It was incongruous how softly and normally Carver opened the door when balanced with the unbridled insanity of his next actions. It wasn't as though he found Sean and Christy en flagrante or even kissing. They were just sitting on the floor sharing a comforting hug. Unfortunately, Carver's lightning-quick mind leaped straight to the most overblown and unlikely conclusion. He crossed the room in two long steps and hauled Sean up by his shirt.

"You really do only have one thing on your mind," he said with equal parts derision and dark amusement. "I leave for a few hours and you're grabbing at her cacks."

What? Christy tried to imagine what "cacks" were. There were only a few possibilities. Sean tried to back away as Carver held him.

"No! I wasn't, I swear! We were just talking," he said.

"You didn't even have the rawny to get the job done?" Carver asked.

"What are you even talking about?" Christy asked. She half-rose as Carver threw Sean away and he scuttled farther. She moved to help him up and Carver grabbed her arm.

"I'll show you how it's done, boy," he said. He pulled her closer.

"Hey!" Christy said as he grabbed at the front of her button-down shirt. She smacked his hand away. Carver smiled.

"Oh, she's a firey lass, isn't she?" he said. "Too much fire for a boy like Sean. She needs a man." He grabbed her by the back of her head and kissed her so swiftly her only reaction was a muffled and repulsed yelp. She tried to push away as he squished her against his chest.

"Leave her alone!" Sean yelled. He tried to get between them and Carver backhanded him so hard he fell back to the floor. Christy felt guilty for a flash of relief that the movement pushed him a few inches away from her.

"You've changed your mind, have you? Just like you changed your mind about everything else we came for," Carver berated Sean. His accent got thicker with each sentence. He kicked Sean in the ribs as he tried to get up on all fours. Sean whimpered and fell on his side.

"Stop it!" Christy yelled. She forgot how much she wanted to be away from Carver and tried to push him away from Sean. Her assault had no effect on his giant frame, and he seemed amused by the attempt.

"You can't stop now. Isn't this what you wanted?" Carver taunted Sean as he reeled Christy back in closer. He yanked at her shirt and popped the first button, revealing her throat. She grabbed the fabric and held it shut.

"Look at it! Be a man for once, you spineless traitor!" Carver yelled, and Christy quailed at the terrible noise. He tossed her down next to Sean, who was looking away modestly. She tried to get between him and Carver and Sean pushed her away as he cowered.

"I'm not a traitor! Please," Sean pleaded as he rose to a kneel. Carver smashed his knee into Sean's nose and then grabbed him by the throat, hauling him upward.

"You're a turncoat as gutless as the Limey devils!" Carver yelled. "Years I looked out for you, thinking we're partners in the fight, and you throw it all away for the first brasser you lay eyes on!"

Sean was not even trying to escape by then. He was staying very still and hoping not to make Carver any more angry. It was unclear what would have happened had Christy not continued to interfere.

Carver was so busy tormenting Sean he didn't even notice Christy had rolled up his pant leg until she bit him. He kicked more reflexively than angrily and the movement hurled Christy into the nearby wall. She hit it hard enough to stun her, and she lay where she fell trying to catch her breath. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Carver coming closer. Behind him, she could see Sean bent over on the floor pressing on his ribs.

Instead of pulling her up, Carver knelt down beside her. He put on hand on the wall over her head and loomed over her.

"I always liked it rough," he said. He kissed her so forcefully it pressed her head down against the hard cement floor. She thrashed and pounded at his back with both fists as he kissed her under her ear and down her neck toward the skin exposed by her opened shirt.

She felt a tug and Carver looked up. Christy saw Sean was pulling at his leg in a last desperate attempt to get him to leave her alone. She sagged in relief as Carver rose and lifted his horrible weight off of her and switched his attentions to Sean.

"So you do have some fight in you? At least you know how to take your licks," he said. He drew up his leg and smashed his heel into Sean's leg. Sean screamed and Christy winced at the crack it made. She crawled past Carver and draped herself over Sean, who was in too much pain to push her away.

"You're the only coward, fighting someone smaller than you," she spat before she could think better of it. Sean gasped at her audacity, but Carver only smiled, as if in admiration. He ran a hand through her hair and she shuddered, waiting what would inevitably come next. But it didn't.

"I wouldn't want to pluck another man's flower," Carver said. He turned and left the room as suddenly and capriciously as he'd come in, leaving Christy to tend to what was left of Sean. Until then, things hadn't seemed so bad. Of all the maniacs to get kidnapped by, Sean was nice and Carver was too singleminded to get lecherous. She hadn't thought she'd have to deal with an invalid and a madman. She knew her father was coming, but she hoped he hurried.