Chapter Twelve
I fumed the entire way to the King's private garden. We had a meeting of minds and bodies. He saw things my way. He understood. I gave him an amazing release, and then he just left. As if nothing of importance had happened.
It wasn't just our talk this morning that had made me believe Jucai was changing.
It was the way he behaved the night before.
I had expected some kind of protest to my withdrawal, followed by his leaving in a huff to use one of his bed slaves.
When instead, he had sat down beside me and sung me to sleep, all my doubts about him vanished.
Then he brought me gifts. Jucai must have gotten up early to prepare all that.
He'd had Bantar put away an entire wardrobe before I woke up.
A wardrobe! How did he have the time to commission a new wardrobe for me?
And why bother when I'd only be leaving?
But then he brought out that damn butt plug and tried to put it in me in front of Bantar.
I'd been furious until he made it seem sweet.
How did he make a butt plug and public sex into something romantic?
It was masterful. Still, I had talked him into seeing things my way.
It felt like a huge step forward for us, and a big win for me.
But then he had left as if it had meant nothing to him.
Bantar motioned me through an archway. “Here we are.”
Bantar remained in the corridor, guarding the passageway as I went into the garden.
As the lush beauty welcomed me into its peaceful embrace, my tension eased.
I was still angry, but I was also calm. Breathing in the scent of rosemary and roses focused me.
Mint grew in fluffy bundles beneath the trees, and wisteria covered an entire wall, its vines dripping with lavender blooms. It was the same garden Jucai had brought me to the day we met.
As I wandered through the winding paths, I realized that he'd chosen the garden with the precision of a hunter.
It was private but felt open—easing me into exhibitionism.
The lush plants calmed anxiety with their beauty and perfume, and no one would interrupt us there.
The King reserved the garden for himself and his guests.
Bantar had babbled on about what an honor it was for me to be allowed in it without the King present.
In short, I'd been his prey from the very beginning.
Which, granted, was only two days ago. Two days that felt like a lifetime.
I was grateful Jucai wasn't there yet. It gave me a chance to enjoy the beauty of the place without him distracting me.
It also gave me time to think. Veering away from the golden railing at the garden's edge, the place where we'd first been together, I found a bench half hidden by a tree laden with pink blossoms. Sitting there beneath the frothy overhang, I found myself at a loss.
This was not acceptable. No man had ever outmaneuvered or outwitted me.
Then I came to Kansu and met the Sea King.
For two days, we had challenged each other.
We had verbally battled and bantered. Over and over, I thought I had won our little skirmishes, gaining ground toward my goal, when all along, he'd been steering me in the opposite direction—toward his goal.
My mission was to establish an amicable relationship between our kingdoms. Upon meeting the Sea King, I added a personal mission of establishing an even more amicable relationship with Jucai.
It was supposed to be fun. Uncomplicated.
But the more I was around Jucai, the more complicated things got.
I thought I was manipulating him when I changed our arrangement from a casual, semi-faithful one to a genuine commitment.
I thought it would make him focus on me and give me influence over him.
But did I really need that? I could do my job without him fucking me alone.
No, it was Jucai who wanted monogamy. Ugh, I didn't even like the word.
“Oh, he's good,” I whispered.
I thought I was twisting him to suit my needs when he was twisting me to suit his.
I had gone from denying him oral sex to kneeling before him in two days.
From protesting his claim on me to agreeing to “receive” him.
Even worse, when he had walked away from me that morning, my first reaction should have been fury.
He had manipulated me into behaving like one of his slaves and then treated me like one, walking away as if I'd just performed a service and nothing more.
And I'd performed that service believing that I was manipulating him into keeping our intimate moments private. Ridiculous! Horror and fury should have been my initial reactions, but they weren’t.
When Jucai had left, my first instinct had been to chase after him.
I put my face into my hands in shame, heat suffusing my cheeks.
In the darkness of my humiliation, I analyzed things more critically.
I replayed everything in my mind, going over every detail of what had happened between us.
I had to know how Jucai had manipulated me so easily.
If I could only see how he did it, then maybe I could turn this around.
“Wait,” I whispered, eyes flicking behind my closed lids.
My mind had gone back to the night before.
Jucai had stayed with me throughout the night despite a lack of sex.
He had brought me new clothes in the morning, excited to see me in them.
When I turned down his erotic gift vehemently, he didn't throw a fit.
He asked me why I didn't want it. And he listened.
When we discussed it, Jucai had agreed to try things my way.
Had he done all of that just to manipulate me into behaving like a slave? Maybe not.
Jucai hadn't asked me to pleasure him, and I hadn't behaved like one of his slaves. I'd gone to my knees for our mutual delight, not to worship him. I'd done it to tease him into my way of thinking. And it had worked. Considering that, his sudden retreat made sense.
He had scared himself.
“Holy fuck,” I whispered. And then I smirked. “Maybe I'm winning after all.”
Jucai had indeed manipulated me, but not in the way I originally thought.
He'd made me unsure, made me question myself and my power over men.
But hadn't I done the same to him? And hadn't he given up more than I?
What had he won from me? A public hand-job?
Me on my knees, sucking his cock? So what?
The hand-job made him look weak, not me.
And as for the oral sex? Who hasn't gotten down on their knees to pleasure their lover?
I'd done it a thousand times before. It only bothered me with Jucai because of his slaves.
And maybe, because of them, I was more defensive around him than I'd been with past lovers.
“Gods damn it!” I raised my head and opened my eyes. “I'm so deep in this game that I can't tell who's winning.”
The sound of footsteps brought me to my feet. Round four was about to begin. Or was it three? Either way, the game was starting anew; the score wiped clean. It was time to face my opponent. If only I knew whether I wanted to continue the fight or concede the game.
I headed up the path toward the sound of footsteps. Rounding a corner, I put on a welcoming expression. But it wasn't Jucai who approached.
“Master, the King requests you join him in the throne room,” Bantar said.
“The throne room?” Then I frowned. “What did I say about using that word?”
“Sorry.” Bantar grimaced. “But it's urgent. The King is in a meeting and wants you there. Your guards are waiting for you outside. I wouldn't let them enter the King's garden.”
“A meeting?” I hurried out of the garden, Bantar bringing up the rear. Around the garden curves I went until I entered the corridor.
My knights nodded to me in greeting, but I didn't stop for them. I knew my way to the throne room from there. All I had to do was backtrack the route Jucai had brought me. As I ran, my guards rushed after me.
“Should I attend you?” Bantar hurried to catch up to me.
“No, go about your day, Bantar.”
“Yes, uh . . . thank you.”
When I got to the door Jucai had brought me through, I found it locked. “Damn it all!”
It must have been the King's private entrance. I hurried down the corridor and took a left. After another left, I saw two Gashi men guarding a familiar door. That was where I had entered the throne room with my escort.
At the door of the throne room, I paused and nodded at the guards.
Their presence was odd to me. On land, Dragon Kings were guarded by a group of Dragon knights called the King's Guard.
Every king had a King's Guard sworn to protect him.
They would die for their king. No one else could be trusted with the King's safety.
So, be it the throne room or the royal apartments, the men guarding the King were Dragons.
Always. But here, the Sea Dragons lazed about, eating and fucking all day.
Were there working Sea Dragons? Knights?
How did they get their wealth? Was it only from rent paid by their citizens?