Chapter Ten #2
“Damn you, you wicked little wench,” he hissed, his hands suddenly stripping his shirt from his body.
He threw it down with no little violence, then unfastened his belt as he stormed up to the side of the bed.
She reached out, placed a foot in the center of his chest, and stayed him from getting into the bed with her.
“I did not say you were invited,” she said breathlessly.
“It’s my bed,” he pointed out gruffly. “And I claim everything that lies within it.”
“Hmm. I suppose that is your right, after all.” She lowered her foot and smiled at him with knowing victory. “Aren’t your brothers awaiting you?” she asked.
“They will wait a little longer.”
“A little?”
“Don’t press me, woman. I do not like to be managed.”
“I think you like it more than you think,” she said, reaching to fondle the rock-hard flesh between his legs. “Yes, I’d say you like it a great deal.”
“Hot little bitch,” he hissed. “You toy with danger when you toy with me.”
“Then I must enjoy danger,” she said, “for I love nothing more, it seems, than to toy with you.”
“So it would appear,” he ground out as he pushed himself into her touch. To feel her touching him while she still touched herself was beyond pleasurable. The teasing war of their words only added to his gratification.
“Enough!” he snapped out after a minute of letting her touch him. “I will have you, then I will leave you.”
“Of course,” she murmured breathlessly. “As you wish.”
“Damn right as I wish. It is because I wish it, not because you wish it.”
“Of course,” she said, her hand sliding down the front of his trousers.
“Gods damn you, Jileana!” he ground out as he surged into her caresses again and again and again. Then suddenly he barked out a sound of frustration, grabbed hold of her by both shoulders, and gave her a hard shake. “You do not control me!”
“I would not want to control you,” she assured him.
“You could have fooled me,” he said fiercely.
She tilted her head and looked at him with genuine, softening surprise. “You mistake me, then. All I want is to give you pleasure, to make you happy. If this does not make you happy, then I will stop immediately.”
And stop she did, withdrawing from him quickly.
Feeling instantly bereft, he hastened to keep her from leaving him. “No! I didn’t mean …. I didn’t mean you didn’t please me. Only … only that perhaps you please me far too much at times.”
“Is there such a thing as too much pleasure? There are so many hard and harsh things we have to live with every day. Can we not live happily with pleasure as a means of counteracting all that hardness?”
Bemused, he smiled at her. “I never thought of it like that before.” It was an idealistic attitude, one very much in keeping with the woman he had begun to understand.
She was right. Their time together was growing short.
What harm was there in giving in to his impulses when they did indeed give him some much-needed pleasure?
He didn’t need to argue with himself a moment longer. He simply grabbed hold of her, pushed his mouth onto hers, and kissed her with all the ferocity he could muster.
“Very well. We will have this your way,” he said roughly. “But after this I will go to my brothers.”
“Yes. I know,” she said.
“Swear to me now you will do nothing to interfere with that further.”
“Nothing at all,” she vowed.
“Ah, damn you … I don’t believe you for a second.”
“And so you shouldn’t.” She laughed. “For I am most untrustworthy when it comes to this.”
“So be it. A contest of wills, then.”
“Ah. A challenge.”
“Yes.”
“Well then, you should know … so far you are losing.”
“And yet somehow losing feels very much like winning.” He chuckled.
After Jaykun finally managed to join his brothers, they got a great deal of work done. Unfortunately, his brothers caught him daydreaming about long silken limbs and mysterious green eyes on more than one occasion and they had fun taking turns teasing him.
“So I suppose we won’t see you for several more days now,” Dethan said as he pushed back from the table and stretched. They had been working the entire day, and for men of action, sitting for hours on end was never a preferred activity.
“No,” Jaykun said with a slow shake of his head. “She leaves tonight.”
His brothers exchanged looks across the table.
“So you needn’t fear me losing sight of my purpose,” he barked out further. “I know that’s what you’ve been thinking behind my back.”
“Not at all,” Garrett denied. “We would never begrudge you any happiness. There is no law in this that says you cannot have a woman by your side. It’s just that …
Well, war camps are not safe places. You would not want your woman to follow the camp.
That means leaving her behind for all but the winter months. It is an untenable situation and we—”
“Stop. It doesn’t matter. She will be gone, and that’s that,” Jaykun said, holding up a hand to fend off any further words from his brothers.
“It doesn’t have to be. If you care for the girl—”
“I feel nothing for her,” Jaykun said harshly. “We have enjoyed our time together and that is the end of it.” He stood up and pushed away from the table and the eyes of his brothers. He turned and walked out of the room, his gait swift and determined.
No, he told himself, he felt nothing for the girl. She was delightful, yes, pleasurable to be sure. But there were no actual feelings to be had. After three days? That was a ridiculous concept. People did not form attachments over three days’ time.
Or at least they shouldn’t. He had fallen in love with Casiria on sight.
He had known nothing about her and yet fancied himself in love immediately.
It was pure proof that he had been both young and foolish.
Only the young made such fantasies in their minds.
The young, who had no experience in the ways of the world.
Jaykun had faced many hard truths since then.
No. Wait. It was wrong to say he felt nothing for her. Of course he felt something. She was an incredible woman with a wonderful personality. Beyond the sex, she had always been a delight, with bright humor and gentle wisdom. To say he was untouched by her was a lie.
But she must go, he told himself sternly. She was too much of a distraction. He would get nothing done if she remained close by.
And yet … these past hours had proven that she would not escape his thoughts so quickly.
His mind had turned to her again and again.
Who was to say that distraction would stop just because she was gone?
Perhaps … perhaps he needed her to stay a short while longer.
Long enough for him to work her free of his system.
Surely he would grow bored of her after a while.
The passion would run its course and that would be the end of it.
If she left so soon, it was possible he would simply find himself obsessing about that which was gone.
No. He was in control of this, in control of his thoughts and desires. He was …
He thought back to the way she had been just hours earlier, lying in his bed with her hands on her own body, filling his head and body with fast, searing heat.
Who was he kidding, he thought painfully.
She was under his skin. Utterly and completely.
He had sworn no woman would ever be able to do so after Casiria, but here she was just the same.
He was not in love with her … No, there he drew the line.
He would never love another woman. But this woman was too uncommon to simply let her slide out of his life without at least trying to figure out how to manage these passions.
Either that or he should let her go, bear the brunt of whatever came to be, and move on with his life.
That was as unpalatable as the poisoned soup would have been. He did not want to think of it. But he should force it on himself. He should take the bitterness in and let this passion die.
Damn her and her wicked eyes, her bountiful body, her searing, passionate nature.
Damn her. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let her leave.
He looked at the sky through a nearby window and knew the evening meal was almost upon them.
He had to find her and speak to her before then.
He would ask her to stay. Just a few days more.
Just long enough to … to … to whatever. To figure this all out.
To work it through. Three days simply wasn’t enough time.
And now that he realized he was going to ask her to stay, he grew excited. His pace picked up as he headed for his rooms, hoping she was there. Yes. Just a few more days. That was all he needed.
He burst into his rooms and found her asleep in the bed.
Dead asleep. She didn’t even stir at his exuberant entrance.
It made him chuckle. For all of her seductive ways, she was just as worn out by their lovemaking as he was.
Perhaps it was because they had been trying to cram so much into so little time.
Perhaps with a relaxed atmosphere things would calm down and be quieter.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out to touch her bare back.
Her skin was cool, the days having grown steadily cooler and the nights following suit.
Winter would be upon them soon. Perhaps he could have her for the winter.
Just until he had to move his army onward.
Yes. That was a fine idea. Surely by the time winter was over he would have grown tired of her.
“Jileana,” he whispered into her ear. “Wake up.” He gave her a nudging shake. She made a complaining sound and weakly tried to push him away. “Come, now. It’s time for dinner and we must talk.”
She opened an eye then and looked at him. She groaned and rolled over, away from him. “No. Don’t wanna talk. Don’t wanna eat. Wanna sleep.”
“Come on. Up you go!” He reached out and smacked her backside hard.