Page 36 of Ignited in Iceland
WHAT HAD HAPPENED after dinner was that they ended up back at Siggi’s flat. He’d been keen to go to the hotel instead, insisting that his flat wasn’t that comfortable, but Iris had insisted for two reasons; she was curious to see where he lived, and she didn’t want to risk running into Embla in the hotel. She might have been unfriendly to Iris on every single occasion they’d met, but Iris didn’t want to rub her nose in the fact she was with Siggi.
‘Are you sure?’ he said, pausing by the street that led to Iris’s hotel.
‘Yes. I want to see where you live,’ she said, kissing him in encouragement.
‘Okay,’ he said, with a resigned roll of his eyes.
The walk to Siggi’s was another five minutes. They strolled through the town, enjoying the newfound feeling of being together, their arms wrapped around each other again, lost in their own world.
‘Here we are,’ Siggi said, stopping outside a grey building that had none of the charm of the pretty little houses in the centre of the town. He unlocked the door and held it open for her. ‘I am on the third floor. There is no lift.’
‘That’s okay. Race you!’
Iris ran up the stairs, trying not to squeal as she felt Siggi right behind her.
‘Hey, come back,’ he called, laughing as she overshot, going up an extra flight after losing count of how many flights she’d run up.
They fell inside his flat and Siggi closed the door amid the kissing that had suddenly become more urgent. Barely parting as they both pulled off their coats, they made their way over to the sofa, the flat in darkness save for the light from the road outside.
‘Are you sure?’ This time, he was asking a different question, but Iris had never been more sure of anything in her life.
She nodded and looked at him with intent in her eyes while she pulled off his top layer.
‘Okay then,’ he said, with a half-smile that made her shiver in anticipation.
He teased his fingers underneath her various layers until he met her skin. His touch made Iris feel as if no one had ever touched her before, and no one had. Not like this. She nuzzled into his neck, breathing him in while his fingers travelled underneath her clothes from her waistband, up the sides of her ribcage, teasing her with the gentlest of caresses. She wanted to pull all of her clothes off and be naked with him, as close to him as she could get, but she was also loving the anticipation of what was to come. And this had been a long time coming.
When she thought she could stand it no more, he ran his hands up her sides, encouraging her to raise her arms, and he lifted her layers off all in one go, leaving her in her jeans and bra.
‘Oh, Iris,’ he said breathlessly, standing back to appreciate her.
She stepped towards him, determined to reciprocate the level of teasing she’d endured. She pulled his remaining top off, revealing a tattoo that encircled the top of one arm and another that reached from the top of his shoulder and disappeared ontohis back. ‘I love this,’ she said, running her finger around the tattoo on his arm.
‘It’s a Maori design.’
‘It’s sexy.’ She never thought she’d say anything like that out loud to someone, but it was almost as if she couldn’t help it. She needed him to know that’s what she thought.
‘You’re sexy as hell, Iris.’ He grabbed her thighs and lifted her up, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist. Then he carried her into his bedroom and laid her gently on the bed.
Iris woke to the smell of fresh coffee. The bedroom was dark, but the light coming from the living room and kitchen wasn’t the cosy glow she’d expected. She’d not taken much notice last night. They’d been desperate to fall into bed together, so there hadn’t been time for a tour.
She reached onto the floor and grabbed the first thing that came to hand, which was thankfully her thermal leggings. There was a sweatshirt neatly folded on the chair, so she grabbed that, loving that it smelled of Siggi. Before she left the bedroom, she ran her fingers through her curls in an attempt at taming them, but it was fruitless, so she swept the front of her hair away from her face, tucked it behind her ears, and followed the smell of the coffee.
‘Morning,’ she said, walking over to where Siggi was warming a pan of milk on the stove. He was wearing loose jogging bottoms and a tight black t-shirt that showed off the tattoo on his arm. She snuggled into his side and wrapped her arms around his waist. He put one arm around her and kissed her on the top of her head.
‘Good morning, beautiful.’
She squeezed her eyes shut and grinned with the sheer joy of everything. It felt so right and she was thankful for her heart overriding her ridiculously logical head, giving her this chanceof happiness, even if it was only for a few days. She would never regret it.
‘That coffee smells amazing,’ she said.
‘There are fresh pastries on the table.’
‘You’ve already been out?’ she asked, sitting at the table and beginning to devour a cinnamon bun.
He nodded and smiled at her.
As she munched, she looked around at his flat. It was so sparse, it looked as if no one lived there.
