My Heart | Book 4 of My Bodyguard

Chapter 6 | Laundry

Geralt POV

Geralt watched as Irys kissed the backs of their hands, well, the back of Geralt's hand, really. He was going to be needing that hand back, though. Once the man's lips had left it, he let go and gently freed his hand from Irys's hold. He debated giving the man some sort of apology, but there was no need to. The cause of Geralt's action stood for itself. They were here to do a task that would require both of his hands.

Geralt carried the laundry basket over to one of the washing machines that wasn't currently running, setting it down beside it. He opened the door to the machine, then began moving the clothes inside. It was fairly quick. He just needed to unfold each and toss them inside, feeling the pockets that he found to ensure they were empty. He had no desire to make that same mistake again. It hadn't hadn't pleasant the first time.

Once all of the clothes were inside, bloody ones included, Geralt nudged the basket away. He paid the quarter to the dispenser for the soap he would need, and added that to the load as well. That now done, he shut the door to the washing machine and set the dials to what he would need, taking care that the water was set to cold and not hot, due to the bloodstains. He himself might not overly mind. Society did.

Then he turned back to Irys, wherever Irys had gone off to.

Julian POV

Irys smiled as he felt Geralt''s hand leave his own. Unknown coldness started to creep onto his skin that he had not noticed before, causing him to shiver ever so slightly. He thought maybe it was a one-off shiver but he was not seeming to stop. It wasn't really a physical shiver as much as it was he could feel his muscles contracting and loosening rapidly to try and warm himself up, almost like bugs under one's skin.

He waddled over quietly to the bench and leaned his hips against it at the back. He looked down at his hands, so, they were slightly trembling after all. He stared at his fingertips, slightly now tinted a pink from the cold and especially his left hand with the juices on it which were making it colder.

Irys moved slowly, softly pulling the last two bits of orange apart, sparing a glance at Geralt who was fussing with the machine and ended up with a small smile on his own face at the sight. He could live like this forever if he could. But he couldn't, not without selfishly putting them all in danger and they had enough dangers as it was. Irys lifted the bit of orange to his lips, sweeping it into his mouth before he ended up sucking on it, taking in its delicious flavor. He chewed it happily, taking in the juices before he swallowed it. He paused a moment before he lifted the other bit into his mouth and chewed on it, mainly to just get rid of it so he could wash his hands but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy it. He still swished his tongue around, savoring the taste.

When he swallowed and he lifted his fingers to his lips to lick away the juices, his eyes met with amber ones and his lips were parted, ready for his tongue to dart out and lap up the juices. He didn't realize he had been watching Geralt the whole time though. The pause in his movements stopped as he resumed the task of putting his tongue out, lapping up the juices before putting the finger into his mouth as he stared back at Geralt.

Geralt POV

Geralt had admittedly been expecting that Irys would have walked off a little ways by now, but the man was still standing there. Still staring at him. Geralt hadn't heard any footsteps leaving, now that he thought about it. Huh.

The orange was gone, thank fuck. The teasing, which Geralt was certain Irys had caught into by now, was not finished, it seemed.

Geralt's eyes followed Irys's finger without his consent, watching the digit. Dammit, when had the man's fingers gotten so attractive? He was fairly certain this hadn't happened with a previous lover, not that he had many of those. Yennefer, Renfri, a half-hearted fling with Eskel that had felt so much more meaningful at the time.