Mature Content Ahead

Iris

Minh and Ivy didn't follow me inside, no matter how I begged and pleaded. They only smiled tight smiles and shook their heads, pushing me toward the door. A banner of pale pink balloons hung over the threshold.

My thoughts spiraled. Were they refusing to come inside because they thought it might be safer out here? Was Garrett a willing participant in this ambush, or was he lured here under false pretenses? A fist closed around my heart. I prayed it was the former, not just for what it said about his state of mind, but because I couldn't bear the thought that he had been lied to again.

Warm, cedar scented air rushed over me as I stepped inside, and some of my anxiety melted away as I took in the familiar space. I had only spent one week in the cabin with him, but every detail remained sharp in my memory. I turned to face the living room, drawn by the cheerful fire in the hearth, and frowned. The floor to ceiling bookshelves were empty. Save for a single book standing on one of the middle shelves. A book I recognized immediately.

Unwrapping the scarf from my neck, I laid it on the back of the leather sofa. My hat and gloves followed. Then I took a deep breath and took the book.

Tears filled my eyes at once. There was no question whether Garrett had read it. Some readers might faint at the idea of a book left in less than perfect condition after being read, but I liked to think that a good book left a mark upon its reader. Creases in the cover and dog-eared pages were just the physical manifestation of that mark.

I stared at the title. A Work in Progress. It was a standard phrase for most writers, but this time it was so much more than one of a dozen half developed ideas I'd saved on my computer. This was my story. Our story. And when I gave it to Garrett, I did so, knowing I might never get the chance to finish it.

Something was inside the book. I opened it from the back and withdrew a folded sheet of paper. Someone had wedged it between the last chapter and the notes. Right where the final chapter would go. The one I didn't know how to write.

But it seemed someone did.

Chapter 48: All is Forgiven

From the shadows, Grant watched Daisy. It pained him to remain hidden. To only look but not touch as she studied the gift he'd left for her. He longed to rewind time. Not to change what had happened between them. He would take the pain again and again if it meant that she belonged to him, just for a little while. He only wished to tell himself not to take those moments between them for granted. To savor every kiss and touch and smile, so that if she didn't forgive him, he would at least have those moments to get him through the darkest nights.

She was looking around now. Her velvet brown eyes searching the room for him, and he could take it no longer. He—

The words ended there. A board creaked, and I ripped my eyes from the page. Garrett stood at the end of the couch. Stubble covered his jaw, his brown curls were disheveled, and his green eyes glowed in the dim light. They swept over me, heating me more than the flames of the fire ever could, and I crushed the book against my chest as if it was the only thing holding me together.

"Garrett," I whispered, sinking my teeth into the backside of my bottom lip.

"Wait." He held up one hand. The other he settled on the back of the sofa, his knuckles bleaching white as he gripped the cushion. "I need to speak first."

I nodded. "That's fair."

"I'm sorry. For pushing you away and not giving you closure. It was wrong of me to leave that door open instead of letting you heal and move on with your life."

My knees shook, and I sank onto the sofa to keep from falling. Bright spots appeared in Garrett's cheeks, but he didn't make a move toward me. Every bright spark of hope faded away.

'It was wrong of me to leave that door open...'

"This could have been a phone call." At least then, I might have been allowed to fall apart alone and keep my dignity. But perhaps that's what he needed to heal and move on. To see me shatter so that he could be certain he had hurt me as much as I hurt him.

"Iris..."

The anguish in his voice forced my eyes upward. They met his and waited. He came around the edge of the couch and sat down beside me, our knees touching.

"I'm sorry it took me so fucking long to work through the anger and the hurt, and I'm sorry I didn't communicate that better." Garrett took the book and page from me. "Because there is nothing I want more than to write the next chapter in our story. Not the last one. But the next of many."

"I never wanted to lie to you. This..." I gestured back and forth between us. "Was never part of the plan. I couldn't have even imagined someone like you and someone like me ending up together."

The pad of Garrett's thumb was rough against my cheek as he wiped away a tear. He smiled at me. "Now, don't say that. I've read some of your books, and your imagination is quite good."

A laugh tangled with a sob. "You know what I mean. I'm just me. Iris. I'm a bookworm who likes to wear oversized sweatshirts and overalls and eat takeout in my apartment on Friday nights. The highlights, sexy clothes, and sex appeal... that's Ivy. Not me."

A squeal escaped me as Garrett dragged me onto his lap. He gripped my hips, pinning me in place while I grabbed his shoulders to stay upright. A flush went over my body at the intimacy this position created.

"I didn't fall in love with the highlights and sexy clothes. The sex appeal bit... that's a lie. You are the sexiest woman I've ever met. I like takeout and staying in—" He slid me forward, forcing my legs to widen and pressing his erection against my center. "Especially staying in, though we'll have to negotiate on the oversized clothes."

I frowned as his words reached me through the haze of lust. "I guess I didn't hate all of Ivy's clothes. If that's what you like."

Garrett surged forward, his arms going around me as I fell back. He stood up long enough to turn around and lower me back onto the couch, my legs still locked around his hips.

"I was thinking more along the lines of no clothes," he whispered against my lips before kissing me.

As our time apart grew longer, a small part of me had worried that I would forget how to make love. It had all been so new to me, but as Garrett's hands moved over my body, drawing gasps and moans from me, I quickly lost all my doubts. I was hard-wired to respond to him.

"I have missed you so much," he said as he threw my sweater and leggings to the floor.

He bent his head and drew a nipple into his mouth, sucking hard as he worked a finger between my legs. When I arched off the couch, leg muscles tightening and toes curling as an orgasm swept over me, he peppered kisses over my stomach.

"And I have missed that fucking sound you make when you come. I would lay in my bed at night, pumping my cock in my hand as I thought about it. That little whimper and groan."

I cupped my flushed cheeks and squirmed. "This isn't fair. I'm the only one naked. It's my turn to be on my knees, saying dirty things to you."

Garrett leaned back on his knees. He was backlit by the fire's glow, which made it harder to make out his expression as he peeled off his shirt. I stared at his broad, muscled chest with hunger, nearly missing the flash of his white teeth as he grinned.

His belt buckle clinked as he undid it. Followed by the sound of a zipper. "And just what dirty things would you say to me?"

I watched as he pushed his pants down to his thighs, revealing his swollen cock, but he didn't step out of them. Instead, he pulled me down to the edge of the couch so that my ass was hanging off the edge and held me there while he pressed the tip of himself against my opening.

Reaching between my legs, I stroked him, enjoying his sharp intake of breath. "I would lick your pre-cum off you first and tell you how good you tasted. Then I would cup your balls while I took you as far down my throat as possible. Choking on you. My eyes watering."

Garrett's fingers dug into my hips hard enough to bruise. He was so close to losing control. I knew it scared him sometimes, to disappear into the passion, but it was the way I loved it the most. And it was what I needed.

I closed my fingers around him and urged him to slide deeper into me. He allowed it, grudgingly. Easing up on my elbows and rolling my hips, I looked him in the eye as I said, "When you tried to pull to out of my mouth, I would grab your ass, holding you in place while I fucked you with my mouth until you came down my throat."

Garrett slammed home in a single thrust that pinned me against the couch. He covered my body with his so that all I could do was hold on, my fingers digging into the muscles of his ass as he pumped into me. There was barely a retreat before he thrust forward, relentlessly pounding me into the cushions until there was no sound but grunting and whimpering and wet flesh against leather.

"Fuck, Iris...You feel so good."

"Say it again."

"You feel so good," he repeated, punctuating each word with a jerk of his hips.

"No. My name. Say my name."

He leaned back enough to look me in the eye. "I love you, Iris. Iris. Iris."

Every time he said my name, he moved faster. Harder. Driving away every moment before and leaving nothing but this moment. A fresh start. The first moment of forever. Linking us, bodies and hearts.

"Inside of me," I begged, feeling his rhythm falter, a sure sign he was close.

With a nod against my shoulder, he thrust twice more before groaning, a sound as if torn from his soul. Cool air washed over my heated body as he peeled himself off me, and I kept my eyes closed, waiting for him to return to me with a towel to clean up.

"Garrett!" I shrieked, eyes flying open as his tongue swiped between my legs.

My shock didn't deter him. He licked and sucked, bringing me back to the edge faster than I could ever remember it happening. My fingers tangled in his hair, and I could do nothing but chase after my pleasure, grinding against his face. He pressed down on my thighs, holding me open, and with a few quick flicks of his tongue, I came with a scream.

When I came back to my senses, I glanced down to find Garrett's face soaked with my juices while he used two fingers to push his cum back inside me. His cock jutted up between his legs, ready for a second round, and when he turned me to my stomach, I didn't protest.

"You can put this one in your books," he said, his fingers easing me open for him. "Now hold on tight."