Anti-Hero (Wild Heart Ranch Book 4)

I nuzzle the side of Ant’s head, so proud of him. “Your containment skills are improving.”

His cheeks darken, and he looks up at me with bright, shining eyes. “You think so?”

I gesture to the scene before us. Four dead men—including the fucking asshole who broke Ant’s pinky—all precisely rolled in plastic and not a spot of blood anywhere.

“It’s perfection. Also? No hesitation. What’s changed?”

Minneapolis glares at us, trying to shout through her gag. Ant walks up to her and decks her. “Shut up. Erik and I are trying to have a conversation here.”

Rolling his eyes, Ant gestures at her with feigned frustration. “Sorry about that.” Hugging my side, he continues, “As for what’s changed. I finally understand these people can’t touch me anymore. If someone tries to hurt me, you’ll kill them.”

It takes every ounce of my self-control to not pound my chest.

“With extreme prejudice, yes.”

“If, for some reason, you’re not there, Hopper will gladly create a little mayhem.”

“Agreed.”

“And then there’s Anders.”

I nod, tapping my fingertips together. “You can never dismiss Anders in an equation like this.”

Ant lets out a happy sigh as he rolls Minneapolis, who is tied to her ridiculously expensive-looking office chair, back to her desk. “I dunno…I just feel like I’m coming into my own.”

“There does seem to be one element you’ve left off,” I say, straightening the items that got pushed around on her desk when we first came in.

Ant taps his chin, not bothering to hide his smirk. “Oh? What element is that?”

“My big Nordic cock.”

He cracks up, patting Minneapolis’s arm. “Did you hear that? Erik is so fucking hilarious. He’s not lying though. His cock is magnificent and it prefers adults, so you know I’m a fan.”

Minneapolis narrows her eyes at him, trying to speak through the gag again. Frustrated, Ant takes off her gag. “What the fuck are you saying? I can’t understand a single thing coming out of your wretched pie hole.”

Wretched pie hole? I mouth, raising a brow. Ant buffs his nails.

“Nacho told me that reading would open doors for me, and he was right.”

Turning red, Minneapolis screams, “I was nice to you!” Clearly offended by this turn of events, she digs the hole even deeper as she sputters, “I was nice to all the kids!”

Ant reaches over and wipes away the blood dripping from her nose. “You ensured the rape and assault of children. How is that nice? On what planet is that nice?”

“I could’ve left you with the syndicate.”

“You are the syndicate.”

“No, I’m not. I’m a businesswoman. At best, they are my business partners. They’re not going to take too kindly to this.”

“Oh no. The poor syndicate. However will I sleep at night knowing I’ve cost them their business, their freedoms, and, for a lucky few, their lives? I don’t know how I’m going to live with myself.”

“You fuck around, you’re going to find out, kid,” she sneers. “They’re going to take you down.”

Ant punches her again, this time breaking her nose. She screams, and he gets up in her face.

“Don’t you fucking call me kid. I didn’t get to be a kid, and that’s on you and everybody like you. So if they want to come after me, I don’t give a shit. Bring it. It’s not gonna end well for them though. Just like it’s not going to end well for you.”

Tell her, baby.

He looks up at me as I draw back with the empty syringe in my hand, having injected its contents into her thigh.

Ant innocently widens his eyes at her. “Uh-oh. Look who’s about to have a heart attack. Boy, is that going to suck.” He holds up a finger. “For you. Not for me.”

“You fucking little—”

She goes gray, her face twisting in pain. Within seconds, she starts throwing up on herself.

Ant cups his hand to his ear. “Oop, sorry—missed the last bit.” He taps his chest. “It’s hard to hear you over the massive coronary you’re having. While I have you here, this is how it’s going to play out: your corroded, aged, bloated body won’t be found for days. Days. The smell of the four dead johns will eventually bring people in, and while searching the place, police will find evidence leading to every single cartel contact.”

He pauses to untie her, letting her slump forward on the desk. Her shoulders struggle to rise and fall as she attempts to suck in enough oxygen. She slumps to the side, her face losing half its tone.

“Oh shit! Did that just turn into a stroke? I didn’t know you could have both at the same time.”

Her eyes track him, venom in their dying embers.

I tsk. “Bad luck.”

“I guess I have to speed up my villain monologue,” he says, winking at me. “Long story short, it’s about to get extremely expensive for your cartel buddies to continue doing business here. Once we’ve got the public’s attention, an anonymous source will make sure every local news station is given a file with information on every single kiddie client, including several high-profile men. While your family fights over your known resources, I’ll be splitting your offshore accounts with my Viking fuck buddy here.”

I’ve been enjoying his little speech until that last part, which sorta hurts. Okay, not sorta. It definitely hurts, especially considering what we’ll be doing later on.

Her breathing begins to slow, and Ant goes for a final jab. “Fun fact: killing makes me hard as a rock. Bonus fact: Erik here is going to let me fuck him tonight as a reward for a job well done. So, not to be rude or anything, but if you could hurry up and die, that’d be awesome.”

There it is again. That sting of being treated like some sort of fuck toy because I haven’t had the balls to tell him the truth.

We set the office as she pants through her final breaths. When she goes silent, I check her pulse and verify she’s dead.

Ant goes to high-five me, and I grab his hand. “You just had to tell her I was letting you fuck me tonight, didn’t you?”

He throws up his palms. “I know you don’t want me telling our friends, so I had to tell someone.”

Ryder, whose presence we both forgot, clears her throat over the comms.

“Ah, fuck.”

Ant’s cute grimace, however, makes it impossible to stay butthurt for long.

EXITING the bathroom of our luxurious suite, naked and completely clean, I set the douche bulb on the counter, glaring at Ant.

He walks up to me with the world’s worst imitation of an innocent look. “I have standards of cleanliness,” he says, throwing my words back at me.

“You do understand I keep score of all these little infractions, right? That one day in the very near future, I’m going to remember this, and then you’ll pay.”

He rubs his hands together. “I can’t wait.”

I lean in for a kiss, and he takes my hand, dragging me to the bed. It’s much easier to kiss when we’re horizontal, so I take advantage. We roll around a little in the sheets, enjoying the naked slide.

Unfortunately, his words from earlier have continued to bother me. Before we go any further, I peck his lips and grouse, “By the way, I’m not your fuck buddy.”

His eyes turn thoughtful. “No?”

“No,” I insist as I nuzzle his face, loving the smell of his clean skin.

“Then what are you?” he asks, nipping at my nose.

I wipe the tip of my nose, my heart swooning to see this affectionate side of him. Fucking swooning.

“I’m your friend. And protector.”

His pretty eyes go shiny. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” I grunt. “I thought that was obvious.”

He bites back a smile as he skims his fingernails over my arm, dragging goosebumps in their wake.

“You’re Nacho’s friend,” Ant finally says, drawing his fingers down to mine, threading them together before kissing my knuckles. “You’d protect him if he needed it. He’s your fuck buddy.”

“Stop teasing me. I said no bratting. Also, he’s not my fuck buddy, present tense. He was my fuck buddy. Past tense.”

“Okay. Okay,” he says, unthreading our fingers to hold up his hands. I immediately miss their warmth. “Don’t get your super sexy boxer briefs in a twist. I’m just saying he was your fuck buddy under the same circumstances.”

“It’s not the same,” I grumble.

He chuckles, then holds up a finger. “Also? I’m not being a brat to point out the obvious. You’re the one who brought it up,” he says, smirking through what is, objectively, a good point.

“That’s because you and I aren’t like me and Nacho. It’s different.”

“How?” he asks, trying to look innocent.

“It just is.”

He taps his chin. “Does this have anything to do with the fact I’ll be topping you and being the vulnerable one in this situation makes the term fuck buddy seem a little dismissive?”

Huh. Hadn’t considered that. I might owe Nacho an apology. Wait, no. Nacho was the one who called us fuck buddies in the first place.

I shake my head. “No.”

He raises his brows at me.

“Er…” I scrunch my face, wishing I knew how to be comfortable with this level of nudity and honesty. “Fine. Maybe. But it’s not just that.”

Ant pauses and draws back. “Wait. Erik, have you ever been fucked?”

My face flushes as I hesitate.

His expression softens even as he goes in for the kill. “If I had to be honest about you being my first real kiss and first real fuck, then you have to be honest about this.”

Fair. Totally fair…wait.

“I was your first real kiss?” I ask, my heart like a hummingbird as I cup his sweet face.

He smiles and touches his lips to mine. “Yes. It was the most perfect kiss I could have ever wished for. Better than my imagination.”

Okay, nudity and honesty might not be so bad. I distract him with more of my perfect kisses. After a few moments, he puts his hands on my chest and pushes back.

“Answer the question, Erik.”

So close.

I take a deep breath and go with the truth. “Not by another person, no. I mean, I’ve played around a little with dildos, but that’s it.”

He traces my lips with the soft tip of his finger. “So…you’re letting me take your ass virginity?”

“It’s not that big a deal,” I mutter. “Though…is this the first time you’ve topped someone?”

Ant shakes his head, tracing his fingers over my jawline. “No. Still, your trust means a lot to me. Just so you know.”

Mollified, I kiss him softly and touch my forehead to his. “I wasn’t lying. Ever since I met you, you’ve been facing your fears. It makes me want to do the same. I definitely wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else.”

He rubs his chest, then mutters, “You’re fucking killing me,” before going in for another round of kisses.

By the time we part, we’re both breathless, hard, and ready. I pull one of the fluffy pillows under my hips, and he kisses his way down my chest.

“You still okay with me going without a condom?” he asks, stopping to nuzzle my balls.

“Yes,” I grit out as he slides down my cock with his hot, otherworldly mouth.

Sucking lightly, he multitasks by spreading lube on his fingers while shouldering between my thighs—which practically dwarf him—and gently swirls the lubrication around my hole. Once the muscle has softened a bit, he carefully pushes in his middle finger. My cock jumps at the additional input, and Ant hums in satisfaction.

He’s slow and gentle with the build, but he definitely knows what he’s doing with his fingers down there. Adding a second one, he carefully scissors, opening me a bit more.

“I don’t mind a little pain. You can go ahead.”

His eyes reach mine as if to verify my words. Satisfied, he indulges in a few more sucks, then slowly drags his mouth off my dick. Crawling up my body, he shares the taste of my cock in another quick kiss, then scoots down and adds a bit more lube before he notches the head of his dick at my entrance.

I send him another reassuring nod, and he pushes inside me.

“Fuck.”

I was not expecting it to sting quite so much.

“Sorry, sorry,” he says, pulling away.

I reach down for his arms, stilling him. “You’re okay. I said I liked the pain. You’re just a little bigger than I gave you credit for.”

“I’m not that small,” he grumps. “I just suffer in comparison to you.”

I give a rough hum, then grip his ass, pulling him farther inside me as I grind my jaw through the stretch. He follows my lead, rolling his trim hips until tightness slowly but surely deconstructs into pleasure.

“Okay, fine. Your cock is still cute though,” I admit on an exhale.

Ant’s answering laugh is breathy, sweet. We begin to move together, sinuous, perfect, even though my bent knees are practically even with his narrow shoulders. He rolls his hips and strokes my cock with a tiny, deadly hand, his eyes soft with wonder.

As good as this feels, he adjusts his angle and hits…ah, yes. “Right there, baby,” I whisper, trying to remember the last time I got my prostate involved in anything remotely as pleasurable.

His eyes darken, and he takes over, speeding up his thrusts, angling them so perfectly I wonder if my stance on being an exclusive top all these years has been short-sighted.

Ant moves with me in a way I’ve never experienced before. It’s like he’s reading the grinding of my jaw or the tension in my muscles and translating it into the perfect squeeze of his delicate fingers wrapped around my cock, the speed of his hips, and the angle of his thrusts.

He’s so tiny between my thighs, and a terrible thought filters through my brain. I bite back a self-important smile.

Tightening his grip on me, he lifts his chin at me. “What?”

“You—ah fuck, keep doing that—don’t want to…yeah, baby…know.”

He practically bends himself in half, straining, stretching his tongue to touch the head of my cock as he bottoms out inside me. Nailing me with those fucking eyes of his, he winks. “You sure about that?”

Fuck. Me.

Switching gears, he reaches up, grabbing my shoulder. After a small pause, he thrusts hard, hitting the already sensitive nerve with everything he has while jacking me in a nearly too-tight grip.

My muscles tremble and pleasure bubbles along every nerve I’ve got as the sexy-adorable way he’s fucking me sends me over. A massive orgasm starts at the base of my spine, threatening to split me in two.

“Jesus, why is your little cock so perfect for me?” I ask as cum streaks across my belly.

He chuckles and keeps going, extending the orgasm, drawing more spurts of cum, emptying my poor aching balls.

I circle him with my legs as he closes his eyes, rolling his hips, rooting out his own pleasure. His hands go to my muscled thighs, and I squeeze around him as his rhythm stutters. His quiet, open-mouthed grunts are so fucking cute it’s erotic, and when he gives in to his orgasm with a soft sigh, I suddenly can’t recall ever having been this intimate with someone before.

I take a few seconds to revel in the feeling of being filled, then drag him through the mess on my stomach for a kiss.

“I love the way you read my body,” I say against his lips as I cup his ass to press him more firmly into me.

“Then that makes you my favorite book,” he responds, kissing my nose, cheeks, and lips.

There’s no denying letting him fuck me means something. Before my brain can go too far down that rabbit hole, he taps my lips.

“Yes?” I respond, nipping at his fingers.

“Let’s shower off, and you can tell me what had you smiling like an evil villain while I was fucking you.”

Moments later, we’re holding each other, swaying under the rush of hot water.

“Tell me,” he whispers into my chest.

I tighten my arms around him. “You are so tiny between my thighs, and watching you fuck me…”

I groan, wondering if it’s too fucked up to say.

“Say it,” he whispers against my nipple before sucking it into his mouth.

“You could only do that because I was letting you. At any point, I could’ve pushed you down and taken over.”

His eyes darken, and his chest rises and falls rapidly under the pounding water. “Mm-hmm.”

“It would’ve been okay because, even fucking me, you still kept looking up at me. You fucking broke my nose just a few weeks ago, the first man to put me on my ass in years, yet you still knew who was in charge.”

He shivers against me, nodding, rubbing his cock against my hip.

“Being vulnerable is hard for me, but you are so fucking amazing at it. You can say no, and I will forever respect your hard limits, but…yeah. I will selfishly indulge myself in your small, vulnerable body,” I say, running my finger over his hole. “I will use your little mouth, your tiny ass, and your adorable cock however I see fit. And you’ll like it.”

He whimpers, gripping me tight, brushing his lips across my nipple. “Yes. So much,” he says, latching on as he caresses my soft cock.

“You trust me, baby?”

“Uh-huh,” he says, his breath tickling me as the steam builds around us.

“Am I your fuck buddy?”

He widens his eyes and bites his lip, then shakes his head. He knows I like this look, but we’re both crystal clear on how we feel about pretending. So him melting into this sort of play is…fuck, it’s everything. I cup the back of his head, pleased and relieved.

“Good, baby. Now, let’s wash up, and I’ll let you nurse on my big cock when we get back in bed.”

He whines and answers by briefly, painfully, increasing the suction on my nipple before pulling away and grabbing the soap.

Definitely not my fuck buddy.