Into the Sunshine: Of Love and Loss Series Book Two

18

While Everett was bathing, Iris crossed an area she hadn't dared trespass until tonight—the bedroom threshold. Even now, she felt like an intruder, though a welcome, almost loving warmth settled over her as she padded further into the space.

Iris paused and closed her eyes, drinking in the sensation before it vanished. Blinking several times, she turned in a slow circle, her eyes drifting over the touches of Elyria everywhere.

She ached in commiseration for Everett's loss and grief even as her body tensed with anxiety. There was no denying that they'd rushed into this marriage. But even as she slowly walked around the room, reverently examining the evidence of Elyria's life, Iris admitted she'd make the same choice again.

"I'm sorry," Everett said from the doorway. His remorseful, agonized tone all but shot an arrow straight through Iris's heart.

"For what?" She asked as she hurried to him from across the room. "What could you possibly—"

"Pegleg's belongings—I haven't... I should have packed—but I—" His gaze swept the room before landing on Iris, stricken. "We don't have to sleep in here tonight. There's an extra mattress in the basement, I'll—"

"You didn't know you'd be coming home with a wife," Iris gently said, cradling Everett's face. "And there's no reason to get the extra mattress. Unless it'd make you more comfortable?"

He hesitated, shook his head, and relief sang through Iris's veins.

"You're sure?" He asked. "I don't want you to feel unwelcome or unwanted surrounded by all her things...."

Delicious tingles shot through Iris's limbs to the tips of her fingers and toes. "I won't," she whispered.

Everett studied Iris as if attempting to determine the veracity of her words, then hauled her tight to his naked chest and simply held her. The only sound in the room became the gentle ticktock of the clock on the dresser and their soft breathing, becoming more synchronized. As time passed, the tension slowly eased from Everett's rigid body, and his heart kicked against his ribs beneath Iris's ear, echoing the frantic beat of hers.

"You smell good," she murmured, unable to resist the temptation to bury her face in the crook of his neck. Iris inhaled deeply of the warm, woodsy spice that clung to his skin as though it were an innate part of Everett, oozing from his pores. She wanted to lose herself in him, to be so close it blurred where she stopped and he began. But most importantly, she wanted him. In every sense of the word.

Giving in to temptation, she pressed light nibbling kisses along his throat. Everett's pulse leaped, strong and steady, and Iris grinned against his skin. Rubbing her hands up and down his back, she relished the feel of his nakedness against her palms.

"So do you." His hands trembled against her waist. They clutched her nightgown into fists, then relaxed and drifted up Iris's spine to her neck, leaving a trail of gooseflesh in their wake. Swallowing, Everett threaded his fingers into the hair behind her ears as he slowly kissed a path from her left temple to the crest of her cheekbone.

His lips continued downward to tease the corner of her lips, reducing Iris's breathing to shallow pants, making her crave more. Turning and capturing his mouth in a needy kiss would be so easy. But instead of ending the blissful torture, Iris allowed Everett's wandering mouth to kiss a fiery trail to her jaw. He paused, and she tilted her head in silent approval of his trajectory. Her eyes fluttered closed, and her body trembled when he devoted attention to the sensitive flesh behind her ear.

"Is your leg bothering you?" She asked, her voice whisper soft and the words stumbling past her lips.

"Not as bad as before," he replied, devoting the same attention to the other side of her neck. Iris's toes curled against the floorboards, and her breath hitched in her throat. "Are you tired?" He mumbled against her skin between sensual kisses.