As Iris explained herself, Caspian got the impression that she was an even bigger people-pleaser than he was. He had habits of conforming to groups to try to fit in too, disliking when anyone treated him special or different because of his status, but he’d never gone so far as to pretend to like food that actually turned his stomach. Now that he was aware of how sensitive she was to the way other people perceived her, he was going to be much more careful about how he approached her when other people were around. Privately, he also made a mental note to check with her sometimes when they were alone, just to make sure she wasn’t hiding her opinions from him as well.

Sitting beside her on the couch, he laughed softly at her playful remark and leaned into her touch as she caressed his cheek. [color=#b97703]“I don’t know. I like both, honestly,”[/color] he shrugged, indulging himself with another sweep of his gaze over the black fabric that currently adorned her curves. Red may have been his favorite color, but it wasn’t the only one he found attractive on a woman. The dark satin dress she was wearing now was alluring to him in different ways. He liked the contrast of the outfit against her fair, rosy skin as well as the way it cinched in all the right places to draw his eye from the hem above her knees to the teasing glimpse of her chest at the top. It didn’t have to be a shade of scarlet to elevate his heartrate to a dangerous pace.

Her hand fell to his thigh, and his eyes lifted to her face just as she whispered to him, and he leaned forward to meet her halfway in a kiss. [color=#b97703]“I missed you too,”[/color] he breathed just before their lips met. At first, he kissed her tenderly, relishing the excitement that stirred in his chest at simply being this close to her again. As they pressed into each other, though, the exchange grew steadily more heated. He let go of her hand to wrap both of his arms around her body, one behind her back and the other holding her by the hip. In one smooth motion, he pulled her onto his lap without breaking the kiss and tangled his fingers in her long hair.

[color=#b97703]“You know… we have this room to ourselves all night…”[/color] he murmured with a mischievous smile as he peppered her jaw and neck with a few more kisses and trailed his hands down the length of her back. Both other times they had been alone, at the pub and in Miles’ bathroom, they hadn’t gotten very far, but this time, there was no one around to interrupt them and no reason to hold back. He would have been lying if he’d said that the thought hadn’t crossed his mind to take advantage of the solitude, and he hoped she felt the same way.