“This will hurt at first,” he said softly while brushing her temple with his lips. “But I’ll be careful. I’ll go slow.”
She nodded and wrapped her arms around him, drawing him closer.
He kissed her again, lingering reverently, as his hand slipped between them. His fingers sought her center, and he found her already wet and trembling for him. He teased her pearl in slow, steady circles, coaxing a sigh from her lips and a shiver from her thighs.
“Just like that,” he murmured, his voice low and intimate. “Let me feel you melt for me.”
Her body softened under his touch. When he slid a finger into her, she moaned. The sound was so sweet and raw that it nearly shattered him.
He worked her gently until she gasped his name and clutched him with shaking hands. Then, when she was ready, he positioned himself at her entrance and began to press inside.
She stiffened slightly and dug her nails into his back.
“Easy,” he whispered while placing a kiss on her cheek. “Breathe, Iris. Let me in.”
He kissed her again as his fingers returned to her pearl, stroking it lightly, coaxing her body to relax. And when it did, he eased forward, sliding into her inch by inch, until he was fully seated inside her.
She gasped, and he went still, trembling with the effort to hold back.
“Are you all right?” he asked. His voice was hoarse with restraint.
Her eyes fluttered open. She bit her bottom lip, then gave a breathless nod. “I want more. Don’t stop.”
He began to move, slowly and carefully. Each thrust signified a slow proclamation. Her hips rose to meet his, so the rhythm grew and deepened between them.
Her gasps turned into moans. His name left her lips like a prayer.
“You feel like heaven,” he groaned as he pressed kisses to her face, neck, and breast. “So tight, so sweet. God, Iris…”
She wrapped her legs around his waist, taking him deeper. Her hips moved with his, her body chasing each thrust, until she was whimpering with need.
“Yes… right there… Owen, please?—”
He angled his hips, and she shattered. Her inner walls clenched around him in tight, desperate pulses. She cried out and her body bowed beneath his, wild and radiant in ecstasy.
The sight of her undone—for him—tipped him over the edge.
With a strangled cry, he thrust once more and spilled inside her. He became lost in the blinding heat of release.
He collapsed beside her with his chest heaving and gathered her into his arms. Owen buried his face in the curve of her neck as their bodies trembled in the aftermath.
Then, they lay tangled together. Iris’s head was on his chest while he drew patterns on her bare shoulder. She was quiet for so long that he thought she might be asleep, so he spoke into the darkness.
“Iris.”
“Yes?”
“We’ll protect what we’ve built. All three of us, together.”
She hesitated. “And if Richmond discovers the truth about Evie?”
“Then we’ll face it together.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “No more secrets, no more distance. Whatever comes, we face it as a family.”
She lifted her head to look at him and he could see how serious her eyes were in the dim light. “Promise me.”
“I promise.”
When she finally drifted off to sleep, Owen remained awake, watching her breathe in the circle of his arms.
