Page 99 of The Iron Dagger
Gideon stared at her, hardly believing that someone so perfect would let him have her.
He positioned himself behind her, but before he slid inside, he ran his fingertips along her thighs and slowly dipped them under the edges of her stockings. He heard her breath catch, and he gripped the soft flesh under his hands, massaging her thighs before pulling them farther apart.
She had the most gorgeous cunny he had ever laid eyes on. Her lips were so shiny and enticing that he bent down to kiss her there without thinking. She gave a soft cry, and he gripped her by the cuffs of her stockings, keeping her spread and steady for his mouth. She was so wonderfully wet and soft against his tongue, filling his mouth and his nose and his hands until all he could sense was Hara. He licked at her slowly, gently, savoring her for as long as she would let him before she grew impatient.
When he felt her knees begin to shake, he finally sucked on the sweet spot she liked best, and she would have collapsed if he hadn’t had a firm hold on her stockings. When her moans diminished, he gave one last kiss to her inner thigh, then fitted his cock to push through her swollen lips. She raised her hips higher, sinking back to take him in, and he moved his hands to grab hold of her hips.
“Sorry, darling,” he said as he began to thrust. “I couldn’t resist seeing you spread like that and not having a taste.”
“Gideon,” she moaned, rocking back to meet him. She squeezed him again, and soon he no longer cared about finesse and patience. He plunged harder, all sense of grace or endurance leaving his mind as his body took what it wanted from her. He chased the little sounds she made, grasping and pounding, almost lifting her knees from the ground with each stroke. Fiery pleasure danced and tingled and spread with each hard movement. The only thing in his mind was the heady scent and taste of her lingering on his lips and the heat of her on hiscock. Then he slowed into deep, gentled movements, his back stiffening with pleasure as he arched into her, filling her, filling her. She took him deeply, tightening around him in rhythmic squeezes.
Finally, he pulled out and slumped over her back, and they collapsed slowly on the ground together. They said nothing, just listened to the rumbling thunder and the whoosh of the rain outside, watching the shadows the lamplight made. Gideon found a blanket trapped under them, and he gently pulled it so that they were bundled up together underneath.
“Hara,” he whispered, hoping she would be able to hear him over the storm. She opened her eyes, and he was glad to see the anger had gone, however much he deserved it.
But it had been real and consuming, and he could not brush it aside. He drew a deep breath.
“I’m sorry.”
Her brows furrowed. “For what?”
He almost laughed aloud. For being indirectly responsible for years of bloodshed. For perpetuating corruption with lawmen. For doing nothing in the face of the countless injustices he had witnessed in the mines and factories. For benefitting from them. For abducting her friend. For treating her with such disrespect.
“Ever since we first met, I knew I would hurt you eventually,” he murmured, almost hoping she wouldn’t hear him over the patters of rain and wind.
“You angered me, and you made mistakes, but you didn’t hurt me, Gideon. Why would you think that?”
He turned onto his back and exhaled, but the discomfort wouldn’t leave his chest. Atonement didn’t give the relief he’d been hoping for.
“Because I hurt people. It’s what I’m good at. Whether by my hand or on my father’s behalf,” A sharp ache grew in histhroat, making it difficult to speak. His voice cracked slightly as he asked, “Do you think me evil?”
After a pause that seemed to last an eternity, he felt her as she slowly shook her head. “Maybe once, you were. Or at least, you worked toward evil aims. But you are different now.”
He swallowed against the knife in his throat. “That is your doing, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
He reached for her hand and intertwined their fingers.
“Under your touch, I transformed,” he said. “Your alchemy is multifaceted.”
He turned to her in time to see the slight quiver of her lip as she smiled. She was so beautiful, it made him hurt. He gently brushed a finger over her cheek and across her lips.
“I love you, Hara,” he whispered.
Warmth made her eyes shine brightly, and then he saw that tears were gathering in the corners. As they slipped free, she whispered, “I love you, too.”
EIGHTEEN
Angharad
The grasses bloomed verdant green and rippled on the steep hillsides, and flowers buzzed with insects as Hara and Gideon made their way up the mountain. The swollen streams burbled musically, and even the snowy white peaks in the distance seemed warm.
Hara began to notice strange things along the riverbank they followed.
Animals seemed to be completely fearless at their approach, with stoats, birds, and deer not giving so much as a flinch as they passed. Hara thought that if she went to a deer and began to pat it, the creature would barely notice or care. There were other things, too, like wild plants Hara would not expect in the high reaches of the mountains. Thickly clustered gardenias, orchids, and all manner of delicate and fussy plants that would only thrive in a hothouse were abundant.
“This stream must be runoff from the glacier, feeding into the Morais,” said Gideon as they passed another herd of deer that did not move a muscle at their approach. “I half expect to see a unicorn on our journey up the mountain.”
