Chapter Seven #3
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.
But Jileana … She was different. She was brilliant and amusing and sensual and passionate and, yes, trustworthy.
He wouldn’t explain it any more than he already had.
Just thinking about her and all of her qualities had him obsessing about the moment he would get to see her again …
a desire so strong he was afraid to examine it.
“I don’t wish to discuss this any further,” he said, turning his back on his brothers and walking away.
It seemed of late that everything in his life was filled with Jileana.
It was disturbing. But he comforted himself with the knowledge that she was his to do with as he pleased for three days, and then he would gladly send her on her way.
There was nothing wrong in indulging himself for a short while, was there?
Surely Weysa would not begrudge him this small comfort.
It did seem, however, that his brothers would. They hurried past him and blocked his way again.
“Jaykun, you’re not seeing this clearly,” Dethan argued.
He was hoping that Jaykun would hear him and listen to his advice as he had always done throughout their relationship.
Jaykun had always acceded to Dethan because he had always been under Dethan’s command or simply because Dethan was the eldest brother.
“I see it all too clearly,” Jaykun said.
“I see that my two brothers are afraid of a single woman. Dethan, she cannot hurt me even if she wanted to. Even if she is a spy, what good would it do her? Moroun already knows we are coming. It is obvious where we are heading. Once we begin to make peaceful overtures of negotiation, it will be clear to them what we want and what we will do if they don’t peacefully agree to build temples in Weysa’s name.
So if she is a spy, then let her be a spy.
It will do Moroun no good. In the meantime, I will be able to enjoy her the way a woman should be enjoyed. ”
“But wouldn’t you rather know if she is playing you, brother? If she is … faking it all?” Garreth asked carefully, not wishing to get punched in the face again.
Jaykun smiled. Truly, deep down smiled. “Trust me, brother,” he said with amusement in his eyes. “There is no way that woman is faking her pleasure. Now, enough of this. We have more important things to manage at the moment.”
Jaykun pushed past them once more and headed down the passageway.
But as the topic finally moved away from Jileana, he found himself obsessed with a niggling doubt.
Faking it? Could she be faking it? Could she be playing him?
Was it possible she was expertly managing him in order to spy on him and his brothers?
His instincts said no, believed that everything about her was exactly what it seemed to be.
But his brain had been cursed by his brothers’ thoughts and words, and now he found himself calling everything into question.
What if … what if she was getting close to him just to find a way to kill him? What if she was spying on behalf of her people? How could he find out the truth? What would he do if he discovered this to be true?
He had no answers for any of it, and it left him completely disturbed.