Free SeducedByTheAntiHero by L.J. Fine Page B

point.”
    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