• WATTYS 2022 WINNER •
When Iris Monet married millionaire Jared Darling, she had only one rule - that he could cheat on her with anyone except the household staff. This arrangement of theirs would have gone on quite happily if she hadn't caught him...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"YOU'RE having a lot of fun with my cousin."
Akai sounds positively dangerous. I take a step back. "Maybe."
"Don't deny it, Iris."
My heart skips a beat. "Oh, so you're finally dropping the formalities? And besides, why do you care? You've made it plain you don't like me."
Akai turns away from the sink and the intensity between us immediately dials up to eleven.
"Do not mistake me, Miss Iris," I mimic mockingly. "You are utterly, and completely, not the kind of woman I could ever fall in love with."
Now he's walking toward me.
"I believe I have mentioned before that you are not exactly my type, Miss Iris." My voice turns shrill. "You're not a very subtle woman – "
Akai has cornered me against the wall. There's a tempest raging on in his eyes. As if he's on the thinnest veneer of self-possession.
"You talk too much, Iris."
I swallow hard. "Don't call me that."
"Call you what?"
"Iris. I don't ... I'm not used to it."
His eyes flicker down to my lips. "Because I've always been formal with you?"
"Yes."
"So now it's a different feeling?"
"I – yes."
"Then you know why I didn't use it before."
This is not the Satoh Akai I'm used to. What happened to the stone-cold façade? The inability to express, engage in and entertain any semblance of emotion?
"I believe I told you before," I squeak out, "not to do this if you don't plan to – "
My back slams into the wall as Akai's lips crash down on mine. And every thought process I've ever had comes to a screeching halt.
It's not Akai I'm after, I tell myself. It's Tomiichi. Company CEO. Rich man. Husband 2.0. Kissing his cousin would be a horrible idea. In fact, kissing any other man is a horrible idea.
Yet I don't stop myself from reaching both hands up. I don't stop myself from feeling my way across his skin. There's tequila on his tongue, but he makes it sweet. And when I kiss him back; fervent fingers clawing against the front of his shirt, I can feel Akai's entire frame shudder.
He's kissing me like I'm the last meal he'll ever had. Savouring my lips like they're wine, and he's a connoisseur. Drawing my breath from me like he's a parched man, and I'm the only oasis. His hands are rough, but his touch gentle; he kisses me with fervour even as he takes his time to linger.
We break apart, chests heaving.
"We shouldn't be doing this," I breathe furiously, even as every inch of my body argues that yes, yes we should. "It's not – it's not proper."
