Iris's POV
"But I want to be here,"
I said quietly and I kissed him.
I didn't decide to. One moment I was looking at him and the next my hand was on his chest and my mouth was on his, my eyes were closed and I was kissing Rafael Blackridge at the edge of his pool at eleven at night.
I expected him to stop it, expected his hands to come up and hold me back, his voice to come out calm and controlled telling me to go inside. The version I knew, the one that always kept the distance, but he kissed me back.
His hands came up and cupped my face and he kissed me like he'd been waiting and was done pretending he hadn't, his thumbs were at my jaw tilting me up, and I made a sound against his mouth that I'd never made in my life.
Then my brain caught up.
I pulled back, stepped back, my hand
