A/N: I'm baaaaack!
*Many thanks to sendtherain for beta'ing.
Chapter 6 -
Hours passed, and Barry spent much of it in Iris' arms. Linda did catch his eye at one point, and he knew he owed her at least one dance. So, he reluctantly released the love of his life and said he'd be back in five minutes, which he was. Linda wasn't completely satisfied, but she couldn't complain since he fulfilled his promise.
Iris used the time away from him to gather her interviews, and she reconvened with Barry when she was finished.
"That poor girl. You could've danced with her a few more times." She chuckled.
"If seeing Linda in my arms for five minutes isn't enough to make Scott jealous, I don't know what will."
"Ah, so that's why you came tonight. As a favor to Linda."
"Yep."
"Are you two friends? I didn't even know you knew each other."
"Just acquaintances," he assured. "She seemed desperate. I couldn't turn her down."
"And yet you spent almost the whole night with me," she said, amused.
"Who wouldn't?" he asked honestly, and that silenced and broke her heart for him.
"Well, it's getting late. People are leaving, and I've done what I came to do. Even the orchestra is packing up. Maybe you should take Linda home?"
He glanced over his shoulder at a tipsy Linda who was heavily flirting with Scott and winced. Scott looked bothered, but he also looked concerned. He decided to zero in on that concern.
"Wait here," he told Iris. She tried to interject, but he wasn't having it. "Wait."
She gave him a knowing, warning glance.
"Trust me," he said, cocky now as he threw her a wink and strode across the room.
"Allen!" Scott announced him, apparently relieved. "You must be Linda's date. I saw you two on the dance floor. She looks in need of some…assistance." He nodded encouragingly, probably hoping he'd take Linda off his hands.
"Hi, Scott, I did come with Linda, but I think it's important for me to take Iris home."
"Iris? Why? Does she need someone to escort her, because I would gladly if you could just-"
"Nonsense. It's already been decided. I thought you could extend us both a hand and get Linda home yourself?"
He gawked. "Oh, I couldn't. I have to be the last one to leave!"
"I'm sure Linda won't mind waiting with you." He turned to face to the woman hanging on to Scott's elbow, even as he tried to unwind her fingers. "You wouldn't mind, would you, Linda?"
"Not at all." She giggled.
"Allen." He leaned towards him. "This is not in my job description," he whispered harshly.
"What about your duties as a gentleman?"
He sighed.
"You won't take a beautiful girl home who's just a little bit under the influence?"
He scoffed. "A little?"
Barry patted his arm. "A little, a lot? What's the difference?"
He gawked. "A lot!"
"Barry?" Iris called out.
"And there's my cue."
Iris started walking over
"Just call her a cab and help her into her apartment," Barry said. "You can do that, right?"
"I should fire her for getting drunk at a company party."
"As a boss, maybe, but as a decent citizen of Central City?" He waited until Scott nodded.
"I should take her home."
"I'll text you her address." He pulled out his phone and asked for Scott's number.
"What's going on over here?" Iris asked, looking between the two men and poor Linda shaky on her feet. From across the room Linda had looked only slightly tipsy, but up close it was clear she was drunk.
"Scott's taking Linda home."
"I'm taking her home."
Iris blinked. "I see."
"Sent," Barry said cheerfully to Scott. Then he turned to Iris. "Shall we go?"
Iris lips parted. "Go, where?"
"I thought I'd take you home."
"Oh, Barry…" She pulled him aside and lowered her voice. "I don't know if that's such a good idea. What if Eddie's home? I don't want him…mauling you again."
"Maul is kind of a strong word, Iris. The man punched me."
"And I don't want to see him do it again!"
"Iris," he soothed, setting his hands on her shoulders. "If we see his car on the way, I'll leave. But if we don't, it might be nice to have some company that isn't jumping to conclusions or screaming at you all the time, right?"
He watched her relax and then nod.
"Okay. Yeah, you're right. It would be nice to have your company, Bear. While I can."
She forced a smile, and he looped his arm through hers.
"Let's get our jackets. Then we can head out."
…
Barry and Iris saw no sign of Eddie's car on their short walk back to the West-Thawne loft. It was quiet and a little cold outside, so Iris snuggled into Barry's warmth until they got inside the building. The lobby was dark, except for one humming dimmed light near the elevator, and the ride up was almost eerie in its silence and ticking away of lit-up floor numbers shown above the doors inside.
Finally, the elevator stopped, and Barry gestured for Iris to go first. Slowly they walked down the hall, Iris incredibly tense in case Eddie was there, and Barry just wishing he could ease her suffering. It was so cruel for Eddie to put Iris in the situation she was in, of having to choose between her husband and her best friend every second of every day.
The old Barry wouldn't have been a threat. He would've easily been able to deny his deeper feelings for Iris and maintain a platonic relationship with her. He would've been so damn convincing, even Eddie would buy it and turn back into the man Iris fell in love with and not this possessive, overprotective dictator of a husband that didn't deserve Iris West ever.
But he wasn't that guy anymore. Barry had experienced Iris' romantic love for him for almost a year now. He knew what she felt and refused to believe she wasn't capable of it in every timeline in existence. Especially this one where that one kiss at the West-Thawne wedding reception had maddened Eddie so much. It could only be for one reason. Iris had to have kissed him back. He felt it in his gut, even though he was so new to this timeline still. Why else would Eddie have such a hard time trusting his wife if she hadn't been a willing participant?
"Well, we're here," Iris announced.
Barry nodded. He remembered. It used to be theirs.
She pulled out her key and put it in the lock, then turned the knob and looked at Barry.
"Wait here," she whispered, and he nodded his consent.
Taking a deep breath, Iris pulled open the door and went inside. She shut the door behind her, and Barry could hear her calling for her husband. She didn't take off her shoes, so the thuds were loud enough for him to hear as she went from room to room and then upstairs, then back downstairs, searching for the hothead she now called her husband.
Barry looked up and down the hall and didn't see a thing. The elevator doors didn't chime and open. There was no sound coming from the other lofts even. Eventually, the gust of wind behind him informed him that the door to the loft had been opened once more, and he turned to face Iris.
"The coast is clear?"
"Yeah, he's not here."
The relieved smile that lit her face told Barry more than anything else how she belonged to him. Not Eddie, but him.
"He might come soon, though…" she said, and he watched as the joy seeped out of her face and the worry and fear returned.
"Damn it, Iris, it's not fair!"
Her eyes widened as they locked with his.
"What's not fair?"
"This!" He gestured between them. "Eddie terrifies you, because he feels threatened by me. That's not right. He should respect you and trust you, and hell, we should be having an affair because nothing on this earth is going to convince him we're secretly not!"
Her lips parted.
He sighed and leaned against the doorframe.
"Iris, what I'm trying to say is…"
She took the smallest of steps towards him and lowered her voice to a raspy whisper.
"What are you trying to say, Barry?"
His eyes dropped to where she licked her lips and then how she was looking at his, and all thought went straight out the window. He leaned in and kissed her, and she kissed back.
"Iris," he breathed into her mouth, and she pulled him close.
"Shut up, Barry."
He kicked the door shut with his foot and followed her into the loft, kissing her madly, as if something was unleashed inside both of them and neither could stifle it a moment longer. He pushed off her jacket and rid himself of his, then unzipped her dress and pushed it off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor in a silken heap.
Her back was soft and slightly chilled. He quickly warmed it up with his hands, kissing her neck as she tipped her head back and his name came pouring from those supple lips.
"Oh, Barry."
He growled as he left his mark, pinching her neck with his teeth for a solitary moment as his hands dipped down her back and spread into her panties, squeezing each ass cheek in his hands.
"Oh, God."
She went up on her tip toes and pulled his lips down to hers, unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off, so it too gathered at their feet. Then, pulling him backwards, she kicked off her shoes and dropped down onto the couch.
Immediately she set to work unbuckling his belt and unzipping his pants. She felt over his boxers for his long, hard length poking through and appeared to be delirious by just the feel of it.
"Christ."
He groaned and yanked his boxers down so she could see. She touched it daintily at first and then held it firmly in her grasp before setting her pretty lips on the tip and kissing it. Her tongue slipped through and licked in small circles wherever she kissed until finally she set her mouth around his cock and started sucking it hard.
"Jesus, Mother, Mary of-" He abandoned the curse, too far gone.
She lapped at him like she'd never touched cock before. Like she was a virgin eager for her first taste. The things he wanted to do to her, that he hadn't done in weeks, and before that months. And she just wanted to sit here eating him up, like he was the popsicle of life support. Uh-uh. Not on his watch.
"Enough," he rasped, pulling her mouth free of him.
"I want more." She tried to get at his cock again, but he tipped her chin up so she'd meet his eyes.
"I want to ravish you."
She shivered noticeably.
"Well, then what are you waiting for?"
He choked on his breath.
"You to be naked, for one."
She quickly rid herself of her panties and pulled him down to her.
He was completely intoxicated by her. He touched her everywhere, caressed her skin, kissed and licked her skin, made her cum with his tongue on her clit. His fingers worked to harden both nipples and then cupped each mound of flesh with hungry desire.
He made his way up her torso, flicking her skin with his tongue and kissing all the in between spaces.
When he was finally ready, he made a place for himself between her legs, adjusted her so she was comfortable amidst the cushions and pillows and clutched the arm and back of the couch as he thrust into her hard.
She gasped and moaned at once, pleading for more, holding him close so their bodies would never be far apart. And so he pulled out and pushed in again, over and over, each thrust more deliciously out of control than the last. Each one faster, harder, at a better angle, driving them both mad as he pounded away until they'd lost all their breath and were a pile of messy sweat on the couch in the living room of the loft she shared with Eddie.
When finally he surfaced enough to lift his head from the crook of her neck, he went to reach for her hand, kiss the finger with the cursed wedding and engagement rings on it, because it belonged to him damn it, and no one else. Especially not Eddie fucking Thawne, the ancestor of his greatest nemesis.
He frowned when he saw there was no ring on her hand.
"Barry?"
Was he looking at the wrong hand?
He pulled the other into view, but it also had no rings on.
"Barry?" she said louder.
"Sorry, I just-"
"Barry!"
She snapped her fingers, and he blinked, and then suddenly was transported back to before it all happened. Whether a cruel time-traveling trick or all in his imagination, the hot sex was no longer a reality. He was standing in the doorway, fully clothed, as was Iris who was staring at him.
"What?" he asked, giving her as much of his attention as he could while he sought to figure out what had happened.
"Don't you think you should go?"
"Um…"
"I mean, what if Eddie walks in on us?"
A flashback to them in the throes of passion hit him like a ton of bricks.
"You know just seeing you will put him into a rage."
"What if he comes back drunk, Iris?" he asked.
She stiffened. "He's never hit me," she said, and he could tell by the tone of her voice that she was ready to defend Eddie for at least that.
Barry nodded.
"Okay. If you're sure."
"I am." She got up on her tiptoes and kissed him on his cheek. "Thank you for tonight."
"You're welcome."
"I hope I'll see you soon," she said sadly, but he'd had enough of that.
"You will."
"Goodnight, Barry," she said softly, and waited for him to take a step back so she could close the door.
Reluctantly, he did.
He waited until he couldn't hear her walking around anymore, and assumed she'd gone to bed. Then he turned around, expecting to just make his way back to the elevator and head on home. He'd make a note to apologize to Linda tomorrow. He really just couldn't control himself when he was around Iris.
And he wasn't the only one who knew that.
"I knew you couldn't be trusted."
A punch to his face, to his jaw, to his stomach, and a kick to the ground by Eddie Thawne before all went dark.
The last thing he heard was the resounding footsteps as Eddie walked around him and stormed into the loft, calling Iris' name.