Bound by Sin (9 page)

He couldn't have agreed more. As soon as the laces were free he pulled away from her mouth and lowered his lips to the swells of her breasts. She smelled so good, the scent of soft femininity and sweet musk. She reminded him of a kelp flower, a particularly fragrant blossom that grew in ocean inlets, around docks and jetties and other relatively still places in the ocean.

He drew the neckline of her dress down, baring both of her breasts to the nipple. By all rights he should be taking her to the privacy of his chambers, but he couldn't seem to make himself stop. He couldn't keep himself from filling his mouth with one of the sweet, pointed tips. He sucked on her until she gasped from the pressure. Suddenly his hands were under her skirt, grabbing her thighs and hoisting her up the wall so he would not have to bend to reach her. The next he knew, a pair of strong, lithe thighs were locking around him, dragging him in tight. He could feel the heat of her, beckoning to him, reminding him she had nothing on beneath the dress…nothing but warm and willing flesh. She moaned in his ear as he shifted from one breast to the next.

“I wish to be having sex with you now,” she breathed into his ear. It made a laugh burst out of him and he left her breasts to meet her eyes.

“I thought that was what we were doing,” he said, his hand continuing to stroke and fondle her.

“No, I mean I wish for you to be inside me,” she explained, wriggling down the wall a little, her hands diving past her bunched up skirts and beyond the waist of his pants. His belly contracted at the sudden feel of her against his bare skin, but his cock leapt eagerly for the touch of her hand. He groaned soulfully as she wrapped her fingers around him with one hand and struggled to work his clothing open with the other. He tried to help her, but they only got in each other's way and he could barely focus as she stroked him from root to tip again and again until he thought he would embarrass himself by the time she got him free. But at last she did, and after that she wasted no time pulling him in toward her, using the vise of her legs to bring him in tight, using her hand to guide him straight to the open warmth of her waiting body. Then between his own thrusting hips and her reaching body, they brought him inside her in a single crash of movement. She cried out loudly and he didn't bother to hush her. He wasn't exactly being quiet himself. He had shouted out at the moment their bodies met, the pleasure of it too much to contain inside him. There was no explaining how it felt to be surrounded by her. It was like a stunning, living sensation that shot through all of his nerve endings at once.

He looked into her eyes and began to thrust into her in rhythmic, hard bursts. He had never seen such pretty eyes before. Their iridescent color was something unique, and they were framed by lashes as lush as the feel of her body around him. She was so warm and wet it was driving him mad. The speed of his thrusts and the violence of them increased. He liked to see the way her body shimmered at the impacts, liked to hear the grunts and cries that erupted from her. He wanted to make her scream out. Yes, even as exposed as they were, potential witnesses or even enemies all around them, he wanted her to cry out, give away their location, let everyone know that he was the one giving pleasure to her.

His hands fumbled past her skirts until he was gripping her by her bare backside, jerking her forward onto him with every thrust. Fire raced through his veins, warning him that he would not last much longer. But he would not have that until he had made her find her full pleasure.

What he didn't know was that Jileana was closer to spinning away with pleasure than he could have imagined. She had felt it from the first thrust, her body designed for passion and so eager to accept it. She was fighting herself to make the act last longer than it might have otherwise. She didn't want it to be over too soon, to be forced to come apart from him…to leave him behind. She liked being together with him…really liked it. If she had her way, it would never end.

But it had to end. She knew it. She let herself give over to it. She threw her head back and cried out, her entire body tensing as pure fire washed over her again and again.

Jaykun felt her come around him and it blinded him with ferocious pleasure. He surged up into her, plunging into her one last time, and then let the pleasure of it overtake him. He came with a roar so savage it would have frightened away any of his foes had they heard him. Actually, Jileana was quite convinced they couldn't have helped but hear him. Hear them both.

Jaykun's knees gave out and they collapsed to the floor together, their bodies still connected. Jaykun had landed on his knees, Jileana's backside resting on his thighs. Her long legs were settled loosely around him, her skirts bunched up between them as they both panted hard for breath.

“Oh, that was very…”

“Yes,” he said breathlessly.

“Well, we should…”

“Definitely,” he said.

“In a minute,” she said.

“Yes. In a minute.” Jaykun touched his forehead to hers. “You make me forget myself.”

“You make me remember all kinds of things, including myself. I had forgotten things could feel like this. In fact, I don't think I've ever felt like this before.”

That brought Jaykun up short. He drew his head back and met her eyes. “Jileana, I think I should be clear,” he said, tension filling his voice. “I've no space for a woman in my life. My curse makes it so that I will never be free to feel anything for a woman. Nothing will come of this…no relationship.”

She looked at him a long moment, then tossed back her head and laughed. “Of course not, you silly man! Oh my, as if I ever could! No, no. We can certainly feel much between us. Yes, we can be free to do that. But there is no permanence to this relationship in the least.”

Her statements took him aback. The fact that she found the idea of having a lasting relationship with him amusing rather irritated him. It shouldn't of course. He should be glad she understood this was only for the short term. He should feel relieved. Instead he felt put out.

The feeling bothered him. Everything about her bothered him. He stood up in a surge of movement, setting her on her feet and then quickly redressing himself. She took the opportunity to tuck her breasts back into her dress and he tried to ignore the pang of regret it caused. He realized that, if it was completely up to him, he would prefer to have her naked at all times.

A dangerous thought, that. She too would prefer to be naked, if he read her right. Not for lustful reasons, but just because she seemed to dislike clothing. If she had even an inkling of what his thoughts were, she might take to running around the castle completely nude.

Then he would definitely get nothing done, he thought honestly. As much as he had weighing on him, he would spend the next few days obsessing in his lust for her.

And she…Would she feel just as obsessed? She acted so passionately and then seemed so dispassionate.

But of course that was what he wanted, he told himself. He wanted no entanglements. She was actually quite perfect for his needs. He would vent some much-needed lust upon her and then send her on her way. They would enjoy themselves together for these three days and then he would see to it she was gone. He had a lot of other things to focus on. First of which was getting the army established in the city well enough that his brothers could return to their homes for the winter. Then he would spend the winter preparing his men and seeing to it the armada was readied. They would manage the city, make it their own, then leave in the spring with the Krizan armada and an army swelled with any Krizan soldiers who remained willing to fight for coin. With every city they took, his army grew larger and larger, until now it was nearly invincible. With these ships they could finally leave the continent and bring the word of Weysa to even more foreign lands. It was more than he could have asked for.

So, yes, he would take a few days to enjoy himself with her. Just a few. After that he would send her on her way.

“Besides,” she said, “I have to leave here in three days' time and am not likely to come back for quite some time. I imagine you will be gone by then, moving on to your next conquest.”

“I…Y-yes, I will,” he said, surprised she was thinking along the same lines he was.

“Very good, then.” She reached out and patted his arm. “Now you go find your brothers or whatever it is you have to do. I thought I might go to the kitchens.”

“You are hungry?” he asked. “Dinner will be ready shortly.”

“Ah. You eat early, before the sun sets. Of course. That would make sense. No, I am just curious about the place where all that delicious food is made. I think I should like to watch.”

“Oh. I see. Well…enjoy yourself.”

She smiled brightly at him. “Oh, I intend to!”

“But you will eat with us, yes?” he asked her, suddenly needing to know when he would see her next.

“Would you like me to?” she asked. It wasn't a coy remark, merely an openly curious one.

“Of course. You should eat with the rest of us.”

“Because the bargain we made was only for one meal a day.”

“D-don't you want to eat with me—er—us?” He was starting to stammer like a fool, he realized. Damn it, what was wrong with him all of a sudden?

“Of course I do! Thank you for inviting me! I do so love your food when in good company.”

“Well, I certainly wouldn't starve you.”

“Of course not. I would simply eat in the kitchens if it came down to it.” She smiled softly at him then, reaching to touch light fingers across his left pectoral muscle. “But I am going to be much happier eating with you. I enjoy you as much as I enjoy the food.”

“I should hope so,” he said with a chuckle. “It wouldn't say much for me otherwise. How about from this point on you share all of your meals with me? I mean…if that is what you would like.” It suddenly occurred to him that she might want to be elsewhere. She really didn't seem to need his company.

The understanding flummoxed him. He should be glad she was so independent. And he was. It was important that she be so. He would not have been attracted to her in the least had she been the needy, clingy sort. Nothing would have turned him off quicker than that. But at the same time her complete lack of need for him rankled somehow. He couldn't explain it. Especially when knowing he should be feeling otherwise.

“Okay, I'll be going now,” she said, bouncing up onto her toes to give him a quick kiss on his cheek. Then, with a flounce of flying dark hair, she was off and away, disappearing around a quick turn in the hall.

Jaykun slowly headed in the other direction, finishing redressing his appearance as he went. He barely made it to the next turn before he came up against his brothers, both standing shoulder-to-shoulder and barring his way. He huffed with frustration.

“What is it?” he demanded of them.

“We are concerned about this girl,” Dethan said. “Exactly where did she come from? What is her purpose here? Why has she attached herself to you?”

“Don't you find it a tad coincidental that she has chosen to bed the man who has conquered her city?” Garreth said.

“This isn't her city,” Jaykun said, pushing past them.

“Well, not by the look of her,” Garreth conceded. “She's not Krizan—that much is clear. But there are no other cities for a great many leagues…”

“She's from an island and a city called…Serenity.” He wasn't about to attempt to say the real name of Jileana's home city. His brother's wouldn't have been able to absorb it any better than he had.

“Serenity? What island? The only island within a day's sailing is Moroun. Perhaps she is a spy from Moroun. They have no doubt heard of our advancement toward Kriza and realized they are next in our path once we gain use of the Krizan armada.”

“There is another isle…Moroun is northeast; her home is to the southeast.”

“Another isle? I saw nothing from the battlements yesterday when I was up there,” Dethan said.

“Perhaps it was too far for you to see. I could not see it either because of the storms in the distance.”

Garreth scoffed and grabbed hold of Jaykun's arm, dragging him to a stop. “And yet you believe her?”

“I have no reason not to,” Jaykun bit out.

“You have every reason not to!” Garreth said. “We are in enemy territory. You would be mad to relax your guard for even a moment! It seems to me that someone around here is thinking with his body parts far too distant from his brain. He's letting a sweet piece turn his head and—!”

Garreth was cut off when a solid blow connected with his jaw. The youngest brother staggered until his back hit a wall. Stunned, he rubbed his aching jaw and stared hard at his brother.

“What the fuck was that for?” Garreth demanded to know.

“I…” Jaykun's body was full of tension and outrage, but for the life of him he couldn't understand what had driven him to strike his own brother. “Just…just stop questioning me about this. I trust her.”

“How in the eight hells can you trust her? She's a total gods-damned stranger!” Dethan barked.

“Because she saved my life!” Jaykun bit back.

The announcement seemed to startle the brothers.

“That's right,” Jaykun said. “That assassin this morning? She was this close to running a dagger through my eye. But Jileana stopped her. It was a remarkable feat of strength, really, and fast reflexes at that. I've never seen anything more beautiful in my life.”

“But Jay…you couldn't have been killed. You're immortal.”

“I can be killed, brothers,” he reminded them both. “A god-made weapon, remember? And anyway, how was she to know that? How was she to know for certain?”

That sobered the entire trio of brothers and they stood quietly for several moments as they absorbed the impact of the understanding. Even Jaykun found himself inspecting the reason why he had come to trust her so quickly. But if he were going to be honest, he would have to admit to his brothers that he had extended trust even before the incident that morning. He had extended trust the moment he allowed himself to fall asleep in bed with her, something he never did. He had never—not once since his release from his curse, which had allowed him to live somewhat free once more—fallen asleep beside a woman. Women were to be briefly used to satisfy carnal needs, and he had not done even that since his resurrection into the world. He did not in any way relax his guard…especially not enough to sleep with a woman.