Bound by Sin (24 page)

He said he didn't want to trust. He said he didn't want to love. But she saw both of those statements for the lies they were. He wanted very much to trust and love; he was simply afraid to do so. Afraid whomever he chose this time would be just as bad a choice as Casiria had been. No, it wasn't her he didn't trust…It was himself.

Jileana lifted up onto her toes and pressed a kiss against his stiff lips. He could have pushed her away, could have stormed off. But he did neither. That only served to reinforce her beliefs. He wanted more than he was admitting to. And she would be there to offer up whatever he was willing to take. Because even though it had been just a matter of days, she was aware of just how deeply she had come to care for him. To love him. He was a magnificent man, a creature unlike anything she'd ever known before. Oh, she knew men, knew their ways, but she had never met one so noble or so kind. So like her father and yet so much better than him at the same time. She couldn't have explained why she viewed him in a better light, only that she did. And she did not see him as faultless. He had a great many flaws. But she realized they made him who he was, made him the man she loved.

But she would not confront him with her deepest feelings. He wasn't ready yet. She had the whole of the next three weeks to win him to her and she would do so in small increments. She could not make him love her, but she suspected she would not be forcing his hand in the matter. He longed for someone to disprove his theories on love…He simply wasn't yet willing to acknowledge that.

“Enough, now,” she said then. “I can see we are merely going to disagree over this. Let us put it aside. You have warned me away and I have heard you. You can be satisfied that you are no longer responsible for my feelings in this matter. There. Does that make you feel better?”

Honestly, it didn't. And not just because Jaykun knew she was merely placating him. Even if she wasn't, if she had been seriously put on her guard, she might now act differently with him. She might no longer be the open, warm, and delightful creature he had come to know. The thought saddened him profoundly. He did not like the idea of being the one who cast shadows over her personality, shading it from the bright sun she usually lived in. He would always give off a tremendous light when he burned, but he preferred to think of her basking in that light, not hiding from it, guarding herself from it, shielding herself from it.

Damn it! Why couldn't he make up his mind about this? No. No, his mind was made up. She had been warned and it was no longer his responsibility. She was a grown woman in charge of her own feelings.

But again, he found no comfort in the thought.

Both Jaykun and Jileana had a great deal on their minds, so the rest of the day passed in relative quiet. She showed him more of her world, and they pretended talk of emotions and trust had never transpired. After a while it became less uncomfortable and he once again found himself genuinely enjoying being in her company. He should have felt even freer now that he had made himself clear to her. Freer to act however he wished without fear of her reading too much into it.

But he did not. She was not to be trusted, he thought with bemusement. She had made her position quite clear and he needed to be on his guard against her.

But for now he relaxed and found himself enjoying her again. When she laughed, it was with commitment, with all of her heart and soul, and it made him smile every time. The sun would shine on her and highlight all her darkly beautiful features, making her seem brighter and happier still. Then all the innocence she had gained from the light of the sun would be silkily tarnished all of a sudden when she leaned her sultry curves up against him and slid along him like falling water. But she did not cool him off as falling water might; she scorched him instead, as if he had been put in a pot and set to boil. She made him hard both on purpose and when she wasn't meaning to. He couldn't help himself. She was a remarkable creature through and through, and as sexy as the day was long. And for him, a day was very long indeed.

They climbed up to her living quarters about an hour before dusk, intent on eating an early dinner. Dremu was there, eagerly tidying up the place and quick to obey their command to fetch food for them. Jileana couldn't help but notice the brightness of his features and how markedly happier he seemed to be. She wondered at the cause. Then again, escaping his former life seemed to be more than enough to make him happy.

“Dremu will return shortly,” she said to Jaykun as she stood close to him, drinking in the warmth and strength of his body with the whole of hers. “What shall we do in the interim?”

The question was obviously leading and suggestive, and he couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of him. She was audacious and wild, and he wouldn't have her any other way. He was relieved that their argument of earlier did not seem to be affecting her too negatively.

“There is nothing to be done in such a short amount of time,” he said with a chuckle as her hand fell onto his chest and began to wend in a circuitous path down his torso. Eventually her fingernails were raking through the curling hairs of his pubis, then on up the length of his upthrusting cock.

“Surely there is something we can—”

“So! It is true what Silan tells me!” a male voice suddenly boomed into the cave.

With a gasp, Jileana spun around. She instinctively stepped between the owner of the voice and Jaykun. He might have been insulted had he not been so bemused.

The voice was owned by a large, lean male with a good two inches in height on Jaykun, though he was lighter by a few rocks. He had a craggy face, all sharp, stony features and hollow cheeks.

“Barban!”

A
h, so this was Barban, Jaykun thought. The man who Silan thought was worthy of being his sister's mate. The man Jileana had described as being just shy of cruel. But Jaykun could tell just by the look of him that Barban wasn't just shy of anything. He was a man who committed to things. And if he was committed to being cruel, he no doubt would do a thorough job of it.

For a moment Jaykun felt vulnerable, being naked and aroused in front of this man, who was clearly hostile, but he got over the feeling pretty damn quickly when Barban reached out and grabbed Jileana by her upper arm and yanked her forward, away from Jaykun. Barban went nose-to-nose with her, giving her a sturdy shake.

“What is wrong with you? Would you shame your father's name and defile his house in such ways?”

“Barban, let me go!” she commanded him, squirming in his iron grip. “I shame no one and defile nothing! And even if I did, it would be no business of yours!”

“What a man's future mate is up to is very much his business!”

“I have told you a hundred times, Barban, I am never going to be yours no matter how badly you and my brother wish it to be! I do not want you! I do not even like you!”

“Quiet!” he hissed.

Then before Jaykun could react to stop it, Barban backhanded Jileana with a powerful blow, sending her sprawling on the floor of the cave, a brilliant slash of scarlet appearing on her lip and teeth.

Jaykun lost all sense of caution the instant he saw it. He forgot he was a stranger in a strange land with no real concept of its customs and what was considered appropriate—and what would be taken as a great offense. Attacking one of the empress's people could be construed as an act of hostility, perhaps even an overture to war. But he did not care. He saw Jileana bleed and it made him see red. He attacked Barban with a savage snarl of fury, punching the taller man so hard Barban staggered back into the opposite cave wall. Jaykun did not stop at a single punch. He fought Barban tooth and nail, drawing on decades of knowledge as a warrior to help him gain command over the other man—an uppercut, a body blow, a knee in his gut.

But Barban was no easy foe. Indeed he seemed energized by Jaykun's attack. Jaykun's first blow had split his lip exactly the way Barban had split Jileana's and Barban took a moment to tongue the wound before he grinned and launched a full-on attack against Jaykun. Oh yes, Jaykun realized. Here was a man who thrived on violence. Jaykun recognized it because he had seen it often enough in himself. The only difference was that Jaykun had never been purposely cruel. Barban no doubt reveled in his ability to bully others into submission. In Jaykun's experience, bullies tended to pick on weaker targets. Evidently Barban saw him as a weaker target.

Barban was in for a very rude awakening. He would not find Jaykun all that easy to bully.

But far be it from Jaykun to underestimate Barban's strength and prowess. As they fought, Jaykun felt the power of the other man's blows down in his bones. But Jaykun answered him blow for blow, hitting him harder and harder until his knuckles were sore and his fists were burning. It took some time, but eventually he got Barban on the ground and was standing over him, gasping hard for breath.

“You will never lay hands on her again!” Jaykun hissed at him.

“And who will stop me? Surely not you!” Barban scoffed. “You won't be here long enough to make a difference. She is mine, little man. You will depart here shortly and leave her to me, and there will be nothing you can do to stop the inevitable. She may fight me all she likes, but I have her brother's blessing and her father will not intervene. I come from a powerful house and her father dares not anger my family! It would be the ruination of him and he knows it!”

“I will never be your mate, Barban!” Jileana said as she finally picked herself up from the floor. “I would rather die first!”

“Death is the only way you will escape me, Jileana,” Barban said as he got to his feet as well. But he took a step back from Jaykun and his threatening stance. “Mark my words: I will have you and nothing you do short of killing yourself will stop me. So enjoy your little man pet if you must. When it leaves you—and it
will
leave you—we will settle this matter once and for all.”

With that, Barban turned and walked out of the cave. The instant he was gone Jaykun turned his full attention on Jileana, drawing her up against his body, cradling her head in his hands and inspecting the damage done to her lip.

“I'm fine,” she murmured. “It's nothing.”

“Like hell it is! Jileana, why didn't you tell me how bad this situation is?”

“I did. I tried to. Why do you think I escaped to the Overworld? I was trying to get free. Testing to see…to see if I could survive there. Because Barban is right. There is only one way out of this alliance and that is through my death…or the next closest thing.”

“Escape into the Overworld,” he said with understanding.

“Yes.”

“And yet you came back with me.”

“I couldn't just leave without saying farewell to my mother and father. And besides, you wanted to meet with the empress.”

“It was your suggestion,” he reminded her.

“I was only trying to repay you for all of your kindness. Now I am afraid I have just made everything worse. I have exposed you to a siren. I have given you an enemy in one of the most powerful of selkie houses. I should never have brought you here. It was thoughtless of me. Despite so much being wrong here, there are equal amounts of beauty, and I wanted to share my world with you. Now you are stuck here for another three weeks and you have made a powerful enemy.”

“I am not afraid of Barban,” Jaykun said as he gently kissed her injury. “But you should be.”

“I am. Believe me, I am,” she whispered. “And he's right. I cannot depend on my brothers or my father for protection. His family is too old and too powerful.”

“Well, I have no such restraints,” Jaykun said. “So for the next three weeks you will be safe.”

“Provided he only meets you one-on-one, you mean. Barban will not make that same mistake twice. He will have reinforcements next time.”

“I don't care if he comes with twenty other selkies. He will not lay hands on you again as long as I am here.”

“Well, it doesn't sound like he is planning to return before you leave, but what could you do against twenty men? Even you are not that strong.”

“Then we will take the matter up with the empress,” he said. “Surely she can put a stop to this.”

“I wouldn't be too sure about that. And besides, why would she want to get involved in the mating issues of her people?”

“Because it is the right thing to do. You need someone's protection and who better than the empress of all the selkies?”

“It will not be that simple,” Jileana said with a sigh.

“Sure it will. Trust me. I will not leave you to this kind of danger. Tomorrow at midday meal, when we next see the empress, we will ask for her intervention.”

“If you insist,” she said with a little sigh.

“I do. I know you do not wish to leave your home. I won't have you chased away from it by a bully.”

“Believe me, Barban is only part of the reason why I was drawn to the world of humans. The Overworld has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. I long to see as much of it as is possible. And I will do so one day.”

Jileana didn't add that she now planned to see that world from a position at Jaykun's side. She could no longer envision a future without him in it. She was determined to find herself within his reach for some time to come. The difficulty was in trying to convince Jaykun of what an excellent idea it was. That would require him to acknowledge his feelings for her, and she wasn't sure he would be able to do that just yet. But watching him react to Barban, feeling the tender way he held her and touched her damaged lip, she believed more than ever that he cared deeply for her…whether he wanted to or not.

“You know,” Jaykun said, “there's one thing in the Overworld I think you might appreciate more than anything else.”

“What is that?”

“Doors and locks.”

She laughed. “I seem to remember how nice they were. It took me a little while to get used to being shut away, not in the open, but I rather enjoyed the privacy your doors and locks provided. Also, the quaint practice of knocking before entering a room. I enjoyed that as well. It warned us when anyone wished to intrude on our time together.”

“Yes, it did. Although, I think others got the idea rather quickly that intrusion would be most thoroughly frowned upon.”

“I believe you are right,” she said as she smoothed her hands up over where his were still cradling her face.

The touch seemed to change the intensity of his gaze a moment before it fell to her mouth. He frowned and leaned forward to gently kiss her bruised lip.

She saw the problem right away. He was afraid of causing her pain. But her lips didn't hurt half as much as being denied his favors would. She stood up on tiptoe, pushing her mouth onto his powerfully, sucking him into a deep and fervent kiss. He drew away at the first opportunity, his breath coming fast.

“Your mouth,” he said.

“Does it seem as though I care about my mouth?” she demanded to know.

“Now that you mention it,” he drawled with a grin, “not so much.”

She grinned back. “Then I suggest you begin kissing me again before you make me very angry.”

“The last thing I need is another selkie angry with me. I think Barban and your brother are quite enough.”

“Well, I'm somehow certain you aren't going to stop there.”

“How odd. I have that very same certainty,” he said with a chuckle.

“M-my lady…m-my lord, excuse me, but I have returned with your food.”

When Dremu spoke they looked at him with surprise. They had forgotten all about him. What was more, they had forgotten all about the time. They only had time for a quick meal before they would have to find Jaykun's place of solitude so he could burn. Thoroughly distracted from their passion, they sat down to eat the raw fish and boiled shellfish.

“Come and eat with us, Dremu, and tell us what you think of the Underworld,” Jileana invited.

Dremu shook his head. “I couldn't possibly. I will have my own meal in a short while.”

“Nonsense,” Jileana said dismissively. “Why couldn't you? Just sit down and speak with us.”

“Your pardon, my lady, but I am just a servant and my place is not at my masters' side but several steps behind them.”

“That may have been true in the Overworld, but here things are very different. Here we eat with our servants quite often. It is infinitely more efficient that way, rather than serving separate meals. I have invited you and so you will join us. I will not listen to arguments otherwise.”

Dremu hesitated again, looking at Jaykun.

Jaykun chuckled. “Don't look to me, boy. I have no influence on her. If she wants you, then she will have you. No sense in fighting her.”

Dremu relented at last and sat down cross-legged beside Jileana. The moment he was seated he began to quickly devour whatever he could get his hands on. Thankfully there was a great deal of food on the trays he had brought.

“So answer her question, Dremu,” Jaykun invited him. “What think you of the Underworld?”

“I've never seen such a place! Nor such people! The selkie are so much friendlier than I thought, but that could just be because I am unused to anyone being friendly at all. At first I was afraid, my heart likely to pound out of my chest and explode in the air, but now it's nothing at all. I'm learning my way quickly and even though most of them have never seen a man before, they treat me with friendly curiosity, not…not as though I am
trega
scum.”

“I am very glad to hear that,” Jileana said, beaming with pride for her people. Jaykun had to admit that, with the exception of Barban and Silan, he had been having a similarly welcoming experience. The selkie people were not unlike any of the other strange and wonderful cultures he had encountered on his journey to obtain new worshippers for Weysa. Granted, he wished he could encounter these races as something other than a conqueror, but he had a duty to perform.