Page 69 of The Iron Hex

“Or do you want to know if we ever did... more than that?”

“That too,” Eira answered, a shiver running down her spine at the mere thought of it.

Hugo placed his calloused palm on her cheek and tilted her chin higher. “No,” he said. “We never did—but it’s all I thought about every single day.”

Eira sucked in a ragged breath; she was one moment away from her legs turning to jelly. She could think of nothing but the heat between her legs, the increasing hardness of Hugo pressed against her, and the desperate need to touch him.

“Why didn’t you do something about it?” she managed to get out.

“You were a viscountess,” Hugo said as if her title explained it all, voice ragged as his hand moved to her waist. “And I was a guard that came from less than nothing... it wasn’t my place, you were my job.”

Hugo brushed his thumb over Eira’s lips, a ferocious hunger in his gaze.

“And what about now? Am I a job... or are we equals?” Eira breathed, her heart racing.

He growled quietly, so low Eira wouldn’t have been able to hear it if she hadn’t been close enough to him to feel the outline of everything on his body.

“You tell me,” Hugo said, hand gripping her soft thigh.

Eira couldn’t think, didn’t want to answer. She justwanted.

“Equals,” she whispered.

“So, as equals, is that what you want?” he said, gripping her skirts and gathering the fabric in one hand, baring her skin to the chill air of the hallway. “For me to do something about this?”

Is that what she wanted? Her mind raced; it was all she could think about. For weeks now she’d been watching Hugo’s every move, wondering if he thought of her the same way she thought of him. “Yes,” she said, closing the gap and pressing her lips to his before she had a chance to think twice.

It took only a breath for Hugo to surge forward. His tongue parted her lips to deepen the kiss as he picked her up, pressing her against the wall as she straddled his hips.

“This is a bit public, though,” she panted, breaking off the kiss and willing him to understand that she wanted to be in his room. Now.

His eyes sparkled and he looked a little dazed as he turned around, still carrying her, and kicked open his door across the hall. Smart man.

How Hugo was carrying her ample curves with basically one arm simultaneously impressed Eira and made her wonder just how strong he was. He laid her on the bed gently, the handwoven blanket underneath her soft and warm as Hugo loomed over her, his chest heaving.

“Are you sure about this?” Hugo asked. “I don’t want to do anything you feel pressured into.”

Eira laughed at the notion that she’d have even gone to see him tonight if she hadn’t wanted him. She leaned up to kiss him gently as she unlaced the top of his shirt. “I’ve been thinking about this for a little while.”

“Not as long as I have,” he responded.

“Don’t be so sure about that—” Eira chuckled, and Hugo interrupted her with a hard kiss before untying her bodice frantically, his hands sliding her blouse over her head the moment the bodice was loose enough.

Eira peeled off Hugo’s shirt, his chest exposed and, this time, she could appreciate it instead of focusing on saving his life. He was visibly strong, and she trailed her fingers down his hard muscles to play with the waistband of his pants. Lower still, and she could see the large bulge straining against the fabric, waiting to be freed. What shocked her, though, were the scars. He had dozens across his body, some silvered and old but some pink and new, the freshest his shoulder where Saoirse had tried to kill him.

“You’re beautiful,” he growled as he stroked her body, lifting her skirts and reaching for the desperate heat between her legs, his large hands spreading her thick, soft thighs as he looked down at her hungrily. His fingers caressed her, slow circles becoming frantic. Eira’s hips bucked toward his hand and he growled and unbuttoned her skirt, pulling it off and gripping her hips.

“You’re so unbelievably soft,” he said as he grabbed the soft pouch of her stomach and moved down her body languidly.

“And your shape... is so unbelievably sexy. I need to taste you,” he said breathily before his mouth touched her, and her senses exploded. Eira wasn’t entirely sure how a commander of the Iron Empire managed to get enough experience to know precisely where to put his mouth, but Hugo was clearly a master at the craft. She laced her fingers through his hair as he worked, bringing her closer and closer to release, teasing her to the edge that she was running toward.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered, feeling the edge of the cliff ahead of her. Hugo kept going, persistent and soft, and it kicked her over the edge, her body reeling from the climax.

Within a moment, Hugo’s lips were on hers, wet and soft and hard all at once as she panted through her orgasm.

“You taste so fucking good,” he whispered. “I’ll stop now if you want, but I—” He was hard and pressed against her, teasing her as he waited for her to approve, to open up to him.

“Please,” she said, wanting him inside of her.