MIDNIGHT Bride The CEO's TEMPTATION

Crystal gasped. She thought - How could I ever carry Nathan up a flight of stairs? He was nearly two hundred pounds, and it had taken four servants to carry him inside. "I c-can't d-do it," she stammered.

"Can't or won't?" Nathan hissed. "I have done so much for you. What have you done for me?" His cold fingers pinched her chin. "Crystal, what have you done for me except hurt me?"

"Be reasonable." Crystal sighed and said, "You are too heavy. I am afraid of dropping you."

"Do you honestly think that I care about being dropped?" Nathan asked, "You have broken my heart thousands of times. What is one more injury?"

Crystal raised her head and looked directly into his eyes. Then she gritted her teeth and said, "Fine. I'll give it a try. Don't blame me, though, if you crack your skull!"

"Well..." Nathan smiled. "What are you waiting for?"

Crystal nodded, turned around, and bent her knees slightly so that he could climb on her back. The second that she felt his weight on her, her breathing became labored, and she felt her knees buckle." You can't do this..." a voice in her head whispered." You're going to kill yourself trying."

She tried to force the voice to shut up, but it was hard. She felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She hooked his legs with her arms and took her first step, and as she moved, his chest rubbed against the wounds on her back. She took another step, and she began to whimper. She could not help it.

"What's wrong?" Nathan asked skeptically. "Am I too heavy?"

Crystal ignored his questions and concentrated on her third step.

The servants could see how hard this was for Crystal, and they lined up on either side of her. One of them said, "If anything happens, we will catch you."

Crystal nodded and took the final three steps to the stairs. Then she looked up in horror. With Nathan on her back, the landing at the top looked like it was a million miles away. She lifted her right leg, and as the weight shifted to her left leg, she stumbled. Nathan's foot touched the ground briefly, and he hissed into her ear: "Crystal, is this what you call 'carrying me'?"

"You are too heavy...." She gasped and said, "I told you not to blame me..."

"You can give up at any time," he said in a gloomy voice. "I will give you time to practice, but you cannot leave until you have carried me to my bed."

"F**k you!" Crystal growled. "You are a masochist. Do you know that?"

"Are you going to carry me to my room or not?" 

"I will carry you up," Crystal replied. "If I fall, it is your own fault." She let go of Nathan's legs so that they were dragging on the ground. Then she grasped the handrails on either side of her and hauled herself up the first four steps. Then she had to stop and catch her breath. Sweat dripped from her forehead. Her back was slick, and she was in agony. Not only was the weight killing her, but her wounds felt like they were on fire.

Crystal bit her lower lip to keep from crying out, and the coppery taste of blood in her mouth somehow distracted her from the pain. She put her hands back on the handrails and found the inner strength to make it to the top. 

"Almost there." Nathan chuckled and told her to keep going.

Crystal frowned, and then she smiled as a thought occurred to her: If she leaned backward, they would both be thrown down the stairs. Not even the servants would be able to save them. They would break their necks, which would be the end of their story. That would be nice - she thought - It is a pity that I still have so many unfinished tasks. If she completed suicide, she knew that Eric would kill Carlos and that he would not help Noah. Thus, she had an obligation to live.

"Yes," Crystal muttered. "Almost there..." She took two more steps, and as she put her weight on her right foot, it buckled, and she collapsed. She fell forward, and he landed on top of her, and his body was so heavy that she could not move a muscle. Now, more than ever, Crystal wished that she were dead. She wished that she had leaned backward, and not even the thought of Noah and Carlos could convince her that her life was worth living.

For a long while, Crystal just lay there. Finally, she felt like she had enough energy to get up. She bent her arms and put her hands flush against the floor, and she tried to do a 'Girl's push-up.' From there, she hoped to get herself into an upright position. Unfortunately, she only made it about four inches off the floor before her body gave out again. "f**k a duck," she grumbled. "I don't know what I am going to do with you, Nathan..."

"Damnit!" Nathan hissed. While Crystal had been trying to get up, he had been getting angrier by the second. "If you cannot stand up and carry me, then crawl. You can be my horse!" He bit into her shoulder, and she yelped. He was so angry that he thought that he was about to vomit blood! A second later, he coughed, and he actually did vomit blood. It went all over Crystal, and some of it splashed back into his face. Disgusting - he thought.

A servant rushed over. She said, "Master... You... you are v-vomiting blood..." Her face was a pale shade of green. All of the servants wanted to help him, but no one dared to intervene on his behalf without his say-so.

Finally, Nathan rolled off of Crystal. He stood up, nudged her with his foot, and grimaced. "Crystal..." he grumbled. "You are such a ruthless woman. I hope you know that I hate you! I wish you were dead. I have asked so little of you, but you couldn't even help me to my bed when I was sick." Crystal remained silent, and her silence exacerbated his rage.

Nathan thought- No matter how much I hate her, she remains indifferent. The hate that he now felt for her was as extreme as his love had been.

Finally, he turned to his servants.. "Well?" he shouted. "What are you waiting for? Get me to my room!"