I could already see the weapons in my mind, and I knew they would be just as exquisite as the knives Owen had made for me. I grinned. “You certainly know the way to this assassin’s heart.”
For dessert, we had warm oatmeal-cherry crumble topped with vanilla-bean ice cream and drizzled with my homemade chocolate sauce. After we finished, Owen cleared the table while I lit a fire in the den. Then we curled up on the couch together, our arms wrapped around each other, staring into the bright, cheery flames and lost in our own thoughts.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I finally asked. “About Darrell? I know the two of you weren’t all that close, but what he did still had to hurt.”
A betrayal by someone you knew and considered a friend always left a far deeper mark than a random attack by a stranger.
“I liked Darrell. He was always nice, polite, and friendly, and I thought he was good at his job. I just didn’t realize that he was a little too good at it.” Owen grimaced. “I still can’t believe he was plotting behind my back this whole time. And not just to steal money but to kidnap and kill me.”
He fell silent, still staring into the flames. Several seconds passed before he spoke again.
“I guess it just goes to show that you don’t really know some people the way you think you do. Maybe the ren faire should have a new theme next year. Maybe instead of Winter’s Web, the organizers should call it The Ides of Winter.” He let out a low, bitter laugh. “Hey, maybe I’ll even dress up like Julius Caesar next year. After all, I’ve been betrayed, just like he was.”
I kept quiet, sensing there was more he needed to say.
“And I can’t help but feel stupid that I fell into Darrell’s trap. I should have known something weird was going on when I supposedly won the faire tickets.” He shook his head. “And I can’t help but think that I could have done things differently. That if I’d just known how unhappy Darrell was, I could have done something to help him.” His voice dropped. “Instead of killing him.”
I sat up and looked at him. “It is not your fault that Darrell did what he did. People make their own choices, and they are responsible for their own actions and the consequences that come along with them. Darrell could have come to you and told you he’d made a mistake embezzling the money, and you would have helped him. I know you would have, because that’s the kind of good, decent, honorable man you are. But Darrell was arrogant and stupid and greedy, and he decided to take what he wanted no matter how many people he had to hurt. That was his biggest mistake, and it ended up costing him everything.”
Owen nodded, and some of the tension eased out of his body. “How did I ever get so lucky as to have you in my life?”
I grinned. “I could say the same thing about me having you.”
He leaned over and kissed me. The brief brush of his lips against mine sent warmth shooting through my body and ignited a spark of desire deep in my stomach.
I drew back, then grinned again and clasped my hands to my heart. “Oh, my dear, sweet, humble blacksmith!” I cooed in a high, falsetto voice. “Oh, how you make me swoon!”
I put my hand up to my forehead, let out a long, loud, dramatic sigh, and then flopped back against the couch cushions, as though I was a genteel lady overcome with a case of the vapors.
Owen laughed and then bent forward at the waist, as though he was taking a bow. “Why, thank you, fair lady. This humble blacksmith always aims to please his pirate queen assassin.”
I crooked my finger at him. “Then come here and prove it,” I murmured in a low, husky voice.
Owen grinned, leaned forward, and lowered himself on top of me so that we were both stretched out on the couch. I threaded my hands through his silky black hair and pulled his head down to mine. Our lips met, and I swiped my tongue against his. He deepened the kiss, plunging his tongue into my mouth. More sparks exploded in my stomach, and I sighed with happiness, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him closer.
Owen kissed his way across my cheek, then sucked on the side of my neck. I drew in a breath, drawing his rich metallic scent deep into my lungs. He kept kissing my neck, even as his hands slid up my shirt. I wasn’t wearing a bra, and he cupped my breasts, gently tweaking my nipples with his thumbs. Those sparks burned even brighter and coalesced into a liquid heat that flooded my entire body.
“You are wearing entirely too many clothes,” Owen rumbled, still kneading my breasts.
“I was just thinking the same thing about you,” I murmured back, running my hands down his strong, muscled back.
“Then let’s fix that.”
Owen grabbed me around the waist and sat up, pulling me up along with him. I lifted my arms over my head, and he stripped off my shirt, exposing my bare breasts.
His violet gaze darkened with desire. “Now, that’s more like it.”
He dipped his head to my right breast and gently caught my nipple between his teeth. Then he sucked on it hard before doing the same thing to my other breast. I gasped with pleasure and arched back to give him better access.
Owen kept sucking, licking, and kissing my breasts. That liquid heat in my body burned a little hotter with every sure stroke of his fingers and every sly slide of his tongue. I reached down to get rid of his shirt the way he’d gotten rid of mine, but Owen caught my hand in his and pressed a kiss to my knuckles.
“Not yet,” he murmured. “This blacksmith wants to thoroughly pleasure his lady first.”
He gave me a wicked grin, then laid me back down on the couch and undid my jeans. I lifted my hips, and Owen slid the jeans off me, along with my underwear and socks. I lay there and watched while he got rid of his own clothes, then grabbed a condom from his wallet. I took my little white pills, but we always used extra protection.
The crackling flames bathed Owen in a soft glow, outlining his broad shoulders, his strong biceps, his muscled chest, and his long, hard erection. I let out a low wolf whistle of appreciation.
“Not so humble after all,” I purred.
Owen winked. “Like I said before, I aim to please.”
He got down on his knees beside the couch. He smoothed his hands down my thighs and eased them apart. My breath caught in my throat. I knew what was coming next and just how good it would be.
Owen gave me another wicked grin, then bent forward and put his mouth on me, sucking, licking, and kissing just as he’d done to my breasts. I moaned with pleasure and rocked forward, and he plunged his tongue even deeper inside me.
That liquid heat in my veins flared up into something hotter and far more intense, the pressure and the pleasure built and built, and it wasn’t long before I cried out and exploded.
Owen kept right on sucking, licking, and kissing as the orgasm ripped through me, trying to bring me as much pleasure as possible. Finally, when my body had stilled, he lifted his head and looked at me.
“Is my lady pleased?” he murmured.
“Exceptionally. Now, come here, you,” I growled.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward me. Owen laughed and climbed back onto the couch with me. Our mouths locked together, our tongues dueled back and forth, and our caresses became quicker, harder, and more intense.
Eventually, I flipped him over and teased his long, hard length with my tongue and mouth the same way he had teased me, trying to bring him as much pleasure as he had given me, as though this was the first time we’d been together instead of the hundredth. But in some ways, every time with Owen felt like the first time, and I always loved exploring all the hard, muscled planes of his body, from the scar that cut across his chin to his broad shoulders and all the way down his chest.
When Owen was ready, he covered himself with the condom, then picked me up and settled me on his lap. I looked into his eyes, then rocked forward, taking him deep inside me with one smooth motion. We both groaned, and he held on to my hips, urging me on as I surged forward time and time again, taking him deeper and deeper inside me, until we both reached the very peak of our pleasure an
d plunged over the edge together.
The humble blacksmith and the pirate queen assassin had pleased each other very much indeed.
Afterward, we lay tangled up together on the couch, covered with a soft blanket, basking in the afterglow, as well as the flames still crackling in the fireplace.
Owen drifted off to sleep with his arms wrapped around me. I put my head on his chest and let the strong, steady beat of his heart lull me to sleep as well. My last thought before I slipped into the quiet, soothing blackness was about the ren faire.
Winter’s Web, The Ides of Winter, whatever you wanted to call it. The name didn’t matter, only the fact that Owen and I had survived it the way we always did, just as we would survive all the challenges with Tucker, Mason, and the Circle that were looming on the horizon.
Together.
About the Author
Jennifer Estep is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author, prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea. She is the author of the following series:
Elemental Assassin: The books focus on Gin Blanco, an assassin code-named the Spider, who can control the elements of Ice and Stone. When she’s not busy battling bad guys and righting wrongs, Gin runs a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit in the fictional Southern metropolis of Ashland. The city is also home to giants, dwarves, vampires, and elementals—Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone.
Crown of Shards: The books focus on Everleigh Blair, who is seventeenth in line for the throne of Bellona, a kingdom steeped in gladiator tradition. But when the unthinkable happens, Evie finds herself fighting for her life—both inside and outside the gladiator arena.
Mythos Academy: The books focus on Gwen Frost, a seventeen-year-old Gypsy girl who has the gift of psychometry, or the ability to know an object’s history just by touching it. After a serious freak-out with her magic, Gwen is sent to Mythos Academy, a school for the descendants of ancient warriors like Spartans, Valkyries, Amazons, and more.
Mythos Academy spinoff: The books focus on Rory Forseti, a seventeen-year-old Spartan girl who attends the Colorado branch of Mythos Academy. Rory’s parents were Reapers, which makes her the most hated girl at school. But with a new group of Reapers and mythological monsters on the rise, Rory is the only one who can save her academy.
Black Blade: The books focus on Lila Merriweather, a seventeen-year-old thief who lives in Cloudburst Falls, West Virginia, a town dubbed “the most magical place in America.” Lila does her best to stay off the grid and avoid the Families—or mobs—who control the town. But when she saves a member of the Sinclair Family during an attack, Lila finds herself caught in the middle of a brewing war between the Sinclairs and the Draconis, the two most powerful Families in town.
Bigtime: The books take place in Bigtime, New York, a city that’s full of heroic superheroes, evil ubervillains, and other fun, zany, larger-than-life characters. Each book focuses on a different heroine as she navigates among the city’s heroes and villains and their various battles.
For more information on Jennifer and her books, visit her website at www.JenniferEstep.com. You can also follow her on Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub, and Twitter, and sign up for her newsletter.
Happy reading, everyone!
Winter’s Web: An Elemental Assassin Novella Page 9