Iron Seas 03 - Riveted

in them, he describes motion. We already knew many aspects of it—the properties of inertia, the relationship between force and acceleration—but not using the same mathematics, and none of the rules had been unified in the same way before, interrelated in the same way. And thenthere were his theories of gravity, which didn’t overturn Hooke’s laws, but refined them, deepened them. One journal absolutely changed how we see so many things, yet now they seem so obvious. Many physicists are still reeling.”
    Annika pushed up on her elbow as he spoke, her brown eyes widening with wonder. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I like the way you speak of it. That seems incredible.”
    She was incredible. “You did the same to me. You completely turned the world about. It is like paddling along in a canoe and suddenly being capsized—except that as soon as the boat upends, you realize that you’d been paddling along upside down and never realized it because you could breathe and see. And until you take a real breath of air, see what everything looks like without the water distorting the view, you believe that the upside-down world is the way things are. But you tipped me over.”
    Tears glittered in her eyes. “You truly wrote that?”
    “Yes.” And that he’d fallen in love with her—but it was already so much deeper now. “Don’t cry.”
    “I can’t help it. That’s the most wonderful thing anyone has said to me.”
    “We are even, then. You’re the most wonderful thing that has happened to me.” His breath stopped when she lowered her head, softly kissed him. David held her, savoring every moment, and when she pillowed her cheek on his shoulder again, said roughly, “We will make it off this glacier—and make certain that you can go home again.”

Chapter Twelve
    Annika woke alone, missing David’s warmth. She pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders, sneaked an arm out to light the lamp.
    His coat was still draped atop their trunk, so he must not have gone far. Good. Her world had turned upside down, too, though not in such a marvelous way. But with David here, nothing seemed too terrible to bear.
    Did that mean she loved him?
    It seemed that her feelings for him must be love. Not just need and want, and his wonderful ability to ease them. When she thought of never seeing him, of losing him…that pain wasn’t at all like rivets, but a sword ripping through her gut.
    He’d said that he’d make certain she’d reach home again. Annika wasn’t sure where that was anymore.
    Footsteps from the snow tunnel drew her gaze to the chamber entrance. David ducked through, his hair wet, his damp shirt clinging to his shoulders. His gaze found hers. His mouth widened into a grin. “I can’t let you smell better than I do.”
    Sudden need twisted deep. He bent for his pack and Annika stifled a small moan, watching him. Her gaze slipped over his broad back—so much strength. She wanted to clench her fingers on his shoulders, bite him there. And his hard chest, the tiny nubs of his nipples that she felt through his shirt. She wanted to lick him there. Then his ass, oh, she’d take such a firm grip. He was all muscle beneath those horrid trousers.
    She sat up. Cool air slipped through her chemise, teased her tightening nipples. “When we are away from here,” she said, “I will make you a new pair of trousers.”
    “Why?” His head lifted. His voice roughened. “Annika.”
    No need to ask what he’d seen in her expression. She was starving—and too busy staring at his ass to glance up. “I must tell you something. It might alarm you.”
    “Alarm me?”
    He straightened—already aroused. A bulge formed behind the front of his trousers. Oh, she had not even seen his erection yet. Only felt his thick shaft in her hands, tasted him. Panting now, remembering, she licked her lips.
    “There’s nothing I enjoy more than being with you. You’re an incredible friend, an amazing man. I love the way you talk, what you say—all of it. And when you touch me, it feels as if there’s nothing else in the world but us.” She managed to lift her gaze a little. His damp shirt clung to his stomach. There was muscle there, too, to explore with her hands, her mouth. “But right now, I am looking at you, and I think nothing of how much I love being with you. I think nothing of love at all. I only think that I want you on this bed, to claim every inch of your body for mine, take you deep