Page 146 of Steel Heart Iron Claws

She waits, eyes big.

“Because now?” I continue haltingly, chest tightening, “I went to hell and back, and all I could think about was a future with you.”

A gasp cuts across her tongue. “Can we have a future…without a past?”

The question hangs between us, and for a moment, I let it. My heart still aches from what was lost, but it’s softer now, less of a gaping wound and more of just another battle scar.

A realization begins to sink in.

“Someone told me once that you live in more than memories.” I pause. “That’s the woman I want—the one here, now. That’s the only you I want.”

She finds my shirt collar and bunches the fabric in her fist. Her lips tremble as she whispers, “Do you mean that?”

I wrap my hands around hers. “Little violet, I’ve found my faith in the unknown. I find it whenever I look at your face.”

That ache around my heart fades as I see my love for her reflected in her eyes.

I continue softly, “You’re no stranger to me—you are my heart’s other half. The Aria to my Aron. If you’ll have me, then I want nothing more than for you to tell me stories every night about how it was when we first met. The first time we spoke. If I was a damn gruff asshole. What I said when I first saw you use your godkiss.” I lower my voice, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. “Our first kiss. The first time we…”

My voice halts as I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. My hand lingers, my rough thumb caressing down her cheek. “I want you to tell me everything, read to me like you do those damn horses, and then? Then, I want to make new memories. I want to kiss you again and again for the first time. I want all our firsts—again.”

She places both her hands on my chest as if needing to feel the steadiness of my heartbeat to reassure her that this is real.

“That’s all I want, too. A new start. With you.”

I grin rakishly, raising my knee, nudging her closer. “We can start right now, princess. Making new memories. Let me show you how much I’ve recovered.”

I know that having sex with Sabine in a tiny, stiff hospital bed will hurt like hell, but fuck it. I can’t get her scent out of my nose. For days now, I’ve been lying here withnothing to do but imagine her warm little mouth on every part of my body that doesn’t ache.

Hell, even the ones that do.

To my delight, she doesn’t protest.My little wildcat wants me, too.She stands up and closes the curtain, hiding us from the nurses’ incessant glances, and then comes back and lays a finger across my lips.

“We’ll have to be quiet,” she whispers. “You can hear a feather land through those curtains.”

My response is to take her finger in my mouth, suck on it, then gently bite down on her knuckle.

Her eyelids flare as I hear the telltale rush of her blood thrumming through her veins.

I shove the sheet even lower to reveal the very convenient fact that I’m naked. My erection tents the sheet, straining against the thin fabric. Keeping my voice low, I order, “Pick up that pretty skirt of yours and sit on my cock.”

I crave her so badly that my bones ache. My skin tightens, tugging at the already sore scars, but the pain just further awakens my senses.

Sabine glances at the curtain again, but I grab her jaw to keep her attention on me. I lean forward—even though my body screams at me in protest—to make her forget about anything other than this kiss.

My lips claim hers with a scorching burn, and she presses hers back at me. Her hand comes up to thread through the back of my hair, nails raking against my scalp in a way that pulls a moan from deep in my throat.

She tastes like rosemary stew and violets and everything good in this world.

And I can’t fucking get enough.

I push forward to settle my mouth harder over hers,tasting and sampling, before biting down on her bottom lip. A sigh slides out from her lips as she skims her hands over my chest, careful to avoid the fresh scars. Her hips rock on the side of the bed, antsy.

Gods, I fucking love seeing her so eager.

“Straddle me,” I order. “Now.”

I shove the sheet back over my erect cock and grip her hips to guide her to take its place. She swings a leg over me carefully, fussing as she tries not to rock the bed too much as she climbs on.

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