_
Chapter 4
_
Sherlock had enjoyed the kiss thoroughly, he did not accept it as losing their battle; nor did he think of it as beating her at her own game. They had played the original game, Sherlock had won. But this was something new, something that neither of them had experienced before. Love. He was a virgin, he had never had a relationship and never questioned the possibility that he would. Irene was a dominatrix, sex and seduction to her were just emotionless acts that she enjoyed, she had never truly loved anybody; until she met him.
Irene looked up at the man holding her close to him, her eyes were still adjusting to the morning light; but she could easily make out Sherlock's dark, tightly curled hair against the crisp white sheets. She watched him slowly wake up (due to the removal of her head against his chest).
"Good morning Mr Holmes" She said sitting on her knees, facing him.
"Good morn-" His return was cut off by a quick kiss from her.
He sunk his head back into the pillow, kissing her back.
Sherlock soon broke off the kiss, she started to dot his neck with kisses, Sherlock looked up at her, surprised by her actions, she smirked in response. They were soon interrupted by Sherlock's phone. They both turned their heads to the bedside table.
"Mycroft" He said with a sense of spite in his voice.
Irene moved herself from him and sat on the bed, watching him pacing the room while on the phone.
"Hello brother dear" Sherlock said sarcastically.
"Sherlock where are you? Come back to London immediately. Why can't I trace you?"
"I'm coming back tomorrow, I've prevented you from tracing me, I deserve some privacy."
With that he hung up and replaced the phone on the table. Irene stood up from the bed and wrapped her arms around him from behind. He tensed, Sherlock was more comfortable with her now but the tension was always going to be there.
"So what are we doing today Mr Holmes?"
"Finding you, a job" he said positively
"I'm guessing it won't be similar to my last career"
"Well of course not, that would arouse suspicion"
"And I would't want to be unfaithful to you Mr Holmes" She leaned in further, holding him tighter.
"We're not a couple" he almost spat out the word turning to face her.
"Really? I thought you changed your mind last night. When you kissed me" she left the last sentence linger in the air.
They stood in silence for a moment, Irene crossed her arms smiling flirtatiously, his cold deducing stare in return. He almost jumped when she said.
"You can't deny it" she was right he couldn't just say it never happened, they both know it did and she knew he enjoyed it. Why couldn't they be in a relationship anyway, they would never fit the normal boyfriend and girlfriend description but that did't make it impossible for them to be together.
"...I never did" Sherlock said in a deep tone.
"Good" she turned around taking his dressing gown off of the chair, slipping it on and began to walk down the stairs.
Sherlock bit his lip, did she think they were a couple then? Honestly if they ever were he would't really mind what other people thought (in fact he would quite enjoy to shock them, especially Mycroft) it was still a case of losing the game for them; if it had ended or not, last night Sherlock had taken the risk and kissed her in the heat of the moment. This confused himself very much, he had never been in a relationship before; neither did he consider it. Until he met her.
And so he followed her to the kitchen; even if he was just wearing pyjama bottoms.(but to be honest he did't have much choice seeing as Irene had taken his dressing gown)
When he reached the kitchen Sherlock found her sitting on one of the bar stools; twirling a strand of her hair delicately between her fingers.
"Breakfast?" She crossed her legs; sitting up straight and turning the stool to face him.
"Just tea for me, I'm not hungry"
"I am" She walked over to the kettle filling it with water.
"In every sense of the word" Irene let her lips stay slightly apart for a couple of seconds.
After breakfast they got changed and started to drive into town. They were going to a job interview to manage a small farm shop, it was nothing like Irene was used to but it helped her blend in to the rest of the community. Even in the foreign country there was no language barrier as English was widely spoken as a second language and to learn some basic Icelandic would't be too hard either.
Irene would be posing as Naomi Jones and Sherlock as Elliot Jones, Irene quite liked the fact that they were a married couple.
They found themselves in a cosy, wooden, cottage like building surrounded by pine trees dusted with snow. Getting out of the car to approach the building she shivered in the chilly air; moving closer to Sherlock.
"Well, this looks nice, do you think I'll get the job?" She said smiling, holding his arm, he was surprisingly relaxed with the gesture.
"I'm sure of it" he said as if it was obvious
Sherlock opened the thick wooden door, inside the shop the walls were covered with shelves that held the autumn coloured stock. Behind the counter sat a big-stomached man of about 50 with grey hair and stubble and large kind eyes.
"Hello! You must be Naomi, the manager? Yes?" The man said with a Icelandic accent
"Yes I am, pleased to meet you." She said shaking his hand.
"And this is my husband (she emphasised the word) Elliot"
"Hello" Sherlock said in such a happy, positive tone that Irene quickly raised an eyebrow at him.
During the interview they sat at one of the tables in the little restaurant. 'Elliot's' positive attitude continued, causing Irene to hold in the laughter until they returned to the car.
As she sat in the driver's seat she burst into laughter.
"What?"
"You couldn't have made 'Elliot's' personality more different than yours, could you?"
"Well it got you the job!" He said; sounding slightly annoyed.
Irene just continued laughing, starting the car then said.
"I need some work clothes, we need to go shopping" She looked to him.
He looked back giving her a stare that to her represented a 'fed up' teenager.
Irene ignored this and began to drive to Reykjavik, a large coastal city. It was an hour and a half drive but neither of them minded much. Sherlock spent half the time gazing out of the window and the other half watching her. Irene hummed quietly to the radio most of the way.
Most of the time Irene was trying on clothes which left Sherlock waiting outside for quite a while, he spent his time considering their situation, and the possibility of 'dinner'. Why was it so important to her anyway?
After their three hour shopping trip both were exhausted, Sherlock held most of the bags that were now causing his arms to ache, they must have bought her enough clothes to last her for a year and even some for Sherlock when he came to visit.
Irene slumped herself in the passenger seat, out of the window telling him
"You drive"
He did as she said and soon joined her in the car, he couldn't stand arguing with her, it just made their relationship more awkward.
For almost the whole journey back Irene watched him in admiration. She was thinking about what a relationship with 'The great Sherlock Holmes' would actually be like, she expected that none of his friends would believe it to be possible. 'That would be fun to prove wrong' she thought.
When they got out of the car she gave him a quick hug and kiss.
"Thanks for getting me the job"
"No problem" Sherlock said locking the car, Irene took his hand as they walked back to the house.
"I'll make some dinner then" he said hanging up his coat then hers
"Ok, I think I'll go for a swim" she ascended the stair case, he nodded in reply.
This was going to be a little calmer now they were alone for a while. Sherlock started preparing the food, he had a strong feeling that she wanted 'dinner' especially because this was going to be their last night with each other for a long while he strongly suspected it. Now that the game was finished, Sherlock would't mind having 'dinner' with her; as much as the fact shocked himself it was true and maybe love wasn't such a weakness. Well he was not sure if it was love; but this was definitely something new to him.
He knew that Moriarty was still out to get him, it was only a matter of time until he would need her help. Of course this was not the only reason he had saved her, he admired her and now he could not imagine life without her. But soon enough he would be dependent on her whether he liked it or not.
Once he had put the soup on the boil and sat at the table to read the paper Irene came bursting into the kitchen with a beaming smile on her face, she was wrapped in Sherlock's dressing gown and had obviously just got out of the pool.
"Sherlock you have to come and see this!" She almost sounded like an excited child.
"What is it?" He couldn't think of what she could be talking about.
Without saying a word she returned to the stairs beckoning to him to follow. He dropped his newspaper on the table and accompanied her. She ran all the way up the stairs until they reached the roof.
It was the northern lights. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, colours of green, purple and blue dominated the tiny sparkling stars.
"Wow, it's amazing isn't it" Irene said whilst he approached her. "I saw it from the pool and i just had to show you"Her hair was still dripping with water and he could see she was shivering in the cold air.
"It's beautiful" Sherlock held her round her waist and brought her close to him,it took her by surprise; Irene looked up at him and smiled, leaning her head against his chest. For once she felt safe and she was so pleased it was Sherlock taking care of her.
They stayed there together for around ten minutes watching it. They returned to the house sitting in the cosy family room. Sherlock handed her a bowl of soup, she wrapped her hands around it, sinking into the sofa.
"Thank you" she said, Sherlock smiled in return.
They sat next to each other as they ate, once they had finished Irene curled up to him. They listened to the faint background music and watched the fire until eventually they were almost laying down.
Sherlock felt her lightly breathe on his neck, he knew that he had really shocked her earlier even if she did't show it, after realising he had nothing to lose he was a lot more comfortable with her.
All his thoughts were cut off when she started to kiss his neck, without much thought he moved his mouth to hers; kissing her back and holding her tighter against him.
"Let's have dinner" Sherlock said all of a sudden.
Irene looked into his eyes for a moment; her lips slightly parted. "About time" She purred
She kissed him back as he lifted her and began to carry her up the stairs.
They finally had dinner.