52. Clash of Stone and Steel #3
She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind.
She needed to get some sleep and stop thinking about the huge man nestled up next to her.
The man whose warmth radiated off him. The man whose large hands were capable of great violence to his enemies, but whose hands could also touch her with such gentleness…
Talyn didn’t remember finally falling asleep, but she awoke the next morning enveloped in Samhail’s scent and the feel of his body still wrapped around hers. She wasn’t surprised to see his chest inches from her face when her eyes fluttered open.
She rarely spent the night when she fucked someone, and the times she did, she always insisted on leaving a comfortable gap in bed between herself and them. That she gravitated toward Samhail during sleep was wholly unlike her. It must be his warmth.
Talyn sighed. Regardless of the reason, she had to admit she enjoyed waking up with him like this. It was one of the peculiarities that made this thing between them all the more confusing. And concerning.
“Still trying to figure out how to get back to your side of the bed without waking me?” Samhail asked.
Talyn smiled. “No, just wishing we could stay like this the rest of the day, forget about Sandrian and Rowe, and just…” She trailed off, not sure exactly what else she wanted other than to remain in Samhail’s arms like this until thirst, hunger, or something else forced her from them.
“If you enjoy this so much, why don’t you…want to want me, as you put it?” Samhail asked. “You said wanting me complicates things. What did you mean?”
“Do we have to talk about this now?” she asked as she rested her head against his chest.
“Yes.”
She sighed again. “Fine. I don’t want to want you because the more we do this, the harder it’s going to be to give you up later when we go our separate ways. Assuming Lord Bressen lets me leave at all. I do want you, but I can’t keep you, so it’s better if we don’t get used to this.”
Samhail was still, and Talyn could almost sense his raised eyebrows.
“There are two flaws in your reasoning,” he said finally.
“Oh? And they are?”
“First, you’re assuming we have to go our separate ways. We don’t.”
“We don’t?”
“No. You travel for work. I travel for work. There’s no reason we can’t travel together. I can help you with your jobs, and you can help me with mine.”
She lifted her head. “Are you suggesting we become partners?”
Samhail shrugged. “Is there a reason we shouldn’t?”
There was. Talyn had kept her anonymity because no one knew what she looked like or where she’d strike next.
She could slip in and out of cities and towns without being noticed, but Samhail drew attention wherever he went.
He was always noticed. If someone figured out that The Raptor always struck when he was in town, he’d either be blamed for her kills, or the local authorities would start taking a closer look at who he traveled with.
Either way, working together put both of them in danger.
It was on the tip of Talyn’s tongue to tell him all this, but he’d only argue with her, so she kept silent. There’d be time enough later to poke holes in his plan and convince him it wouldn’t work.
“And the second flaw in my reasoning?” she asked.
“You said you can’t keep me, that you’ll eventually need to let me go. You’re assuming that I plan to let you go. You may not be planning to keep me, but I’m definitely planning to keep you.”
A kaleidoscope of butterflies took flight in Talyn’s stomach, and she tried to tamp down the inexplicable happiness his words elicited.
“It’s not possible,” she forced herself to say.
“Why not?”
“It…just isn’t. Think about what you’re suggesting.”
“I have, and I very much like the idea of keeping you.”
She sat up and met his eyes. “For how long? Do you just envision us going around killing people and fighting monsters during the day and then fucking each other silly at night until one or both of us gets tired of the other and we go our separate ways?”
“I wouldn’t have put it that way, but I suppose that was more or less my thinking,” Samhail said. “If it helps, I have no plans to ever get tired of you. And I also plan to fuck you during the day,” he added.
She huffed a laugh. “As comforting as that is, you must see how ridiculous it sounds.”
He shrugged. “Maybe, but it sounds less ridiculous than simply letting you walk away from me when all this is over. Not when I can barely think of anything else besides kissing you, or tasting you, or being inside you.”
Talyn’s breath caught in her throat.
“I don’t know what will happen between us a month from now or a year from now,” he went on.
“I just know I’m not ready to give you up yet, so I won’t.
I don’t usually make long-term plans, and I don’t intend to start now.
If the time comes for us to part ways, then that’s something we’ll deal with when we need to. ”
“You’re absolutely mad,” she said, her eyes searching his for any signs he was kidding. There were none.
He shrugged again. “I’ve been accused of worse.”
Samhail reached up and brushed a strand of Talyn’s hair away from her face, then trailed his fingers down her cheek. The unexpected tenderness of the gesture caught her off-guard and cut short any other response she’d thought to make.
“We should probably get up and get ready,” she said instead.
Samhail grimaced. “There’s just one problem with that.”
She suspected she knew what the problem was, but she asked anyway. “And what’s the problem?”
He took her hand and brought it down under the covers between his legs to rest it on the hard, swollen length of his cock. “That.”
“Hmmm,” she said wrapping her hand around his shaft, making him groan. “That’s a big problem indeed.”
She stroked her hand up over his crown, and Samhail closed his eyes, exhaling deeply. “Fuck,” he murmured under his breath as she did it again.
“So what can I do to help with this big problem of yours?” she asked.
Samhail opened his eyes to look at her from under lids heavy with desire. His lips turned up in a wicked grin, and his hand moved between her legs to press against her thighs.
“Just let me between your legs,” he said. “I’ll take care of the rest.”
Talyn did open her legs, and he settled between them as if he belonged there and nowhere else. She gasped as he sheathed himself into her to the hilt, and much to her delight, he took care of the rest.