The Bet | Ethma

26

Emma struggled to keep her hands at her sides, when truthfully, all she wanted to do was strangle the man she was still straddling.

"You named your bunny after me? You hated me in high school. What gives?" She crossed her arms.

Ethan looked away. "Don't flatter yourself, Em. I named the bunny after you because I figured it was the only name that I was convinced would evoke fear in even the scariest of monsters."

"So it had nothing to do with me?" Emma wondered why she was suddenly upset.

"Oh, it had everything to do with you." Ethan reached around and pulled her body tighter against him as he leaned forward and kissed her again. "After all..." His lips tortured her neck, he groaned into her hair, and Emma hated that she was so easily seduced by the man she had been trying not to fall for the entire trip. "...I wasn't allowed to physically torture you. I was brought up to be a gentleman. So whenever you... frustrated me..." He nipped her ear and claimed her lips again. "...I'd come home and beat my bunny."

"You took out your sexual frustration on a bunny?" Emma's voice was breathless.

"Who said I was sexually frustrated?"

Crap. Now what was she going to do? Lie? Kiss him again? Knee him in the balls? "I, uh," she stuttered. "I just assumed that was the life you led, almost like a eunuch. You know, because you didn't date much and took that Jezebel to prom with you."

Ethan rolled his eyes. "I'll let my cousin know you said hi."

"She always was such a dear." Emma and Ethan's cousin, Lucy, had had a falling out that night, when they both showed up in the same dress. Lucy, with all her naturally endowed gifts from God, had nearly fallen out of hers, while Emma had needed tissue stuffing in hers to fill it out. It wasn't her fault she was a late bloomer! The entire night was ruined when Lucy, in a fit of lust — and most likely alcohol — made a move for Grayson. They were, after all, only second cousins, once removed. It didn't make it any less creepy, or wrong, or sad to watch as she tried to molest him on the dance floor. Ah, high school. Good times.

Emma shook her head and gave Ethan sweet smile, pushing at his chest so she could get up.

"Where are you going?" Ethan grasped her wrist. She had to get out, had to leave him before she attacked him and lost all control.

"My room."

"You can't go to you room. What if someone sees you?"

"Who's going to see me?" The birds? The tiny squirrels outside his bedroom window?

Ethan blinked several times before answering. "Anyone could see you, and if you come out of my room looking like that, they'll be suspicious."

"Your family knows we hate each other." Emma grunted.

Ethan, the devil, gave her such a seducing smile she wondered if her heart would stop beating. "Yes, but, my family knows of my certain reputation, that of a playboy, not a eunuch as you've so lovingly described me."

"Right, well, since you're paranoid, I'll just shower here, and we can escape out the back. Sound good?"

Ethan groaned into his hands. "Too good, Em. Too good."

Not wanting to hang around, or even allow his double meaning to penetrate her already jumbled thoughts, she skittered away toward the bathroom.

"Right then." What was I going to say? Something snappy. Something funny. Damn his abs! They had no right to be so ripped!

Emma pushed through the door and slammed it hard behind her. Lock, lock where was the lock?

"There's no lock, Em," Ethan's deep timbre explained the situation. "They haven't gotten around to actually fixing up the bathroom yet, so it's kinda still in shambles, but the water's hot, and the towels are clean. Just don't go making it smell all girly in there."