Page 110 of Heart of Iron
“You see this as a curse,” she said, sliding onto his lap.The muscles in his thighs tensed.“I don’t.I know there shall be limitations.I know my time in the Echelon is done—it was done the moment you carried me out of that ballroom.”Seeing his mouth open, she pressed her finger against his lips.“I’ve been afraid for a very long time, Will.I’m not afraid now.Not even a little.Is that part of it?”
His gaze locked on hers.Mutiny burned there.He didn’t believe her.
“There’s nothing about my old life that I want to go back to,” she whispered, sliding her leg up to straddle his hips.The nightgown slid up around her thighs, and he sucked in a sharp breath, his fingers clenching in the blankets.Lena rocked against his hips, the rasp of the buttons on his trousers riding over her inner thigh.
“I want a new life,” she told him.“With you.I know that now.”Sliding her hands over his shoulders, she leaned closer, breathing in his delicious musky scent.“I finally know what I want.And I’m not afraid to admit it anymore.”
“Lena.”His hand curled against her bottom, as if in warning.“You’re verwulfen now.A slave in the Echelon’s eyes.You might never be able to leave the ’Chapel again.”
“Who says I need to?”She brushed her mouth against his.“Who says I ever need to leave this bed?”
Another gasped breath.But his eyes were burning now, turning hot with a flood of amber color.
“You’re mine, Will.”A smile of victory curled over her lips as soon as she saw the change.“You can’t hurt me anymore.You don’t have any more excuses.You can hate yourself all you want, but quite frankly, I’m rather impressed with the changes.”
As she leaned toward him, he leaned back.Stubborn, stubborn man.Lena followed him, kneeling over him and drinking in the sight of that tempting body.
“Ain’t you hungry?”
“Mmm.”She kissed at his mouth, licked it.“Yes, I am.”
Hands hovered at her sides.Fingers stiff, half reaching for her.“Lena, damn it.You weren’t well.”
“Anyone would think you a skittish bride on her wedding night.”A smoky laugh, her voice lowering.“Now that you can’t hurt me, think of all the things you could do to me.”
His gaze darkened.“You’ve just recovered from a fever.”
“I feel wonderful.”She bit his lower lip, sucking it into her mouth.“I feel better than wonderful.”She laughed, dug her nails into his chest.“I feel like I could do some very wicked things to you, right now.”
Hands clamped on either side of her hips, and he opened up to her, his mouth chasing hers.“Damn you, I thought I lost you.”A shudder ran through him.“I don’t have the words to say… I can’t fight it anymore,” he admitted hoarsely.
“Then don’t.”
Their mouths met, the taste of him hot and furious, full of denied hunger.It felt so right.She almost shuddered, pressing herself against him, desperate to get closer, skin on skin, to let him sink himself deep within her.Need swamped her.Furious, desperate need.
Grabbing the hem of her nightgown, Will shoved it up.They broke the kiss just long enough to get it over her head, then she was naked against him, the rasp of his shirt abrading her nipples, his hands clenching in the soft flesh of her bottom.Lena wove her fingers through his hair, grabbing fistfuls of the silky strands.
A groan tore through her throat.She threw her head back as his hot mouth closed over the column of her throat.“Yes,” she whispered.Her eyes shot wide as his teeth grazed the smooth slope of her breasts.
Her hands half lifted to cover herself, but he caught them and held them wide.
“No,” he growled.“You promised me everythin’ I could do to you.And I owe you for that bashful bride comment.”
The domination in his voice thrilled her.
“Instinct,” she replied and threw her head and shoulders back.Light gleamed off her pale skin, her nipples hard and pink.A breathless fist twisted in her stomach at the look in his eyes.
“Do you like them?”she whispered.
Hard lips captured hers.The answer was evident against her thigh, the thick, heavy heat of him branding her intimately.His tongue drove into her mouth even as his hands caught her hips and ground her against him.
It felt so good.Lena whimpered, her hands sliding up through his hair, her nails raking his scalp.The laughter was gone, faded.In its place was a desperate insanity, a hunger, a need to consume.The empty ache between her thighs almost undid her.She scrabbled at his shirt, tearing it over his shoulders until only the briefest scraps of linen hung from his elbows, still buttoned at the wrists.
“Easy,” he growled into her mouth, hands capturing her wrists.
“No.”She caught the top button of his trousers, but he drew her hands away.
“Plenty of time.”
