“I don’t normally do this,” he assured me. “I’m not this guy.”
Smiling, I reached up and kissed him again. “Me neither, but I want to with you…if you want?”
His lips captured mine again, and he kissed me deeply. “I want.”
Leading me to my bed, which was still unmade from this morning, he quickly undressed me. When I was in just my panties and bra, Mark gently placed me on my bed and shed his own clothes. With his boxers still on, he got on the bed, and his kisses started at my calves as he slowly kissed his way up my body. My bra came off as he took his time becoming acquainted with my breasts. He took so much time I was losing patience. “Mark.”
“I know,” he said as he licked my nipple. His hand dipped under my panties, with a hiss of appreciation at finding me ready for him. Pulling them off gently, he covered me with his body as he kissed me again. My own hands tugged at his boxers, and between us, they came off as he continued to kiss along my jawline and nuzzle into my neck.
“Condom?” Mark asked as his hand dipped between my legs again.
“Bathroom,” I told him shyly. When he came back, I sat up, my hand stroking him for the first time. He was average size but thick, and I wanted to taste him. Leaning forward to do that, he stopped me.
“I want this to last,” he spoke softly.
Nodding, I lay back, and he quickly put the condom on before positioning himself over me. “Last chance, beautiful.”
“Do it,” I whispered as I reached up to kiss him. “I need you.”
He hesitated for a moment, and then with a kiss, he entered me, both of us gasping. “I need you too,” he murmured as he began to move, and we no longer needed to talk.
CHAPTER SIX
MARK
“Are you even listening to me?” Doug barked at me, successfully snapping me out of my memories.
“Yes, everyone can hear you,” I told him with an eye roll as I looked around the conference room.
“You zoned out again,” he reprimanded me. “You have no idea what the client wants.”
He was right, I didn’t. I hadn’t been listening because I didn’t care. Sunlight through the tinted glass caught my eye as it bounced off someone’s water glass. It reminded me of the way the sun hit the lake at Clearwater Pines as Iris rode me, her head thrown back as she enjoyed our early morningwalk, which ended up with us both being naked and wrapped up in each other.
“Where the fuck is your head at?” Doug demanded.
“Not here.” Standing up, I looked down at him. “I’ll do better.”
Leaving the office early, I doubted myself. It had been two months, and my head—and my heart—were in Colorado. The sense of longing for the place and the woman was growing stronger each day.
Getting home, I took Josie for her walk, and I called the guesthouse.
“Hey, beautiful,” I greeted her. “How’s your day?”
As Iris told me about her most recent guests, I couldn’t help smiling. Our week together had been perfect. Sure, we got off to a rocky start, but we overcame. I learned so much about her, and I opened up to her too. We spoke about everything, from favourite food to movies to religion to politics and even favourite colours. We lost sleep because we spoke all night, or spent it tangled together. I learned that she didn’t solely survive on the income from the guesthouse, she also wrote books.Thattook five days before she confessed, and I had now read her entire back catalogue. Her marketing was a disaster, and I laughed when I saw her website, but when I saw her face fall, I immediately apologised and promised to make it better. She was super shy about being an author, and I loved her even more for it.
At the end of the week, we had worked out a schedule of how our relationship survived long distance.
She wasn’t a fling. She was quickly becoming everything.
“Are you happy?” I asked her, interrupting her in the middle of her story.
“Um, yes?” I heard her hesitation. “I miss you.”
“I miss you.” Stopping in Central Park, I looked around at the greenery, yearning for more. “Iris, do you trust me?”
“Absolutely,” she answered immediately.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. “I want to come home,” I told her.