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“Took a story and a half, but she’s all tucked in now,” I said, starting to strip down. It was early October, but it was still Texas. If I were back home in London, we’d be in cardigans by now. October in Texas was basically still summer in the UK. “So she talks now?”
Iris shrugged. “A bit. She talked to me a little last night, and a little bit while we were playing Candy Land, but it seems to come and go.”
I nodded, lying on top of the sheets next to Iris. “Well, that’s progress, certainly.”
She rolled over to face me. “Yeah,” she said, voice going a bit softer.
A silence fell over us and I watched her for a moment, chewing on my lower lip. “Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
I took a deep breath. “Why did you disappear that night?” I asked. “Not… I mean, why did you leave my condo?”
Iris paused, several emotions flickering on her face as she clearly struggled to put something into words. I braced myself for the worst. “I panicked,” she finally said, shrugging. She couldn’t quite meet my eyes, staring at my chin instead. “I…I’ve only dated a few guys, you know? And I’d never felt likethat. It was just so much. I got so overwhelmed, and I didn’t know what to do.” She sighed, her gaze dropping down to her hands. “Then I got a text from Demi and I thought it was the breakthrough we needed. It was the perfect thing to distract me. It felt like fate or something.” Her expression turned sour. “Funny how that works.”
Yeah, fate’s usually a bitch.I kept that thought to myself, though, not wanting to make Iris feel any worse.
“Anyway.” She cleared her throat and looked up, finally meeting my gaze again. “I am sorry I just peaced out like that — for a lot of reasons. It was stupid, first of all, but even outside the case, I could have left a note. It wasn’t my intention to disappear. I wasn’t thinking much at all, much less about someone else.” She grimaced. “Sorry, Eli.”
I rumbled quietly, reaching over to give her arm a gentle squeeze. “Thank you,” I said quietly. “I appreciate that. It’s okay.” And it was. I could understand being overwhelmed. After all, when Iris and I first met, I couldn’t stand being in the same room as her. I never would have guessed we’d end up like that — or like this.
Still. It soothed some of the old injury there, to hear what Iris had been thinking when it happened.
“It was a lot for me, too,” I admitted after a few moments, rubbing my thumb against her skin. “I don’t…I don’t really know how to explain it. When you disappeared, at first I thought I’d done something wrong. Misread the situation or something. But the longer you were gone, the worse my anxiety got. My wolf felt like he was out of control, and that’s literally never happened to me before. We might not always get along, but we’ve always worked together.”
I sighed and shook my head, closing my mouth before I could ramble on. Iris made a low noise, wriggling a little closer. Her toes brushed against my naked shin, stroking against my leg gently in a mirror of the touch I was offering her. “It wasn’t you,” she said softly. “Well, it wasyou, but it wasn’t anything youdid, if that makes sense. You didn’t do anything wrong, Eli. I think I might have freaked out less if you had.”
A mirthless laugh escaped me and I leaned forward, pressing our foreheads together. “Is it weird that makes perfect sense to me?” I replied.
Iris hummed, closing her eyes. “Maybe a little,” she said, shrugging. “But it’s weird in a compatible way, or something. Besides, saves me from explaining it, so…I have no problem with that.”
This time, my chuckle had a little more feeling. The silence blanketed us again, and I was beginning to be lulled towards sleep when Iris spoke back up. “I dreamt of you, you know?”
“Hm?” I tried to stir myself back towards wakefulness.
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “When I was in the facility. It was simple at first. That you were looking for me. That we were cuddling. That we were in your bed, not lying on a cold floor. I didn’t want to die there. I didn’t want to be alone. But then…”
She trailed off and I leaned forward, nudging my nose against her cheek. “But then?”
Iris took a deep breath. “I had more than one dream. Sometimes I wished I wouldn’t dream, because when I woke up…” She shook her head and shuddered. “The reality, you know? It was so different.” She took another breath, staring down at her hands. “But the dreams, they changed. They started like memories, but…at some point, I started dreaming that you claimed me. But every time, right before you actually did…I would wake up,” she whispered, as if saying the words too loud might ruin the moment.
I opened my eyes, my wolf rumbling in pleasure at the admission. I wasn’t sure if it was just me, but it almost seemed like she was a bit disappointed she’d wake up before the dreams were over. “Were they good dreams?” I asked, just as quietly.
Iris nodded her head. “They were,” she whispered back. “I kept thinking of you when that jackass kept trying to mark me. Of the dreams. I don’t know much about claiming a mate, but…maybe that’s why he couldn’t do it.”
I shrugged, trying not to look too pleased that it was just the thought of me that had protected her from that piece of shit. “I don’t know, either,” I admitted, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. “But I’m not going to dwell on fate or dreams or whatever. I just…I want to stay in reality.” I hummed. “And I know reality is absolutely wild right now, but…”
“But?” Iris prompted, her eyes fluttering back open as she searched my face.
“But once we figure this out, I want to be a part of your reality, Iris. I don’t want that to change.”
Iris paused for a moment, a slow smile spreading over her features. “You know, I think I would like that, Eli. I think I might really, really like that.”
25
IRIS
Remus’ Safe House
