Page 75 of Ironling
His purr grew almost violent, shaking his chest and hers. He held the whole world in his hand, and he wouldn’t be foolish enough to let it go. She was everything to him, the axis around which his world spun, his guiding star.
He hadn’t been able to explain to Siggy why he wanted to leave Kaldebrak for the human lands. He hadn’t truly known himself.
It was for her. I came for her.
That was so perfectly clear to him now, even in his thick haze of lust.
He teased a finger into her gown to draw it down, and his greedy mouth was ready when her nipple popped free of the bodice. Aislinn clutched him to her as he filled his mouth with her, lashing her with his tongue and pulling on her tender flesh in deep, long pulls.
“Aislinn,vinya,” he murmured against her skin.Rose,he called her. His rose, vibrant and sweet.
“Hakon,” she whispered back, her hand straying down from his chest to his belt.
“Oh!” Another voice punched through the quiet night, and someone giggled drunkenly below them. “This is taken.”
Two sets of footsteps staggered away, and while Hakon logically knew the most anyone could see from below was their legs, not who they were attached to, his hunger cooled and hardened like iron to know they’d gotten so close without him noticing.
No one was allowed near his mate while he pleasured her. Her pleasure, her noises, were for him alone.
He could hear her heartbeat quickening at her breast, and her touch was less lustful and more frantic as she tried to pull him back into their lovemaking.
She moaned in unhappiness when he pulled away and righted her bodice.
“Hakon.” She moved quicker than his addled mind was ready for, capturing a kiss and resting her hands over his, trying to pull him back to her. “Make love to me.Rut me.”
It was his turn to moan, and he hung his head. It would be so easy to give in, and as she pressed her body to his and kisses into his skin, he wanted to. Oh, gods, how he wanted to.
But he still smelled the mead on her breath. And the tang of horse from the stable.
Not like this,he told himself—and more importantly his beast.Not like this. She deserves much better.
If he was to show her all that he could be for her, he could and would do better when he made love to her for the first time.
“I will, Aislinn. Fates, I want to.” He let his mouth fall to hers, taking one last taste of her. “But only when your head is clear and you’re sure it’s what you want.”
A frown gathered at her brow. “Hakon…”
“You must be sure,vinya, for there will be no going back. Once I have you, you’ll be mine, do you understand?” He skimmed his lips across her brow, the whisper of a kiss, a promise of much more. “You’ll ruin me for any other, and I intend to do the same for you. So you must be sure.”
She blinked at him in astonishment, and he took the chance to retreat. Sliding to the ground, he helped her down. Aislinn looked up at him in bewildered silence, allowing him to take her hand and lead her back to the celebration.
His beast thrashed inside him.Fool!it roared.Don’t let her get away! Take her, claim her! She wants you to!
Fates, yes. The thought kept him incandescent. She wanted him—but when she came to him, it had to be with a clear head. He’d accept nothing less of her than everything, and while he risked never having his chance again by denying her now, he couldn’t risk that she would regret tonight and turn away later.
Smart, we have to be smart,he told the beast—and his angrycock.
The confusion was plain on her face when he turned to her on the fringes of the firelight. Lifting her hand, he placed a kiss just above her knuckles.
“I’ll be waiting,vinya,” he whispered before making himself turn away.
If he stayed a moment longer, he’d forget himself and his plans and take her right back to that hay pile.
Hakon gritted his tusks against his gums and put on speed, hurrying around the center of the estate and keeping to the low light on the outskirts of the dwindling celebration. Music still played and people still danced and ate and sang, but others had moved to smaller groups or disappeared entirely—including the bride and groom.
His pace was unforgiving as he strode across the estate. He recognized someone calling his name, Varon and a group of fellow half-orcs gathered round a smaller fire and drinking, but he ignored it. The blood in his veins burned too hot to stop.
Soon, he left behind the celebration and the light, finding his way by the moon. He didn’t stop until rocks and water scraped and sloshed beneath his boots.
