Janelle Denison - Wild for Him

Oh. Ben minded all right. More than was prudent or wise. Especially when it came to Craig. "Christine is handling herself just fine."

In fact, she'd finally managed to extricate herself from Craig's grasp and was heading back toward them, that provocative red dress and those leopard print high heels making his gut clench with desire. Her eyes lit up when she saw Jon and Kevin, and she greeted them with a warm, affectionate hug that his friends enjoyed way too much-mainly to provoke him, Ben knew.

"I'm so glad you guys came," she said sincerely. "Where's Zach?"

"He had something else he needed to do tonight," Kevin said vaguely. "But he did tell me to wish you a happy birthday."

Christine smiled. "That was sweet of him."

Ben guessed that Zach had decided not to come to the party because he still wasn't ready to be around the temptation of alcohol that flowed so endlessly at a night club like this one. The man was still struggling with his addictions, and Ben understood and respected Zach's decision.

"Well, well, well," a familiar female voice drawled mockingly. "If it isn't the birthday girl holding court with her own little entourage of hunky males."

Ben turned to see Leanne, who was wearing a pink strapless dress the color of Pepto-Bismol, and was carrying a frothy, froufrou cocktail in the same matching hue. By the glazed look in her eyes, she'd gotten an early start on her drinking and was more than a little buzzed.

"Hi, Ben," she said, giving him a sultry smile before turning her attention to Jon and Kevin. "I don't think we've ever met. Are you tonight's entertainment?"

A comical look passed over Jon's expression. "Excuse me?"

"Strippers," she said, the word slurring ever-so-slightly as she eyed them appreciatively. "You two look like you could be strippers. You should know that I tip really well."

Kevin laughed in amusement. "Honey, I only strip when I really, really like a woman. Not when one pays me to."

"Oh." Not certain what to make of his comment, Leanne scrunched up her nose, took a drink of the pink stuff in her glass, then moved on to someone else she knew.

As soon as the other woman was out of hearing range, Ben looked at Christine. "You invited her?"

"Good God, no!" Christine looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "I'm sure she invited herself. It's fine, as long as she behaves herself and doesn't cause a scene like she did the last time when she dumped her drink on me."

Ben stared after Leanne, watching the way she worked the crowd at Christine's party. "Yeah, well, I wouldn't put it past her, so watch yourself around her."

"Don't worry," Kevin chimed in. "Jon and I will keep Christine so busy out on the dance floor that there won't be an opportunity for anyone to cause a scene but us." He winked at her.

Christine laughed. "I can tell it's going to be a fun night." Her gaze slid to something behind Ben, then she smiled and waved. "There's Madison, Ronnie, and Mark. Let's go join them."

Once they reached the trio, introductions were made for Kevin and Jon. They dragged over a few more chairs, and the seven of them talked and laughed while enjoying the appetizers that were being served. Before long, Craig came up to their group, specifically to Christine, and told her there were some people he wanted her to meet-as in very important contacts for her business.

It was clear to Ben that she really didn't want to go with Craig, but she wasn't one to be rude, and she scooted back her chair and stood. "I'll be right back."

Except she didn't return right away. Ben watched for the next half an hour as Craig monopolized her time, taking her from one person to the next to introduce her, and acting as though he were her date for the evening. Ben kept the two in sight, but now that he was no longer her bodyguard, there was no need to stay glued to her side, and he wasn't going to intrude on what Craig had referred to as "business."

Kevin had no such qualms. "I need a dance partner, and Christy looks like she could use a break from all that business stuff." he said, and headed in her direction.

Seconds later, Kevin was leading Christine toward the dance floor. She looked relieved at the interruption and the chance to enjoy the music, while Craig glared at Kevin in annoyance for stealing Christine away. Leanne came up to Craig, clearly eager to pick up where Christine left off, but Crosby wasn't interested and left her standing there with a pout on her face.

Knowing that he had nothing to worry about with Kevin dancing with Christine, Ben returned his attention to the conversation at the table.

The next few hours passed quickly. When Kevin and Jon weren't keeping Christine busy out on the dance floor, a slew of friends stopped by the table they were sitting at to wish her a happy birthday. Craig managed to pull her away once more to blow out the candles on her birthday cake and to cut the first slice, but she returned right after with a plate holding a large piece of her cake.

Instead of taking the seat next to his, she surprised him by sitting down on his lap, the flirty hem of her dress rising much too high on her thighs. If that wasn't enough to overload his senses and set him on fire, then the way she licked her glossy bottom lip did the trick.

Her eyes widened in mock innocence. "Oops. I forgot a fork."

He recognized that shameless look in her eyes and knew he was in big trouble. After being good all night, Christine was suddenly turning bad. Very bad.

"I guess he'll just have to feed it to you with his fingers," Ronnie suggested, laughter in her voice.

Christine touched her fingers to his cheek, her oh-so-sweet smile concealing a more brazen plan. "You would do that for me, wouldn't you, Ben?"

He hesitated, knowing where something like this could lead. Knowing, too, that she was deliberately taunting him, daring him to give into the desire arching between them. If he wasn't trying so damned hard to keep things platonic tonight, it would have been fun to give in to her request. He was just about to tell her he'd go and get her a fork, but then Jon spoke and changed his mind.

"I'll feed the cake to you, Christy," Jon offered willingly, a gregarious smile on his lips.

"Like hell you will," Ben muttered, just loud enough for his friend to hear, and laugh. Ben decided he could do this and not let it turn into a seductive game between them.

Breaking off a small corner of the cake, he brought it up to Christine's parted lips, and she took the morsel from him, her tongue barely grazing the tips of his fingers. Another piece, and she ate it with delicate little bites in between moaning her appreciation for the taste. She even fed him a small portion of the moist, yellow cake.

The process was all very sweet and chaste… until he reached for a napkin to wipe the frosting off his fingers.

She grabbed his wrist to stop him. "You can't waste the frosting," she said, chastising him. "It's the best part of the cake."

Then she proceeded to lick the sticky buttercream from his fingers. Slowly. Leisurely. Using her tongue to swipe the sweetness from his skin, and her teeth to scrape the confection from the pad of his thumb. By the time she was done, he was grateful that she was sitting on his lap, because her brazen display had made him as hard as stone and he was certain she could feel his erection pressing against her hip.

As if Christine hadn't just turned him inside out with wanting her, she struck up a conversation with her friends, giving his libido time to cool.

The upbeat song that the band was playing came to an end, and a slower melody began to fill the room. "I think we'll wind things down for a little bit," one of the band members said into the microphone as the lights were dimmed. "Let's have the birthday girl pick someone special to dance with during this song, which is titled 'Someone Like You'."