Seduced by the Anti-Hero: Serano Brothers Novel, Book 2

by L. J. Fine

“Hi,” she said lamely when she reached him for lack of knowing what else to say.

  “Hi,” he replied in kind, shoving his hands into his pockets.

  She knew damn well he hadn’t come all this way to make awkward small talk with her and her curiosity got the better of her. “What are you doing here?”

  A line of pain formed right down the center of his face as he scanned the crowded bookstore. “Can we go somewhere to talk? Someplace maybe a little quieter?”

  “Sure, my apartment is only down the street. We can go there.” Whatever it was he came to tell her, she wanted to talk about it without an audience. As it was, the women of her writer’s group were staring at him like they had never seen a man before. Well, she had to admit, men as hot as Ben were few and far between.

  Grabbing her purse and telling Jessica she would call, she led Ben out of the store and started for her apartment. The short walk was quiet and not a little bit tense as she searched her brain for anything that might break the silence.

  “How did you know where I was?”

  “Chloe told me where you’d be if I came up tonight,” he stated quietly without looking at her. It made sense that Chloe would have spoken to him and she wondered what else they might have talked about. Her friend had been calling her at least twice a day since she left. Just checking in, she said but Emma knew it was because she was worried about her. Emma didn’t blame her. The last time they had seen each other, Emma hadn’t exactly been in the most stable frame of mind. Not once had she mentioned Ben, though, and a heads up about this visit would have been nice.

  It didn’t take them long to reach her building and climb the short staircase to her apartment. Still, the air between them remained quiet and strained. Given Ben’s general dislike of verbal commination, she wondered how painful this conversation was going to be on her end.

  “Do you want something to drink?” she asked once they entered the apartment and she took off her jacket.

  He shook his head. “I’m good.” Then he said nothing else, just braced his shoulder against the wall and started at her with those intense eyes.

  Not knowing what to do with herself, she perched stiffly on the edge of a couch cushion. Finally, it got to be too much.

  “You’re gonna have to start talking, Ben. This silence is driving me crazy,” she blurted.

  That incredible mouth tilted at the corners and he shoved himself away from the wall and came over to sit beside her on the couch. But when he turned to face her, that little smile disappeared and was once again replaced by that line of pain.

  “What you said to me before you left. You meant that.” It wasn’t a question. He knew she had been perfectly sincere. She knew this was more that he was confused by what she had said, couldn’t believe what she had said and maybe wanted confirmation that she had actually said it. He didn’t make it up.

  “I meant every single word.” Hopefully this time her words would sink in, but he shook his head.

  “So you just drop the ‘I love you’ bomb and leave?” The accusation in his tone flabbergasted her.

  “You told me to leave! What was I supposed to do? Hang around and beg you to open your eyes and believe me?”

  In the pause when he didn’t fire back right away he seemed to be gathering his words. “I didn’t come here to fight with you, especially about this. I believe you, Emma.”

  She took a deep breath and held it. “Then what did you come here for?”

  Moving forward, he cupped her face in his big, warm hands. “You, Sugar.” He kissed her lips softly and she stopped breathing altogether. “I came here for you.”

  This time when he kissed her, the numbing shock started to wear off and she all but climbed into his lap as she deepened the kiss. He groaned and did pull her into his lap to straddle his hips as he consumed her.

  Damn, she had missed him. Missed his hard body pressed up against hers, missed his soft lips covering hers, pushing them apart to let his tongue slide over hers. She had missed his warmth and his dry sense of humor. Most of all, she had missed the steady comfort of his presence. It had only been a week but she felt like she had been walking through fog without him. Like nothing solid anchored her to the Earth.

  But before she could get completely lost in him, she needed to clarify a few things first.

  “Wait,” she panted, breathless as she broke their kiss and pulled back. He growled in disapproval at the loss of contact with her mouth and she held him off when he tried to pull her back to him. “Wait, Ben. You’re here for me. What exactly does that mean?”

  Sighing, he rested his head back against the couch, settling deeper into the cushions and adjusting her body on top of him. “It means that when you left I had a lot of time to think. You were right. I’ve lived so long with the stigma of what happened to Tim and the low expectations of everyone around me that I just figured that was the way it was. It wasn’t ever going to change. I got too complacent and that’s never a good thing, baby. Mostly I stuck around for my brothers and nowhere else appealed to me. Didn’t think a new location would be any different than the one I was in. But then I met you.” A soft smile curved his lips. “You didn’t know me but you saw me more clearly than anyone in my life ever has. Including me. When you left, it didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel right. You made me see that, at the very least, I needed to get the hell out of that town and away from the toxic people around me.”

  Speaking of…“What about Paul? Do you think he’ll try to find you?”

  He gave her a rueful smile and shook his head. “I actually took your advice after that last night at the bar and called the cops. I meant it when I said that I was done being his whipping boy.”

  Gratification filled her. It was about damn time he realized that he didn’t deserve all that bullshit that Paul had put him through. “So what happened to him?”

  Ben’s smile broadened into an infectious grin. She felt the mirth in his eyes bubbling up inside her until she smiled back. “Asshole got charged with harassment and criminal mischief. He’s on probation. Has to go to some anger management and drug and alcohol classes. And he has to pay me restitution for my bike.”

  “Good.” She nodded with satisfaction. Paul needed to face some kind of consequences for his actions. He needed to know he couldn’t just get away with it.

  Slowly, Ben’s hands began to run over her body, up and down her arms, onto her thighs pulling her closer to him. His caresses silently changed the subject until Paul was the furthest thing from her mind. She loved the constant need he seemed to have to touch her, the way his soothing hands on her made everything else in the world fade away. Until it was just the two of them left. The words he spoke gave her hope that he might feel the same way.

  “There’s a void inside me, Emma. It’s been there for so long I’ve gotten used to it. When I’m with you, though, it goes away. And the fact that you love me? In spite of all my shit?” He licked his lips and gave a little laugh. “I’m so full to bursting knowing that, baby, I couldn’t just let you leave.”

  She knew the feeling. Her heart felt so swollen right now and she found it a little hard to breathe. “What are you saying then, Ben?” She kissed him softly, then whispered against his lips. “I need to hear you spell it out.”

  Strong fingers threaded through her hair and he pulled her back to look into her eyes. “I’m saying that I love you. I’m saying that I can be a fucking construction worker or a mechanic or a bartender anywhere, build a new life anywhere as long as it’s far away from where I grew up. I want that life with you.” The way he looked at her then, his amber eyes swimming and so full of love and earnestness had tears prickling the backs of her eyes. “You’re home for me.”

  That was it. She attacked his mouth like a woman possessed and he gave as good as he got. She didn’t know how long they sat there, wrapped up in each other but eventually their frantic kisses turned lazy and an important fact hit Emma hard. They had all the time in the world.

  “Ad
am said something to you, didn’t he?” No matter what Adam might have said, she knew it wouldn’t have made a difference, but she wanted to know. Couldn’t resist needling him.

  He grunted and shifted her more firmly onto his lap. “Yeah, but I didn’t really listen to anything he said.” He kissed her. “In one ear and out the other.”

  “Mmhmm.” She kissed him back. “So, you’re moving?” She smiled against his lips and he returned it, nipping at her lips with his teeth.

  “I am.”

  “Stay with me,” she breathed into his mouth before giving him a slow, languid kiss.

  He laughed, the vibrations tingling her lips and the sound making her feel like the most contented woman on the planet. “You couldn’t stop me from staying if you tried, Sugar. I don’t belong anywhere else. Just right here with you.”

  Emma couldn’t have agreed more and all was right with her world as she snuggled deep into the arms of her beloved Anti-hero.

  The End.

  Epilogue

  The smell and sound of coffee percolating down the hallway pulled Ben from the light sleep he had gradually been coming out of and into full awareness. Blinking against the Saturday morning sunlight, he rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed, swinging his feet over the edge to touch the floor. He ran a hand through his hair and stood up, glancing at the clock on the nightstand on the way. 8:32 am. After a trip to the bathroom, he pulled on a pair of loose sweatpants and ambled down the long hallway toward the kitchen.

  Once he moved to the city it took about a month to realize that neither of them could stand to live in Emma’s cramped, one bedroom apartment. So they went house hunting and he had to say, this new apartment was a hell of a lot nicer than even his house had been. With three bedrooms, brand new appliances and an open floor plan, Ben had no regrets about his decision to move here.

  No regrets at all, he thought as he rounded the corner to the kitchen and saw Emma curled up at their breakfast nook with her laptop and a cup of steaming, freshly brewed coffee. She smiled at him as he moved toward her and titled her head up to receive his kiss when he bent to cover her mouth. Unable to help himself, he dipped his tongue inside to find she tasted of coffee and warm heaven.

  “You’re at it early this morning,” he said licking his lips to catch her flavor as he made his way to the coffee pot.

  “Yeah, I’m coming up against a deadline. I told my editor I’d have this first draft to her by the end of next week.” She shifted in her chair and the t-shirt she wore – his t-shirt – rode up her thighs. Damn, he loved seeing her sexy curves wrapped up in his clothes. Shaking his head, he willed his body into submission so that he didn’t pick her up out of her seat and distract them both for a couple of hours. He plucked his iPad off the counter before joining her at the table. Much as he wanted to devour her, he had to respect her work ethic. Now, at the beginning of her career, more than ever.

  Emma had finally gotten her first book published and her editor signed her on for another four-book series. When she had gotten that news the smile that lit up her face rivaled the sun for its brilliance. She had done an ecstatic dance all the way into his welcoming arms and they had celebrated all night long. Unfortunately, she still had her job at the bank but if things kept moving on this upward trajectory, he had a feeling she’d be able to quit soon.

  He just sat down when his phone rang. An all too familiar ringtone that he knew he couldn’t ignore. Groaning, he reached for his phone while Emma laughed, her blue eyes dancing up at him.

  “I should make you talk to him. You wouldn’t be laughing then,” he warned before accepting the call. “It’s too damn early for this, man. What’s wrong now?”

  “Good morning to you, too,” Adam grumbled across the line. “Why’s there gotta be something wrong for me to call my brother?”

  Ben said nothing, taking a sip of his coffee as he waited him out.

  “The sewer is backed up and there’s water all over the basement floor. Foul water. I got a call nice and early this morning from the new tenants.”

  “I told you the pluming in that house was shot to shit but you wouldn’t listen.” It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. The sewer had been backing up on Ben for about a month and he wanted to have it fixed before he sold the house but Adam had his hair on fire to take the place off his hands.

  “Dude, I needed the extra income and your place was prime real estate,” Adam said, practically reading Ben’s mind. “Notwithstanding this fucked up sewer system.”

  Ben heard the shudder that accompanied his brother’s words and he couldn’t suppress a smile. Adam wasn’t adverse to hard work and had quickly gotten Ben’s old house ready to rent out but Ben had to laugh at the situation. Nothing like getting woken up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday to go deal with shitty water. Served his twin right for putting it on the market so fast.

  He kept saying that he needed the extra cash but for the life of him, Ben couldn’t figure out what for. Abel’s was doing well and Adam made good money at the bar. He’d even started working some shifts at their Uncle Pete’s garage in town. So Ben knew his twin was up to something but Adam wouldn’t say what and, of course, Ben didn’t want to ask.

  “I have a plumber coming in next week,” Adam said. “I just need to know if you left a snake around here anywhere or if I need to go out and buy one.”

  “There’s one in the garage,” Ben said. “Let me know how much the bill is. I’ll give you the money for it.”

  Adam chuckled. “Nah. I practically ran you out of town to get at this place when you said you were going after Emma. It’s my responsibility now, so don’t worry about it. Besides, you only have one job at the moment and that city is expensive as hell. Save your money.”

  Well, his brother wasn’t wrong. Ben had gotten lucky and found a steady, full-time job at a garage near their new place as a mechanic working on bikes. But it was only one place of employment. He had to admit, though, it was kind of nice not to have to haul ass to three different jobs to keep himself out of trouble. Licking his lips, he looked up at Emma. She kept him plenty busy.

  “Speaking of spending money,” Adam said. “Are you coming home for Tyler and Mina’s engagement party?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be there. Our little brother is milking the hell out of this, though.” Tyler had popped the question a few weeks ago and insisted on shutting the bar down for one night to have a huge party to celebrate the fact that Mina said yes. Like she would have had any other answer to give him.

  Once again, he glanced across the table at Emma, chewing her lip while her fingers flew across the keyboard. Really, he supposed he couldn’t blame Tyler. If he ever got the guts to ask the question and Emma, by some miracle, said yes, he’d be shouting it from the rooftops, too.

  “For real he is. They actually fucking sent invitations, as though a text wouldn’t suffice. Can’t wait to see what the actual wedding will be like. But hey, I’ll let you go. I’m sure you have shit to do and I have a swamp in this basement. Sorry for the early call, man.”

  “That’s all right. I was up anyway and it was good to hear from you.” And he meant that. Now that he had moved away, he swore that he spoke to his brothers more often than when he lived near them. Maybe the distance made them less annoying. Or maybe he was happier now. Who knew? Either way, he looked forward to seeing them again at the engagement party.

  Now that he thought about it, all things considered, his life hadn’t turned out too bad. He liked what he did for a living and he liked it even more when he got to come home to Emma. Like right now. Just sitting in the same room with her, neither of them speaking, filled him with a peaceful calm he had never before experienced. He knew he didn’t deserve her or the love she gave to him so freely, but nothing in the world could make him give it up. For better or worse, she was stuck with him.

  They sat in comfortable silence for a while, each preoccupied with their own devices. A sigh broke through his concentration and he loo
ked up to see her run her hand through her hair with a furrowed brow. He knew that look.

  “Problems?” he asked, shutting his iPad down and setting it aside.

  Her eyes flew to his for a split second before refocusing on her computer screen. “Why would there be problems? This story is pouring right out of me. No plot problems at all. So you can go back to whatever article you were reading. I’m good here.”

  Though she tried to make herself look busy, her fingers slowed down at the keyboard and the wrinkle in her brow never went away. He called bullshit. “Emma…”

  “Ben.” She cocked a brow but, like with his brother, he only stared her down to wait her out.

  Took about ten seconds.

  “So Raynor is my Viking hero and he just kidnaped an English noblewoman, Mary, during a raid. He’s decided that he’s going to keep her and he’s brought her back to his village. He’s trying to get her to trust him so that she stops trying to run away every five minutes. I’m trying to figure out what possible scenario would make her soften up toward him. Any ideas?”

  Yeah, he had a few ideas. Licking his lips, he stood and moved around the table to stand before her. Taking her hands, he pulled her up from her chair and into his arms. He tugged her close and took her mouth in a slow, hot kiss that left her eyes glazed when he finally pulled back. He smiled down at her.

  “Wanna role play?”

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  About L.J. Fine

  L.J. Fine’s idea of the perfect life is to sit in her pajamas all day sipping on a good cup of coffee while playing in her imagination. Her mother instilled in her a love of reading (romance novels in particular) at an early age and she turned that love into a passion for creating her own worlds and weaving the fate of her own characters. L.J. lives in Pennsylvania, where she is working on making that dream of a perfect life into a reality.