Taken (Dark Desires 1)

“I want to close out my tab,” I said, leaning over the counter so the bartender could hear me.

“Already?” the man joked. “It's not even –”

“Yeah, I know,” I said, trying to not be irritable with the guy. “My friends are assholes, but what can I do? Can't force those pricks to hang out with me.”

The bartender nodded, gave me a tight smile, and then got to work closing out my tab. I was leaning against the bar waiting, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman standing near the bar – alone. I turned to get a look at her and saw that she wasn't just any old ordinary woman – she was someone who was smoking hot and I couldn't tear my eyes away from her.

Her auburn hair was long, flowing over her shoulders in soft waves. She had curves in all the right places – hot tits, a small little waist and from what I had to imagine with the package I could see, she had a nice tight little ass too. She was the entire smokin' hot, gorgeous package. Her gaze slowly slid over to me and she smiled. It was the shy smile of a woman who appreciated the attention but might have been a little uncomfortable with it.

“Hold up, man,” I told the bartender as I walked over the woman.

She was leaning against the bar with no friends – and even more importantly, no boyfriend – in sight. She kept my eyes fixed on me as I made my way over to her. A small smile played at the corners of her mouth, but she didn't seem to mind the way my eyes roamed all over, taking in her figure as I walked her way. She was wearing a short skirt – one that fell right above her knees and showed off a pair of killer legs in a pair of stiletto heels.

When I finally reached her, she smiled at me as she sipped her cocktail, her eyes checking me out over the top of the glass. Lucky for me, her glass was nearly empty.

I motioned for the bartender. “Can you get this lady another? On me, of course,” I said.

“Now why would you go and do a thing like that?” she asked. “How do you know I want another? Seems a little presumptuous if you ask me.”

I shrugged. “I don't,” I said. “Just trying to be neighborly.”

She gave me a coy look as the bartender delivered her drink – some fancy martini of sorts. Nothing too fruity and sweet for this girl apparently.

She took a sip of her new drink and smiled at me. “How do you know I don't have a boyfriend in the bathroom, who is going come out at any second and kick your ass for talking to me?”

“Kick my ass?” I let out a low whistle. “I'm almost scared.”

She laughed. “Presumptuous and cocky,” she said. “You're off to a great start.”

I shrugged. “I mean, he can try, of course. But good luck to him if he does. But there's no way anyone is kicking my ass. Sorry, it's not cocky. It's just a fact.”

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow as she looked over at me. “Just a fact, huh? Wow, you really are pretty cocky.”

“Not cocky when it's true,” I said with a laugh. “Ex-military. I tend to have an upper hand in most fights.”

I wasn't throwing around the military bit to impress her – though, if it worked, kudos to me. But I did watch her facial expression. Just to see if what I'd said had any effect on her whatsoever.

Her face remained neutral.

“So when did you get back to the Bay Area, soldier boy?” she asked. “Been away long?”

“Too long, if you ask me. Too fucking long. I feel like I've lost touch and my connection with everyone and everything here,” I said a split second before realizing that it was too much information too fast and changed the subject. “So what's a pretty thing like you doing all alone out at a bar?”

“Oh I dunno,” she said, parting those perfectly red lips and nibbling on her lower one gently, “Maybe I like hanging out at places like this to bring comfort and joy to all the lonely men who also have no

one to go home to.”

“Perfect, because I definitely don't have anyone to go home to,” I said. “I think that qualifies me for your services.”

The way she looked at me – as if I was a piece of meat – took me by surprise. She looked me up and down, an approving look in her eye as she slowly returned her gaze back to my face.

God, it had been so long. Too fucking long since a woman had looked at me the way she was looking at me. It had been too fucking long since I'd last been with a woman. I was horny as hell and this sexy little thing standing in front of me was pretty much begging for me to take her home.

It seemed like a dream come true. A kick ass birthday present from the gods.

It seemed like it was too good to be true. Which meant that there had to be a catch, right?

AMELIA