Page 56 of Fate of Echoes and Embers
“I shouldn’t have come.”
Her hand on my arm as I took a step away was like an anchor, snagging me even as the tide attempted to pull me away.
“Marek.”
I should have walked away. But I didn’t.
The permission I needed was in the way she looked at me, more trusting than it should be after all the pain I caused her.
“Sereia,” I murmured, reaching for the back of her head, weaving my fingers into her hair. Groaning at the feel of her, at the look in her eyes that told me not to stop, I took the step that closed any remaining distance between us.
Pulling her toward me, I covered her mouth with mine. I drew her in, reminding her of the first kiss, parting her lips with my tongue. Hesitant, inexperienced, Issa touched her tongue to mine as she had the first time.
I pulled her head into me, giving no quarter and ensuring Issa would not want to pull away. I drew her in deeper, and deeper, the kiss a long time coming. When her other hand joined the first, now both tentatively lying on my arms, I gave into the kiss completely.
Pressing against her, our bodies touching at every point, I drank from the innocence she offered, Issa’s head tilting to give me better access. When she murmured, low in her throat, the shred of control I hung onto evaporated.
Though the gown she wore placed layers of material between us, its bodice begged to be explored. Slipping my hand from her hair, I moved it between us, edging upward until the embroidered threads ended and the curve of her breasts began. My thumb explored and dipped below the material, emboldened by her response.
“Issa,” I murmured, breaking our kiss, moving to her neck, surprised when she tossed her head back to allow me better access. It was the same as when she’d taken control of the ship. Issa did nothing in half-measures, and now unleashed, her passion was on full display.
I moved lower, and lower, kissing the top of each breast and moments away from tearing the gown from her body when her words from before came back to me.
I am a virgin.
Still, I lifted my head and looked into her eyes.
“Are you… When last we met, you were an innocent still.”
Her lips were swollen from our kiss. Her breath came quickly, Issa as caught up in the moment as me.
“I have saved myself, in case the need arose for me to be wed.”
It was the same answer she gave before.
“You would use your virginity as a bargaining chip?”
Her head rose. “If I must. To save Hawthorne. There are noblemen who?—”
I could not hear anymore. The thought of Issa being with one of those so-called nobles who hung onto the old ways made my stomach turn.
Issa is no man’s paramour.
“We cannot do this.”
As difficult as it was, I stood back. Dropped my hands and cursed the small bit of honor still remaining within me. “There is no turning back if we continue.”
“I may not have been with many men, but even I know there are ways to find pleasure while leaving my innocence intact.”
The thought of having my head buried between Issa’s legs, then watching her face as I brought her that pleasure, was nearly my undoing.
But then I thought of another man doing it. “You know this from experience?”
It was the wrong thing to say.
“You, of all people, would ask such a question?”
She was right, of course, but the thought of Issa being with another man sent a white-hot need to blast them into the depths of the sea coursing through my body.
