Heart of Iron

Time to get out of here. Before people started pointing fingers.



Blade helped Honoria into their own carriage. There was barely room for two more and Will wanted to be alone with Lena for a moment. He hadn’t had a single chance since the explosion, and the urge to drag her into his arms, to make sure she was all right, was driving him out of his mind.



Giving swift instructions to the driver, he eased into the carriage and shut the door. It lurched into motion, cutting out of the queue and into the streets. Will jerked the blind closed.



Lena blinked, finally coming out of her reverie. “You do realize this is Leo’s carriage?”



“The walk’ll do him good,” he replied, pushing aside her skirts and easing onto the seat beside her. “Lena.” A hesitation. “Are you all right?”



She smiled, but he caught her hand. “No,” he said. “Don’t give me that smile. I know you’re upset.” Stroking her dirty gloves, he reminded her, “I can smell it.”



Her gaze dropped, her shoulders slumping. “He’s finally gone.”



“Who?”



“Colchester.” Bright tears shone in her eyes. “I feel so overwrought, Will. I’ve been watching over my shoulder for months, knowing that he’d be there, knowing that even if I was in company I was never safe. When he looked at you and smiled today, it frightened me so much. I thought he was going to do something to you. But it was the explosion. He knew about it. I don’t know how. At first I thought he was my contact in the tower, but now I don’t think so. He was disgusted when he realized Rosalind was a humanist.” She tugged one of her hands from his and wiped her eyes. “I’m glad he’s dead,” she said fiercely. “But I can’t stop shaking. I can’t believe we’re both safe. That you’re safe.” Her fist tangled in his shirt. “I nearly lost you…”



Dragging her into his lap, he buried her face against his shoulder. He hated seeing her cry. “He can’t ever hurt you again.”



“I know,” she whispered. Her hands slid over his shoulders, frantic with need. “Touch me, Will. Remind me that you’re here. That you’re mine.”



“Always, mo cridhe,” he whispered, finding her mouth in the shadows.



Lena kissed him as if she’d never let him go, her mouth hungry and her hands insatiable. Will gathered bunches of her skirts and dragged them out of the way, settling her on his lap. His cock raged behind the flap of his breeches and he ground her against him, tongue clashing with hers. This was heady. This was life. Every hot, sweaty, gasping moment of it.



He bit her throat, tugging on the drawstrings of her drawers. Lena gasped, rocking against his fingers, urging him on.



“Hurry,” she whispered.



He dragged them down, but she was straddling him and the material bunched around her thighs. Snarling in frustration, he tore them in two, sinking his fingers into the fleshy curve of her arse.



“God,” he groaned. “Have to…taste you.”



Tumbling her back onto the seat, he knelt between her thighs. Thick dark hair tumbled over her shoulders and she gasped as he dragged her hips to the edge of the seat, tossing her legs over each of his shoulders. Shoving her skirts up, he cupped her arse and plunged his tongue deep into her quim.



Lena’s cry was music to his ears. He wanted to drive away her tears, to claim her as his woman once again. Tasting her, sucking and nibbling at her, he listened to the breathy sounds of her gasps and felt the tension tightening in her body. He wanted to learn every inch of her, to teach himself how to please her best.



Nails raked his shoulders. “Stop!” she gasped. “I want to—”



He tongued her deep, suckling the wet pearl of her clitoris between his teeth. “Want to what?”



Lena shuddered, her knees clamping around his head. Panting with need, she dragged her gaze to his. “I want you,” she whispered. “Inside me.”



“In a minute.”



“Now.”



It was the determination in her voice that undid him. He tugged his breeches open and freed his cock, palming it in his hand. Shoving up, he filled her with a single thrust, dragging her closer to the edge of the seat.



So tight. So wet. So hot.



Lena cried out, her thighs clamping around his hips. Clinging to his neck, she dragged his face to hers for a devouring, hungry kiss, no doubt tasting the muskiness of her own body. Will’s hips moved of their own accord, plunging into her, his entire body shaking with need. God, she felt so sweet. He wanted to fuck her hard, to drive her down onto the cushions of the carriage and fill her with his cock.



Little urgent gasps broke between them. Lena’s body undulated against his, driving him wild with need. He held her against him, grinding the base of his shaft against her. Shudders racked her body, and her inner muscles tightened around him. She liked that, liked what he was doing to her. He could feel the edge of something building within her, feel it in the sudden gasping inattention she gave their kiss. See it in her widening eyes as she cried out silently, her body jerking around his.



A little fist tightened in his chest. His woman. His. Nobody could take her away from him now and he couldn’t hurt her. She could be his forever. Hope swelled in his chest as he ground his teeth together and shuddered. So close. He rode her through the storm, giving himself up to the sensation that streaked through him.



Lena wilted backward, dragging him with her. Will kissed her lips, earning a halfhearted response as his body slid from hers. She made a wordless protest, but he tucked his cock back in his breeches and dragged her into his lap.



His breathing slowed, his heart thundering through his chest. Will buried his face in the warm mahogany lengths of her hair and breathed in the scent of her.



Lena tucked her face against his throat, curling up in his lap. She stroked his chest, splaying her hand over his heart then held it still, as if listening to the beat of it. “What happens now?”



“Now?”



A slight hesitation. “With the treaty?”



He could barely think, his eyelids threatening to shut. But she hadn’t been paying attention to anything that had happened since they scrambled out of the cellar. “Blade said they’re gonna reschedule it. If the explosion hadn’t torn apart half of the blue bloods too, it mighta been a different story. The verwulfen might’ve blamed the Echelon and likewise. Barrons wants to get to the bottom of it.”



“He’ll like that,” she murmured. “He likes puzzles.”



“Are you goin’ to tell him?”



“Tell him what?”



“About Rosalind?”



Lena thought about it. “No, I don’t think so.”



“You don’t owe her nothin’,” he growled. “They’ll cause trouble, you mark me words.”



“I can understand how she feels,” she replied. “Helpless. Fighting for a lost cause. I won’t betray her, Will. Not unless she makes a move against anyone I love.”



He stroked a hand over the silk corseted boning covering her back. Her innate sense of loyalty was one of the things he liked most about her. “She makes one wrong move and I’m straight to Leo.”



“Thank you.” Lena’s finger tangled in his shirt collar. She lifted her tearstained face, bright eyes burning with unsaid emotion. “Will…are you angry?”



“Angry? About what?”



“About the trick Astrid and I played? About demanding you as ambassador in exchange for the Norwegians’ allegiance.”



He thought about it. “It’s not somethin’ I would have wanted for meself.” Sensing the tension in her small frame, he hurried on. “But I’m the only one as can. The thought of change scares me, Lena. I hate the Echelon, hate dealin’ with ’em. I were happy bein’ Blade’s second-in-command, because it meant I never had to leave me safe, little world.” He took a deep breath. “You were right. About lettin’ ’em make me what I were. Whitechapel were just another little cage that I were allowin’ meself to be put into. Can’t say I’m thrilled ’bout it, but maybe I need this.” He squeezed her tight. “I know I need you.”



“You’re not mad?” She traced her fingers over his lips.



Will shook his head. “Life were gonna change anyway.”



“Oh?”



“You,” he admitted. “I couldn’t expect you to live with me in that little hovel.”



A shy smile touched her lips. “Staying there with you were some of the happiest moments of my life.”



The fist in his chest grew tighter. “Me too,” he admitted gruffly. Capturing her face, he dragged it to his, forehead to forehead. “You’re everythin’ to me.”



Playing with his collar, she gave him a saucy little smile. “Are you trying to tell me something?”



“Tell you what?”



“How much you adore me?”



Will kissed her cheek. Maybe.



“How much…you care for me.” Another slightly flirtatious look at him. Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she stroked the rough stubble of his jaw. Then they sobered. She opened her mouth, but he sealed it with a kiss. A way to tell her the answers to the questions she was asking without saying them.



She was breathless by the time he drew back. But not silenced. “How much you love me?” The whisper was a challenge.



He didn’t know why she needed to hear the words, when he’d been damned certain he’d shown her exactly how he felt. This was some unknown neediness he hadn’t expected to find in her, she with her confident ways.



Will kissed her lips lightly, chasing away the questioning tone. “You know I love you,” he said. Her body quivered against his, but he pressed a finger to her lips, stalling her. “I would die for you,” he told her. “I’d kill for you. I faced down mechanical squid, rampagin’ humanists, and lessons in etiquette for you. I danced at a ball for you.”



The smile on her face warmed his heart. Radiance shone from the center of her being. He didn’t care what he had to say to keep that look on her face.



“I love you,” he told her sternly. “I always will. You’re the only woman I’ve ever seen. The only woman I ever wanted. I know I ain’t much of a catch—”



This time it was her turn to put her finger to his lips. “Don’t you dare.” Heat flared in her beautiful amber-ringed eyes. “I’m the luckiest woman in London. In the world.”



“Aye, mebbe.” He slid his arms around her waist. “Are you tryin’ to tell me somewhat?”



She laughed. “Look at you, fishing for compliments.”



“Not compliments,” he warned.



Lena kissed him, cupping his face in her hands. “I love you too,” she said quietly. “Oh, Will. I think I’ve been half in love with you for years.”



“It just took me a while to notice.”



“How could you not? I gave up the Echelon for you. I faced randy dukes, clockwork bombs, and verwulfen clans. I ruined three sets of gloves.”



“Three?” He smiled. “I’ll have to replace ’em.”



“Yes, you will,” she warned. “I won’t be showing off my wrists in public ever again.”



Possession curled through him. His arms tightened. “No, you won’t be. Only I get to see your wrists. Among other things.”



Drawing back, Lena toyed with the ribbons of her bodice. “Speaking of… We don’t appear to be moving very far with this traffic. I don’t suppose that you’ll be willing to entertain me…?”



“Entertain?” he drawled, heat sliding through his groin. “Is that what they’re callin’ it now?”



“Indeed.” She tugged the ribbons open. “I believe there are some areas of my education that are lacking. I’ll teach you how to belong in this world as long as you teach me something else…how to please you.”



The faint swell of her breasts curved over the top of her corset. Will’s mouth went dry.



“Trust me, luv,” he said, sitting up to help her undress. “You know how to please me.”



Epilogue



“What the hell happened here?”



The prince consort strode in through the double doors. Cold fury tightened his features and a handful of Coldrush Guards swarmed through the room, ensuring it was safe for him and destroying half of Sir Jasper Lynch’s evidence.



Lynch exchanged a telling glance with Barrons. “Don’t move,” he warned one of the guards. The man froze and Lynch pointed to the bloody footprint he’d been about to step in. “Ruin that and I can’t track the owner.” He straightened, meeting the prince consort’s hard gaze. “Your Grace. It appears the Duke of Lannister has been murdered.”