This bonus chapter is set in a version of Expiration Date where Iris and Jonas were never in love. Just really good friends. It's set shortly after Exported.

Bently~~

I've done my best to avoid Iris since we returned to the Estate after our time in France. I told her that we had nothing to talk about—the kiss, my confession were all a necessary lie to get us out of the catacombs to ensure she made it out alive.

I sink onto the edge of the fountain, the hedge surrounding me.

Perhaps this wasn't the best spot if I wanted to avoid thinking about her. The labyrinth was the first place our paths crossed when I helped Colton knock her out.

I drop my face into my hands. How could I let myself fall in love with her—a woman who surely will never feel anything more for me than friendship—not when it was me who tried to kill her?

And she knows that.

At least that's one secret that's not weighing down on me.

Water trickles behind me into the pool. Iris is off somewhere with my cousins, most of whom she's enchanted by this point.

Perhaps she'll marry one of them. Not Jonas who will have to marry an Amoris or Colton who now has Vienna back.

And it won't be me.

She probably only sees Odette when she looks at me.

Soft footsteps make me drop my hands just as Iris steps into the courtyard.

My hands rest palms up on my knees. I'm sure I look like a sorry state. "What are you doing here?"

"You were missing."

"Forgive me if I don't feel like spending every waking second with my cousins."

She tilts her head, giving me an odd look. Her hair's been curled and hangs to her bare shoulders. I catch a glimpse of her Expiration Date that's pressed against the deep green layers of her dress. Of course she looks even more beautiful than usual tonight. "What's wrong?" she asks.

"Nothing."

She walks toward me and dips her chin to the spot beside me. "May I?"

I shrug.

She sinks down onto the fountain's edge. Her dress brushes against my pants. Her knee doesn't touch mine, but I feel it; I sense it.

"I've had nightmares every night, you know."

I look at her, and in the amber light of the lampposts, I can see the dark circles crescenting under her eyes. I stop myself before I reach out and brush my thumb along them.

"I'm here," she says. "If you need to talk about it."

"I don't want to think about it."

"But that doesn't mean you stop . . . thinking about it, I mean." She places her hand on my thigh and warmth spreads from where her hands touch. My entire attention focuses on where her fingers touch me.

"Thank you." The words try to stick in my throat. Iris must can hear them catch because her fingers give my thigh a light squeeze.

My stomach clenches.

"Whatever you need, Bently." She frowns. "I'm here. Remember that."

I cover her hand, and she lifts her eyes to meet mine.

It's okay if she'll never be mine if I can have her for just this one night.

I squeeze her hand, guiding it higher up my leg. Her hand tenses, but she doesn't pull away.

I twist toward her and let go of her hand to move my own to her thigh. I press down, dragging it up until I grip her waist.

She bites her lip, drawing my gaze to her mouth. Touching her is one thing, but if I were to kiss her, I'd be in agony.

I slide my hand over her stomach until its splayed across her chest. I press firmly against her, a silent order that she understands, leaning back until she lies against the edge of the fountain. I hover over her, pressing her into the stone. Her dress bunches around her thighs.

She's perfect like this, under me, staring up at me with darkened eyes, her lips parted.

I bend down, dropping a kiss to the center of her chest.

Her fingers curl around the edges of the stone.

I kiss her neck, letting her hair brush against my face. "You never told me who it was you saw when we kissed." I don't know why I do this to myself. Why I seem to want her to hurt me.

Her neck flushes, and I draw back to see her face.

"You."

I still, my muscles tightening.

I suspected she had been imagining Jonas or even Erik. But never me.

Red tinges her cheeks, and she begins to squirm under me.

"Forget I—"

I press my lips to hers, ignoring my own damn perfectly terrible advice.

She lets out a moan, and her hand moves along my stomach up to my chest. I capture her wrist and pin it above her head.

"Stay." I mutter before taking her lips once more.

I bring both my knees onto the ledge, placing one between her legs and the other on the side closest to the water.

Iris breaks the kiss and raises her eyebrows. "You're going to fall in."

"I'll drag you down with me." I nip her nose.

"You'd ruin my dress."

"Oh darling, I already plan on ruining it." I let go of her wrist and slide my hands up her legs and under her dress, stopping when I reach her hips. There, I rub my thumbs in circles against her skin, feeling the lace of her underwear.

She closes her eyes. "Don't you dare ruin it."

"Would it be so bad if I did?" I drag my fingertips down the outside of her leg.

"Yes."

"Why?" I drag them back up. "Is it because you don't want my cousins to know what you've been up to? Sweet innocent Iris would never—"

Someone swears.

I withdraw my hands from Iris's dress, and she sits up, swinging her legs down to the cobblestone.

Jonas has his back turned to us, a hand clapped over his eyes.

My fingers curl into a fist. "You can turn around, Jonas."

"I don't know if I want to. I wasn't expecting to have that image seared into my brain."

Part of me has no qualms about my cousin catching us like this. Another is very uncomfortable with the idea that said cousin is my Preeminence.

"I'm not going to talk to you if you aren't looking at me."

He turns around, and his eyes shift from me to Iris. I've wondered before if he holds feelings for her stronger than friendship or that of their shared bond of being Expired.

"I hope my cousin was behaving himself."

Iris flushes. "Umm . . . yes?"

I roll my eyes. "What are you doing out here, Jonas?"

"You weren't at dinner. I wanted to make sure you were all right."

It's hard to be angry at my cousin when he actually tries to act like he cares about all of us. "I'm fine."

Jonas glances at the stone we sit upon. "There are much finer places to treat a woman to."

Iris drapes a hand across her face. "Please excuse me as I go crawl in a hole and die."

Jonas gives her a lopsided smile she doesn't see. "I suppose I should be getting back inside."

Yes. Yes, he should. "You're probably missed."

He turns that smile on me though it shifts into a smirk. "You as well." He takes a step back. "I'll see you both later then."

Iris runs a hand through her hair. "See you."

Once we're alone and Jonas's footsteps have receded into the maze, Iris looks like she's ready to take off after him.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. I should probably get back inside as well." She stands, but I catch her hand, getting to my feet.

"Stay."

She looks down at our hands and then up at me.

"Iris, I love you."

Her eyes widen, her lips parting in shock. "You . . . do?"

"Terribly so."

"So in the catacombs?"

"It was all true."

The next thing I know, Iris's hand is on my cheek and her lips are on mine. I place my hand on her hip and let her lead us both. Her fingers sweep against the edge of my hair, and she kisses me like the first day of spring, like the first breath you take when waking.

"Bently." She brushes her lips over mine.

"Hmm?" I slide my hand to her lower back, kissing her quickly.

She rests her forehead against mine. "I love you too."

At those words, my mind empties of everything but her. I take control of the kiss, driving her back until she's pressed into the hedge. Iris laughs, and I want to make her laugh again and again and again.

"You're mine," I say.

She nods, brushing her nails through my hair. "And you're mine."

I kiss her again, and she grabs hold of my chin, keeping me against her. I'm all too happy to oblige.

When she does pull away, she drops her head to my chest, and my arms come around her.

"We should probably return inside," she says. "Before someone else comes looking for us."

"We could join my cousins in a card game."

"They'll complain when they lose."

"So certain of your skills, are you?"

She sighs, content. "I've had a pretty good teacher."

I place a kiss on the top of her head, and I continue holding her, marveling in the feel of her, of having her locked in my arms. She loves me. That knowledge makes something build in my chest, making me feel heavy and light all at once. It's a feeling I never have to lose.

Perhaps I won't—I brush my hand over her back, smiling—because she's mine.

I've been wanting to write a Bently and Iris chapter like this for along time. I hope this chapter made those of you who ship them happy. I'm probably their biggest shipper though.