Bonds of the Forsaken: A Reverse Harem Romantasy (Her Forsaken Mates Book 1)

14. Kaiya

The heat of Jaiel”s body pressed against mine was like a spark, and I was the pile of kindling.

His blue eyes stared down at me, dark with hunger as they dropped to my lips.

I leaned in —

Knock. Knock. Knock.

My mind scattered and my body went icy.

What was I doing, just lying there like one of Jaiel”s conquests?

Gritting my teeth, I kneed him in the groin.

”Uff,” he grunted, rolling to the side. ”Come on, Kaiya. You pulled me on top of YOU!”

I couldn”t form words to explain. I just — I needed to get out of that tiny room — immediately.

Rushing to the door, I yanked it open to find a short young man precariously balancing two buckets of sloshing water.

”Clean water,” he said, pushing past me, a rough brown cap drawn low over his face.

I ignored him and dashed outside, closing the door behind me.

I stumbled to the deck railing and forced my focus to the water lapping against the boat as I drew in long, slow breaths.

Hells! This was supposed to be an exciting new mission — something I”d been dreaming about for months.

But, instead of enjoying the thrill of being back in the field, that damn prince was torturing me.

First, the sharing of the room, then the stuff about Lady Frexin and me not caring about the collared mages … and then he was on top of me and I”d — gods.

I dropped my head into my hands. What if the cabin boy hadn”t arrived at that moment?

Heat flooded my cheeks. My body had curled toward him for gods sakes! Like I was some society miss wanting her first kiss.

I didn”t even have the excuse of the fucking charisma!

Groaning, I gripped the railing and hung my head, letting the smooth feeling of the wood beneath my fingertips ground me.

One breath. Then another.

It meant nothing. It was just my sex-starved body reacting to the extreme proximity of that irritatingly attractive man.

It was okay. I was okay.

I forced another slow, long breath.

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right, though. We were partners on this damn mission, and my traitorous body wasn”t a good enough reason to keep him from the room.

Two days. I just needed to deal with sharing the gods damned bed for two days. Then we”d have some decent space again and could get on with the damn mission.

The door behind me slammed open, and a small form stumbled into my back, then fell with a loud thump.

I spun around to see the cabin boy on his ass, blue eyes wide against his delicate blue cheeks.

I bent to help the poor lad up, but he was already scrambling to his feet, and tugging his hat lower. ”S-s-s sorry, miss!”

”Are you going to mop this up?” Jaiel called out through the open door.

But instead of replying, the lad let out a small squeak and took off running down the walkway.

”What did you do?” I asked, glaring at Jaiel as he appeared in the doorway. ”Two minutes ago, he was fine, and now — if I didn”t know better, I”d think he was being chased by a pack of angry gremlyns!”

”Hells if I know.” Jaiel closed the door behind him, gaze intent on the young man. ”One second he was putting down the water, and the next he”d knocked over a pail and was backing out of the room as though he”d seen a ghost. Perhaps he heard too many stories about the evil Roain.”

I rolled my eyes. ”Well, whatever it was, I hope it doesn”t get you kicked off at the next port.”

”Ha. No need to lie, Princess. You”d probably be the first one in line to kick me off.” He ran his hand through his hair and leaned against the railing beside me, staring out over the ocean with a pensive expression.

Guilt twisted in my chest. I should apologize.

I”d let my anger get the best of me …

”Look — I know your work has value,” I said, jaw tight. ”We all have different roles to play, and just because yours is different doesn”t make it less.”

Jaiel”s blue eyes widened.

”Also,” I continued, cheeks hot. ”There”s no need to worry about me trying to kick you off the ship or out of the room. I was being stubborn and hotheaded, but this mission must be successful. And I”ll do whatever it takes to make that happen … even if it means sharing a bed with you.”

I let the last bit hang and turned to stare out over the ocean, shoulders stiff.

”Kaiya, that almost sounded like an apology.” Warm fingers curled around my forearm, and he cleared his throat. ”Thank you.”

Swallowing against the strange heat unfurling in my chest, I focused on the ocean ahead. ”Yes, well, don”t let it get to your head! This isn”t some invitation to —”

Firm fingers pressed into my chin, tugging me until my eyes met his soft gaze.

His eyes traced the lines of my face. ”I”m also sorry for what I said. Sincerely.”

My heart stuttered and that heat from before sank low in my belly, unfurling into a throbbing warmth that made me press my thighs together.

”Stop it!” I knocked his hand away and stepped back. ”I can”t believe you tried to charm me while I was in the midst of apologizing! That”s exactly what I was saying not to do!”

”Charm you?” He chuckled softly, brows lifted. ”We both know my charisma doesn”t work on you, Princess. Whatever you feel around me is all you.”

I gritted my teeth as my cheeks flared with heat. ”Ha! Maybe that roll I ate for breakfast just didn”t agree with my stomach.”

The bastard smiled.

”Look,” I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. ”If we”re going to share the room, I propose we split its use. I need to do some reading and other preparations for the mission. I assume you also have preparations that need to be done?”

Jaiel shrugged.

”One of us should take the mornings, and the other the afternoons. When it isn”t your shift, you can do stuff about the ship. Then, when it is your turn, you”ll have the room to yourself. If either of us needs the room while the other has it, we”ll just knock and ask.”

”Sounds reasonable enough.” He shrugged. ”What about after that?”

”After dinner.” I narrowed my eyes. ”We”ll take turns in the room, washing up and such.”

He nodded, a smile spreading across his face. ”And then …”

”Then we share the bed,” I said, voice breaking. ”As you suggested, we”ll use the pillows as a wall between us.”

”Almost to the exciting part now.” He leaned closer. ”Go on!”

”And then we both go to damn sleep,” I hissed. ”With me stabbing you if you even so much as think of crossing that barrier.”

He chuckled softly. ”Okay then. In that case, you can have both the morning and afternoon shift, as I”m sure you”ll be doing enough prep for the both of us. Meanwhile, I”ll explore the ship and take in the ocean air.”

I cleared my throat and nodded. ”Thank you. That would be very helpful.”

”No worries, Princess. See you tonight …” He leaned in slowly, letting the word hang until his breath brushed the shell of my ear. ”In bed.”

Then he was gone, striding off down the hall like nothing happened.

Clearing my throat, I fixed my bun and turned to stare at the retreating dock and the Capital beyond.

Two days. I just had to survive that man — and my traitorous body — for two damn days.