Job done.
We ate, walked around near the Minster, listened to a rehearsal for a concert for ten minutes, which sounded ethereal even from outside. We made our way back to the hotel, her left hand in my right. I fiddled with her ring finger as we walked, wanting to see if she passed comment on it. I had thoughts, many of them, about where I wanted to take this and at what pace.
Roe had told me to slow it down, but we were having a baby in just over six months. That six months was going to fly by and then we’d be a family of three, maybe four in two or three years. In a week or so, Iris was flying out to Monaco to do a photo shoot and while I could’ve gone with her, I had a meeting with my publisher in London and another with the production company who wanted to go through the script for the next series.I could’ve done both online, but it would’ve looked a bit shit and I wanted to give Iris a chance to miss me.
She sat down on the bed when we got back, phone out, probably looking at the photo Layla had taken. Then before I could register it, she held up her phone and took a photo of me.
“Did I give you permission for that?” I snatched her phone out of her hand and looked at the picture.
It was a good one, my expression what my brothers would say was typically me, but there was something in my eyes that was different, that was all about the photographer behind the lens.
“Yes. Blanket permission.”
I shook my head, catching her wrist when she came closer to me and pulling her in for a kiss that could easily have become x-rated.
“I’ll let you. What do you want to do tomorrow? We don’t have to rush back.” I toyed with her hair, massaging the back of her head, something which made her purr.
“Can we see how we feel in the morning? I wouldn’t mind driving out to Castle Howard, but I might just need an easier day – we’ve done a load of walking today.” She wrestled free and stood up, stretching. “I’m going to wash my face and get into bed.”
“Okay. You alright?” She seemed quieter than usual.
A nod and a smile. “I’m good. Amazing. This man told me he loved me today. It was a nice feeling.”
“Just nice? That was it? Not mind-blowing or life-changing?’ I sat up straighter.
Iris shrugged, her lips curved in a teasing smile. “I think it was mind-blowing. I think it’s rocked my world in the best possible way. I just need to find the right moment to say what I need to back.” The look she gave me before she headed into the bathroom was evil.
What was even more evil was when she reappeared, topless, breasts on show, nipples hard.
“I’m not testing your resolve,” she said, reaching up and clipping her hair back. “I splashed water on my top so I need to put something else on. But it’s fun to watch your face right now.”
I watched, totally spellbound as she cupped her breasts, then circled her nipples with her finger, the tips of them hardening.
I sat up on the bed, not sure if my legs could support my weight right now if I tried to stand up, not that I needed to. My gaze stayed on Iris, watching the show she was putting on for me, utterly unselfconscious, her body flush with desire, her eyes on me constantly.
I was aware that my erection was obvious, tenting the sweatpants I’d thrown on while she was in the bathroom.If you can’t beat them, join themechoed through my head. I pulled off my T-shirt, pleased at how Iris stared at my chest again, just as she had been doing when I’d been making the fence with Finn. Then I pushed my sweats down, freeing my cock and fisting it slowly.
It was a relief to touch myself, understanding there was going to be an end here, one way or another.
“The photos I took of you when you were like that - ” Iris froze, her gaze completely unhidden, desire unconcealed. “I’ve looked at them and then got myself off.”
It was a wonder I didn’t come there and then.
“You think about me when you touch yourself every time?”
She nodded. “You’re my go to when I need a quick ending. I remember what happened in New Orleans and how you felt when you fucked me.”
“Was it just a fuck?” I was starting to hate it when she said that word.
“I had to think of it like that. I figured I was just another notch on your bedpost.” She slid her pants and underwear down off her legs, leaving her completely naked in front of me.
This could be heaven. I didn’t know anything better.
She was all silky skin and curves and big eyes, her smile tentative and half-worried that I’d reject her.
That was never going to happen.
“You were never that. I thought you just wanted one night.” Which was the truth. “You never mentioned anything afterwards.”
