Iris lie in bed, her eyes leaking tears against the satin covered pillow as she recalled the fight. The way she'd shouted at Barry, the way he'd lost his patience with her. The way they'd both stormed out and away from each other.
"You need to be more careful, Barry! You could've been seriously hurt!"
"I'm fine Iris. I've been saving Central City for the past three years. I'm not going to be failed by one meta."
He'd been so sure of himself, in her opinion beyond the rational level of confidence, bordering on arrogance. Savitar was still out there and here Barry was making reckless decisions. Sure he was the scarlet speedster, he could outrun and outlast any danger he faced but he wasn't invincible. He wasn't immortal. Her biggest mistake was saying as much. The look Barry had given her was wracked with hurt and of course a bit of anger.
"So what, you don't believe in me? You don't think I can protect the city?"
Of course that hadn't been what she'd meant. She would always believe in him. But after watching Savitar take out her brother she feared losing Barry too. She couldn't bear to lose her Barry.
"Not if you're dead!"
Barry had turned away from her then, his jaw clenching in that way he did when he was pushed just about too far. His cheeks were already flushed with anger.
"I've been risking my life for the past three years and I've managed to survive."
She'd moved closer to him, honesty coating her words.
"Eddie managed to survive for years too. Until he didn't."
Barry had visibly winced at the reminder of her dead ex. Of his friend.
"I've already lost one fiancé, Barry. And now I've lost my brother. I don't want to lose you too."
She'd thought he would understand, that he would soften but instead his eyes had set stubbornly.
"Iris, I have a job to do. To protect this city. I can't just ignore that duty because my fiancé is a little scared."
That had been when she'd lost it. How could he say such a thing? As if she were some Mary Sue over-reacting about a kitchen mouse or something. This was his life for crying out loud! They'd both began yelling then until Harry had emerged from the lab to not so cordially tell them to either take that shit home or shut the hell up. Iris had ordered Barry not to come home until he came to his senses and apologized to her. Barry had announced that he'd stay with Cisco until she came to her senses and apologized to him. Now here she was cold and alone and missing him with every cell in her body.
She'd cried herself half asleep when she heard him enter the bedroom. Her first instinct was to turn his way but she didn't want to be the one to apologize first. It had to be him. The fact that he was home said that it was his intention to do so at least. She lied still, her back to him when she felt the bed dip. A familiar hand touched her bare thigh tentatively.
Instead of speaking, he let his fingertips lightly slide up and down, tingling her nerves. Iris closed her eyes, she'd been missing his touch. But she would stay strong. Nope she wouldn't react until he said those two words.
Barry's fingers glided up her side, still feather-like. She was wearing a thin spaghetti strapped night shirt and panties leaving plenty of skin for him to play with. He leaned down and began pressing light kisses to that skin. Her arms, up her elbow to her shoulder, he slowly graced her with his sensual lips giving just enough contact to cause goosebumps. His fingers continued to caress her side before returning to her thigh. Iris felt herself relaxing into him.
When his kisses reached the top of her shoulder he ventured to her back, shoulder blades and the spot just between. There he let his tongue swipe down. Involuntarily she sighed. Barry didn't react to her, still kissing down until he met the material of her night shirt. He scooted down, lifting it at the bottom to continue his worship of her slowly heating body. Her spine tingled as his tongue-slicked lips kissed that too.
If this was his apology then…
Barry lifted the waistband of her panties and kissed her hip beneath. Again Iris sighed. She gave no objection when he turned her over to her back, nor when he lifted her hips to scoot her panties off her body. Still she didn't speak.
Barry resumed his kisses, down her thighs—both to be exact—before pushing her legs apart. Iris breathed, anticipation starting to moisten her. But her speedster took his time, kissing the inside of one thigh while stroking the other ever so lightly. He knew what he was doing. He knew how he was making her feel.
When his lips touched a sensitive area just below her treasure trove she almost whimpered. Her nipples hardened considerably, standing stark in her braless night shirt.
Please just a little higher, she wanted to beg but until he apologized she wasn't speaking a word. That didn't mean she couldn't enjoy what else he could do with his mouth though.
He was just at the juncture where thigh meets pelvis when he swiped his tongue out again. Slowly he traveled up the crease, the softness of her trimmed pubic area just on the other side. Then back down he went. She couldn't help it, he was so near that her body reacted. Wetness leaked throughout her nether walls, slipping out between her lips. She was more that just wet. She was saturated.
Please Barry.
For a speedster he was moving agonizingly slow. On purpose of course. She couldn't recall Barry exhibiting so much patience before but then again they'd never fought like they had at Star Labs today so he had a lot to make up for. Still she found herself growing impatient with need.
Before she could stop herself, she released a pleading moan. He took the hint and she could feel his smile against her thigh. Then his lips met her lower lips and he spread them apart. The next thing Iris knew, he was kissing her there too.
Her hips shot up into his face as she gasped. With patience he took hold and eased her back down to the bed. She moaned again, giving up her silent treatment.
"Barry…"
He tensed for a second but then resumed tasting her. First with his lips, then with his tongue, then he began to vibrate against her. Iris screamed as she came even before he got his fingers involved. From there on she was lost.
Her voice was a raspy mess when he was finished with her, sweat soaking the sheets from her thrashing about. Iris glanced down at him, heavy lidded with complete and utter sexual satisfaction. She'd lost count of how many times she'd come.
"I love you so much," he whispered to her, his face hidden between her open thighs.
She reached down and stroked the top of his head.
"I love you too."
He breathed her scent in deeply, exhaled with contentment. Iris could barely hold her head up so she sank back on the pillow.
"You can't possibly know how much I've missed you."
But she could. It had only been eight hours and she'd been crying herself to sleep. She started to tell him that when he began kissing his way up her body. Her belly muscles twitched as he visited them, her ribs sensitive to his soft lapping until he stopped at her breasts. Just when she had nothing left, Iris felt herself once again energized by his attention. Her hand trailed through his hair as he suckled her mammaries, sending shivers through her nipples, straight down to her watering valley. She wrapped her naked legs around his waist.
"Please, I need…"
With the speed only he possessed his clothes were on the floor and he was back in position. Her night shirt was nowhere to be found. Iris could feel his hardness against her and she desperately grinded into it. It was Barry's turn to groan and when he did so it sent fire through her. So intense, so full of desire for her as if he'd been starved. He was ravenous. Then he was inside her.
They both screamed out this time though his was more of a low growl. She'd never heard Barry growl like that before. It excited her the more. As he thrust inside her he kept his face buried in her chest, licking and suckling on a hard brown pebble. She cried out, attempting to match his thrusts.
"God Iris," he panted as he switched between breasts.
Sweat dropped from his face to her skin.
"Iris…mmm!"
She threw her head back at his enthusiasm. Barry was a bit rougher tonight and she loved it. His arms held her a little too tight, his suckles would leave hickies on her breasts and the way he was stroking her…there was a new level of intensity there. Iris came once more, shaking all over with the impact. Barry cursed out loud and suddenly his entire body was vibrating. Even inside her.
Though he'd definitely used that trick in bed before there was something different about his level of vibration this time. It was more intense in a way that she couldn't quite process. But it prolonged her climax and she arched hard against him for more.
More she got. When he finally reached his breaking point he groaned so loudly that his voice cracked. It was the sexiest thing she'd ever heard.
In the aftermath they collapsed together, boneless and panting. Iris could barely see through the haze of sexual bliss.
"I…I accept," she managed to breathe out.
Barry lifted his face in the darkness.
"What?"
"Your apology. This was a hell of a way to do it too."
He didn't say anything, just stared at her adoringly. She reached down, cupping his face in her hands.
Then she felt the scar.
He didn't move when her thumb grazed it, in fact he leaned into her touch just as Barry had done anytime she'd performed the same action on him. But Barry didn't have speedforce burns on the side of his face.
Iris's heart stopped cold.
"Y-y-you—"
Her would-be killer silently stared back at her.
"Oh my god!"
She started to shove him off. In less than a second he had her arms pinned above her head. Both naked, him still semi-hard inside her, their eyes met. What she expected to see in them was hatred, a smug sense of victory or some other villainous emotion at the scheme he'd just pulled. Instead she saw something far worse. She saw unbridled and all-consuming love.
He inched his face closer, tearing into her mouth with a kiss that expressed that emotion before pulling back. Then in literally a flash, he was gone.
Iris sat up, the shock of what happened and the sudden loss of his body warmth chilling her. She hugged her own naked body, bewildered.
For the past few hours she'd just made the best love of her life…to Savitar.
O--O
Barry lie awake, wishing more than ever that he could get drunk. He'd even settle for a buzz. After the fight he and Iris had earlier he needed it. She'd basically told him that she didn't believe in him, that he couldn't protect the city. Then she'd reminded him that he hadn't been able to protect Eddie. Or Wally.
Barry dropped his face in his hands, feeling very much the failure. No, he hadn't been able to protect Eddie or Wally, but he'd do his damnedest to protect everyone else. To defeat Savitar.
He stood from Cisco's couch, tossing the blanket his friend had given him to the side. He wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight. There was a lot he had to think about, like how he was going to beat an enemy who literally knew everything he knew and the things he didn't.
Barry crossed over to the window and stared out into the night.
I'm not apologizing.
But he should. Because he missed her. And he loved her.
She should've believed in me.
Especially at a time where he was having a hard time believing in himself. He needed her to believe now more than ever. Because without her…
I'm nothing.
He should go apologize. Especially with Savitar ever so near. Of course he knew his twisted other self wouldn't kill her any time soon. He'd seen her death. It wasn't until a couple months.
If she doesn't believe in me then she doesn't believe that I can protect her. That I can save her.
He pressed his forehead against the glass.
She was probably in bed right now, wearing that little blue night shirt and her panties. No bra. Iris never slept in bras. She found them constricting. He imagined her pouting, still angry at him though she had no right to be. Turning her back. Refusing to speak to him until he gave in and apologized. She could be stubborn that way. She was Joe West's daughter.
She was also the woman he loved more than life itself. The woman he would wed in holy matrimony. He shouldn't leave her alone, especially not in that sexy little night shirt. Barry made up his mind then. Seconds later he was in his own bedroom, kicking off his shoes. He expected to see Iris. Instead he saw an empty bed with fresh sheets. She must have done some cleaning.
He found his fiancé standing on the patio wearing a pair of his flannel pajamas. All covered up, he noted with a hint of disappointment. She was sipping a hot liquid, most likely tea, given the late hour.
"I'm sorry about what I said today."
She jumped when she heard his voice, spilling the entire mug over the rail. Using his speed, Barry zoomed down the side of the building and retrieved it, managing to catch the fluid back in the mug as well.
When he handed it to her, Iris stared at him. She had a weird look on her face, like she had something to say.
"What?"
She reached a hand up to cup his cheek. Barry couldn't help but to lean into it. She watched him intently.
"I love you, Barry."
His body warmed at her words.
"I love you too."
"I've always believed in you. I'll never stop believing in you."
She set the mug down on the rail, her eyes drilling into his.
"Let's never fight again."
He nodded.
"Never leave me alone again," she said.
When she hugged him Barry closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around her as well. They squeezed tightly and he inhaled her freshly showered scent. Her hair was still damp. She must have taken a shower recently, unable to sleep.
When he moved to reenter their loft, she refused to let go.
"Iris?"
She just pressed her face into his chest, tightening her grip. Their fight must've affected her more than he thought.
"Just hold me, Barry. Please."
He was more than happy to oblige. They stood that way for the longest until he could see hints of dawn coming in the horizon. Barry nudged his fiancé and the two of them made their way back inside. Her eyes were barely open when he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. In no time he was out of his clothes, in a pair of pj pants lying against her on the bed. Iris cuddled closer and he pulled her in. She was asleep before him but he followed soon after. Today would be a sick day for the both of them, he decided. Their jobs would just have to understand.
O--O
She'd wanted to tell him. But the thought of the pain it would cause stopped her. She couldn't hurt Barry, couldn't see the darkness that would follow. He would try to end Savitar's life she was certain. Whether he succeeded or not he would never be the same.
He would never look at her the same.
Shame flooded her at not being able to tell the difference until it was too late. Until he'd thoroughly ravished her body with tongue, fingers and tool, making her scream into the night. Sure, technically he was Barry, just a few years older but he wasn'therBarry. She should have noticed.
Her Barry was amazing in bed, even without using his speedster abilities. Apparently he was destined to become even more so. The thought caused her to blush with arousal.
He could never know.
She supposed it was possible that Savitar might want to gloat, throw what they'd done in Barry's face to break him but the love she'd seen in his dark eyes suggested different. He hadn't come to her that night to torture Barry. He'd come for himself.
She should hate him. For trying to kill her, for trying to hurt Barry, for misleading her to think he was Barry but she couldn't. Especially after what she'd seen in his eyes. After what he'd done to her body. He was still technically Barry. She could never hate any version of him.
So no one would ever know, the secret would stay between the two of them. And no one would have to be hurt.
Iris closed her eyes against her fiancé's chest then, the weight of the night upon her. She would sleep now, safe in the arms of the (future) fastest man alive. She would have to save her guilt for the morning.