Chapter 68 He Kissed Her
Iris noticed that Donovan’s eyes had turned red, but not from sadness or anger.
They were more like the eyes of a wild beast that has gone hungry for a long time and has finally spotted prey.
She thought to herself, No matter how terrible this man is, he wouldn't actually eat people, would he?
But that day at the Aurora Palace Hotel, Lee had mentioned that Donovan had once…
Iris dared not think any further, shivering instinctively.
"I...I'm sorry."
Now, she was truly afraid. Tears welled up instantly and fell through the gaps between Donovan’s fingers as he held her cheeks.
Donovan was left utterly speechless.
She’d bitten him, caused a scene, and now she was crying?
That made no sense at all.
He released his grip on her cheeks and lowered his gaze to the smudge of blood on her lips. The touch of red made her lips look exceptionally vivid.
He wiped it away with the pad of his thumb, rubbing her soft lips.
"If you can't think of anything, I'll help you out. Iris, let’s kiss, and we’ll call it even.”
Iris fell silent. Once she was sure she was safe, she pursed her lips and whispered, "If that's the case, then we've been even for a long time. That day on the plane, you...”
Donovan chuckled softly. “It didn’t count. You owed me.”
“When did I ever owe you?”
“Kiss or no kiss?" Donovan interrupted her, a hint of impatience in his voice.
"I'll give you three seconds to think about it. If you don’t want to, I can find another way—like…”
Iris stared at Donovan's meaningful expression, unable to fathom what he was thinking. She felt a chill run down her spine; she was so terrified that she forgot to cry.
“Three.”
Donovan began counting down.
Driven by a fierce instinct for survival, Iris nodded quickly, unable to wait for him to count to two.
“Okay.”
If it meant saving her life, then a kiss wasn't too much—after all, it wasn't the first time.
She closed her eyes as if resigning herself to her fate.
Donovan was somewhat impatient. He narrowed his eyes and leaned in.
Before his lips even touched hers, Iris suddenly snapped her eyes open.
"How long is this going to be?"
Donovan’s half-closed eyes snapped open in annoyance.
Recalling how Iris had nearly held her breath during their last kiss, he mustered his last shred of patience and said flatly, "Five minutes."
"Okay."
Iris nodded, reached into her pocket for her phone, and started tapping away. Suddenly, Donovan grabbed her wrist with a mischievous grin.
“You want to record it as a keepsake?”
“No,” Iris struggled to free herself. “I just want to set a timer.”
At that moment, Donovan felt he’d been far too lenient with Iris.
He snatched her phone, shoved it back in her pocket, leaned down, and kissed her.
Their lips met.
Iris instinctively reached out to push him away, but Donovan grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him, forcing her to hold him.
From outside the door came the voices of upstairs neighbors chatting as they came down the stairs.
“Honey, don’t take the elevator. Let's take the stairs..."
They were standing too close, and with Iris pressed against the door, the conversation sounded as if it were right in her ear.
She felt a sudden wave of embarrassment and frantically turned her face away.
"W-wait."
As she turned her head, Donovan’s warm, moist lips brushed against her cheek, sending a faint tingle through her.
Iris looked at Donovan with pleading eyes.
"Let's wait until they're gone..."
“No.”
“But…”
Iris was about to say something else when Donovan suddenly released her wrist and clamped his large hand firmly around the back of her neck.
The heat radiating from his palm was almost unbearable.
He gripped her neck, forcing her to lift her head, and gently took her soft lips into his mouth.
Noticing that her anxious gaze kept drifting toward the door, he moved his hand from the back of her neck to her hair, massaging it.
“Focus.”
"I..."
Donovan gently bit her, as if to punish her.
The faint sting made Iris let out a low, soft moan.
That sound was so lovely. Donovan’s lips curved into a smile.
The couple’s footsteps grew fainter and fainter as they disappeared around the staircase corner, and their voices were no longer audible.
Iris finally settled down.
She clutched the fabric of Donovan’s shirt at his waist and remained motionless, surrendering to this long, deep kiss.
A sense of indescribable satisfaction welled up inside Donovan.
It felt as though he had come all this way just to hold her and kiss her one last time.
Seeing Iris' face flush crimson, he instinctively pulled his lips back slightly.
Iris' breathing was steady, but not because she was holding her breath.
He cupped her hips and lifted her onto the shoe cabinet beside them.
This way, neither of them had to bend over or stand on tiptoes—the height was just right.
Then, before she could react, he kissed her again, giving in to his desires.
Perhaps Iris was too compliant that Donovan became a bit carried away.
No longer content with mere, fleeting touches, he pried her lips apart and pressed deep inside, tangling his tongue with hers. He began a more intense exploration.
The moment their tongues touched, Iris shuddered and froze.
Panicking, she raised her hands to press against Donovan’s chest and let out a muffled whimper as she tried to pull away.
"No..."
Her words were muffled.
Her head snapped back, nearly hitting the wall behind her, but a large hand quickly reached out to steady her.
The kiss grew even more intense.
Donovan loved Iris' soft, delicate tongue—so supple with a hint of sweet, fruity flavor.
She just wasn’t very cooperative, always trying to pull away.
Inevitably, he caught it, drawing out a faint, wet sound that made her blush and her heart race.
The deep kiss stirred an even deeper desire. His breathing grew hot and ragged, and his hands grew bolder, slipping beneath the hem of her top.
His palm traced upward along her waistline, caressing her smooth back with an air of aggression.
Iris' fear reached its peak in that moment.
She trembled and gently bit Donovan’s tongue, forcing him to pull away.
The bite wasn’t hard enough to cause any real injury, but it would hurt Donovan.
Yet, the tears Iris had barely managed to hold back welled up again in an instant and streamed down her cheeks.
She lifted her face to meet Donovan’s expressionless gaze, her chest heaving as she struggled to calm down.
Fearing that Donovan might be angry, she clutched the hem of her shirt and, in a trembling voice, reminded him, "It's been... five minutes."
“Who said that?”
Donovan asked flatly. He looked down at her pitiful yet adorable expression, struggling to suppress the surging desire within him.
In truth, he knew better than Iris that it hadn’t been exactly five minutes—it had long since passed.
Those five minutes had simply flown by too quickly. He wasn’t satisfied yet and didn’t want to stop.
As Iris spoke, she reached into her pocket for her phone.
"Before you took my phone, I checked the time. It was 11:23. Should we verify it?”
Donovan gave a hoarse chuckle.
He hadn’t expected her to be so particular, acting as if being kissed for just one extra minute were some great injustice.
Never mind.