SeducedByTheAntiHero (13 page)

Just the thought had her hips leaving the bed to thrust up
into her hand. All the while, the song continued to pulse in the background and
Emma found herself cognizant of the words for the first time since she had
started this dance.

The lyrics suggested a metamorphosis of oneself. Finding
that one person you would be willing to change for. With her newfound obsession
with this song, came a fantasy that was truly deep and very much her own. Not
one she would be admitting to Ben anytime soon.

The words had resonated with her as soon as she had heard
them and she couldn’t help but wish that they could mean something between
herself and Ben. That she could find that one thing, that one trait that would
make him see her differently from every other woman he had ever met. Even if
that quality didn’t belong to her, she would change herself so that it did. Then
maybe he could let go of some of his baggage that kept him so far removed from
her. Maybe they could both evolve for each other.

Rationally, she knew that thoughts like that weren’t
healthy. Especially not in a situation like this one. You shouldn’t have to fundamentally
change yourself to make someone want you.

But,
God
, she could feel herself changing in spite of
that knowledge. Inexplicably, he was breaking down her walls, one by one. She
hadn’t been lying earlier when she told him that she didn’t want her old ideal
of Mr. Perfect anymore. Somehow, he had crossed out a good chunk of the
qualities on her “Charming List” and replaced them with ones that he possessed.
Ones she never in a million years would have thought she would want. Like his
intense stillness, or his gruff, blunt nature and his abhorrence of idle
chatter.

His “character flaws” were becoming more real, more
desirable to her, than any previously accepted quality on her list. It was to
the point that she was about to throw the damn list out the window. And that
was a dangerous place to be with someone like Ben. She knew this was a
no-strings affair and soon she would be going home to forget him. But for now,
right here in this moment, she let the fantasy of the music carry her away. Let
it make her bold. For him.

Twisting the gusset of her panties into a thin line, she
slipped it between the lips of her pussy and rocked her hips. Then tension of
the material ran the length of her slit, rubbing against her clit, her dripping
opening, and her ass all at once. She whimpered as she worked herself and
struggled to keep her eyes open and glued to Ben.

Lips parted, his tongue came out to wet the surface of his
skin as his eyes narrowed to slits of desire. While she watched, he unbuttoned
his jeans and slid his hand inside, pulling his thick cock out into view. It
was her turn to lick her lips as his fist shuttled up and down the length of
his erection.

Wanting to give him more, she pulled the material of her
panties to the side and held herself open to give him a clear view of her pussy
from the bed. His molten eyes burned down her body like a caress and she felt
delicious tingles along her skin everywhere his gaze touched.

“Goddamn, Emma. You’re so fucking beautiful, baby.” His
gravel-coated voice sent goose bumps breaking out along her skin and she
couldn’t stop herself. Just the guttural sounds he made had her clit throbbing
and she pushed two fingers inside herself.

She watched him as she pumped her fingers. Watched his hips
pump into his fist in time to her thrusts. It felt so good but she wanted more,
wanted him. Pulling her fingers free, she brought the wet tips up to her little
bud and rubbed in furious circles.

“
Ben,
” she moaned, hips pulsing to the movement of
her fingers. “I want you so much, baby.”

“I want you too, Sugar. You don’t even know how much.” His
gruff response was all she needed to hear to push her over the edge. That he
seemed to want her to the point of distraction was more erotic to her than
anything else they had done.

“Oh,
God
, Ben, I’m coming. You make me come so hard.”
The words had barely left her mouth before he was suddenly over her, his hot,
thick cock pushing into her spasming hole, tumbling her back onto the bed.

“
Mine
,” he growled out as he started a brutal
pounding rhythm inside her. The stark possessiveness in his voice had her
climbing up into another orgasm before the first one had even ended.

He braced his weight on his palms on either side of her head
as his body slammed into hers, eyes never leaving her face. She couldn’t have
looked away from him in that moment, even if she had wanted to. Which she
didn’t. He was the most beautiful, primal creature she had ever seen. And she
wanted him beyond reason.

His orgasm slammed into him at the same moment her third one
crested and he rumbled her name as she clawed the skin of his back. His hot cum
flooded her walls making her inner muscles twitch in pleasure.

In the aftermath, he collapsed on top of her and stayed
there for a few seconds before he rolled off her onto his back. When he pulled
her up against his side, she snuggled up into him and said, “You’re staying
here tonight, Ben. I don’t give a shit if you wake me up too early in the
morning. I want you here.”

As the words left her lips she had a moment of panic that
she should have just kept her mouth shut. Surely he wouldn’t appreciate a
command like that coming out of her, especially given their situation.

But to her surprise he just chuckled. “I really don’t want
to be anywhere else, Sugar. So don’t worry, I’m staying.”

Her heart flipped dangerously at his words but she wasn’t
about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Turning on her side to face the
nightstand, she shut down her iPod and flicked off the light. Before she could
roll back over, she felt Ben spoon up behind her and wrap his arm around her
waist, tugging her back into his body.

With a contented sigh, she snuggled into him and as she fell
asleep replayed over and over in her mind the word he had growled out at her.

Mine.

Ben was holding her hand. When he had reached for her and
intertwined their fingers, she had been shocked but there was no way in hell
she was about to complain.

Even more shocking was that he had actually spent the entire
night with her the previous evening. When they had fallen asleep together, she
had half expected him to have disappeared when she woke in the morning.

But he hadn’t. He had woken up at some ungodly hour to go
home to get ready for work, but he had woken her.

On purpose to say goodbye.

Though she had been half asleep, the parting kiss he gave
her had played through her mind all day. It had been so tender and full of
promises she could only guess at. And had. All day. Made it near impossible to
get any productive writing done.

Then he surprised her yet again when he called her around lunchtime
to ask her out to dinner that night. She may or may not have entered into an
alternate reality, but as she got ready to see him that night, she couldn’t
have cared less.

The sane, rational part of her brain was screaming at her
that this was very shaky ground to tread. She still didn’t really know him,
still figured that this thing between them, whatever it was, was not going to
evolve into any sort of permanent situation. Still had to go home in a few
weeks to resume her boring old life without him.

But the minute he showed up to pick her up on a motorcycle,
handed her a helmet and pulled her on behind him, she told that part of her
brain to go to hell. Then further solidified that declaration when he took her
hand and led her into the restaurant.

Emma knew she was being foolish, letting her heart carry her
away, but she couldn’t seem to help it, or force herself to walk away.

The restaurant he took her to was a grill/sports bar. Not
the quietest of places, he had told her, but the food was awesome. The place
was busy that night as there was some sort of football game going on, so they
had to wait for a table. He didn’t say too much as they waited, just assessed
the crowd of people around them, which wasn’t that surprising. What
was
surprising was the fact that he idly played with her fingers while doing so. This
small, unconscious action, warmed her heart and gave her belly flutters.

As soon as she felt it, she tried desperately to tamp down
the feeling. This was getting ridiculous and it was only going to get her into
trouble in the long run. Fortunately, he seemed oblivious to her tumultuous
emotions, and she wanted to keep it that way.

They didn’t wait too long before their table was called and
he kept up that amazing hand holding while the waitress led them to their
seats.

This kind of restaurant could give even the most focused of
people a temporary case of ADD and she wondered if he had taken her here for
that reason. The more distracted she was, the less he would have to carry on a
conversation. But that reasoning seemed directly counterproductive to going on
a date in the first place. Especially since he had no obligations to her
whatsoever.

So maybe this was an attempt in the relationship direction
to see how it would go? If that were the case, then she was damn well going to
come up with a topic of conversation and keep him engaged in it.

“That’s a pretty sweet bike you have outside.” She knew next
to nothing about motorcycles but she could recognize that his was in pristine
condition. And the way his gaze was pulled away from the people around them to
focus squarely on her once the words were out, it seemed that his bike was a
source of pride.

“Know much about choppers, do you?” The way the corner of
his mouth twitched, she knew he’d caught her. But she wanted to talk about it
anyway. She wanted to know about all his interests, what made him
Ben
.

“Ha, no not really. But you obviously do. Looks like you
take great care of your bike.”

That earned her a smile. God, she would never get sick of seeing
that smile. “Thanks. My uncle’s a mechanic and owns a shop in town. My bike was
an old 1976 Harley that was pretty much left for scrap metal.” Here his smile
turned rueful. “When I decided to become a legitimate, contributing member of
society, I spent a lot of time there. Rebuilt her from the ground up.”

A smile played at her lips as her eyebrows rose. “I’m
impressed. You seem like a jack of all trades.”

Heat filled his eyes and the smile turned into a wicked
smirk as he leaned forward. Bracing his elbows on the table, he took her hand
in his once more and twined their fingers. “I just like working with my hands.”

The hot look he gave her burned the whole way through her
body and she couldn’t help but squeeze her thighs together as she scooted
closer to him. “And I know how good you are with those hands, too,” she said
throwing him a flirty glance from under her eyelashes. But she couldn’t resist
her next remark. “As evidenced by your bike sitting outside.”

His eyes narrowed on her but the smile lingered and as she
sat back in her seat to take a sip of water she couldn’t help but think that
she could get used to seeing him like this.

Their dinner came and went with amicable conversation after
that. He told her more about his bike and working with his uncle. She told him
about her job as a bank teller back in the city. It was the “get-to-know-you”
conversation that they should have had about a week ago. Better late than
never, though. At least they were having it now.

They were waiting for the waitress to come back with their
change, when the whole pleasant tone of the evening took a turn. The game had
ended about a half hour ago but the bar patrons had stayed and the drinks kept
pouring.

One of said patrons, after having consumed copious amounts
of liquid courage, approached their table just after the waitress left. The man
looked to be in his mid-forties, light brown hair turning gray at the edges,
watered-down blue eyes half hooded from inebriation. “Well, look what we have
here. Ben Serano. Finally crawled out from under your rock to annoy the
civilized world.”

The man was tall, but as Ben stood beside him to flip his
jacket off the back of his chair and shrug it on, Emma realized that Ben was
taller. Much taller. “Paul, always a pleasure.”

Paul got up in Ben’s face and hissed, “Should have stayed
under that fucking rock where you belong, Serano.”

If Paul’s words fazed Ben at all, Emma couldn’t see it. Instead
of giving Paul the rise he was obviously aiming for, Ben just nodded and turned
to take her hand once again. “Thanks for the advice, I’ll keep it in mind. Have
a good night, Paul,” he tossed over his shoulder.

“Hey, honey,” Paul called out after them. “This guy really
is a worthless piece of shit. You sure you don’t wanna come home with me and
find out what a real man is like?”

Of all the things to get under Ben’s skin, she didn’t think
that last jab would be it. Before she realized what was happening, Ben had spun
around and grabbed the guy by the neck to slam him up against the wall.

“You don’t fucking talk to her like that. Got it?” he
growled in Paul’s face.

At this moment, Ben’s ferocity was scarier than hell and drew
the attention of some of the other patrons by the bar. But Paul just let out a
wheezing laugh. “Yeah ’cause she’s such a lady. Since she’s with you, I’d bet
that she’s an eager slut with self-esteem issues.”

This time Emma saw when Ben moved, cocked his fist back and
made to swing. She didn’t know where her common sense had flown off to, but she
knew that she didn’t want him to get into a fist fight, in a public restaurant,
because of her. His reputation was bad enough; he didn’t need this to compound
the issue.

Bravely—or idiotically—she grabbed hold of Ben’s swinging
arm before he could follow through and clock the guy. “Ben, stop,” she said
softly when he turned to look at her. “It’s not worth it. He’s the one with the
problem. Not you. Not us.”

The anger in his eyes didn’t fade but, muscle ticking in his
clenched jaw, he let Paul go. “You can think and say what you want about me; I
really don’t give a shit,” he said pinning Paul with a stare that would have
any sane, or sober, man paying close attention. “But you leave her the fuck
alone and we won’t have a problem.”

Then he had no more attention to spare Paul as he took her
hand and began to tug her toward the door. She held him off for just a second
as she turned to glare at Paul. “And just so you know? You’re just a pale
shadow of the man that Ben truly is. So why don’t you deal with that fact the
best way you know how. Go have another drink.”

When they got back to Ben’s bike and climbed on, Emma could
feel the tension running through his body, making him rigid in her arms. The
roar of the engine as he started the bike blocked out anything she might have
said, not that she knew what to say right then anyway. But she had to do
something
to bring him back down. Wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, she brought
her lips to his neck and gently kissed him.

He went completely still, so she did it again. Slowly, his
body relaxed into her and he brought one of his hands down to squeeze her
clasped hands around his middle. Scooting closer to him, she wrapped herself
tighter around his body and he started the bike out of the parking lot and down
the road.

Instead of taking her back through town toward her motel, he
seemed to be driving them farther to the other edge of town. Actually, she was
glad. She didn’t want him to drop her off just yet and she didn’t think that
right now was the best time for him to be alone.

Soon he turned onto a narrow dirt road surrounded by trees. A
few miles back into the woods there was a narrow creek that ran parallel to
some old, abandoned train tracks. A small stone bridge covered a section of the
creek and once he cut the bike’s engine, she noticed that, aside from the
running water, the place was absolutely still.

It was beautiful in a calm, rustic sort of way.

“Where are we?” she asked when he helped her climb off the
bike. The red and orange leaves of the dense trees around them were beginning
to blanket the ground and crunched under her heels as he led her over to the
bridge. The air here smelled new and clean and she couldn’t seem to get enough
of it into her lungs.

“This is my spot,” he said simply, hoisting himself up to
sit on the low stone wall of the bridge.

“Your spot?” She lifted herself up to sit beside him.

“Yeah, I used to come here a lot when I was younger, when I
needed to think, or when the world got to be too much.” Narrowing his eyes, he
stared off into the water. “Actually, I come here a lot now, too.”

Taking in their surroundings she said, “Well I can see why. It’s
peaceful here.” And it truly was. The perfect place to come to clear your head
and shut out the rest of the world. Though, when she thought about how much he
must have come here, how solitary he always seemed to be, even when he was
surrounded by people. It tugged at her heart in a kind of indefinable way. No
one should feel that alone all the time.

“And what do you think about when you come here to think?”
she asked sliding him a sideways glance.

“You mean now, or back in the day?”

She shrugged. “Both.”

Turning his head to look at her, he cocked an eyebrow but
told her anyway. “Mostly, when I was kid, I used to come here when being around
my brothers got to be too much. I’d daydream about what it would have been like
if she hadn’t taken off.” He turned to stare into the water then, but Emma was
pretty sure that’s not what he saw.

“Did you ever see her again?” she asked softly. “You know,
after?”

“Once,” he said distantly. “But she didn’t see me.”

There was more to that story and she knew it was coming, so
she patiently waited until he was ready to continue. Reaching over, he took her
hand in his and began to absently play with her fingers, tracing the lines of
her palm. His touches were easier now, not full of purpose or meant to evoke
any particular sensation. It was only for the comfort and the pleasure that he
touched her now. Like they had been lovers for years and he held her hand every
day. The thought made her heart ache, yearning for all the possibilities
between them.

Eventually he finished his story. “It wasn’t really all that
hard to track her down. She hadn’t exactly hidden where she’d gone from anyone.
When she lived with us, all she ever talked about was one day going off to New
Orleans.” He shrugged. “Figured that’d be the best place to start.”

“You found her there, then?” Emma began stroking the back of
his hand with her thumb. He squeezed her fingers.

“Yeah, that’s where she went. We found her sitting on some
guy’s lap in an outside café in the French Quarter. They were feeding each
other strawberries or some shit, and the woman was actually giggling. I’d never
heard her giggle like that at home.” He snorted. “Only sound I ever heard her
make was all her yelling. Either at Dad or at one of us.”

“You said we. You didn’t go alone?”

Shaking his head, he said, “No. I wanted to. Didn’t even
tell anyone where I was going but somehow Adam knew. Jackass wouldn’t let me go
alone so he came with me.” Flashing his gaze back to the water, he clenched his
jaw. “I really wish he had stayed home. He didn’t need to see that shit.”

She could only imagine how awful that must have been. To
know that one of your parents didn’t want anything to do with you was bad
enough. But then to find out that they were actually happy without you? It was
unfathomable to her. She had always known she had won the genetic lottery in
the family that she had. It was with no doubt at all, she knew that they loved
her. Ben’s story only confirmed that knowledge.

“You didn’t approach or confront her?” Emma didn’t know what
she would have done in that situation, but she knew her own fiery temper enough
to know she probably would have said
something
to her.