Why I Turned a Bounty Hunter Hero Into a Male Stripper

~~Excerpt contains adult themes~~

As a writer, there are moments when a random suggestion or encounter will spark a burst of creative excitement. There are also times I like to experiment with things that are a topic of conversation with my colleagues or editors. Both types of inspiration collided for my On the Hunt book, Nature's Bounty.

What's not to love about an exciting, powerful character on the hunt for their prey? So the second someone mentioned Ellora's Cave wanted bounty hunter stories, I knew I had to jump on board. With a whole bevy of tales centered around that theme, however, I had to explore the layers in order to make the character unique.  

Rewind to edits I'd recently gotten on a title whose heroine is an exotic dancer. There was concern her vocation wouldn't sit well with readers unless done with obvious reluctance and necessity. While that was true in her case, the editor wanted that made clear Right.From.Page.One (literally). I made the changes while reflecting on another of my titles, one that featured an actual streetwalker. Yet the editor on that book hadn't asked for any changes. Both involved sex-related occupations the characters didn't enjoy. Then it dawned on me that the hooker was a male. I started to wonder whether there is a difference in reading about sexy men exploiting their bodies. The thought brought a wicked smile and a promise to experiment someday.

That might make it sound like I deliberately set out to test the theory with Nature's Bounty, but those edits were far from my thoughts when I started envisioning my On the Hunt concept. Nevertheless, when I was researching how bounty hunters might seek disguises to blend in a crowd, my devious muse stepped in. I decided Nate would do the opposite. He would get close to his quarry not by blending in, but by standing out. He would become the object of hot, sticky female lust, a fantasy triggering unapologetic sexual advances that would kick his romance with the heroine straight into full gear. The very idea excited me so much that I couldn't wait to write the scene, and I felt like I had a partial answer to my question about sexy men in sexy occupations. 

True, Nate didn't actually become a stripper, and he found reasons why it wasn't exactly an ideal occupation for him (such as the discovery that wearing a thong was akin to dental flossing his crack). Still, he exploited his undeniable sexuality for the sole purpose of getting what he wanted, trapping his female prey like a spider catching a fly. I can't pretend I didn't enjoy every single second of his charade.

Your turn: As a writer, do you ever experiment with concepts or turn random snippets of conversation or things you see into story ideas? And readers, do you enjoy seeing a strong man use naughty charms to have his way?

Nature's Bounty by J. Rose Allister

http://www.ellorascave.com/nature-s-bounty.html

Excerpt:

“Well, hello there,” Lydia said, licking her lips to punctuate the seductive greeting. A particularly dirty thought cropped up while Nate watched her tongue moisten those plump lips.

He just stood there, holding his bag and balloons.

“Oh my, Val,” she said into the phone, “you have no idea how completely and utterly you have outdone yourself.”

Her eyes did things to him he could barely describe while they slid over every inch. His spine tingled under that gaze, and damn if her nipples didn’t stand up and salute after her visual tour. Something lower on his body began saluting as well.

She laughed at whatever response she got on the other end. “Have I told you that you are my absolute best friend in the whole world?”

There was no mistaking the sloppy rush to the words, a slur that told him she had started celebrating her birthday quite some time before he had arrived. That could either make his job easier or more complicated, depending on a number of factors. Drunks were unreliable at best, and quite often, they kept on going even after they got knocked down.

His quarry clicked off the call after kisses and thanks, and she opened the door wider. “So, do you have more for my birthday than just a ripe, round bunch of balloons?”

If she only knew what all he had. Starting with a ridiculously ill-timed boner and ending with the handcuffs in his pocket. Two things which, at the moment, didn’t necessarily strike him as mutually exclusive. This was bad. All kinds of bad.

“Oh yeah,” he said, going for a fuck-me tone while he met her gaze straight on, although the stab of heat in his stomach made him wish he hadn’t. “There’s a whole lot more to this gift than meets the eye.”

A delicate eyebrow lifted. “Good, because I definitely approve of what’s meeting my eye.”

She reached out and ran her hands over his chest, and he stiffened without thinking. That probably wasn’t what strippers did when handled by a hot female customer. Fortunately, Lydia didn’t seem to care about that, but when she gave his shirt an aggressive tug and nothing happened, she pulled back with a frown.

“What’s this?” she asked. “You’re not wearing standard-issue stripper wear. Where’s the Velcro, stud?”

He gave a nonchalant shrug. “I believe in offering authenticity with my costumes.”

“And I believe in easy-on, easy-off.” She winked. “But I appreciate the dedication to my entertainment.” However, she glanced suspiciously at his duffel. “What’s in the bag?”

And what was with the twenty questions? Why wouldn’t she let him inside? Maybe she wasn’t totally buying his act, despite calling her friend to confirm that she had, in fact, hired a stripper.

Then again, he didn’t have to keep the game going. She’d opened the door, and that was good enough. He could just drop the charade right now and force his way in, but something told him to play this one cool. Win the fly over with honey rather than vinegar.

He offered a slow grin while he unzipped the bag and held it open. “A change of clothes and a portable stereo. You know, for the music I need to do my routine.”

With a smile, she reached over and took the balloon strands from him. “Here. Why don’t you let me pull your strings?”

She turned her back on him then, and his heart lurched as she sauntered away carrying her pretty pink balloons like a naughty girl. Below a slender back and perfectly curved waist lay the hottest, roundest bare ass he had ever beheld, courtesy of the surprise thong on her bikini bottom. He wasn’t the only one flossing his crack, and what it did for her sent a throb of need through his already pulsing dick. Fuck yes, she was a very naughty girl. One in desperate need of a spanking.

^^^

Check out more bounty hunter hotness by visiting other On the Hunt authors!

J Rose Allister		A.S. Fenichel
Sara Brooks		Charlotte Boyette-Compo
Lisa Carlisle		Shona Husk
Zenobia Renquist		Annabeth Leong

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I'm J. Rose Allister, wife, working mom, and the author of over twenty-five books. Somewhere in between one and the next, I love hanging out here on my blog and over on Twitter. Give me a comment or follow-I love chatting with people!