Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Iris
This is not my bed. This is not my house.
And whose shoulder is that?
Oh, yeah…
Oh, yeah!
Holy shit!
Talk about coming awake in a rush. The events of the previous night flooded her mind. Iris froze. Peeked upward to see the face of the man whose shoulder her head was resting on.
Master Law was still asleep.
She should probably start calling him ‘Law’ in her head, even though it felt weird. She’d thought of him as ‘Master Law’ since the moment they’d been introduced. If they were going to date—and they were going to date—she needed to start thinking of him as Law.
Also, since she wanted to date, she shouldn’t follow her first impulse and sneak out.
What had woken her up?
A duck quacked, and she froze.
Whoops. Someone was texting her.
“Is it the quack of dawn?” Law’s deep voice rumbled, and Iris squeaked, realizing he was awake, even though his eyes were still closed… then she cracked up.
“You did not just make that joke.”
“What joke?” A little smile curved the edges of his lips.
Shaking her head, she propped herself up on her elbow to look down at him. Her phone quacked again, and he cracked one eyelid open.
“Seriously, where’s the duck?”
“It’s my text notifications. They seem to be blowing up.” Iris glanced at the clock on the nightstand and made a face. “Probably because I didn’t plan to be out all night. Why did you let me fall asleep?”
“Why is it my fault you fell asleep?” Law raised an eyebrow. Other than that, he hadn’t moved, though his arm was still around her. As if the thought sparked the action, she felt one of his fingertips drawing little patterns on her bicep. The sensation was distracting.
“You’re the Dom. You’re the one in charge,” she said, innocently blinking at him.
He snorted. “Oh, I am, am I?”
Just like that, Iris found herself rolled onto her back with Master Law above her. Yup, Master Law now. He’d flipped his Dom switch, and the man settling himself between her legs, his thick erection pressing against her mound, was definitely in charge.
Her breathing hitched as she stared up at him, her heart pounding.
The lazy lion who hadn’t bothered to move more than an eyebrow and a finger had morphed into a threatening predator who wanted to eat her for breakfast. Her insides were turning into heated mush, and her arousal had gone from vaguely interested to a lightning strike of need.
“Um… yes, Sir?” Her voice was breathy, reminding her she probably had epic morning breath.
On the other hand, he did, too.
Chuckling, he leaned down and brushed his lips over hers but thankfully, didn’t go for the deep kiss.
Her phone quacked again, and Iris giggled. Talk about ruining the moment. Law cursed under his breath and pushed away from her. She pouted, and he chuckled, patting her thigh as he got off the bed, erection bobbing in front of him.
“Answer your friends, then come meet me in the shower.” Turning, he gave her a nice view of his ass as he headed to the bathroom.
Grinning, Iris slid off the bed to get her phone. At some point, Law had moved her purse from the playroom into this room. He must have gotten up during the night when she was sleeping.
As she opened her phone, which was down to thirty percent battery now, she heard the shower come on in the bathroom.
Quickly, she checked her messages.
One from Noelle. I assume you’re not coming home tonight, but can you just text me back so I know you’re not dead?
Yup, should have let her roommate know. Not that she’d known at the time, but she would have been pissed if Noelle had gone out with a new guy and hadn’t given her a heads-up she wasn’t coming home. Safety first.
Sorry! Fell asleep right after the amazingly hot sex, which I will tell you all about later, and just woke up. I’ll be doing the walk of shame soon.
Two from Kate, one telling her to have fun, the other telling her to ignore anything her brother said.
The texts that had woken her up were from her group chat, of course. Avery, Rae, and Domi were speculating why they hadn’t heard from her yet and that some theories were getting really out there.
Maybe he has her tied up in his Dungeon.
Maybe she’s agreed to be his 24/7 slave, and he’s taken away her phone.
Maybe she did something super embarrassing and has had to run away and take on a new identity, so she’ll never have to face him or anyone else who might hear about it again.
What could she do that’s so embarrassing?
Fart while they’re spooning.
Fart while he’s eating her out.
What’s with all the farting suggestions?
It’s embarrassing.
It’s a bodily function!
What’s more embarrassing than farting on him or in his face?
Confessing her love for him.
Okay, that might be worse.
We’re all in agreement that they definitely fucked last night, right?
Probably fucked her into oblivion since she’s not texting us back. Has anyone seen him scene before? How big do you think his dick is?
It’s not about the size. It’s about the motion of the ride. Size Queen.
Hey, what’s wrong with liking a nice girthy cock?
Ew, I hate that word.
What word? Cock?
No, dumbass, girthy.
But it’s such a good word!
Agreed, it’s a good word. You’re outvoted, Domi.
That doesn’t make me wrong!
So, when do you think she’s going to answer us?
Maybe we should stop texting. Doesn’t her phone quack when we text?
OMG… do you think they’re trying to have morning sex, and all they can hear is quaking?
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
Domi, stop it! She’s gonna murder you!
Her friends were insane.
Iris was laughing so hard by the time she got to the end of the texts. Law came out of the bathroom and raised his eyebrow. The shower was still going, which meant he’d heard her over that.
“Sorry. I’ll show you later.”
Quickly she tapped out a message back.
Yes, he fucked me into oblivion, and yes, you interrupted morning sex with the quacking. Now we’re going to take a shower. I’ll update you all later!
“Come on.” Law held out his hand.
Iris put her phone down, giggling as it started quacking again. Even he looked amused, though he shook his head as he pulled her into the bathroom. The heat curled around them as steam filled the room. Her phone was quickly forgotten as he pulled her into the shower with him.
Law
It had been the best Saturday morning he’d had in a long time, which of course, meant his friends had to come over that afternoon and invade his house.
They’d texted him about two minutes before they arrived, giving him basically no choice but to let them in.
Whiskers, already grumpy from having been left alone overnight and missing her morning breakfast, crouched on top of the fridge and hissed at everyone who came to get a beverage.
Asad hissed back at her.
“Demon cat.”
“If you think she’s a demon, why are you antagonizing her?” Connor asked, reaching in to grab one of the sparkling waters Law kept there. Whiskers eyed him balefully but didn’t hiss.
“You can’t show your fear to demons,” Asad glared back up at Whiskers as he was getting his can of sparkling water.
“Or you could have not invaded my house and stayed away from the demon cat entirely,” Law pointed out dryly. Seated next to him on the couch, Q chuckled. Law eyed him. “How did these assholes convince you to come along?”
He definitely didn’t think this invasion had been Q’s idea. Q was sitting with his legs together, straight up, as if he was trying not to touch anything.
“I thought we were having a BBQ at Asad’s, and next thing I knew, we were here.” Q shrugged, giving Law a sheepish grin.
Figured. Once Asad and Connor both wanted to do something, resisting was like trying to stop a force of nature, and Q was the newest friend.
A BBQ sounded pretty good, though Law had his doubts about if it was anything but an excuse since he hadn’t heard about it before now.
Though they were all dressed for it. Everyone except Law was wearing jean shorts.
He’d opted for linen pants and a Cuban short-sleeve shirt.
Q was wearing a Hulk Smash t-shirt, Connor had on a plain green shirt, and Asad was wearing a linen button-down.
“Once I found out you had actually spent the night at Marquis with the delightful Iris?” Asad shook his head, coming to sit down in one of Law’s chairs. “You should have expected us to show up today.”
Yes, he probably should have. Law didn’t regret it, although he was still having trouble wrapping his head around the idea of dating her.
It had been a damn good morning. Once he got her in the shower, he had a good time making sure she was thoroughly clean before having her press her hands against the wall so he could fuck her from behind. He’d soaped her breasts while he did, playing with nipples still sore from the clamps…
Well, he needed to stop thinking about it, or his cock was going to react, and he didn’t need that with his friends around.
“How did you know we spent the night?”
“Uh, duh, the security cameras?” Asad shook his head. “They always know who stays overnight. I got texts from three different people this morning, asking if you and Iris were a thing. So, are you a thing? I need to know how to answer them.”
“That’s no one’s business.” Law scowled. He knew it couldn’t work that way, but he didn’t need the pressure of the whole club membership watching them to see what was going to happen next.
This was supposed to have been an easy ‘scene and be done with it’ thing. It still could be. He could tell Iris he’d changed his mind. No more scenes. No chance at a date.
Everything in his body rebelled at the idea.
Fuck.
He wanted her—for more than last night and this morning.
“Good luck with that.” Asad grinned. “I’ll back you up for as long as you want to make it work. Are you going to tell us what’s going on, though?”
“We’re… seeing each other, I guess.” Law took a deep breath giving Q a sidelong glance. This would have been easier without him there, but hey, at least it gave him practice telling someone new. “I’m not sure I’ll be good for her.”
As expected, Asad and Connor nodded, while Q looked bewildered. It was heartening to know Q couldn’t think of a reason Law would be bad for Iris. It showed that he’d overcome some of his past… for the people who hadn’t known him then.
Facing Q head-on, Law rolled his shoulders back.
“Most of the people at the club don’t know this, or they know I don’t drink but don’t know why.
I’m a recovering alcoholic.” He never said he was recovered—ever—because it never felt like he was.
The worst relapse was when he’d thought he’d ‘fixed’ himself and could drink just one beer, no big deal.
That was when he’d discovered how little self-control he had.
He hadn’t been recovered at all, and it had sent him right back down the path he’d thought he’d escaped. Except he’d been even worse than he had the first time around. Meaner too. That was when Elaine had finally walked.
Q blinked. Nodded.
“Okay. What does that have to do with Iris?”
The question took Law aback. He glanced at Asad and Connor, who both looked smug.
“I… I wasn’t very good to my now ex-wife when I was drinking. She left me because of it.”
“And you’ve punished yourself for what happened with Elaine for long enough,” Asad said firmly. Q’s brow had wrinkled, and he was looking at Law as if he didn’t quite know what to make of his statement. “She wanted you to get better and be happy. So far, all you’ve accomplished is the first part.”
Better.
Yes, he was better, but he knew he was one step away from backsliding again. All it had taken was one drink. On the other hand, he hadn’t had a drink in nine years and didn’t plan on having another one ever again. Did he think dating Iris would suddenly change that?
“I like Iris. I think she could be good for you. She doesn’t take life too seriously.”
Law made a face at Connor’s pointed comment. Like Connor was one to talk about taking life seriously. He was even more slow and deliberate than Law when it came to making decisions.
“Clearly, I’ve known you the least amount of time, but I don’t see why what you used to do should get to dictate what you do now.
” Q shrugged, appearing uncomfortable, but he was getting his word in, anyway.
Law had to respect that. “You can’t change the past. All you can do is live your best life in the present and work toward the future you want. ”
Well, shit.
When he put it that way…
“We did agree to continue scening and keep things open for the future,” he admitted gruffly, omitting the fact he’d already had second thoughts. It was time to put those to bed. His friends were right. Iris was right.
“Great. So, you’ll invite her to go to Renn Fair with us?” Asad grinned.
Law scowled. “I’ll think about it.”
If she’d want to go… well, they’d see. It hadn’t come up in conversation.
“Do you Renn Fair, Q?” Asad asked when Q chuckled at Law’s response.
“I used to. Angel from Stronghold used to live with me and a couple of our friends before she met Adam, and we all went together every year. I even have my own garb she made for me.” A pensive expression crossed his face.
“I haven’t been in a few years. After Angel moved out, we didn’t feel as motivated to go, then the other guys moved away…
” He shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind going again. It’s more fun with people I know.”
“Good, it’s settled. Now, let’s talk about what we’re doing for dinner tonight.” Asad clapped his hands together, grinning.