Page 42 of Isolated (Harper Security Ops #21)

Landen

It was difficult to believe that just a few weeks ago, I’d been feeling so frustrated.

And all it took was a couple of days for everything to change. Maybe just one day.

From the moment Iris had walked into my office at Harper Security Ops that day she felt like her world had been turned upside down, my life changed.

With each day that passed that I was able to spend time with her and get to know her better, I got the sneaking suspicion that I’d found her.

The one I’d been waiting for all this time.

Now that we were in her kitchen after what we’d shared with one another this morning, I had little doubt that she was going to be my happy ending.

After all that had happened yesterday evening and how upset she’d been, I hadn’t expected Iris would wake up in the mood she had. But I couldn’t complain. There wasn’t anything I didn’t love about finally having that with her.

Sure, she’d made it clear I could have gotten in there sooner. Although I believed it would have been great at any point, I liked that we’d waited. I liked that we’d built up something even more meaningful than the friendship we’d had with each other from our time together at the gym.

I’d always been attracted to her. I couldn’t imagine anyone could take one look at her and not see just how beautiful she was on the outside. And with such a sunny disposition, most people would find the person she was on the inside to be just as attractive.

But it was the little things I got to see now that pulled me to her in a different way that caught me off guard.

The seductiveness. The resilience. Something told me I’d just barely scratched the surface of who this woman really was, and when I uncovered everything beneath it, I was going to wonder how I ever lived without her.

So, there had been the physical side of what we experienced this morning. I’d been craving to be able to touch and taste and tease her body for so long, there was no way I would have been able to avoid that part of it. But it was the emotional connection I felt to her that meant far more to me.

I couldn’t remember a time when I looked at her and didn’t feel my heart rate kick up a few notches, but now, I couldn’t look at her and not feel all that and more.

Every time she touched my skin, it was electric.

And time didn’t exist when I was with her—two hours felt like ten minutes. I didn’t think I’d ever get enough.

As I watched her standing in the kitchen wearing my shirt and a pair of panties, there was one small part of me that felt a twinge of regret for the time I’d wasted being noble.

But since she was wearing my shirt and had a smile on her face after I’d given her a couple of orgasms, I decided I wouldn’t continue to dwell on the things I couldn’t change.

I’d be grateful I was here, grateful for every moment I’d have with her moving forward.

And right now, I felt a thickness in my throat at how moved I was by her strength and spirit. Iris had been so devastated yesterday, had experienced such turmoil, and yet, she made me feel like life couldn’t possibly get any better.

Knowing she did that for me, that she could be this happy, while enduring everything she was currently dealing with, made me even more determined to help her through it all. Whatever she needed, whatever it took, I’d see her through.

Despite her concentration and focus on making breakfast, I couldn’t stay away. I crossed the room and walked up behind her, slipping my arms around her waist. I kissed her neck as my hands settled on her abdomen. “How are you feeling?”

Angling her head to the opposite side to give me greater access to the skin along the side of her throat, Iris worked the spatula through the eggs in the pan. “Well, you promised me that I wouldn’t be disappointed. That it’d be worth the wait. And I’m pleased to report, you weren’t lying to me.”

I smiled against her skin, my arms tightening just a touch in appreciation for how open she was with whatever was on her mind. Of course, I hadn’t been referring to how she felt about the sex we’d had, but I could roll with this conversation for a few minutes. “It was enjoyable for you?”

She twisted her neck to look at me. “It was better than I’d dreamed it would be. I loved it. Your mouth was incredible. All of you was, really. It was all exceptional. But I loved your mouth.”

I could still taste her on my tongue. And the confirmation she enjoyed it made it even better.

Grinning, I promised, “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

She returned her attention to the pan, noted the eggs were done, and scooped them onto the plates as she replied, “And I still need to have my turn.”

“Your turn?”

Tilting her hips, she sent her ass back into my lap. “To use my mouth.”

At the mere mention of it, my cock twitched. I’d had plenty of fantasies involving her mouth before, but seeing the longing in her eyes this morning, there was no dream that could compare to the real thing. “Whenever you’re feeling up to it, don’t hesitate.”

No sooner did she get the eggs on the plates, the toast finished in the toaster. “Will you grab the cream cheese out of the refrigerator?”

My hands went to her hips and squeezed. “Cream cheese?”

Iris spun around and explained, “I like it on my toast sometimes.”

“Okay.”

I moved to grab the cream cheese, but the minute I closed the refrigerator door, Iris smacked her hand to her forehead. “Oh, crap. ”

“What?”

“Did you want coffee?”

“I thought you didn’t drink it.”

“I don’t. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have any for when I have guests over. My sisters had some when they were here.”

Being around Iris, I was as alert as ever. I set the cream cheese down on the counter. “I don’t think I need any today.”

Iris reached for a butter knife to spread some cream cheese on her toast. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. And not that I didn’t enjoy the direction you took the conversation in before, but I wasn’t referring to how you felt about what we did this morning.”

Shifting her attention from her toast to me, Iris shot me a curious look. “You weren’t? What were you asking me about?”

“I wanted to know how you felt after everything that happened yesterday.”

Like I’d flipped a light switch, Iris’s mood shifted. Her shoulders drooped, and her features went slack. “I’m terrified.”

That hadn’t been the answer I’d been expecting. “What scares you?”

Her gaze was just to the right of my torso, and she stared off at something in the distance.

Like she’d find the answers she was looking for if she tried hard enough.

“It’s like I’m losing everyone who is important to me one by one.

And I’m just now waiting around to see who’s next.

Who will be the next person to walk away from me? ”

The way her voice cracked as she asked that question gave away just how worried she was.

I wrapped my arm around her back, my hand settling on her opposite shoulder.

“I’m not going anywhere, sunshine. I can promise you that.

And I’ve already done some thinking about your situation and have come up with a game plan for some parts of it. ”

She blinked in surprise. “You… You have?”

I sent her a reassuring smile. “I have. I thought we could discuss it over breakfast.”

Iris held up the butter knife. “Do you want cream cheese for your toast?”

I took the knife from her. “When you look at me like that, I’d agree to anything you ask me. I’d do it even if I hated cream cheese.”

Something warm washed over her expression, a small smile playing at her lips. That right there was another reason I’d do anything she asked. I just wanted to see her happy all the time.

Iris and I sat down to have breakfast together. While we ate, I told her about my ideas.

And though I believed my ideas were good, I didn’t think that hearing them would impact Iris as much as they did.

We’d finished our breakfast, and without a word, she moved her chair away from the table and walked around it toward me. Iris urged me to scoot my own chair back to give her enough room to stand between the table and me.

I was ready to pull her into my lap, but before I could, she dropped to her knees in front of me. Her hands began working at the fly of my jeans. “Do you know how much it means to me that you care enough to even want to find solutions to my problems?”

“I get the distinct feeling that you intend to show me. ”

Her eyes lit up, a smile spreading across her face. “Oh, I absolutely plan to demonstrate my gratitude.” She pulled the zipper down. “Not only do you want to find solutions for me, but you come up with such great ideas. You’ve got a brilliant mind, Landen.”

Lifting my hips as she tugged my jeans and underwear down, I shared, “I don’t like to see you upset, so I’m going to do whatever I can in any situation to make you happy.”

She continued to smile, her eyes on the prize as she curled her fingers around me.

Just the thought of what she was preparing to do was enough to have me throbbing.

But feeling her touch as she looked at me like she was had me balling my hands into fists.

“And I believe that kind of thinking deserves to be rewarded.”

It was getting harder and harder to think straight. “I’m not going to argue. I’d never stop you from doing what you feel is right.”

Iris tightened her grip and stroked. A groan tore up my throat.

“Do you like that?”

“I do.”

She brought her mouth to the tip, swirled her tongue around the head, and pressed a soft kiss there. “What about that?”

“It’s nice.” My voice no longer sounded like my own. I desperately wanted my cock in her mouth. But maybe this hint of torture was what I deserved to get after teasing her like I had this morning.

Iris offered another stroke before licking up the underside of my entire length, from root to tip. Then she parted her lips and took me inside.

I wanted to look, to watch those gorgeous lips and mouth wrapped around me, but my head dropped back on another groan. Iris pulled back as far as she could without releasing me before taking me in again as deep as she could go.

My toes were already curling.

She pulled back, hollowing her cheeks, and freed me from warm and wet confines of her pretty mouth. “And how was that?”

“Loved it, Iris.” She smiled at me, but I didn’t think I could make it through any additional teasing. “Please.”

I couldn’t remember ever begging for this, but then again, there’d never been anyone like her in my whole life.

She bit her lip, an indication that she knew what she was doing to me, and thoroughly enjoyed having that power. But then she gave me what I needed and took me in her mouth again.

Paradise.

Iris had skill and fervor and determination.

She had confidence.

And there wasn’t anything about what she was doing that I didn’t love beyond measure.

If this is what she experienced when I’d been using my mouth on her, I understood why she claimed to have enjoyed it so much. I didn’t think anything would top the way it felt to have my cock buried in her pussy, but her mouth was a very close second.

“Iris,” I groaned, feeling myself inch closer to the edge of that precipice.

She kept going. Kept sucking and licking and tasting. Kept unraveling me.

“Iris, I’m going to come. You need to stop if you don’t want me doing it in your mouth. ”

My beautiful woman, with her lips wrapped around me, lifted her gaze to meet mine and offered the most seductive glance. There was a hint of pride in that look, like she was daring me to give her everything she’d worked so hard for.

That look did me in.

I came hard, spilling myself down her throat. And Iris didn’t flinch, didn’t falter. She took it all, swallowing it down until she drained me dry.

When I finished and she released me from her mouth, I said, “I didn’t want to believe you all those times you told me, but I guess it’s true.”

“What is?”

My lips twitched with amusement. “You really don’t need any coffee to wake up feeling energized.”

“I’m glad you can see that I’m not a liar.”

I shook my head as I reached down and lifted her to standing.

Then I dragged her panties down her legs, hoisted her onto the table, and said, “I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it, but I’ve been addicted to these legs since about the first day I saw you in the gym.

And next to having them wrapped around my waist, I like them thrown over my shoulders.

So, lay back and relax, sunshine. I’m looking for another meal. ”

She shivered, but she did as I suggested.

Iris had confessed she was worried that someone else was going to walk away from her at some point, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it wouldn’t be me.

I was already so far gone for her before this morning.

Then she went ahead and used her mouth on me.

If I had my way, I wasn’t going anywhere ever.