Something About Emmett (Billionaire Romance) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 15 - Something Cornered

The adrenaline and the worry, the fear, had fueled me through the night with an efficiency and purpose that I was thankful for. We had driven Maddie to the nearest hospital, in Miramar, and I called her mother to inform her. She, along with her eldest daughter, had driven out to the hospital in record time. If they chose to file a police report, Maddie would have to be awake, so I pleaded with her mother and sister to help Maddie with the process and to call the department as soon as she was conscious. The doctor judged the drugs would be out of her system in less than a few hours, and she would be functioning as per normal by tomorrow. I let them know to call me the instant they needed my help.

That helped me breathe again, and I was able to swallow the lump in my throat that had persisted since I saw my friend's body, unconscious and immobile.

Now that the storm had cleared, and the night was met with a sudden calm, I felt my body shut down slowly. I grew tired, my muscles turning heavy and unmanageable. A cold chill crept from the air and into my skin, leaving my teeth to shatter relentlessly. I wondered how it would feel to just close my eyes...

Warm skin. Warm hands. They took me, like a child, into a pair of strong, thick arms so that I was carried away, somewhere. My head rolled onto the hard chest that was protecting and warming me. I felt safe again, and though I could not see through my closed eyes, I knew.

"Emmett," I murmured.

"Yes, Jules, I'm here." His voice was quiet above my ears.

"Where..."

"My house. You can take a guest bedroom. You'll have your own bathroom."

I shook my head with as much strength as I could muster, and felt the new tension arise in his body at my reaction.

I struggled to open my eyes, but when I did, I could see that we were already inside his house. He had stopped moving.

"Is it-Is it okay if I sleep with you?"

The tension stayed rooted in his muscles. It did not leave when he realized I had not been refusing his offer, but rather, altering it.

"Of course," he whispered, and I could hear the difficulty with which he spoke. He took me up the stairs, holding me tightly against his chest as if he were afraid I would fall and break into a million pieces. I was set gently against a large bed, so very soft. I felt too tired to look around me, and shrugged out of my blazer and boots, leaving the rest on as it was before lying down and pulling the thick sheets over me.

He turned off the lights, and I felt the dipping of the bed, the heat and rich scent of his body so close to me.

Like a magnet, I was drawn to his warmth, and when I curled up to his side, resting my hand against his chest, I felt the cold leave me. Every bit of it drained away so that I was enveloped in a rich and thick warmth. I found myself sighing from the relief.

This was what I had been looking for, and I knew I would find this warmth nowhere but here, in him.

Hesitantly, I felt him move. Then a tender hand came to rest over my head, smoothing out my hair.

"Sleep well, baby. You did good today."

A pair of lips fluttered against the top of my head, and with that jolt in my heart, I fell asleep once again.

•••

I had woken up to a stream of soft, golden light peering through the window and casting a glow over the room.

The room. Where was I?

The walls around me were a soft gray, the furniture a darker shade of the same color. Expensive, I mused, much too expensive. And my eyes widened into bullets when the moment of realization hit my half-conscious system.