Steel Dominance (39 page)

“Oh. Oh. Oh.” She moaned and grunted and thrust her groin up at that finger and her breast at that mouth.

The madness of ecstasy dragged at her. By his sucking and sucking, and the constant pressing on her most intimate part, he coaxed the orgasm up through her body. She tumbled, screaming, into ecstasy. At the finest moment, he shoved his fingers up inside her and fucked her with them. She rocked higher, muscles still jerking, and stayed there until a final shudder overcame her, and she subsided onto the bed, exhausted and conquered.

His soft rumbly words spoken next to her ear brought her back. “There. Was that good?”

“Mmm.” She turned over, sleepy, sated, and molded herself into him. His hard cock prodded her bottom. “Oh.” Her eyes snapped open. “What about you, Sir?”

“I can wait. That was only one.” The smoothing of his hand over her hair lulled her again. “When we do the next thirteen, I’ll get mine.”

Thirteen? She stiffened, then felt the stir of his body as he laughed against her back.

“Not now, my lady.” He kissed her nape. “Now you will sleep in my arms. You’re weak. When you’re strong, I’ll test you.”

That sounded ominous…and ever so thrilling. “Okay. Mmm, good.” Comforted by his strength once more by her side, she let herself slide toward sleep. Something held her back. Thoughts ticked over.
Oh. Yes. That.

“Sir,” she whispered.

“Mmm.”

“I want to tell Theo…about making Zigzag drop the book on your foot. If I’m to stay here, I want to be honest. I don’t want you to have to lie to him either. That would make me feel awful.”

The silence stretched a while.

“Thank you. I hoped you would say that.”

He had? “What would you have done, if I didn’t?”

“Convinced you to say it anyway.”

“Oh.” Insufferable man. She yawned. “I should have guessed that.” This time, when she shut her eyes, sleep claimed her.

Chapter Thirty-Five

The unseasonal cold, windy weather had gone. As they walked from the mansion toward the heavy timber picnic table, Sofia found herself feeling so alive.

In the distance, among the outlying buildings of House Kevonis, soldiers and house servants and others walked about. Machinery grumbled from one of the sheds. A crack now and then sounded like someone shooting—but there was a rifle range over that way.

Being outside after all these days in bed was glorious. Her muscles were bouncy.
She
wanted to bounce. Crazy, crazy, crazy. Her head buzzed with energy.

The grass under her sandals made her want to bend down and feel it. The sky was edible blue, there were birds singing, and the air was so fresh after eau de la June upstairs. The woman used enough perfume to drown a kitten. It had made her nose itchy.

Forget allergies.

If ever she’d had a spring in her step, it was now, today, with her hand in Dankyo’s.

Calm down, there’s serious stuff coming
. Career stuff, Dankyo had told her. And she had to tell Mr. Kevonis about Zigzag.

Dankyo squeezed her hand. “You’re smirking, my lady.”

“Smirking? I’m grinning with restraint. This day is so beautiful.”

He grunted. “Well, don’t look too happy. Theo has yet to decide all of what he wants to do. I’m on your side, though, don’t forget that.” He sent her an inquiring glance.

That sounded a little more complicated. Wasn’t the cryptography job sorted out? She’d thought it finalized and just needing a rubber stamp.

“I won’t.”
On your side
wasn’t quite
I love you
, but it was close. He’d not said that in a while. Maybe he’d just forgotten.

She almost sighed.
I don’t need him saying it every five minutes, do I?

They’d reached the table. Theo sat at the head, and Claire to his left. An assortment of dishes was set on the table before them. Simple fare—sausages and sliced ham, golden bread rolls, sauces, butter, salads, and goblets of wine that reflected blinding glints of sun.

“Afternoon, Dankyo, Sofia.” He gestured at the chairs to his right. “Be seated. You here, Sofia.” He patted the nearest place setting. “I thought we should make this a quiet meal. The chefs are off at the wedding of a friend. It will be just us, and private. I’ve given orders we aren’t to be disturbed.”

Faced with doing it, with speaking, she was nervous. Confronting Theo with her strange abilities seemed terribly unwise. But Claire beamed in an encouraging way, and despite the food weighing down the table, Theo put a goblet of red wine in her hand and made her swallow some first.

“Now.” He leaned back in his chair and waited. “Dankyo has explained somewhat, but I’d like to hear it from you, Sofia.”

Anxiety jumped up and grabbed her by the throat, tight enough to make a big lump appear right in the middle of where she wanted to swallow. Where to start? She plucked at the puffed sleeve of her little yellow dress.

He nodded slightly, then hinted. “Zigzag?”

How much had Dankyo said? She held down a scowl, gripped the stem of her wineglass like it was a life preserver, and dived in.

“Yes…Zigzag. He dropped a book on Dankyo’s foot because I made him do it with these”—she wrinkled her nose—“clockwork powers.” Theo raised a brow. “I didn’t mean to, but I was a bit cross.”

Thus began a little interrogation scene.

“Do you get cross often?”

“Sometimes.”

“Have you ever wanted to do something bad to other people here?”

Oh God. The truth? “Only little things. I suppose…yes. One of the guards laughed when I tripped up the stairs. I’m sure I thought of something bad happening to him.”

“And did it?”

“No! Of course not. Zigzag, though…it just happened. Afterward I figured it out. I
felt
how I’d influenced him.”

“Yes?” Theo slowly tapped his fingers on his thighs. He seemed quite unperturbed.

“So. I’m sorry. I wanted to make sure I didn’t get between you and Dankyo.”

“You haven’t. Was that your only reason for telling me?”

“Umm. Yes?” Where was he going?

“You have the ability to kill many people.” Her stomach sank, and she was sure her face showed her distress, but Theo continued. “And yet, you see no other reason here?”

“No.” She pleaded with her eyes.
Don’t go there, please.

And that’s when she realized Dankyo had done more than say a little to Theo. The bastard had spilled it all. She just
knew
. Why was she here? What had they concocted? Even Claire was being demure and giving her no clues at all, hiding behind her wine goblet as she sipped.

“How much did Dankyo tell you? Everything?”

She cast a wary look over her shoulder, but Dankyo only whispered, “Eyes front.”

“Sofia, he told me that he’d asked you to think very hard about what to do about your ability to command clockwork.”

Damn
. She gulped down some wine, put the glass back on the table, but held the stem so tight her finger hurt. “What do you want me to do?”

“You don’t want to suggest anything?”

“No,” she whispered. “No. I want to forget all that.”

Dankyo massaged her shoulder. “You can’t, my lady. You know that.”

“I agree.” Theo shifted forward. “You don’t have that leeway. I give you a choice. You know that I can arrange for your cryptography job to be done from here, at my estate. I have government clearance through my own duties. That job still stands, but only providing you undertake to learn more about what you can do. I want you to practice small things. Things that do not strain you. I want you to learn what happens when you are angry. You need control of this. That will not happen from ignorance. Once we know this, then you may stop. Only then.”

She held the bridge of her nose, wavering between looking at Theo and her feet. “I can’t. I really can’t. It will bring back to me all those I killed.”

This time Dankyo pulled her back onto his lap. With his hand around her waist, he stroked her hair and cheek. “You have to. Be strong. I know you can be strong.”

That woke her to reality. Here he was treating her like some baby. Dankyo was right, she could be strong. She’d been the pilot of her own life for many years before she met him. It was so easy to use him for a crutch, though.

“If you don’t do this, the only other choice will be for me to reveal to my government what you are. Thus far, we have kept this secret. If I cannot see a future that is safe, you will have to leave here.”

“Which will not happen,” Dankyo murmured. “Because you are going to do this. I will help you test yourself. I won’t let you hurt yourself again. It will be safe.”

She had killed. They were right. Far better to face this than accidentally kill again because of some terrible error.

Sitting in his lap made it easier, though. She soaked up his strength, then took a big breath. “Okay. I will. I’ll do this.” Slowly she wiggled her smaller hand under his large one, curled her fingers. “Thank you.”

He kissed her nape. “No. Thank you.”

And it was settled. Though she hated the idea, it was done. “I’m getting tired of discussing all these weird things. Haven’t you anything normal for me to do, to think about?”

“Normal?” She could almost hear him think. “How is this? My ex-girlfriend is here. Kirsten. She may hate you.”

Ah.” She nodded, screwed up her mouth. “That I can handle. We’ll just duel at dawn.”

The tweak at her hair made her gasp. “She can throw knives, my lady. Claire taught her.”

Across the table, Claire came to life. “What? Kirsten? Uh, yes she can.”

“Really? My goodness.” She gently elbowed Dankyo. “Well, then I’ll just hide behind you.”

“Me? I went to Byzantium to get away from her.”

Though he seemed to try to hold it in, Theo Kevonis laughed silently.

That statement was so stunning, she chuckled too. Dankyo was scared of this Kirsten? This might be fun. “Anyone care to take bets?”

Claire shrugged, then grinned. “I’m not taking bets. Last I saw, your man was running away fast as he could.”

The growl from Dankyo vibrated into her back and made the hairs rise on her arms.

“Claire,” he said. “I think maybe
you
should run.”

Oh boy.

“Well. How is this?" As if she hadn’t just been threatened subtly by a man twice her weight, Claire cocked her head and seemed to pretend to study the reflection in her glass. “I’ll help Sofia say hello to Kirsten. Seriously”—she looked at Sofia—“Kirsten’s nice, just a bit umm…mad at times. You’ll get on fine.”

“Mad?” Dankyo tut-tutted dismissively. “That is an understatement.”

Who to believe? She leaned in, put her elbow on the table and spoke softly to Claire. “I’ll do that. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The broad smile from Claire made her feel just that—welcome, very much so.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Sofia sat between Dankyo’s legs and looked out over the river. Weeds and logs floated slowly by. The picnic basket with its stock of steaming pies and mulled wine had been unpacked. The gyrocopter was cooling down over in the big clearing to the left. She twisted her mouth. Not her favorite activity—flying in one of those always made her want to kiss the ground and set fire to the gyro when she stepped out. The things were positively unnerving.

“Cold?” Dankyo pulled her in even closer, wrapped his arms across her breasts, and breathed right in her ear, which made her giggle. “I know how to get you warmer.”

“Really, Sir?”

“Yes. And, I like how easily
Sir
comes to your lips now.”

She closed her eyes as he brushed her hair from her cheek and ran his hand over her. So tender. She’d never have guessed all those weeks ago how gentle this big man could be. Sometimes he was the opposite, but she loved that too, maybe more. Just
thinking
about him being sadistic made her shiver and her nipples poke out.
Delicious.

She relaxed and cuddled in. The thought that had been niggling at her for a while surfaced again. It had to be done. “Are you any good at writing letters, Sir?”

“Of course. I’m always writing them as part of my duties. In time of war, I’ve had some bad ones to write. Why?”

“I want to write to my family and tell them about you, about us and House Kevonis, about my job. My father may not read it, but I want my mother to know. She’d be happy I’ve found a man to settle down with. Could you help me write one, maybe add your own to the package I send? Please?”

“Ah, I see. I’ll do more than that. Your father has always sounded like a man impressed by outward signs of respectability so I’ll send one of the house guards to deliver this letter. Even if he doesn’t reply, he’ll know you’ve caught someone worthwhile.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“I would.”

The image of that happening made her smile. Ridiculous, yet so Dankyo.

“Okay. I shouldn’t agree to that, but okay. Maybe, one day, my mother will come to visit.” It had been so long, but now, yes, the hope was there.

“Good. There’s something else we haven’t discussed yet, Sofia.”

“Mmm?”

“Theo has agreed to keep your secret.” He ruffled her hair and brought his thighs in and held her with them for a moment. “And luckily for you, Tansu also.”

“That I am the Clockwork Warrior? Why is it being kept a secret, though?”

“What you can do”—he tugged her hair—“any country would pay through the nose to have, or kill for.”

“Hmm. I guess so. Though you’ve seen me at practice. I doubt I could do much without dying myself.”

“Yes, I have. Which is why we’ve ended those. But you’re still lucky Theo is an honorable and good man. He knows having to use this ability fully might kill you. Tansu…she’s something high up in the Heraklos intelligence force, but I would say that woman is in love with you.”

“I know she is, and she’s sweet, but I’m yours forever, Sir. Though you need to get me a better coat next time. House Kevonis gets cold.”

“There’s a million coats I can get you. I tried to borrow Claire’s, though, for today. It has buckles. Ones I could use to tie you into a neat bundle. But she threatened to eviscerate me if I dared touch it. Damn woman.” He reached down and pinched her butt through her tights, and she squealed.