SeducedByTheAntiHero (8 page)

As he spoke she wondered if he’d done this kind of thing
before and how awkward it had been. It was actually kind of surprising that he
was taking such an avid interest in this at all. That he was actually willing
to become one of her characters to help her get an idea of how it should all
play out. Granted, there were definitely benefits in it for him, but he could
have just left it at fucking. That he was genuinely trying to help her to
better develop her plot was giving him points. Suggested there was more to him
than she had originally thought and she itched to delve deeper.

But then he tugged his gray t-shirt up over his head and
tossed it on a nearby chair and she lost her train of thought.

She had seen him shirtless earlier, but it had been from a
distance. The man was male physical beauty personified. His broad chest tapered
down to a lean waist that was delineated with hard, sinewy muscle. A light
spattering of dark hair covered his chest then formed a line below his navel
that disappeared into his low-slung jeans.

Her mouth watered as she took in the sight of him
half-naked, standing in front of her bed. Then she noticed a slash of pink,
puckered skin from an old wound on his side just below his rib cage. Before she
could think too hard on it or start to wonder where he had gotten it, he was
speaking again.

“You should probably pick a safe-word.”

That
snapped her back to reality right-quick.

“Are you planning on being so rough with me that I’ll need
one?”

Gaze finding and holding hers, he said, “I don’t want to do
anything you don’t like. Or if the game gets too intense and you wanna stop, I
want to know you actually mean stop and you’re not playing. So pick a word.”

Wow, this was definitely something she’d never had to do
before. All of her previous sexual experiences had been so painfully vanilla
that needing a safe-word had never entered into it. But, then again, she
supposed that was why she was here, in this room with Ben right now. She needed
to broaden her horizons, sexually speaking, or her writing was going to pay the
consequences.

So she just blurted out the first non-sexual word she could
think of. “How about coffee?”

If he had been any other person, she might have sworn he
would have outright laughed then. But since this was Ben, all she got was a
cocked eyebrow and a question. “Coffee?”

“Yes,” she harrumphed crossing her arms over her chest. “I
don’t think there is anything remotely sexual about coffee.”

“See.” He clicked his tongue. “I dunno about that. A good
cup of coffee can be almost a religious experience.”

“Ah, religious, but not
sexual
.”

He dipped his head as if to concede her point. “Okay, coffee
it is. You clear on the rules?” When she nodded he took her hands and pulled
her up from the bed to stand close in front of him. “Then go stand by the
window and do your thing.” He kissed her softly on the lips before whispering,
“I’m Charlie, you’re Natalie. And go.”

Feeling slightly ridiculous, she went to the window and
began to pull back the curtain. The yellow glow of the security light outside
her room added an effect that was an unexpected bonus.

“No, wait,” he said grabbing her arm and she pulled the
curtain aside as he spun her around, exposing his bare upper body to the light.
Immediately he recoiled, arms coming up to shield his face. Hissing, his whole
body trembled as though the light were actually burning him. And just like
that, it all became real and she sank into her role like a second skin.

“What’s wrong?” she asked reaching out for him.

Quickly, he pulled away and dove for the shadows on the
other side of the window. “Close the curtains,” he groaned.

Tentatively, she stepped closer and the look he gave her
over his shielding arms was so aggressive she took an involuntary step back. As
a line of pain formed down the center of his face, her mind’s eye conjured the
fangs she knew Charlie possessed dropping down from his upper jaw.

“Charlie,” she whispered, the sound broken, surprising her. “What
are
you?”

“Close the curtains, Natalie,” he repeated, more calmly this
time as he backed further into the darkness. His features were obscured in
shadow and she found herself inching farther into the pool of light streaming
in from the window. If this were real, if he really were Charlie and she
Natalie, she wouldn’t move from that haven by the window for anything.

“You…you’re not human, are you? You can’t be. Christ, your
skin was
burning
. And those teeth…” she trailed off, getting more into
character as she clutched her arms around her middle. “Oh
God
,” she
groaned. “It was you, wasn’t it? You’re the one who killed those women, aren’t
you?”

Something flashed in his eyes, a kind of tortured remorse,
and he hesitated for the barest of seconds. Now why would Charlie hesitate? He
hadn’t killed anyone. Unless it was a genuine emotion from Ben?

No, that was ridiculous. Must be a trick of the light. Then
he moved and she pondered it no more.

“No, baby, I—” He went to reach for her but when the light
touched his skin he yanked his hand back as though he had touched a hot stove. “It
wasn’t me. Come here and let me explain.” When she made no move to do so, he
pleaded. “Please, Natalie. I swear I won’t hurt you.”

Warily, she watched him as he paced around the edges of the
light like a caged animal. “How do I know that? I don’t even know what you
are.
”

“I’ll tell you everything but you have to trust me,” he said
on a sigh, running a hand through his hair. Despite the situation, she couldn’t
help but admire the muscles rippling along his rib cage with the movement.

The strong heroine that Emma had written Natalie to be
wouldn’t just blindly take his word for it right after finding out he wasn’t
human. No, she thought as she looked around the room, eyes landing on the door.
She would want to put distance between them until she had more time to think. She
wouldn’t let him distract or sway her better judgment.

“I hope you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking.” She
felt it as his whole body went still, muscles coiling as though about to
pounce.

“You don’t know what I’m thinking. But you’re a liar so
maybe you can read my mind too,” she spat.

“I never lied to you, baby. Just come here and we’ll talk
about it.” He held out his hand to her, careful to avoid the glow from the
window.

Maybe she could catch him off guard and then make a break
for it. Cautiously, she moved toward him, making to take his outstretched hand
then, at the last second, shoved him with all her strength.

Might as well have been shoving at a brick wall for all the
good it did. He lost his balance for a split second but recovered fast enough
to grab her from behind when she had made it about halfway to the door.

Using their forward momentum, he pinned her against the
door, his hard body crowding her from behind. “Will you just listen? I told you
I wasn’t going to hurt you.”

“Yeah, you’re doing a bang-up job of convincing me right
now.” She thrashed back against him to prove her point.

He let out a low growl right against her ear and the sound
traveled down her spine making her shiver. “If you’d relax I wouldn’t have to
hold you down.”

Huffing out a breath against the door, she said, “Can I at
least turn around? If we’re going to have this conversation I’d like to be
facing you.”

“I don’t know. You gonna be good?” he rumbled in a sinister
tone and she wondered what his definition of good was.

“Cross my heart,” she breathed.

Bracing his palms against the door, he pushed his body
backward giving her just enough space to spin around in the cage of his arms. As
soon as the turn was completed, he pressed his weight back into her, just to
make extra sure she wasn’t going anywhere.

In spite of the role she knew she should be playing, being
held here like this was giving her flashbacks to the last time he had pinned
her up against a wall. The memory alone was enough to make her wet and she
fought not to squirm against him. But he caught her anyway.

“I know my little revelation isn’t bothering you as much as
you say it does.” He dipped his head to brush his lips against her ear. “I can
feel how bad you want me.” Teeth nipped at the skin of her throat. “Maybe a
little fear does it for you, huh?”

More like having every hard, sexy inch of his body pressed
up against her was what did it for her. But the fear factor didn’t hurt, she
had to admit. He was like some feral animal with all those sexy growls and the
sheer strength he exerted to keep her in place and move her around how he
wanted her. He could break her in half if he felt like it.

But Emma had to remember to stay in character. What would
Natalie say to him in a moment like this? “No, I think inflicting fear is more
your thing. If you really hurt those other women then you must get off on it,
you monster.”

There, that sounded tough enough. Not at all like she was
aching to feel him inside of her again.

His head snapped up and his eyes narrowed on her. “I already
told you I didn’t have anything to do with those murders. If you’d take a
minute and think about it you’d know that. But if it’ll make you feel better,
more justified, why don’t you just keep on fighting me?” His eyes went hooded
as his gaze dropped to her mouth. “Fight me, Sugar.”

Was that last bit Charlie or Ben talking? Either way, she
decided she didn’t care as she began bucking and shoving at him.

Ignoring her efforts, he grabbed the backs of her knees and
wrapped her legs around his waist, lifting her off the floor. She shrieked for
him to put her down and slapped his chest.

“Yeah, that’s it. Fight me, baby. Get it all out of your system
so I can work your body out later.”

She knew exactly how Natalie would react to a statement like
that and without thinking she pulled back and slapped him across the face. Hard.

There was a long pause as—once again—his body went still. The
impact had jerked his head to the left and slowly he turned back to face her.

Shit, maybe I’ve gone too far
, she thought with a
racing heart. Any minute now she expected him to say the safe word and put a
stop to their game.

Instead, he said nothing as he bodily hauled her away from
the door and marched over to the bed, yanking the curtain closed with a rough
tug on the way. He unceremoniously dropped her on the mattress then quickly
covered her, taking both of her wrists and trapping them above her head.

“I know you don’t really believe I hurt anyone and I know
you aren’t afraid of me.” He ground out, spreading her thighs with his. He
rocked his lower body into her, making her whimper and arch up into him. “And
I’m gonna make you admit it.”

Before she could utter a response, his mouth came down on
hers in a rough kiss. Or at least it started out rough but he softened it when
he realized she wasn’t letting him in. It took every ounce of willpower she
possessed to pretend to keep fighting him when all she really wanted was to let
him take her over.

Gently, his velvet lips brushed over her top lip then sucked
her bottom lip into his mouth. She gave up all pretense of resisting his kiss
when his tongue pushed against hers and she kissed him back. Taking both of her
wrists into one hand, he brought the other down to cup her jaw and tilted her
head for better access. She groaned into his mouth. All the while, his hips
kept up that steady rocking and she could feel how hard he was through the
material that separated them.

Pulling back from his hold, she nipped at his bottom lip and
he chuckled before skimming that luscious mouth down the skin of her neck. “You
taste so sweet, baby, you know that?” He sucked on the skin right along her
collarbone. “I bet your blood tastes even sweeter.” He raked his teeth against
her and her whole body convulsed. If she were actually Natalie, she knew it
would be from fear of him biting her. But right now? The thought of him sinking
his teeth into her flesh had her creaming so hard and it was all she could
think about.

“Mmm, you like that idea, don’t you?” He rocked his hips
harder into her. “You want me to bite down into you.” He released her wrists
altogether and brought his hands to the hem of her lace camisole. “But I have a
better idea.”

Rough, calloused fingers glided up the soft skin of her
belly, pulling her shirt up with them until the material was pulled completely
free of her. She hadn’t bothered with a bra when she had changed earlier and he
growled at the sight of her bared breasts.

After tossing her shirt away, his hands came back down to
mold her flesh as he brought his mouth to her breast. Her nipples were hard
with arousal, aching for his touch and when it came, her body arched up off the
bed. The throbbing in her pussy got worse as he sucked on her and kept up the
steady rocking of his hips.

She whimpered when his mouth moved to her other breast. The
way those full lips of his felt against her was insane and she would never be
able to look at his mouth again without thinking about this. He swirled his
tongue around the hard peak before enveloping it into the wet heat of his
mouth. On instinct, she ran her fingers through his thick hair to pull him
closer, losing herself in the way he felt over her.

His hands skimmed down her sides and hooked into her boy
shorts, tugging them downward. Without thinking, she lifted her hips to help
him pull them off her, while his mouth continued its sweet torture on her
fevered skin.

Rearing up to his knees, he stared down at her with heavy-lidded
eyes, taking in her body spread out before him like a feast. “When this is
over, Natalie, you’re gonna know beyond any doubt that I could never hurt you.”