LIVING. THE WORD ECHOED IN my head as Eden’s body collapsed into mine.
Fuck. I scooped her up into my arms.
“Shit, you’re hammered. How much did you drink?”
Her head lolled against my shoulder. “Enough. But only a little of the last one. You spilled it.”
“No shit. Because you were getting fucking roofied. I thought you learned your lesson when someone tried to grab you in front of Voodoo. You need to smarten up if you’re going to spend any time alone in this city.”
“Sorry I’m not doing a good enough job for you.”
I stepped in the direction of the hotel. She needed a keeper, and it wasn’t like I was in the market for another job.
“Where’s your room key?”
She lifted her arm to show me a little purse dangling from her wrist.
When we reached the door to the lobby, I set her on her feet and she wrapped her arms around my neck. “Don’t let go.”
“You smell good.” Her face buried in my neck as I unzipped the purse and fished out the keycard. “Really good.”
I shook my head, trying to tell myself that she was just drunk and had no idea what she was saying.
“Come on. Let’s get you inside.”
Eden untucked her face from my body and looked up at me. “Are you coming inside?”
“You think you can get up there yourself?”
Her brows drew together as she considered it. “I don’t know. What was in those drinks? They didn’t taste like anything but grape.”
From the way she was stumbling, I had to guess it was the Purple Circus Punch, made with Everclear. And I also had to imagine that Eden didn’t have a clue what that was.
I slid the keycard into the reader and pushed open the door to the lobby. Keeping her tucked in tight to my side and helping her walk, we avoided too many strange looks in the lobby before we reached the elevator.
Thankfully, I remembered exactly which room she was in, because Eden was already on the edge of passing out by the time the elevator stopped on the third floor. I lifted her into my arms and carried her down the hallway.
“I’ve never been like this before . . . not even when I raided my aunt’s wine collection when she spent the weekend at the spa.”
If I needed any more clues to figure out just how sheltered the girl in my arms was, that would have done it.
Adjusting my grip on her again, I used the key to open the door to the room and pushed inside. She hadn’t taken it over like most women would—tossing clothes everywhere and covering every flat surface with something girly. She’d kept her suitcase neatly packed, and the only thing disturbed was the bed. The sheets were tangled and a tablet sat on the nightstand.
I lowered her to the bed and she flopped backward on it.
Rage heated within me again at the kid who’d dosed her drink. I wanted to go back and beat the fuck out of him. But if I knew bouncers in NOLA, the kid wasn’t getting off unscathed. We didn’t take kindly to that shit here.
What the fuck would have happened if I hadn’t ended up on Bourbon? If I’d gone to one of my normal places?
I didn’t want to think about the alternative. When I’d stepped into the bar, my instincts demanded I scan the entire interior before ordering a drink. Even at the end of the bar, Eden hadn’t been able to hide. In a sea of drunken mindlessness, she stood out. I didn’t know what it was, but there was something.
And now, seeing her nearly unconscious, I couldn’t stop thinking about how fucking vulnerable she was on her own.
She kicked her shoes off and struggled to sit up and reach behind her. “I can’t reach it. Can you?”
She had to be talking about the zipper to the dress. I sat down on the bed beside her as she turned her back toward me. But there was no zipper.
“What are you trying to reach?”
“I just want out of this dress.”
“Well, how did you get into it?”
Eden released a noise of frustration before stilling. “Crap. Side. Forgot.” She lifted an arm but fumbled with the tiny tab.
“Stop. I got it.” I tugged it down and the sides fell free beneath the sleeve.
Shit, her skin was just as smooth and white as I’d imagined when I pictured tattooing it.
I needed to step away, but she continued to struggle with the dress. This had to be punishment for something I’d done in the past. My hands itched to touch her, but I knew I had no right.
Then again, I couldn’t keep watching her struggle, so I lifted her to her feet and slipped the dress up and over her head. I told myself I’d keep my eyes on her face, but even I knew I was a shitty liar.
Her tits were fucking perfect. Her bra was pale pink with white lace around the edges and completely sheer. Her nipples were a shade darker, and she looked as sweet as I’d imagined.
I had to stop.
I dragged my gaze to hers and she stared up at me. Her expression wasn’t horrified but heated.
She liked that I looked. Her tongue flicked out to wet her lower lip, and the combination of lust and innocence made my dick harder than anything I could ever remember in the past. That’s when her gaze dropped, and I knew she couldn’t miss my reaction.
She swallowed, and after long moments, brought her attention north, but she couldn’t quite meet my eyes. I lifted a hand to her chin and tilted it up the last few degrees.
I shouldn’t have touched her. Her skin was even softer than it looked. She leaned into my touch, and that’s what fucked me over.
Just a taste, I told myself. That’s all.
I lowered my lips to hers and her hands landed on my chest, her fingers gripping my shirt and pulling me closer.
So goddamned sweet. She moaned and my cock pulsed, reminding me that it was ready to go.
I tore my mouth away and stepped back.
What the hell am I doing? She was drunk. Could have GHB running through her system. I wasn’t going to take any more fucking advantage because that would make me just as shitty as the guy who’d dumped it in her drink.
Before she could say anything, I turned and crossed to her suitcase. Yoga pants and a T-shirt sat on top. “Here, put these on.” I tossed them to her.
I waited a full sixty seconds, hoping like hell she would have covered herself by now, and then I turned.
Mistake.
She must have been struggling with her bra like she had with the dress, because now she was naked from the waist up.
“Christ, woman. Put on some clothes.”
Hurt tinged her features, but I forced myself to push down the urge to tell her that she was fucking perfect and the edges of my control were fraying.
Eden tugged the T-shirt over her head and dropped onto the bed again before curling onto her side.
“Just go. I know you don’t want to be here.”
The hurt was in her voice too, and it pissed me off that my shitty judgment had put it there.
“Someone’s gotta babysit you tonight, and I’m sure as hell not letting anyone else do it.”
Part of me expected her to tell me to get the hell out, but the only response I got was a soft snore. Out.
I lowered myself into the desk chair, her taste still on my tongue. It was going to be a long fucking night.