Iron Seas 03 - Riveted

defeated him, I was stronger.” He shook his head. “But it felt the opposite. I think the power must be in the choice, because when I realized I had none, I felt completely powerless—and if I ever have a choice, if our lives aren’t at risk, I won’t do it again. I can’t imagine what must be in men who kill when there is no threat.”
    Neither could Annika. “That sounds personal, too. Not scientific.”
    His brows drew together. “But it is, in its way. A man is dead. I’ve written the effect it had on me. Perhaps that will matter one day, too.”
    “So these journals are not just tales of scientific heroics. They are also the study of men.” She would love to know the conclusion. “What will happen to your expedition now?”
    “We’ll suspend the survey.” He tipped his head back against the steel hull, stared up at the ceiling. “We lost all of our supplies. So we’ll have to wait until we’ve reported what happened, return to New Leiden, and procure new equipment— if the Society decides to pay for it again. Depending on what happens here, they might not send another expedition to Iceland for a while.”
    So he’d leave. A steady burn of pain started in her chest. And she could never ask him to stay, because that work was too important.He fought to change the world for the better, to make it safer, to do good. He mattered.
    She glanced down, picked at a stray thread on the hem of her trouser. “What will happen to di Fiore?”
    “I don’t know. Because Goltzius was onboard, the Dutch will probably send men to retaliate, then keep a physical presence in Iceland to reestablish their claim on the island.” He sighed, lowered his head to meet her gaze again. “ Phatéon is gone. What will you do?”
    Try not to be miserable. Try to focus on the excitement of the new, instead of feeling alone again. “The Vashons will send for us. Then I’ll find work aboard another airship and continue looking for Källa.”
    “And after you find her, you’ll return home.”
    “Yes.” To Iceland, at least. Valdís might have been right; she might not be able to return home. And she didn’t want to live anywhere that David couldn’t go.
    He nodded, as if he hadn’t expected anything else. “Will you still write to me?”
    “Yes.” And hopefully meet with him. “I’d like to visit, too—whenever your expeditions allow it.”
    “Whenever you want.” His dark gaze held hers. “I also wrote that I kissed Annika Fridasdottor. I wanted the world to know. I would shout it now, but there is only you to hear it.”
    She smiled, her heart tripping over the ache. “Would you like to do it again?”
    “I wouldn’t like anything more.”
    “Well, I would like to do more than kissing.”
    “God, yes. I would, too.”
    He hurriedly put the journal aside, capped the ink. Remembering the delicious sensation of straddling him, Annika slid over his muscled thighs, her face even with his. With a soft groan, he reached for the lamp.
    “Leave it on,” she said, and pressed her mouth to his jaw.
    He pulled away—not far, tilting his head back against the hull. His voice was rough. “You don’t want to see me while we do this.”
    She frowned. Perhaps he had reason to assume that was true, some experience that told him it was, but it wasn’t. “You’re wrong. I do.”
    He was a man of science. She’d figure out a way to prove it, if she had to.
    His chest rose on a shuddering breath. “I don’t want you to remember me like this.”
    Well, then. There was nothing to prove. She capped the flame.
    So dark. She wanted to see his expression when she kissed her way across the width of his mouth, but Annika didn’t need it to tell her what he felt. The stillness of his chest said the same breathless anticipation held him in its grip. By the tightening of his hand on her hip, she knew he kept the same desire barely reined in. She coaxed open his lips for a long, slow taste.
    Oh, this need. It twisted in her gut, painful, wonderful. Hungry. She buried her hands in his hair, pulling him closer. Wanting him all.
    With a soft growl, he pushed her over, laying her back on the blankets. Still kissing her, his hands braced beside her—his hips between her legs. Oh, yes . Her hands fell away from his shoulders to the pallet. She arched up beneath him, moaning into his mouth at the sudden, delicious pressure against her heated flesh. His erection rose behind the confines of his trousers, thick and hard.
    All for