“Aspen.” Emmett’s voice is rough—too close to the sound that just pulled me apart piece by piece.
“Nope.” I throw a hand up without turning around. “Don’t—don’t say my name like that.”
The heat of his skin brushes my back along with the clean scent of mint and steam. He’s close enough to overwhelm every functioning thought left in my brain, but he doesn’t touch me.
Just waits.
“Let me explain.”
I shake my head immediately. “That’s really not necessary.”
My pulse refuses to calm down.
“I should’ve knocked, but I heard a crash and thought you hurt yourself.”
He inhales, and then, “My fist.”
“Oh my god.” My eyes squeeze shut. “And then you groaned, and it sounded like . . .” I trail off, mortified beyond repair as I force myself to turn around.
Huge mistake.
He’s wearing a pair of faded jeans, the button undone, a wet trail of hair leading straight to . . . yep,that. His shirt hangs from his hand like an afterthought, and his wavy hair is pushed back. The effect of him hurrying out here is devastating.
Emmett takes control in my moment of weakness, leaning in closer and dropping his head. His gaze falls to the floor between us before crawling back up every inch of me and locking me in place when it catches on my own.
“Did it sound like I stole your vibrator and pressed it to my cock until I blew all over my fist while thinking about you? Because that’s exactly what I did.”
There it is—that big-dick energy Harlowe mentioned looms over me, and I’m deceased.
Dirty talk from Emmett Slate is enough to take the bravest soldiers out.
No one, and I meanno one, should look as good as this man does, be as broody as he is, and talk likethat.It’s reckless—criminal really.
“There’s no point in pretending that’s not exactly what happened.” His lips curve, crooked and half-smiling as he lingers in the doorway. “Considering you saw pretty much everything.”
“Guess not,” I mumble weakly. Clearing my throat does absolutely nothing to help. “Emmett, I’m barely hanging on here.”
His expression shifts instantly, something softer threading through all that heat.
“I should apologize.” His eyes move over me slowly, carefully. “What I did crossed a line.”
“It did.”
“But I’d be lying if I said I regretted it.”
“Excuse me?” There are parts of himself that Emmett holds back, but apparently this is not one of them. At least, not anymore.
He’s single-handedly obliterated all the lines between us. Or maybe I did that when I barged into the bathroom.
Fault doesn’t matter, though, because the outcome is the same . . . everything has changed.
My stomach flips.
“What the hell was that? You said my name.”
“I know.” His gaze drops briefly before finding mine again. “Couldn’t help it.”
The honesty in his voice hits harder than it should.
