“I absolutely do. You just hold on one minute and that’s exactly what we’ll do.” Emmett planned to go behind the bar and make a quick mug of coffee to sober her up, but the moment he got too far away, she started weaving in her seat. Waking up with a broken nose and a black eye from face-planting on the hardwood floor was not the foolish mistake she was hoping for tonight.
“Maddie?” Emmett watched the combination of alcohol and exhaustion win the battle for control of her body.
“Mmmm?” she said, looking up at him with the glassy, unfocused eyes of a sleepy drunk. She seemed to have even forgotten that they’d kissed a moment before or that she was in the middle of a misguided seduction.
“We’d better get you home.” He abandoned the coffee and wrapped his arm around her waist to help her across the street to her house. Maddie clung to his neck, but before they could get more than a few feet from the barstool, her whole body went limp and her head fell against his shoulder.
She’d passed out.
Plan B. Emmett scooped her up into his arms and headed to the bar’s back room. There, a door led to the stairway, meeting up with the outside entrance. Maddie made the task easy by curling against him and snuggling her head into his chest. He took the stairs slowly and carefully, reaching his apartment without any trouble.
From there, he took her to his bedroom, before laying her on the bed and pulling off her sneakers. Her clothes looked comfortable enough, so he opted to leave them as is, covering her in his thick down blanket.
Maddie made a moan of complaint, rousing long enough to frown at him. “Stay,” she mumbled.
His gaze fell to her pouty lips and the revealing low-cut neckline of her shirt. He’d like to stay. But if he was going to have sex with Maddie, he wanted both of them to remember it. “Go to sleep,” he encouraged.
She made another sound of protest and then rolled over, turning her back to him.
By the time he reached the doorway, Maddie was snoring lightly. It was kind of cute, reminding him of a dog he’d had as a kid.
Turning off the light, he went into the living room in the hopes he could find a comfortable spot on his couch. The excessively tight fit of his jeans at the moment would make that a mostly impossible feat.
Chapter Thirteen
Maddie woke up to a mildly pounding headache in a pitch-dark room. She reached out for her beside lamp and found nothing there. The motion drew her attention to the tight waistband of her jeans and the straps of her bra digging into her skin. She was fully dressed and in a strange place. Why?
She threw back the covers and swung her legs out of the bed. Just enough light shined from the alarm clock for her to see her way to the door. Opening it, she was assaulted by sunshine streaming through the windows and the pieces finally fell into place. She was in Emmett’s apartment.
It wasn’t at all what she expected. The space was modern and sleek with expensive touches like granite counters and top-of-the-line stainless steel appliances. The walls were painted a soft gray. There was no clutter, no deer heads mounted to the wall, and no neon Budweiser signs. It was like a completely different universe from the rustic bar downstairs.
How had she even gotten up here? The last thing she remembered was celebrating at the bar. There was the vague recollection of kissing him and trying to take off her shirt. That extremely unsmooth move made her wince with regret. Alcohol might make her brave, but it didn’t improve her seduction strategy or her balance.
Stumbling into the other room, she found Emmett sprawled uncomfortably across his couch with a blanket draped over him. He was fully dressed as well. She was terrible at this. The one night she decides to get drunk and do something crazy and nothing happened. All she had to show for it was a hangover.
“Emmett,” she called to him.
He stirred, frowning at the morning light before he focused on her. “What time is it?”
“About ten,” Maddie replied. “Why didn’t we have sex?” she blurted.
Emmett shot straight up on the couch. His hair was even messier than usual, and Maddie liked it. “You were drunk,” he explained, rubbing sleepily at his eyes. “Do you really think I’d have sex with you when you were barely conscious?”
“I threw myself at you,” she said with a whiny edge to her voice that even she didn’t like.
Emmett climbed up from the couch and walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and looked down at her with the green-gold eyes she’d gotten used to so quickly. “Yes, you did. And I wanted to take you up on it. But you don’t have to be drunk to seduce me, Maddie. I think you’re an amazing woman and sex stone sober would be even better.”
Maddie wasn’t sure about that. She wasn’t feeling as brave as she did last night. “Maybe.”
“No, not maybe. Listen, Maddie, when we sleep together, I want you to remember every second of it. And you won’t need any alcohol to put you in the mood. I intend to taste and tease every inch of your body, making you writhe and squirm beneath me until you’re begging me to take you. Stone sober.”
Maddie sucked in a hard, ragged breath. Just the words were enough to waken the heat inside her. She couldn’t even imagine what his actual touch would do to her. She could feel the tug in her belly, urging her not to let this moment pass them by because she was too scared to ask for what she wanted. “I’m stone sober right now,” she said, boldly meeting his gaze.
Emmett swallowed hard. His fingertips pressed in at her waist. “That you are.”
Maddie reached for the hem of her shirt to redeem herself for last night’s clumsiness. She pulled her top up and over her head, tossing it onto the couch. Emmett took in the sight of her for a moment before his hands covered her pink lace bra, stroking her through the fabric and coaxing her nipples into tight buds.
She closed her eyes and let the sensation of his touch rush through her. His fingers kneaded at her flesh, making her groan aloud after going so long without a man’s touch. She felt him tug the straps of her bra down her arms, lowering the cups until her breasts were exposed. The moist heat of his mouth clamped down on one nipple, drawing hard until she cried out.