to the wine cellar to pick out a bottle of champagne for her birthday. That was a while ago, so I can't imagine that she'd still be there, though.'

Just the mention of Craig's name had Ben's stomach twisting into huge, gigantic knots. 'Was Craig with her?'