Page 38 of Kiss of Steel

Her smile lit up her entire face, causing her eyes to glow with such happiness it warmed him from the inside out.Yes, I think this must be love.

“When you figure it out, I’ll meet you there,” she said. “Because I am falling in love with you.”

He nodded. “It is like falling.”He felt like he was about to leap off a cliff without a clue of what lay at the bottom. But he ran toward it with abandon.

“Maybe we should finish our dinner and head to the cabin?” Her seductive tone and suggestive expression sent the heat coursing through him. His cock reacted to the unmistakable invitation.

He scooped up a large mouthful of the daily fare and wolfed it down.

She giggled, and, more sedately, dug into her meal.

“I have an idea,” she said when they finished the main course. “Let’s eat dessert at home.” She flagged down an android. “We wish to take our dessert course to go. Can you wrap it up for us?” She handed their dessert plates to the robot.

“I am able to do that. Separate boxes for each dessert or all in one?”

“All in one is fine.”

It scurried away, returning in a few minutes with a white box.

Honoria took their dessert, and they stood up and left the mess hall. Night had fallen hard, ushering in frigid temps and near-blackness.

“I’ll carry that.” Steel took the box so she could put her hand in her coat pocket to stay warm then, as was their routine, he clasped her other hand and slipped it into his pocket. Desire burned so hot, the cold scarcely registered. What did strike him was the slenderness of her fingers, the gentle scent wafting off her, the tactile awareness of her presence, and the portent hovering over them.

“This is getting to be our thing—holding hands after dinner.” She bumped his shoulder as they strolled across the quad. “I like that we have a thing. That we’ve grown comfortable enough with each other.”

Comfortable? His rock-hard cock hurt. But he knew what she meant. He squeezed her hand.

They slipped through the passage into their neighborhood. Warm, inviting homey light glowed from the units. Through uncovered windows, he spied people interacting with one another.I’m one of them now. I have a home.I have people.Only one person, but she was all he needed.

“I like that we have a thing, too.” Feeling lighthearted, he quipped, “I have anotherthingfor you when we get to the cabin.”

“I can’t wait.”

He wasn’t aware he’d picked up the pace until she giggled. “Eager much?”

“Much,” he admitted.

“Then why are we dawdling? Let’s go.”

Still holding hands, laughing, they jogged to their cabin. He stowed the dessert box in the fridge while Honoria stoked the stove. Then she turned toward him, her face alight with humor and a come-hither smile. He was hardened steel, but she was the powerful, irresistible magnet.

He stalked toward her. Clasping her face in his hands, he covered her lips, expressing his emotions in a desperate kiss of longing. Then, unable to delay another second, he swept her up into his arms and strode to the bedroom.

* * * *

Her husband acted like a man possessed. He stripped away her clothes and tore off his own. Naked flesh met naked flesh as he seared her mouth with a burning kiss before he tumbled them onto the bed.

Already aroused, hot lust kindled in her belly and pooled between her thighs. Never had a man ever wanted her so much. The cold, reserved stranger of first acquaintance and the brooding silent man of the past couple of days had vanished, replaced by a loving, lustful husband hot for his wife. She’d be lying to herself if she denied curiosity about his secret, but one did not achieve a fresh start by dragging along excess baggage. Maybe he would one day share his story, and she’d listen. Or maybe he never would. For the sake of their marriage, she would have to accept either one. Fresh starts were about letting go. You couldn’t move forward if you clung to the past.

He didn’t caress her as much as he possessed her body, kissing her hard and fierce, cupping and squeezing her breasts and drawing on the nipples, greedily seeking out the private recesses between her legs to bring her to a shuddering orgasm before starting all over again.

She tried to bring him pleasure, but he resisted her efforts to fondle his cock, twisting away to bury his face in her pussy and lick her to another climax. She was still shuddering with the residual effects when he pushed into her and thrust deep, deliberate, and slow, the swivel of his hips catching her clit, ratcheting up a delicious tension. And when he began to pound into her, she lost it, snapping like a rubber band shot into the sky. Riding on a wave of bliss, she clung to him. He was her rock, her anchor, and, no matter how high she soared, she would always come home to him.

She had found her heart, and it centered on him.

The muscles in his face grew taut, and he squeezed his eyes shut. A slight sheen of perspiration beaded along his hairline. As he came, he threw his head back and let out a fierce growl.

He continued to pump until his tumescence eased, but still didn’t disengage. Bodies joined, he rubbed his cheek against her face. Steamy breath, coming faster than usual, warmed her ears. Against her breasts, his heart raced. Her calm, uber-fit husband who never broke a sweat, had. Over her. She smiled and hugged his back.

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