Page 88 of The Strawberry Patch Pancake House
He worked his way down her body, kissing and licking points of interest along the way, in ways he still hadn’t gotten a chance to do last night. She was gorgeous in the morning, all supple, pliable limbs. He swirled his tongue around her nipple, sucking it into his mouth and Iris’s breathy gasp had him immediately hard. He worked his way down her stomach, letting his hands trace the curves of her hips.
He nudged her legs apart and Iris complied, her hand coming into his hair. He hummed in approval.
Archer had traveled the world, he’d worked in some of the best kitchens, with the best chefs, and so he’d had the opportunity to taste the best of the best, but nothing in his life tasted as good as Iris.
Her hips bucked as he licked and sucked, her fingers digging into his scalp and God, was it good. So damn good he couldn’t stop thrusting into the mattress. Iris’s taste, her sighs and moans, her hands on his head, he was going to come like this. He was going to come with his mouth on Iris, with his tongue sliding against her clit and her legs trembling on his shoulders. She was surrounding him and he breathed her in, thinking he could die like this, thinking he wouldn’t mind if he did and when he could feel her getting closer, when her fingers tightened in his hair, her hips moving against his tongue, he thrust harder into the bed, pleasure quickly shooting down his spine.
‘Archer!’ She shouted his name when she came and that was enough to do him in completely. He came on his sheets, too happy and full of Iris to be at all embarrassed by that. By the time he dragged himself back up the bed, Iris’s eyes were open and she was smiling at him.
‘Well, you sure know how to wake a girl up.’
‘Better than an alarm clock?’
She laughed. ‘Do you want me to return the favor?’
‘Uh … nope. I … uh…’
Iris’s eyes widened. ‘You came from doing that to me?’
He felt his cheeks redden but he held her gaze. ‘Yeah.’
‘You liked it that much?’
‘Of course.’ He decided to leave out the part about Iris being his new favorite meal, but the way she was smiling now, he thought maybe she wouldn’t mind. He grinned, diving down to kiss her neck and Iris squealed.
‘Archer!’ she said with a giggle, and he loved the way his name sounded that way, too. He sat up, running a hand through his hair, savoring the way she looked in his bed, naked and flushed with orgasms and laughter and he could picture life being like this every morning.
Hewantedlife to be like this every morning.
He’d been worried at first about taking days off, but Gladys had insisted that he have one day off a week to spend with his family. Work, life balance she’d called it and now he finally understood. He finally wanted that. He didn’t need to be in a kitchen every day of his life. He didn’t need to be striving and striving all the time.
He could be home cooking for the people he loved.
Loved. The word thundered through him.
‘How about some pancakes?’ he asked, refusing to meet that word head-on. He couldn’t love her yet. That would scare her off, for sure. Even if it was true.
She rolled her eyes. ‘Archer, if I have to eat another pancake, I may turn into one.’
He laughed. ‘Understood. How about an omelet?’
‘An omelet sounds perfect,’ she said with a smile.
When they were showered and the sheets were changed and she was at her usual seat at the island and Archer was cooking, he still had that feeling like he wanted to do this every day.
‘So, what time do we need to pick up Olive?’ Iris asked, as he scrambled the eggs.
‘Around noon.’
Olive, right. What were they going to do about her and all this?
‘I don’t think we should tell her. I mean about us … about any of this,’ Iris said, getting to the heart of the matter, and of course that made complete sense. Why would they tell a five-year-old that they’d fooled around but it was probably just physical? That would be weird. But a part of him wished there was something to tell her.
‘Definitely. We don’t want her thinking…’
Thinking that you’re going to stick around.
That we’re dating. That you’re going to be more than just her nanny…
