Page 128 of Carnal Games

“You said you were attending an important meeting. I didn’t want to disturb you.” Turning around to pay attention to whatever she has on the stove, she jokes over her shoulder, “Don’t worry, I locked the doors.”

I hate how she knew that’s where my mind would go.

“Why are you cooking? Didn’t you have dinner with your friends? You needed to take your medicine two hours ago, after eating food. Don’t tell me you’re still hungry.”

“I ate with Ro and Bianca and took my medicine,” she patiently replies. “I’m making you dinner.”

It takes a beat for her answer to sink in because I’m lost in the fantasy where she’s mine and I’m crossing the distance to touch her, hug her, and shush her with a kiss. Ever since yesterday, I can’t stop thinking about kissing her. “I didn’t ask you to do that.”

“I know.” She shrugs. “I wanted to.”

“You also didn’t know when I was returning.”

“I was going to message you that I left it on the counter and to heat it later.” Turning off the stove, she covers the top of the pot before going to the refrigerator. Pulling out a water bottle, she pours a glass while talking. “Dinner is ready. I hope you like fried rice and dal. It’s all I had at my place.”

I frown when, rather than drinking it herself, she strolls over to my side and holds the glass up for me. “Here. You must be thirsty. Do you want to eat now or after changing out of your suit?”

The small gesture stirs foreign emotions that I try not to let affect me.

“Thank you,” I say after taking the glass. Before she can turn, I cup her elbow and peer down at her. “You don’t have to do this, Iris.”

“Do what?” She appears genuinely perplexed.

“Bring me water. Cook food. It better not be because I’m letting you stay here.”

Her eyes search mine for the longest seconds, staring deep and past the layers no one else ever has. It doesn’t feel invasive. Mouth tipping up, she murmurs, “You haven’t lived together with someone, have you?”

“No.” Not since I rented my first one-bedroom apartment when I turned twenty-five. A year after I left the army. The first eighteen years of living in a house that felt like a cage killed any desire to share a space with another human ever again.

Iris’s melodious voice pulls me back from the past.

“I’m not doing this out of obligation, Kian. This isn’t a deal where you do something for me and I have to return the favor. When you share a home with someone, you lean on each other. Take care of each other by doing little things. You do it because you want to and it makes you happy, not because it’s expected.Are you saying you wouldn’t do the same if the situation were reversed and I came home after a hard day at work?”

“I’d make you tea.” After taking off her heels because her feet would be hurting from walking in them all day, even though she’d deny it. I’d remove each piece of clothing until she’d be gloriously naked and run her a bath, massage her feet, and wrap her in my shirt before feeding her dinner.

Fuck, how I desperately want to do it all.

For her, I’d try changing my ways.

If only there was a universe where she were mine.

A gorgeous smile lights up her face, turning her blue eyes molten. “Just because you’re capable of doing everything on your own, doesn’t mean you can’t let anybody else take care of you sometimes. You’re not a machine that never gets tired, Kian. So stop acting like one.”

“Whatever you say, little rainbow,” I acquiesce, reaching up to caress the top of her cheek with my thumb. I was right. The pinkness isn’t from makeup. As my finger pauses stroking her face, I notice Iris has frozen. I’m touching her without permission. Making up an excuse, I drop my hand and push it inside my pocket. “Your eye is healing well.”

“Mhmm,” she hums.

“Your ribs?”

“Better.”

I take a step back. “I’m going to shower before dinner. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Kian