AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The wicked twinkle in his eye made her scowl. Had he stumbled on purpose? But when he stepped forward again, she could feel he was still unbalanced.
“Are you still drunk?” she asked as she shifted her pool bag to allow her to grab his arm more securely, taking some of his weight. Good grief he was heavy, and it wasn’t like she was a dainty girl.
“God, I hope not,” he said, ruefully. “If this isn’t my hangover, then I don’t want to know what is.”
Maria couldn’t stop herself from giggling a bit as she helped him maneuver toward the stairs. His movements were a bit lurching, and he swayed a bit, but even if she hadn’t shown up he would have been able to make it on his own. Still, he didn’t relinquish his hold on her. Heck, he practically had her leaning on him a bit. She didn’t know if he was just using his situation to touch her, but if he was, she didn’t really feel like complaining.
It felt nice to be tucked under his arm, next to all his hard muscle. He smelled faintly of beer, coffee, and pine. Not a terrible combination really. They went up the stairs slowly, while she savored the feel of having him partially wrapped around her. Who knew if this would happen again?
When they got to his door, he fumbled with his keys, using just one hand rather than letting her go. Maria stayed quiet, although a small voice in her head was whispering she should leave now. But she wanted to know what his apartment looked like on the inside. She wanted to know how far into it he would take her. Would he let her all the way back into his bedroom or would she barely make it inside the front door like last time?
Trepidation crept through her—just like she’d wanted to know about Stronghold. Curiosity killed the cat...
Then his door was opening, and they were heading inside.
Definitely bachelor digs. His main room was almost Spartan: couch, easy chair, giant television, and a dinged-up looking coffee table. Although there was a giant bookshelf, overflowing with books along one wall. Not too surprising since he was an English teacher. She only got a glimpse of the kitchen and the small eating area as he pulled her down the hall, enough to see they were clean and mostly bare.
The hallway was narrow, and Rick stumbled into the wall a bit.
“Careful,” she said, pulling him back up. He groaned.
“I just want to get in bed.”
“I’ll bet. Where’d you sleep last night?”
“Jared’s couch.” He waved his hand expressively. “Too drunk to drive last night.”
It was weird to be having such a normal conversation with him, considering how the last time they’d been together had ended. Weird and a relief. Maybe it was better that their first run-in with each other was like this, completely different from the routine they’d established. Made things easier in some ways since neither of them had any expectations of how an interaction like this was supposed to go.
His room was all dark blues and light browns, with beige walls and wooden furniture.
“Nice,” she said, looking around as he stumbled towards the bed, nearly taking her down with him. “Whoops! I said be careful.”
Rick just gave her a lazy smile as he took the last few steps and threw himself down, stomach first onto the bed. His hand trailed down her arm, until his fingers wrapped around her wrist, keeping her in place. The dark blue of his comforter made his eyes look even bluer in the sunlight trickling in his window. He didn’t have curtains, the only thing covering the window were the standard slotted blinds that came with the apartment.
“I am being careful,” Rick said, his lazy smile becoming somewhat more wicked as he rolled onto his back, trying to pull her down onto the bed with him.
“Stop that,” Maria said, feeling a bit flustered, not to mention more than a little turned on. Definitely not fair, right now. “Are you sure you’re not still drunk?”
“If I was, would you get on top of me, little tease?” The sparkle in his eye said he was definitely feeling better now that he was lying down. Maria rolled her eyes, trying to keep an answering smile off her face. Like he needed any encouragement right now. Even if the return to playful flirting between them was making her heart flutter inside of her chest. This was more than flirting, this was playing with fire, now she knew what his kinks were. It didn’t feel like he was pushing her, it just felt like his inhibitions were lowered and he was giving her the opportunity to take a step forward with him. Just a baby step.
But once she took that step, would she be able to step back?
“You want to be hungover and crushed? I’m not actually little in case you hadn’t noticed,” she said, one knee braced against the side of the bed to keep herself anchored, as she tried to tug her wrist free. Granted, she didn’t try very hard. She wanted to find out where this was going to go.
Which accounted for her inability to actually resist when his gaze hardened, and she suddenly was yanked forward, pulled over his body so her ass was high in the air.
SMACK!
“OW! What the hell, Rick?”
Sensation and shock thrummed through her. Had he seriously just spanked her?
“You are little compared to me, my little tease,” he said, his voice hard and uncompromising. He actually sounded pissed. As if she needed to hear the tone of his voice to know that—her left butt cheek still stung where he’d spanked her. “And you aren’t going to crush me. Don’t you dare talk about yourself like that.”
SMACK!
Heat, sting, and a strange thrill of excitement spurted as his hand came down on the other side of her butt, giving it a throbbing bit of hurt to match its partner. And then she was pulled around so she was lying on top of him, looking down into his eyes. Icy blue eyes glaring fiercely up at her, waiting for her to protest.
