SeducedByTheAntiHero (6 page)

“Your turn,” she said huskily, chasing his mouth with hers
to draw his bottom lip in between her teeth. Letting out another one of those
incredibly sexy growls, he took the kiss over and continued to pound into her.

“You want it, huh?” he rumbled. “You want my cum?”

She was already taking a huge risk here with him, being with
him like this. If he came inside her with nothing separating them, it would add
a level of intimacy to this experience that she shouldn’t want with a man she
barely knew, didn’t know if she could trust. Emma didn’t know where her
inhibitions had gone, or where her self-preservation instinct had scurried off
to, but she wanted that more than her next breath. So she flashed him a sultry
smile and nodded.

Those whiskey-colored eyes darkened and his jaw ticked as he
bit out, “Say it.”

She didn’t even hesitate and her eagerness shocked her. “I
want your cum.”

At her whispered words, he closed his eyes and thrust into
her hard three more times before he erupted inside her. His whole body
shuddered against hers as he groaned her name. The knowledge that she had made
this strong, virile man vulnerable for even so brief a moment was heady.

Eventually, as his shudders stopped and his breathing
returned to normal, he lowered her feet back to the ground and untied her
wrists. Neither of them said a word as they righted their clothes. In her case,
after she repositioned her bra, she had to zip her sweatshirt up over her
ruined t-shirt.

Eh, it was totally worth it.

Pulling a pair of weathered work gloves out of his back
pocket, he bent down to pick up a mask that looked more like a burlap sack. As
he pulled the gloves on he pinned her with that intense amber gaze.

She wasn’t sure what the protocol was here. They’d never
actually had a full-on conversation but he’d just made her come so hard that
she’d screamed her release. Twice. What was she supposed to say after a thing
like that? As he wasn’t much of a talker in general she figured it would be on
her, but he again surprised her.

“You better go find Chloe before she has an aneurism trying
to figure out where you are.”

Of all the things he could have said to her, that was the
least expected and she didn’t mind admitting to herself that she was a little
disappointed. She hadn’t expected a declaration of undying love or anything,
but if he’d at least asked for her number that wouldn’t have been out of line.

And then the words came tumbling out of her before she could
think better of them. “Is that your polite way of trying to get rid of me so
that this doesn’t get awkward?”

The corners of his lips twitched again and she swore she saw
amusement flicker in his eyes. This was practically raucous laughter coming
from him and she wasn’t sure if she should be offended or not.

“I don’t wanna get rid of you, Sugar. I’ve just got a
factory full of other people to scare shitless.”

Quirking an eyebrow she said, “Oh, is that how you scare
everyone who comes into this room?”

“Nope.” He moved closer to her. “Only the people I like.” He
kissed her lips softly. “And we both know you weren’t screaming because you
were afraid.”

“If you say so.” She couldn’t help it, she had to kiss him
back even if he was being kind of an ass.

He deepened the kiss but only for a moment before he pulled
away and said low in her ear, “See you later, Emma.” Then with a gentle push,
she found herself on the other side of the curtain and Ben was gone.

As she dazedly made her way back out into the corridor, she
ran her teeth over her kiss-swollen bottom lip and had a moment to wonder what
the hell had just happened to her.

The pounding music of the live band hit Emma’s ears as soon
as she entered Able’s. They actually weren’t bad for a cover band. She’d heard
them from the parking lot outside and in the time it took for her to walk into
the building they had switched from Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” to Robin Thicke’s
“Blurred Lines”. She appreciated the diversity and skill it took to be able to
play both styles of music well, which they did.

Music had always fuelled her creative process so her iPod
had an eclectic mix made up of just about every genre there was. She had
playlists for each one of the books she’d written and anytime she felt stuck
with a particular story or scene she popped her headphones on and got lost in
the inspirational muse that was sound. And the one aspect of her writing that
hadn’t been improved by the cure-all that was music had gotten a healthy boost
from Ben the other night. She should have been golden when it came to drafting
out the new and improved scenes for her novel.

Only problem was, she hadn’t seen or heard from Ben since
and that didn’t sit right with her. Granted, it had only been two days but Emma
wasn’t used to one-night stands. Especially not one-night stands that had her
crying out in pleasure in a public place in front of God and everybody.

Fucking her up against the wall in public—behind a curtain
or no—was
definitely
not on her “Charming List”. It was way too raw,
barbaric and unrefined. Even bordering on rude and inconsiderate if she thought
about it. How did he know if she would even been up for something so base and
downright crude? And he hadn’t used a condom, which really should be bothering
her but somehow it wasn’t. Just the memory of his hot cum exploding inside her,
had her inner muscles spasming in aftershocks. She had to be absolutely crazy
out of her mind.

But she couldn’t deny that she
had
been up for it. Loved
every raunchy detail of what he’d done to her in that factory. She’d never come
so hard in her life and it made her realize that there was definitely an erotic
thrill to being so thoroughly dominated like that. And no matter what, he
had
been a considerate lover, making sure she’d gotten off before him. Twice.

So was it possible for her to update her list to include
hot, semi-public sex? Maybe. If nothing else, the experience was definitely going
to be relived in her writing. No way could she pass up the opportunity to
infuse her story with something so damn hot.

She’d spent a good chunk of those two days replaying the
blessed event over and over in her mind. But each time the evening ended differently.
Her favorite variation on that fantasy was when he took her back to his house
and taught her a few more things that broke down her writer’s block.

It wasn’t that she expected any lasting commitment from him,
but damn it, she wanted to see him again. See if the screaming orgasms he’d
given her were a fluke or if he was just that good.

But that was all, she told herself adamantly as she pushed
through the crowd. He definitely wasn’t the type a girl could settle down with;
that was for sure. What he had done to her and his response to it all—which was
complete silence—were also so far removed from her “Charming List” it was
laughable.

But still. There was something about him. Technically, she’d
gotten what she wanted but she just wasn’t quite done with him yet.

Mostly, she had come to Able’s tonight night because she was
supposed to meet Chloe, Brian and Mina but she knew the Serano brothers owned
the bar. She would be lying to herself if part of her wasn’t hoping that she
would run into Ben, too. Maybe they could actually have a conversation tonight
that consisted of more than five sentences.

Eventually, after she had ordered a martini from the bar,
she spotted her friends at a table not far away from where the band was
performing.

“It’s about damn time,” Chloe said once Emma made her way to
the table. “I thought you’d gotten lost on your way here.”

Chuckling, Emma took a seat facing the band. “You know me;
it takes me a minute to look this good when I go out.” She sent Chloe a wink
before turning her eyes to the band.

There was a response that came from Chloe’s direction, Emma
was sure of it, but she couldn’t hear a thing, riveted as she was by what she
was seeing.

Among his many other talents, Ben was a drummer. Would
wonders ever cease?

The band must have been playing for a while up under those
hot lights because he’d taken off his shirt and his bared skin glistened with
sweat as he moved. And oh, the way he moved. She liked to think that she had a
decent sense of rhythm, but she had always been fascinated by watching drummers
do their thing. Especially if he was good, and Ben definitely knew his way
around a drum kit.

She sat transfixed as he lost himself in the music. The way
he flowed into the rhythm, finding the beat with every part of his body. His
head bobbed and sweat flew with his motions as he pounded on the drums. The
sleeve tattoo on his left arm from shoulder to elbow danced as the thick
muscles there bunched and released. At one point his eyes closed when he threw
his head back and she felt her mouth water as she watched a droplet of moisture
run down the strong column of his throat.

Then his eyes opened and landed on her as though he had
known she was there all along.

An electric tingle shot through her body, hitting all the
major nerve endings along the way as those amber eyes devoured her. And then
all those aforementioned nerve endings just about melted into a puddle when one
corner of his wicked mouth tilted into a grin.

Oh good Lord
, she thought forcing her gaze away and
taking a giant gulp of her martini. The man was just so incredibly sexy she
didn’t know what to do with herself. And worse was that he seemed to know his
effect on her. Which was to completely stupefy her, apparently, because Chloe
had been trying to get her attention for the last who-knew-how-long and she
hadn’t heard her.

“I’m sorry, what?” she finally said, shaking her head to
clear the cobwebs.

A knowing smirk appeared on Chloe’s face. “I knew you’d zone
out if we sat close enough to the stage. I was trying to ask you if you wanted
another drink.” She nodded to the now empty martini glass sitting in front of
Emma.

Oh wow, when did that happen?

The song ended and while the lead singer started talking
about taking a short break she saw Ben grab a towel and his t-shirt off the
floor before walking off the stage. Suddenly her mouth went dry as he tugged
his shirt on and began making his way toward their table. She snapped her eyes
back to Chloe.

“Yeah, I definitely think I need another drink,” she croaked
out just as he stopped in front of her.

Chloe’s smirk spread into a grin. “Sure, sure. We’ll be
right back.” She grabbed Brian’s arm and pulled him with her to the bar. It was
then it occurred to Emma that Mina was no longer at the table, either. She did
a quick scan of the room and found her over by the bar talking to Tyler as he
served drinks.

With a rumbled, “Hey,” Ben slouched into the seat across
from her that Chloe had vacated.

“Hi.” The word came out cracked so she cleared her throat. “I
didn’t know you were a drummer.” Easiest to talk about the obvious and not this
thick tension she could feel between them.

“I’m not, not really.” He shook his head. “I only fill in
every once in a while for these guys when their regular drummer flakes out on
them.”

“That’s a shame.” When he frowned she hurried to continue. “I
mean that you aren’t a permanent member of the band. You’re really good and you
looked like you were enjoying yourself.”

He just shrugged and then promptly changed the subject. “So
what’s this book you’re writing about anyway?”

Yup, he put the conversation right back on the one subject
she had been trying to avoid. “You sure you wanna hear about it? It’s a romance
novel.” Maybe the gushy love stuff would put him off and they could talk about
something safer.

No such luck.

“I’m supposed to be helping you out with your book, right? That
was the challenge so I wanna know what it’s about. It doesn’t all have to be
about the sex parts, does it?” When she narrowed her eyes, he continued. “But
if you’d rather it was, there’s an office in the back that we can lock
ourselves into…” She kicked him under the table to cut him off and he flashed
her another grin. Wow, two in one night. And he was being playful. Was he in a
good mood or something?

She eyed him speculatively for a minute then thought,
eh,
what the hell?
Maybe he
could
help her. Getting a male’s perspective
certainly couldn’t hurt. “Okay, so here’s the problem I’m having. My critique
partner read through my manuscript and came back with the comment that my
characters, specifically my hero, don’t have any flaws. They’re too perfect and
that makes them un-relatable.”

And as Emma had read back through her manuscript, she’d had
to admit that Jessica was right. Charles was way too cookie cutter to be
interesting. As much as she longed for a perfect, flawless man in real life,
that kind of a thing just didn’t hold up in a novel. Conflict was the key to an
intriguing plot and cast of characters, and that was what her book had sorely
been lacking between her hero and heroine. While she didn’t want them to argue
all the time—because that could be annoying as hell—they did have to have some
tension or else it would be a boring read.

Ben huffed as bitterness twisted his lips. “Character flaws,
huh? Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can help you develop some of those.”

Okaaay, that had been a loaded comment and she ached to dig
deeper into it but she knew that now was not the time. He would just shut down.
So despite her continual burning curiosity, she forged on with the topic at
hand.

“Good, because that’s what I need at the moment.” Absently
she started twirling her empty glass on the table. “My story is about a weary
vampire named Charles who had served as the hunter and executioner of criminals
of his race for centuries. He has just, for all intents and purposes, retired
from this role, done with the killing and feeling burnt-out when he moves into
a small town to get some peace and quiet.” Before she could continue, Ben
snorted and cut her off.

Being an interrupter. Definitely not a quality on her
“Charming List”.

“First off, if he’s a badass vampire don’t call him Charles.
It sounds too much like he has a stick shoved up his ass. If you’re gonna stick
with a variation on that name call him Charlie or something. Second of all,
there’s no peace in small town life. Everybody knows everybody else’s shit and
that can get real old real fast, Sugar. Especially if you’re someone like him
trying to hide your past.”

“Well, that’s what Charles, er Charlie,” she waved her hand
in the air, “comes to find out after he moves in. That maybe this move wasn’t
the smartest idea he’s ever had. He doesn’t like being around people and
because he’s the new guy he gets bombarded with curious townies that want to
know his story. He starts to get annoyed and thinks about moving again when he
meets Natalie, his neighbor. He’s drawn to her and wants to get to know her.”

And this was where her story began to get a little stale. It
was love at first sight for Charles and Natalie and without explanation or
reason, Charles dotes on her. For a—as Ben put it—badass vampire Emma had to
admit it didn’t make much sense. But she wasn’t sure what aspects to change
about him without making him and the romance between them sound corny.

As if he could read her thoughts, Ben asked her a few
unexpected yet poignant questions. “Okay, it sounds like Charlie’s kind of a
loner when the book starts. Why is that? What makes him feel more comfortable
being by himself than in the company of other people? And what is it about
Natalie that makes her the exception to that rule?”

Impressed by his intuitiveness, she leaned forward and
braced her elbows on the table. “I don’t know. You tell me.”

Again he shrugged. “If his job before this was to go after
vampire criminals, and not only arrest them but execute them? Then he’s gotta
have some scars from getting into some fights. Maybe seeing the ugly side of
people for so long left its mark on him. The overexposure to it could have
stripped away his ability to trust and now he has a bad attitude to match all
the scars. So maybe the menace rolling off him tends to have people giving him
a wide berth when he enters the room and he likes it that way. Less chance of
getting bit in the ass by personal relationships in the long run.”

A faraway light lit up Ben’s dark eyes as he spoke and Emma
got the impression that maybe they weren’t just talking about her book anymore.
What
had happened to him to make him so hard and unforgiving? It was on
the tip of her tongue to ask, against her better judgment, but he was already
speaking before she could get the words out.

“As for what makes Natalie different? Maybe she’s not scared
of him. She’s the one person in that town who believes that there’s an actual
person underneath all that armor and she calls him out on his bullshit. He
loves her strength and thinks that she might be able to withstand a life with
someone like him.” He blinked as if coming out of a trance, then gave a soft
laugh. “I mean a vampire like him.”

Was that a sample of what made up his own version of a
“Charming List”? Before she realized what she was doing, Emma found herself
mentally cataloging her own personality to see if she possessed any of the
traits that he spoke of. What would it take to be the one he saw differently
from everyone else he had ever met? What would it take to be the one who wiped
that pained look off his face and replaced it with that stunning smile he so
rarely gave? And more importantly, why was she suddenly feeling so desperate to
be that one?