Page 146 of Dark Surrender

Needing to make this special, despite the mess I made inside her, I do what I’ve dreamed of for so long. I make love to Iris. Her skin is soft, and her kisses are extra sweet as I rock her on my erection. We spend hours in bed, speaking with our desperation for one another.

At some point, we fall asleep, and when we wake up, tangled in each other’s arms, I take her again and map every luscious inch of her body with my lips. Her scent drives me mad.

Once we’re both wrung dry, I roll off the love of my life and drop onto the mattress beside her with a pleasantly exhausted sigh.

“That was…” she trails off in a dreamy voice, her hand resting on my thigh.

“Perfect,” I finish for her, staring at the ceiling.

Iris’s low, satisfied hum says it all.

This is our life.

Together.

Fuck, if it doesn’t feel good to be home.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

Iris

Seated at Kali’s kitchen island, eating a late dinner in my favorite purple sundress, with my favorite man beside me, Kali sets a butcher knife next to my empty plate.

“I’m gonna need you to stab him.” She nods to Dark.

His sigh is long and suffering, with a hint of humor. “Kaliii.” He drones her name.

“Don’t you Kali me. We’ve had our meal. We’ve been cordial. But I’m done being nice to either of you.” She points the tip of an even bigger knife at her husband, then at mine. Well, my future one.

Squeezing my thigh, Dark snorts, and for a moment, I fear for his life when Kali’s eyes round in murderous rage. “Oh. You think this is funny,” she seethes.

Ignoring her, Dark leans in to look past me at his father. “You didn’t fuck the anger outta her, huh? Maybe you should’ve thought about what would happen when we got home. I told you not communicating with them was a bad idea.”

Sunshine huffs like he’s ready for the day to be done with. “It was for the best. I already told Kali this.”

“I’m gonna stab you now,” she screeches and attacks her husband with the knife. Sure, it doesn’t go anywhere. He bats the steel out of her hand. It falls to the floor somewhere, and before she can gouge his eyes out with her fingers, he’s got her up and over his shoulder, carrying her from the room as she kicks and screams in feminist rage.

“They’re gonna fuck.” Dark chuckles as Kali’s bedroom door slams shut. He takes my hand and pulls me to stand. “Ready to meet the newest member of our family?”

Outside, in a van that looks similar to one that was parked down the street from my shop this week, Dark opens the back door. The hiss that greets us is feral as a ball of fluff crouches, ready to pounce.

I laugh at the spitfire.

So, this is the newest member of the family, huh?

“Dad?!” a little girl cries out of nowhere.

We turn just in time to catch Lily racing down the steps of her house and across the yard to tackle her father. Still using his cane for support, he braces for the impact, which doesn’t do much when his “Oh. Fuck,” echoes through the neighborhood as they collapse in the driveway. Holding her to his chest, Dark breaks their fall.

“Dad,” the miniature version of him sobs, clinging to his neck.

Looking up at me from the ground, like he doesn’t know what to do, Dark pats Lily’s back. “Hey. Hey. It’s okay. I’m here,” he soothes.

A woman with blonde hair stands on Lily’s porch. It must be Abby, her mother. I lift a hand in greeting, but she ignores me. Which is fine. This can’t be easy for her either. Seeing him alive after so long. Watching her daughter reunite with him. I try not to take it personally.

Giving them space to do their thing, I lean against the closed van door to watch the kitten so it doesn’t make a break for it. Dark whispers to his daughter, and she nods a bunch of times before she scoots off him onto the ground, and Dark sits up with a pained groan.

A set of identical gray eyes peeks up at me, rimmed in red. “You’re Iris.”