Page 69 of Ironling
Her breath left her in a happy sigh, and she moved a little closer, deepening the kiss. Her lips teased over his, which held still—not rejecting but not welcoming, either.
Pulling back a breath, she whispered, “Is this all right?”
From one moment to the next, something overcame him. That shock burned away by something heavier, more intense. He suddenly looked as if he wanted to lay her down in the grass and gobble her up.
Heat pooled between her thighs at the thought.
His big hand cupped her face, and his fingers dug into her hair, keeping her in place. She savored the little tug at her scalp, rocking forward. Their lips brushed again, and she felt his words when he said, “Yes,vinya, yes. Just show me how.”
Orcs don’t kiss.
The thought flitted across her mind but was gone again the moment his mouth took hers.
Enthusiastic and fervent, his lips followed hers, learning how to move and suck and nibble. She lost herself to the soft press of their mouths, a scintillating dance. She gasped when she ran her tongue along his bottom lip and he opened for her, allowing herto trace the wicked points of his small tusks. She loved that they only appeared when he talked or smiled, yet she saw them often.
He was a quick study—she knew he would be. He was brilliant whenever he turned his attention to something, and to be what he focused on took her breath away.
His mouth moved in caressing strokes and presses and nips over hers, and his hands, oh, his hands. They ran up and down her back and carded through her hair. They pulled her into that wide chest, which thrummed with something like a purr deep beneath his ribs.
Aislinn nearly purred herself and arched like a cat at the way his calluses rasped against her scalp and skin. A little moan of pleasure escaped her lips, and he swallowed the sound, an answering rumble emanating from his throat.
She spread her fingers over his chest, feeling that rumble and how his heart hammered there. His skin was so warm, she wanted to curl up and lay in the sun all afternoon beside him.
“Aislinn,” he whispered, and her whole body clenched with desire. Notmy ladyorheiress,her name. Just her name. She loved the sound of it on his lips.
Happiness expanded inside her until she felt like she could float away, out into the sunshine and high above all her worries. Those big hands kept her grounded and tethered to him, though, exactly where she wanted to be.
She didn’t know how long they laid in the shade of the tree, indulging in kisses and slow caresses. Aislinn claimed it all greedily, soaking up the comfort and pleasure.
He feels it, too!
It wasn’t until the dinner bell sounded that she realized the sunlight had long since waned and the air had grown chilly. The sound of the bell pulled her back into herself, and she couldn’t help her blush.
Hakon’s head fell back against the tree, his gaze heavy-liddedas he watched her. Aislinn’s heart fluttered in her chest to be the recipient of such a look, her lips aching for more of his kisses. Yet she…
“You must go,” he said.
“Yes.” She didn’t move from her spot between his legs, though, reluctant to leave the little dream they lived in that moment.
What if she left and it disappeared? She didn’t think she could bear it.
“Hakon, I…” What did she say? How could she make him understand?
He lifted a lock of her hair and pushed it behind her ear.
“Find me when you can,vinya.” He leaned in and claimed another kiss. “I’ll be waiting.”
She flushed, a smile drawing across her lips. “Nothing will keep me away,” she promised. Swooping in for her own final kiss, she pushed herself to standing.
Allowing herself a moment to admire the view of him, sprawled redolent against the tree, Aislinn blew him a kiss and then made herself retreat from the garden.
Her heart was full to bursting from everything that happened within the rosebushes, it burned away the lingering exhaustion from her fit. She nearly ran through the castle, so giddy and excited and—everything. She waseverything.
Hakon drew in a long breath and settled back against the tree, still stunned. All the promises he’d made himself, all the timehe’d spent resisting his desires and…her.
In a matter of moments, everything had changed.
He couldn’t help himself—like running down a steep slope, he careened into his obsession with her, heedless of the danger and unable to stop. All for a very simple reason—she was everything to him.
