by Fine, L. J.
“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 moved closer and the aggressive look he gave her over his shielding arms had her taking an involuntary step back. As line of pain formed down the center of his face, her mind’s eye conjured the fangs dropping down from his upper jaw that she knew Charlie possessed.
“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. Shadows obscured his features and she found herself inching farther into the pool of light streaming 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. Your skin was burning. And those teeth…” she trailed off, getting more into character as she clutched her arms around her middle. “Oh shit,” 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 of Ben’s?
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 brushed up against 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 ribcage with the movement.”
The strong heroine Emma had written Natalie to be wouldn’t 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 time to think. She wouldn’t let him distract her or sway her better judgement.
“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 her. 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 that 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 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 she completed the turn, 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 gave her flashbacks of the last time he had her pinned up against a wall. The memory alone was enough to make her wet and she fought not to squirm against him. 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, mouth-watering inch of his body pressed up against her was what did it for her. But the fear factor didn’t hurt either, 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 fear is more your thing. If you really hurt those other women then you just get off on it.”
There, that sounded tough enough. Not at all like she ached 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 dipped down and grabbed the backs of her knees, lifting her off the floor to wrap her legs around his waist. She shrieked for him to put her down and slapped at 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.
A long pause followed 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 took it too far, she thought with a racing heart. Any minute now she expected him to say the safe-word and put 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 along 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 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? I bet your blood tastes even sweeter.” He sucked on the skin right along her collarbone then raked his teeth against her and she shivered. 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 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 on you.” He released her wrists altogether and brought his hands down to the hem of her lace camisole. “But I have a better idea.”
Rough, callused fingers glided up the soft skin of her belly, pulling her shirt up with them until he pulled the material completely free of her. She hadn’t bothered with a bra when she had changed earlier and he growled at the site 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. 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 of 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.”
Oh, he was good. Her character in the game had fled her mind the minute his mouth touched her bare skin. Still firmly into his role, his comment brought the real reason for this game sharply back into focus. Would Natalie let Charlie seduce her this easily? Would she let her desire for him overshadow everything else she knew to be true? All the evidence stacked against him?
No, she wouldn’t. He would need to do a hell of a lot more convincing before she let him have his way with her. He let her go to bring his hands up to undo his jeans and she shoved at him, catching him off guard and throwing him off balance long enough to scramble out from under him on her hands and knees.
She didn’t get very far when he grabbed her. Before she had time to register what was happening, he slid her back down the mattress, her ass hitting his hard thighs. Putting his right arm around her ribs, he yanked her upper body off the bed so that her back pressed flat against his chest.
“Why are you making this so damn difficult, baby?” His left hand came up to wrap around her neck. Not hard, but enough to get her attention as he tilted her head to the side so he could speak directly into her ear. “Don’t you wanna feel me?”
His right hand slid down her bare stomach, fingers sliding into her slit. All their play up to this point had her all slick and slippery and he groaned when he felt it. Two of his fingers began running light circles over her stiff bud as he whispered, “I’m gonna make you feel so good, Sugar.” Voice dark and gruff, it slid along her nerve endings, making her whimper. “You just have to trust me.”
Those two wicked fingers slid lower, rimming her opening before pushing inside, stretching her swollen pussy, making her cry out.
“Right here,” he growled, grazing his teeth lightly against her neck as he pumped his fingers slowly in and out. “I wanna be right here.”
When his palm rubbed and pressed into her clit, her hips bucked into his thrusting fingers.
“Yeah, you want it, don’t you? Wanna feel me fucking this sweet hole until you come all over my cock.” The way he stroked her and the dark words accompanying his touch made her feel helpless and nearly out of her mind and she could only nod. “You gonna be a good girl and let me?”
Yup. In Emma’s opinion this completely qualified as a thorough convincing. The hand over her throat came up to cup her jaw and she turned her head to suck his thumb into her mouth as she once again nodded. She wanted him so bad she couldn’t concentrate on the game anymore. She was done playing.
Never before had she felt like this. Like her entire body was a live wire. He made her feel sexy and so incredibly feminine that she actually purred when he gently pushed her down to brace her weight on her hands in front of him.
The sound of his zipper coming down permeated her lust-filled haze and when she felt the tip of his cock brush against her flesh, she arched her back into him like a cat in heat.
“You’re so fucking wet, Sugar.” His grunt of satisfaction as he continued to tease his cockhead through her slit indicated that he very much approved. But he didn’t slide home despite her efforts to push him inside. “You want this and I’m gonna give it to you. But you have to say it.”
Her only response, the only one she could muster at the moment, was to drop her head forward, rub back against him and moan softly. Apparently, though, that wasn’t good enough.
“Say it.” He brought his fingers down to rub slow circles over her clit once more while his tip kissed her dripping opening. “And while you’re at it, say my name.”
“Ben,” she complied, panting, forgetting the game altogether. She didn’t want Charlie, she wanted Ben. Her entire world boiled down to him. The way he held her. The way he commanded her in a gravel voice coated with silk. The way he penetrated her a scant inch before he stopped, driving her insane. But damn him for making her say it.
“Fuck me. Ben, please.” She pushed back against him, trying to get him to go deeper. “Please fuck me.”
On an almost inhuman growl, he finally gave in and thrust home with one swift stroke. Having him stretch her full like that felt like heaven and when he started moving inside her with a steady, pounding rhythm it felt so good her eyes rolled up into the back of her head.
A strong hand fisted in her hair and gently pulled her head back, arching her body as he leaned over her to return his mouth to her ear. “Tell me how I feel, Emma.”
Incredible. Amazing. Fucking phenomenal. All of those words wanted to exit her mouth at once but in the end what came out was, “You’re so damn big it feels like you’re gonna tear me apart.”
Turns out, that was the right thing to say.
“Yeah,” he purred into her ear, the sound causing her pussy to spasm around him as he thrust into her. That earned her a dark groan before he said, “I think I wanna fucking tear you apart.”
The words thrilled through her with equal parts lust and trepidation as he could very easily carry out that threat. In that moment, though, he seemed satisfied with ravaging her cunt and leaving the rest of her body intact. He dropped his weight over her, flattening his palms on the mattress beside hers, the long length of his torso pressed against her back. She loved the way he felt wrapped around her like this. His immense strength surrounding her, making her feel vulnerable and protected at the same time. If he did decide to tear her apart, she would die a very, very happy woman.
Positioning his knees between hers, he spread her legs wider as his rhythm picked up speed. The wet sound of his cock sliding in and out of her and the smack of his hips against hers filled the room. She turned her head into her arm, biting the skin there to keep herself anchored into her body before she flew up somewhere into the stratosphere never to come back down.
And then he made it worse. With his sexy as sin voice he said low in her ear, “Now, tell me to fuck you harder.”
Those words, right at that moment rumbling through her like thunder, made speech impossible. All she could manage was an unintelligible whimper as she thrust her ass back against him, trying to take him deeper and tell him without words what he wanted to hear.
Again, that wasn’t good enough.
“Fuck…Ben,” she panted. “Yeah, gimme that big hard cock. Oh, fuck me harder, baby.” Shit, she sounded like a porn star.
He must have enjoyed it, though, because he complied on a bestial moan. The rough pounding of his dick hit her right up against that special place deep inside. Then he shifted, making the angle even deeper and bumping up against her cervix with every hard thrust, making her cry out into the dark room. One of her hands fisted in the sheet in front of her while the other gripped Ben’s arm, nails digging into his skin. The tendons of his forearm danced under her touch as he worked her aching bud in delicious circles with his fingers. All the while, he kept up with the brutal speed of his fucking.
Emma’s eyes lost focus and as her head fell back to rest against his should more words came spilling out of her mouth of their own volition. She was so lost in him that she no longer needed his prompting.
“Uhn…Ben, you fuck me so good. I want you to pump my pussy full of your cum,” she whispered.
And he. Lost. His. Shit.
One second she was on her hands and knees in front of him and the next he pulled out of her and she found herself on her back with him between her legs, pushing her thighs wide apart to accommodate him. With no warning at all, he thrust back up inside her, fucking her wildly as he draped his body over hers.