Iron Seas 03 - Riveted

hatch, she picked up a spanner. None of the mangy curs had been in sight for the past hour or so, but she hoped the dogs didn’t surprise her with an attack while her ass was bare. She hurried through the necessary, used snow melted against the troll’s belly to wash. Covered again, she lingered for a few more seconds, looking up.
    David joined her. Though the sky was clear, no lights danced across the heavens tonight. She studied the man beside her, instead—the strong line of his jaw, the slight bump in his throat that so many men seemed to have, and that became more apparent when they tilted their heads back. Was their throat more sensitive than a woman’s? She would kiss him there, and find out…though not now. The top of her head only reached his chin; she’d have to leap up to put her mouth on that spot. He was so very tall. Never had she been more aware of the breadth of him, his height.
    He glanced down at her, and she saw the change in him as his gaze slowly fell to her mouth. He hadn’t been thinking of licking her when they’d stopped, but he was now.
    “Do you want to go in?” His voice had deepened. Her belly suddenly seemed to hollow, then fill with heated anticipation.
    “Yes.”
    Heart pounding, she climbed through the hatch. David followed, caught her against him, his hard chest against her back, his arm around her waist. With his long body pressing against hers, he slowly unbuckled her coat, unwrapped her scarf.
    His lips found the side of her neck. “This has become my favorite spot while you drive.”
    Hers, too. With a soft moan, Annika’s head fell back against his shoulder. David nipped at her exposed throat. Need rushed through her, sensitizing her skin, bringing every touch into sharp awareness. His strong body behind her, the rigid length against her back. His arm at her waist, and his other hand sliding up her side beneath her chemise.
    His large palm cupped her breast, his thumb sweeping over the hardened peak. Her knees went weak, her nipples achingly tight. His mouth opened over the skin below her ear. Light suction joined the gentle tease of his fingers, a line of fire that raced from his mouth to her breast. How could he do this so easily? And yet she still wanted, needed, so much more.
    Panting, Annika arched into his hand. “David—”
    “I know. God, I need to taste you.”
    She tried to turn and find his mouth but he lifted her, instead—carrying her not to the mattress, but toward the troll’s head.
    “Tell me if you don’t want this.” His voice was rough as he set her feet onto the third ladder rung, halfway up to the driver’s chamber. “I’ve thought of nothing else this entire way.”
    “Thought of what?”
    “I watched you climb in earlier. You have the most incredible bottom.”
    He pressed gently against her back, as if urging her to bend over. Oh. Realization struck, followed a wicked stab of need. Suddenly trembling, she leaned forward, gripping the back of the driver’s seat. Though she could only see the driver’s chamber, Annika could too easily imagine the picture she made, bending over the top of the ladder, her backside at a height with his mouth. She wore trousers now, but soon she wouldn’t. This might be improper even by Hannasvik’s standards.
    She didn’t care. David’s groan echoed through the hearth chamber, as if the sight of her tested his control. Strong hands smoothed down over her wool-covered bottom, his thumbs sliding closer together as they delved lightly into the crevice between her thighs. Annika shook, her fingers clamping on the seat.
    He paused. “All right?”
    “Yes.”
    So very much all right.
    His left hand found the buckle at her waist. Breathless, Annika stared blindly into the forest of pistons and levers. She would never see them again without remembering the tug against her side when her trousers loosened. Without remembering his fingers hooking beneath wool and linen, the gentle rasp of steel and the graze of his nails against her skin as he slowly drew them down to her knees. Without remembering the warm air of the hearth chamber slipping over her bared cheeks, and his humid breath.
    Firm lips pressed to the sensitive crease at the top of her thigh. Annika groaned and closed her eyes, waiting in a torment of anticipation and need.
    His hands gripped her hips, adjusted her angle. His tongue swathed a sudden path up her inner thigh. Annika cried out, her body clenching, an unbearable ache filling her