Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Law
Other than being unable to bend Iris over whenever he wanted, the first day of living with her was a lot of fun. Not that they were living together, but it felt a little like a test run.
All this, and more, could be yours…
Having a woman in his space again didn’t feel nearly as odd as he’d worried it would.
Iris fit. Whiskers seemed to think so, too.
She’d spent most of the afternoon on Iris’ lap, protesting vociferously whenever Iris had to get up.
The only time she tried to claw Iris was when Iris stopped petting her.
The cat had good taste.
Law wanted Iris to pet him, too.
Maybe in a day or two when he was more recovered and not as sore all over…
and he was sore. He knew she’d been trying to be bratty when she’d chosen Bridgerton for their viewing pleasure, but he’d meant it when he’d told her to choose whatever she wanted.
She was spending her day off taking care of him, which deserved some recompense.
The show was more interesting than he thought it would be.
They were about halfway through the first episode when Connor and Asad showed up.
They had to go back to the beginning so Law’s friends could see the whole thing.
Q had come a little later, but apparently, he’d already seen the whole thing and happily settled in to watch it again.
Iris seemed vaguely amused but happy, tucked under his arm for the duration of the binge-watch.
About halfway through the afternoon, he let her take the plug out.
He could tell by the way she was squirming that she was aroused, even after the plug came out and her television show choice had backfired.
He was enjoying her self-inflicted torture and had a feeling he was having an easier time of it than she was.
After dinner, Law realized he probably needed to call his parents and let them know he’d been in an accident.
He’d made the ‘fun’ conversation in his room.
His mom had needed a lot of reassurance that she didn’t need to come out and take care of him.
Hearing that Iris was the one doing so seemed to help the most. She was thrilled to know his girlfriend was staying with him while he recovered.
Law realized that was probably the only reason she wouldn’t show up on his doorstep—she wouldn’t want to interfere now that he was finally moving on. It still amused him that his mom had replaced Elaine with Iris so quickly in her head when they hadn’t even met.
It was satisfying yet worrisome. It felt as if things were moving really fast between him and Iris, as fast as his mom thought they were.
He wasn’t sure that was for the best, but he wasn’t sure he wanted them to slow down.
It might be fast, but it also felt right.
Yet he couldn’t get rid of the anxiety niggling him.
He wasn’t sure he was prepared for everything a real relationship would bring—except he was kind of already in one, and it felt great. He felt as though he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, but if getting hit by a car didn’t count as the other shoe, then what did?
Of course, there were still things to do about that. One of the first things his friends wanted to talk about was what he was going to do about Don.
“I won’t press charges yet,” he said when the topic came up.
“What?” Iris was clearly furious he would even consider letting the douche get away with deliberately ramming his car. Law hadn’t been finished and shot her a look with one raised eyebrow. She quickly subsided, but her expression made it clear whatever he was going to say next, it better be good.
“I won’t press charges if he’ll promise to stay away from Cassidy.” Law shook his head. “He was stupid enough to purposefully ram me, minutes after leaving Stronghold, in a place where he knew there were cameras. I don’t trust common sense to keep him away from Cassidy.”
“But not pressing charges will?” Iris looked dubious, and Law couldn’t blame her. None of his friends appeared to be a fan of the idea, either.
“For at least a year. I can change my mind any time between now and then about criminal charges. I have friends in the state prosecutor’s office.
If I talk to them, they’ll follow my lead.
That’ll give her a whole year without having to worry about him, and hopefully, by then, he’ll have moved on and forgotten about her. ”
“Hmm.” Asad sat back, letting his head fall back against the chair.
Law knew his friend was thinking over the implications. Like Law, he liked to see things from all angles. Though, it usually took him a lot less time to reach the conclusions Law did.
Iris was quiet for a long moment, then nodded.
“Especially if you do press charges or the prosecutor’s office decides to, there will be a lot of explanations about Cassidy, Stronghold, and what preceded the crash, which wouldn’t be good for anyone.
Although he might not care about that if he’s angry enough.
” Iris made a face. “I still can’t believe he rammed you.
I don’t understand people like that. In what world did he think that was going to be at all helpful? ”
“Anger management issues coupled with entitlement,” Connor said. “Sadly, there’s a lot of people in the world who fit that description. He probably thinks he’s totally safe and that Law won’t want to say anything about what led to the altercation or drag the club into it.”
“I don’t want to, but I will if I have to.
I would do my best to keep Stronghold and its members out of it.
It’s some protection for Cassidy, though.
” That would be difficult since all the events had occurred on club grounds, which was why Law had thought of his unusual proposal.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to worry about what his firm would think if they found out—they were all aware he was into kink.
They didn’t care, nor would they throw him out if the knowledge became public.
The world had changed a lot, and these days, it seemed like everyone was a little kinky.
He doubted they would lose any clients over it.
Hell, they’d probably gain some. That wasn’t why he wanted people to come to him, though he had taken on some clients specifically because they were kinky—like Patrick and Stronghold.
Iris tilted her head as she looked up at him, snuggling in a little closer.
“You’re such a good guy.”
“Hey, hey, you two.” Asad wagged his finger. “He’s supposed to be resting. No taking advantage of the injured Dom and using him for your own nefarious pleasures.”
Iris giggled.
“I doubt he’d mind,” Q muttered, flashing a cheeky grin when Asad wagged a finger at him, too.
“The doctor might,” Connor pointed out, then glanced at his watch. “We should get going. Is there anything you need before we head out?”
Warmth washed over Law as his friends got to their feet. Iris hadn’t had to do much today because they’d shown up to lend their support. She’d spent most of the day relaxing next to him—exactly where he wanted her.
“We’re good. Thanks for coming over.”
“Of course. No, no, don’t get up. We can see ourselves out.” Asad wagged his finger again.
Iris burst into another fit of giggles, and Law shook his head.
“I hurt my clavicle, not my legs,” he muttered but didn’t mind settling back against Iris.
Movement in general hurt and the longer the day had gone on, the more his shoulder around the fractured bone was hurting.
He kept delaying taking his pills—he didn’t want to trade one addiction for another—and it was definitely aching.
Iris
When her alarm went off, Iris yawned and stretched, bumping into Law before she remembered where she was. Quickly, she rolled over to turn it off. He made a grumbly noise, but it didn’t seem like the sound had woken him. Good. He was sleeping hard, and he needed it.
Last night, he’d made sure she got what she needed.
He had enjoyed watching her play with herself, following his directions, until she’d brought herself to orgasm, but he hadn’t wanted a blowjob afterward.
All he’d wanted was his pain pill—which showed just how bad of shape he’d been in.
Iris had noticed he’d been pushing himself to the limits before taking one—and going to bed.
She’d felt a little guilty until he’d caught her expression. He told her to cut it out, or he’d prove he could punish her without a spanking or whip. If he’d wanted a blow job, he would have ordered her to give him one.
One of the things that had appealed to her about kink was there were no guessing games or trying to figure out what her partner wanted from her.
He would tell her. Law would not deprive himself of anything he wanted when it came to her, so if he didn’t want to get off last night, it was because he actually didn’t want to get off.
Iris got herself together as quietly as she could.
She still had to go in to the Hills today, but Law would stay home and rest. Tomorrow, he’d be back to work, though he’d told her he was planning to work from home this week, other than a meeting or two with clients, to make sure he was able to properly rest.
When she approached the bed again, dressed and ready for the day, she smiled. Law was still sleeping, but Whiskers had joined him, curling up in the depression Iris’ head had left in the pillow. Goofy cat. That warm spot had been way too tempting.
Law’s eyes opened as she leaned over him, and he blinked sleepily.
“You’re up?” His voice was husky.
“Yes, go back to sleep. You have the day off. Olivia will bring you lunch and check on you.”
Law groaned, which made her laugh. She gave him a quick kiss, careful not to put pressure anywhere but his lips, and scooted away.
“I’ll see you later.”
“See you later,” he murmured, but Iris understood.
The rest of the day was spent taking care of the Hills’ needs and answering text messages from her friends and others from Stronghold.
Asad had wanted to know how Law was doing when she left that morning.
Connor checked in to find out if she needed anything, Q offered to stop by with help for dinner, and that was just Law’s friends.
She told Q that Avery, Domi, and Rae were already planning to bring over what amounted to a feast and sent him the link to the meal schedule sign-up Julie had set up and texted to her.
It was already pretty full. Law was a popular guy, and apparently, no one wanted him to go without a meal because of his injury.
Her brother also checked in to make sure she was doing okay, and Kate texted to wish her luck living in sin with Law, making Iris crack up.
She loved her soon-to-be sister-in-law so much.
Not that they were living together, exactly, but she supposed they sort of would be for a bit. This week at least.
She really needed to let Noelle know she wouldn’t be home for a while.
Call or text… that was the question. Swinging by the apartment didn’t guarantee Noelle would be there, and just thinking about having to face Noelle in person right now made her stomach twist. Maybe that made her a bad person, but it was true.
The bit of guilt from not wanting to see Noelle in person was what compelled her to call since calling felt less impersonal than texting.
Her relief was visceral when Noelle didn’t pick up, and it went to voicemail.
“Hey, it’s me, Iris. Law was in a car accident yesterday, so I’ll be spending this week at his house to help take care of him.
He’s okay, but he hurt his shoulder and needs some help.
I might stop by home at some point to grab more clothes.
” She paused for a moment because even though she and Noelle were fighting, she didn’t want to sound antagonistic. “Have a good week.”
There. That was friendly enough without making it sound as though she was giving in.
Eventually, she would have to deal with Noelle, but right now, it was easier to stay away. Hopefully, doing so would help her take a step back and give her some perspective.
Her phone went off, and she tensed before she recognized her brother’s ringtone. Strangely, she didn’t feel the same tension she used to when he called. She didn’t wonder what she’d done wrong or what he was going to hassle her about now. She was actually happy that he was calling her.
Maybe she was growing up.
“Hello?”
“Hey, flower. I just wanted to check in and see how you and Law are doing.” Her brother’s warm tone made her smile, and she hadn’t forgotten how he’d lied about Law being her fiancé.
If only she’d known that all Law needed to do was get hit by a car to be welcomed…
“We’re good. He’s been in a little bit of pain, and he keeps trying to do things that he probably shouldn’t, but for the most part, he’s been good.”
Andrew chuckled.
“Yeah, I can relate to that. I’m not the best patient. I’m sure you and Kate can get together sometime soon and commiserate.”
“What? Something you’re not perfect at?” Iris teased. “Say it isn’t so.”
Her brother snorted. “Don’t tell Kate.”
“Pretty sure she already knows,” Iris drawled, rolling her eyes. “I need to get back to work, but thanks for calling.”
“Have a good day. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
There was her big brother, looking out for her as always.
Iris didn’t feel any of the resentment that sometimes popped up, only gratitude.
Her brother was a good guy, even if they didn’t always get along, which was normal for siblings.
Sure, sometimes he treated her like a much younger sister, but for a while, she’d been acting out and relying on him to bail her out of everything.
Now, for the first time, it felt like he really saw her and that she’d grown up. He wasn’t trying to take over the situation or tell her she should let someone else handle it. He was just offering help if she needed it. That felt pretty good.
“Thanks, I will.”
Hanging up, Iris’ lips curved in a smile. Despite everything, it was feeling like a pretty good day.