Sexy Bastards Anthology: Bad Boy, Biker, Alpha, Motorcycle Club, Contemporary Romance Collection (108 page)

Chapter 12

Eric looked at the beautiful, nervous woman and had to ask himself what was different about her. She was the first and only woman he’d ever brought back to his place. If the woman didn’t have a suitable place for them to fuck, he rented a hotel room. Sometimes he left and let her stay and other times like with Sheila he sent them packing. He never slept all night with one and he’d never had dinner brought in for one either. He’s taken dates to charity events where he actually dined and danced with them of course…but the rules still applied after the event was over. He also didn’t take overnight trips with them. He wanted to be clear from the start what he was looking for…pure, unadulterated sex. He liked it rough and he loved to be in control. If they had a problem with that he had no problem with them leaving…although they rarely did. He looked at Crystal and wondered if she would object to his “tastes.” He really hoped not. He couldn’t remember ever wanting a woman this badly. As he poured them each a glass of wine he said,

“So Crystal, do you have any siblings?” He wanted to put her at ease. Maybe talking about mundane things would do that. She looked like she was going to rabbit any second.

Smiling nervously she said, “No, I’m an only child.” She took a sip of her wine and then a bite of her salad. She even looked cute when she chewed. “My parents had me later in life after they got their careers on track…or after Mother got hers on track and helped my dad start his business. They didn’t want to have any others and be raising kids in their fifties.”

“Lucky you,” he told her with a grin and a wink. “I sometimes wish my parents had stopped at one.” He cut off a piece of his steak and popped it in his mouth.

“Do you just have Sheri and the chef brother?” He finished chewing and wiped his mouth before saying,

“No, I have one other brother. The “chef” is Greg. He is thirty-two. He’s always loved to cook even when we were kids. He had an easy-bake oven and I remember giving him a lot of shit about it. Now he caters food for celebrities, so I guess he has the last laugh there. My other brother is a firefighter. His name is Brent. He’s thirty-five and he’s always been the athletic one. I’m the oldest, the brainy one,” he said with a grin. Sheri is twenty-eight and the baby…spoiled rotten, of course. I had it to do over again I would have insisted on being an only child.”

Crystal laughed. “It has its advantages I guess. It can get lonely though. When I was young and my parents were working a lot I would have liked to have siblings to keep me company.” He watched her take another sip of her wine. He wanted to run his tongue along her lips while they were wet with it.

“To fight with,” he said about the siblings with a grin. “That’s all we ever did…still do.” That wasn’t exactly true. He only really fought with Sheri and that was because she wouldn’t stay out of his business. He didn’t see his brothers as often as he would like. They were all really busy. “What did…do your parents do?”

“My father is a contractor. He owns his own business in Jersey…” Eric was grinning at her. “What?”

“Jersey, that’s the accent. I just love it. It’s so sexy. It makes me have…naughty thoughts.” She blushed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been with a woman who actually blushed.

“Thank you,” she said, sounding a little flustered. She took a long drink of her wine before saying, “My mother was a criminal psychologist. I’m sure you probably knew her…Susan Reid.”

“Oh yes! I never put the name together. Your mother was a huge asset to us. It must have been hard on you losing her the way you did. I’m sorry for your loss.” He really did have a lot of respect for Susan. A lot of his cases had been made due to her diligence. He suddenly realized why John seemed so protective of Crystal. It made perfect sense now. He and Susan were so close. Eric hadn’t really known her on a personal level, only on a professional one.

“Thank you. It was hard… at the time we weren’t close. I was angry with her for…well, now that I think about it, silly things. I’ve found out a lot about her since I’ve started this internship that I didn’t know. I have a renewed respect for her. I wish I would have realized when she was alive what amazing work she was doing.”

He nodded. “She was a genius at what she did. I loved having her on my side in the courtroom.” He was being completely honest. They’d all lost something precious when Susan died.

“Was she ever on the side of the defense?” Crystal asked. She was so curious lately about what her mother did. She got tidbits from John, but it seemed to make him sad to talk about her.

“Rarely was she on the side of the defense,” he said. “She was impartial, don’t get me wrong. But, your mother always gave her 100% honest assessment and generally when you’re working with criminals that puts you on our side of the desk. She kept a lot of lowlifes from being re-released into society too soon but she was also honest enough to say when she believed the rehabilitation had worked. I see now why you’re so smart…and beautiful.” She blushed again. Eric wanted so badly to push dinner aside and take her right here on the dining room table. He pictured her naked and open to him with her pale skin and flaming hair offset by the dark, shiny wood…He forced himself to be patient. He didn’t want to scare her off. The only thing his sister was right about was that she wasn’t like most of the women he’d been with. That didn’t mean he couldn’t have her…that only meant he had to be more careful with this one.

“Thank you,” she said again. “What about your parents. Do they live in New York?”

“They do. They live upstate. My father is in the oil business and my mother is…well, she likes to spend my father’s money.”

Crystal laughed and said, “I’m sure there’s more to her than that. She raised four kids, right? That couldn’t have been easy.” Crystal put her salad aside and took a bite of her steak.

“No, you’re right. There is much more to her than that. She’s actually an amazing woman in her own right. She runs at least three charities that I know of and she dedicates her time to several others as well. She did raise four kids…three of them weren’t all that bright and were terribly annoying.” She laughed and he said, “I’m completely serious. I’m the only one who amounted to anything.”

“Right,” she said with a smile. “You and Sheri seem to get along well. It must be nice to work with your sister.”

“Nice? Hmm…that’s not the word I’d call it. Torturous…maybe, that’s closer anyways.” Crystal smiled and took another bite. After she swallowed and took another drink of wine she said,

“Sheri’s been really nice to me. Some of the other assistants…”

“Marla is a bitch, right?”

She didn’t look like she was sure if she should agree or not. Finally she said, “She seems really protective of you.”

He laughed. “You can’t say an unkind word, can you?”

“Oh I can. Tanya…she’s a bitch, straight up.”

He laughed. “I have to agree there too. I know that Marla is a bitch to other people…but she is one of the few people who could put up with me the way she does and still do a stellar job, so I overlook it. I’m not sure why John puts up with Tanya. He’s just too nice to let anyone go, I think.”

Crystal pushed her plate back. “Dinner was amazing, but I really can’t eat another bite.” Eric looked down at his and realized he’d been eating while they were talking and he hardly remembered tasting it. It was hard for him to concentrate on anything else when Crystal was around. That was new for him…and he wanted to explore it more.

“What about dessert?” he said.

She put her hands over her flat belly and said, “Oh no…I couldn’t.”

He leaned over close to her and with his mouth only about an inch from hers he said, “I wasn’t talking about cake or pie.”

She pulled back slightly so she could see his face and said, “Just dinner, Eric…” He felt like he wanted to scream. He wanted her so fucking bad. He wasn’t used to being denied what he wanted. Something about Crystal told him she would be worth it though. He smiled.

“Just dinner,” he said, pulling back. There was no way he was okay with that. He wasn’t giving up…not by a long shot. “How about a drink then?”

She laughed. “Okay, another glass of wine.”

“No wine! That’s not a drink.” He took her hand and pulled her up out of her seat. He wasn’t tempted just to pull her into him…but as much as he liked to be in control, he wasn’t into taking a woman by force. He prosecuted enough scumbags who did that to last him a lifetime. He led her into the living room and said, “Sit, I’ll fix you a real drink.”

Shaking her head with a smile she sat down on the plush couch. He went over to the bar along the wall and as he poured them a shot he noticed her looking at the plaques, pictures and awards he had above the mantle. He handed her the shot of whiskey and held his up. She grinned and held hers out too, they drank them together and she closed her eyes for a few seconds.

“See,” he said, “That’s a real drink.”

She shivered, “Yep, I can’t argue with that. Who is the man in that top picture there with you?”

“That is Eddie Bryant.”

“Oh wow! I thought he looked familiar. He’s an old Yankee’s player.”

Eric nodded. “Not that old, he just retired two years ago. Are you a baseball fan?”

“Not really, but my dad is. He loves the Yankees. Do you know him personally?”

“About three years ago his sister was murdered on the subway. I prosecuted the man who killed her.”

“Oh how terrible. Why did he kill her? Was it random?”

“No, it was a contract hit. Her husband paid some schlep to shoot her. She was the one with the money, so it wasn’t even a stretch when we looked at him for it. Some criminals are too stupid to breathe the same air we do.”

“Wow, how awful to love someone who would do that to you. What about that one on the end? Isn’t she a Broadway actress?”

“Yeah, that’s Joanie Marshall. She lost her parents both in a car accident that she didn’t believe was an accident. She asked me to have my detectives look into it, so I did it as a favor to her. It turned out upon closer inspection their brake lines had been cut. We ended up prosecuting her father’s business partner for that one.”

“Jeez! You can’t trust anyone,” she said. “You did it as a favor? You knew her before?”

“My parents are good friends with hers. We kind of grew up together.”

Crystal raised her eyebrows. “Did you date her?”

Eric grinned, “Why? Are you jealous?”

“Not at all,” she said, “I was just going to say I don’t think she’s a very good actress.”

Eric laughed. His phone was lying on the bar. It buzzed and they both looked at it. Ignoring it he said, “You’re right there. I think Joanie got most of her parts by virtue of her looks alone. To answer your earlier question, I didn’t date her.”

She smiled and said, “I really don’t know what kind of actress she is. It was pure and simple jealousy.” She blushed after she said it. Eric wondered if it was the whiskey or if she was just getting more comfortable with him. Either way, he liked it. He held up his empty glass,

“I think that calls for another whiskey.”

She wrinkled her cute little freckled nose and said, “Okay, but just one.”

He got up and poured them another. He glanced at the phone. He knew it would be her. He started back over to Crystal when it buzzed again. He tried not to look annoyed. Crystal raised an eyebrow but she didn’t say anything. When he handed the drink to her this time their fingers brushed and he felt another surge of adrenaline…and lust. The phone was once again forgotten. He had to have her. If she left tonight and he didn’t get to fuck her…he might implode. “To dessert!” he said. She gave him an odd look but she said,

“To dessert,” and clinked her glass with his. Then she downed her shot and shivered again. He went over to the sound system on the bar and flipped it on. A slow, seductive song wafted out and Eric grabbed her, pulled her to her feet and into his arms. He put his mouth to her ear and said,

“You’re my dessert.” As they swayed to the music he let his hands follow the curves of her body.

“Eric…we shouldn’t…”

“Why not?”

She couldn’t seem to think of anything for a long time. Finally she said, “We work together…”

“Not really. Not anymore.” She started to say something else and he said, “Shh…just dance with me.” He held her close and ran his hands down her back and over the soft curves of her ass, squeezing her cheeks in his hands. The phone buzzed again…this time he knew she had given up texting and was calling. He was afraid he would regret it…but he ignored it, again. He let his tongue come out and trace the outline of her ear as his mouth pressed into it. He ground his hips into hers so she could feel how badly he wanted her. He felt her body tremble against him and he knew she wanted him too. He wasn’t sure why she was denying herself. “I want you, Crystal. I want to be inside of you…I want to taste you…..” He felt her body meld into his more and a soft sigh escaped her lips. He pressed his lips into her neck underneath all that fabulous hair and he began to lick and suck and nibble. She put her head back and this time the sound wasn’t a sigh, but a moan. “Crystal?”

“Yes?”

“I want you…I want to fuck you worse than I’ve wanted anything in a long time. I need to be inside of you. Tell me you want me too, Crystal.”