Chapter Twenty
Iris
My stomach full from the most delicious pasta I’ve ever had and my head a little hazy from the red wine, Kian and I face the lake.
Somewhere during the date, our chairs ended up side by side.
And when that wasn’t enough, I found myself on his lap.
Now, I’m cradled against his chest while we lounge on one of the Adirondack chairs, which he brought out a while ago.
“Where did you travel to for your last vacation?” I curiously ask Kian, who feeds me a grape.
“This would be my first,” he replies casually.
My jaw drops in shock, which he mistakes for me asking for another grape. I grab his wrist halfway to my mouth and raise a brow. “First? As in you’ve never taken a day off work?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re thirty-six years old and you’ve never gone on a vacation to relax and sightsee?”
“No.”
“Even if you have the means to travel to any part of the world?”
He shrugs.
“Good Lord! You really are a caveman.”
“A caveman wouldn’t take you on a date.”
“Why the hell do you need a private jet for, if you’re not going to indulge in it?” I mock. “It’s like having a cape with superpowers and not using it to save the world.”
“Another movie trivia?” he teases.
“Are you saying you don’t know Superman ?
” He frowns, clueless. I lurch back. “ Spider-Man ? Wonder Woman ?” The crease deepens.
“What about Iron Man ? Thor ? Nothing? How’s that possi—” The corner of his mouth twitches, making me realize he’s messing with me.
I slap his chest. “I forget you can be an asshole sometimes.”
He laughs, capturing my wrist and kissing it. “I don’t really live in a cave, Rainbow.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” Feeding him a grape, I softly ask, “You travel for work. Why never for pleasure?”
“It would have just been me on the trip. I’m not one for taking solo trips.” Stroking my cheek, his expression softens. “Of course, that was before. I’m making yearly vacations a thing since you’re with me. You pick the country and we’ll go.”
I melt against his hard torso. “You’ll never be alone again, Kian.”
“I know, my adorable little stalker.”
Leaning up, I press my lips against his and kiss him sweetly. Inching back, I ask, “Where are our phones? I wanna check something.”
“On the mantel in the living room.”
“I’ll get them.”
“Why?” Intrigue descends on his dark features as I get off of him.
Smoothing my skirt, I answer, “Just stay here.”
Running inside, I find our phones. When I pick them up, Kian’s screen lights up. I almost drop it when my face stares back at me. It’s the picture I sent him from Rosalie’s gala. A giddy and warm feeling bubbles up inside me that he has made it his lock screen.
For a man who has never been in a relationship, he’s giving every man a run for his money.
Thanking my lucky stars, I go back out, but pause at the threshold.
I take in Kian’s profile as he gazes at the view. There’s an ease around him that used to be missing in the past. Amidst the wide-open sky, the mountain peaks, and the tall trees reflecting off the lake, he steals the show.
I imprint the wholesome picture he makes in my mind.
“Get here, Rainbow,” he says without turning around. “I can feel you watching.”
Blushing at being caught, I close the distance. Lifting the flowy skirt of my dress, I straddle his thighs. His arms go around my waist, resting proprietarily on my ass. I become highly aware of my nakedness underneath the silky material.
Ignoring it, I pass him his phone, and ask, “Would you unlock it please?”
“It’s your birthday,” he shares, stroking me.
I gape. “You know my birthday?”
“Saw it on your job contract.”
“And you remembered?”
“I love knowing everything about you.”
Biting back a smile, I unlock his phone, secretly loving that he doesn’t mind me going through it.
I peruse it curiously and I’m unsurprised when I don’t see any social media apps.
I know he doesn’t have an Instagram or Facebook account, but I assumed he had an account with a fake name since he is super private.
“It seems I need to teach you a few things too,” I tease.
His eyes light up with amusement. “Yeah, what’s that?”
“For someone who has a tech and security business, you aren’t that savvy in some aspects.”
“Is that right?”
“Yep.” I smirk. “You aren’t anywhere on social media.”
“I’ve never felt the fascination.”
“Even Nova and Dash have an account,” I point out. “And they’re busy billionaires like you.”
“Their wives must’ve made them.”
“Come on, it’s fun,” I entice him. “How am I supposed to tag you on posts and stories? You should have one. You don’t even have to manage it, I’ll do it.”
“Fine. I’ll only follow you. Don’t care about anyone else.”
“Okay,” I rasp, before teasing, “and don’t worry, I’ll maintain your mysterious aura.”
“You think I’m mysterious?” he quips playfully.
“Not to me anymore. But to the rest of the world? Absolutely.”
He shakes his head in amusement.
Paying attention to his phone, I open his gallery. Except for the two pictures I sent him yesterday, there’s not a single one of him or anything else. It saddens me a little.
Noticing it, he probes, “What?”
“Nothing.” I smile, shaking off the sadness. “Do you wanna see something?”
“Yeah, show me.”
Unlocking my phone, I open my gallery and pass it to him. “Look in the hidden album.”
His thumb swipes. As soon as he sees it, his eyes widen for a fraction of a second before his dimples show as his lips tug up in the corners. “You saved my pictures?”
“Well, I didn’t have a secret room where I could print them out and stick them on a wall like a true stalker.”
“How many?” His smoky voice is full of awe.
“Every single one I could find.”
“Just when I think you couldn’t surprise me more.” Smirking while swiping through all the photos of him I screenshotted and saved over the years, he mutters, “I need to up my game.”
“Oh no, please,” I gasp. “Your game is fine as hell. No upping or anything.”
My nipples pebble when I earn a mischievous yet sinfully brooding stare.
Stealing my phone back, I lean and quickly snap his picture. Admiring it, I dreamily sigh, “So hot.”
With a hand around the back of my neck, I’m yanked toward a hungry mouth. The phone falls between us as he kisses me thoroughly, leaving me drunk on his taste. I’m panting by the time he lets me up for air.
His hooded eyes roam over my face, his fingers stroking my lips, and they darken with adoration and wonder.
No one could ever convince me that my man is cold and heartless, not when he expresses so much depth without uttering a word.
He has a heart of gold that belongs to me.
That beats for me.
That would burn the whole world down for me.
Grabbing his phone, I get off his lap and tug his hand. “Come on, love. I want a picture of us.”
He obliges with a languid smile and rises to his full height.
I set up the phone against the chair, the camera facing us, with the timer on.
As soon as I’m back by his side, he pulls my front against his chest with both arms circling my waist. I look ahead into the lens, but he’s gazing down at me with a possessive heat that sends a shiver down my spine.
The snap of the shot rings in the air.
“You know you’re supposed to look at the camera,” I tease him.
“I’d rather look at you, Rainbow.” Bending down, he lifts me and carries me back to the chair.
“Hey! I’m not done.”
“I’m not stopping you,” he replies, sitting down with me sideways on his lap. “Much better. Click now, baby.”
Pressing my cheek against his, I smile and take our selfie.
The sunlight hits just right, highlighting his dimples that have become my favorite part of him.
Turning my head, I brush my lips over them and click another photo.
Before I can lean away, his lips lock on mine with a twist of his head.
I manage to snap another as he kisses me sweetly.
“Happy, Little Rainbow?”
“Very.”
Putting our phones aside, he tucks me into the crook of his arm after wrapping it around my shoulders.
I lay my head against his chest, gazing at the horizon.
The red-and-orange hue of the sun peek above the valleys.
It’s so mesmerizing. Rubbing a hand over his rigid abs, I murmur, “I’ve always wanted to watch the sun set. ”
His fingers play with the ends of my hair over my breast. “Yeah?”
“Hmmm. Have you ever seen one?”
“I haven’t.”
Curling my arm around his waist, I tell him, “I wish to have a home where I can watch the sun rise and set daily. Somewhere around a beach or an ocean. Like Malibu. Or Goa. I’d kill to wake up to a view like this and with you in my bed.”
“Don’t forget our kids, Rainbow.”
“I haven’t,” I answer softly, imagining our future. “They’ll be asleep in their room.”
“No, they won’t be.”
“Where else would they be, love?”
Tugging my head back so I’m staring into his warm eyes, he says, “They’ll sneak into our bed in the middle of the night because they’ll be as obsessed with their mom as I am.”
Overwhelming bliss and yearning rush through my veins, making my body come alive. “They’re going to love you just as much.”
“I wouldn’t mind if they loved you more, Iris. You’ll be the center of our world.”
“You’re going to make me cry,” I utter in a trembling voice.
“Let’s watch the sun set then.”
I settle against his chest, sighing in pleasure at the body heat emanating from him. Together, we stare at the red and orange gradient taking over the sky. The slowly setting sun. It’s even more beautiful than I imagined. Tranquil and unforgettable.
When it’s all over, I still don’t move. Too content where I am.
The lazy morning. The romantic date. The teasing and the laughing. The low simmering tension in the air. It feels like I’m dancing on cloud nine.
Or living in a Hallmark movie.
“This has been the best day of my life, Kian. It’s straight out of my dream date—” I jolt upright as my heart begins to hammer like someone pumped adrenaline in my veins.
Oh my god!
Oh my god!
Oh my god!
It can’t be possible… I snap my astonished gaze to Kian. The truth is written all over his rugged face with a hint of an evening stubble. He doesn’t even attempt to hide it.
“You knew?” My voice is a low gasp. “H-how?”
“I overheard you talking to Yukta.”
“In the cafeteria? You were there?”
“I was passing by when the question popped out.” Shrugging, he confesses, “I couldn’t walk away without listening to your answer.”
“Were you…” I lick my lips before whispering, “Going to bring me here before you knew the truth about Nathan and me?”
“I was,” he admits possessively. “Whether or not you were mine, I wanted to make your dream date a reality.”
If I wasn’t already head over heels for him, this is the moment I would fall for him irrevocably.
“So, was it everything you hoped for, Rainbow?” he asks. The hint of nervousness in his voice freezes me.
That singular emotion shouldn’t be so hot and wholesome.
As I stare at him, it’s my control that snaps.
Straddling his thighs, I take his face between my palms and crush my mouth against his. I kiss him deeply, pouring every ounce of love I have for this beautiful man. “It’s better than my dreams. I love you so, so much, Kian.”
My declaration lights him ablaze.
Fisting my hair, he takes possession of my lips and tangles his tongue with mine. Dominating and worshipping me so ruthlessly that my toes curl and I moan wantonly.
Overpowering need slams into our bodies.
Months of yearning and seduction converge into molten lust.
“Own me, Kian,” I beg against his hungry lips. “Become my one and only.”