He thrust into her grasping body, listening to her pleasure ramp upward in the air around them. He staved off his need to come until she threw back her head, throat arching up toward him, and shouted in exultation. He surged into her once again and let blinding pleasure sweep through him. He came hard and fast, the clutch of her body around him more than any sane man could bear.
Gasping for breath, he collapsed upon her body, too weak with release to give a care to his weight against her. She was sturdy enough, he thought dazedly. She could bear up until he got his legs under him once more.
Still, after a moment he rolled onto his back and then stared at the colorful bed curtains where they attached to the ceiling as he felt her snuggle up against his body under his right arm. He was growing cold quickly and concerned she was as well. He used the last of his energy to draw the covers up over them before he did something he never, ever did…He fell asleep within trusting reach of a total stranger.
Jaykun awoke to a sudden weight against his chest. His eyes flew open to see the point of a bladed weapon trembling just beyond the ends of his lashes. On the other end of the weapon was a woman. The only things keeping that blade from penetrating his eye and entering his brain were the strong hands of the other woman lying against his body.
Jileana shoved the woman back with all of her strength, her lithe body coming up off the bed in the same movement. The woman, a total stranger but clearly from Kriza, went sprawling back onto the floor. Jileana was on her like a flash, her naked body straddling the other woman, her hands never losing control of the attacker’s dagger hand. With sure and amazing strength, she turned the dagger onto the Krizan woman and plunged it hard into her chest before Jaykun could even get to his feet.
“Low beast,” the Krizan woman gurgled out. “Vile thing. You will die.” Then she spit blood into Jileana’s face before taking a last shuddering breath.
“Good gods,” Jaykun gusted out, his eyes wide as he absorbed the enormity of what Jileana had just done for him. His heart was pounding in his chest as he watched her wipe the blood off her face and get to her feet. And somehow, inexplicably, he thought he’d never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. It was possible it was the adrenaline and gratitude of the moment, but he didn’t think so. She was a sight to behold, standing naked over her kill.
“I…th-thank you,” he managed to say, if somewhat shakily.
“I’m sorry it came so close,” she said with a sigh. “I normally don’t sleep that soundly.”
“Me either,” Jaykun said, his awe still present in his tone. “Never.”
It was true. He should have heard the woman the moment she entered the room. He was in what was easily hostile territory and should have been sleeping with one eye open.
“My brothers!” The thought hit him like lightning. He jerked his pants into place as he ran from the room. It stood to reason that if Krizans were going to make an attempt on his life, they would do the same to his brothers. He burst into the common dining hall on his way to his brothers’ rooms and pulled up short when he saw them both sitting there, calmly breaking their fast. Two sets of eyes that matched his own went wide at his wild entrance.
“Good morning, brother,” Dethan said, looking a little bemused.
“Y-you’re both…What are you eating?” he demanded of them. Poison. It could be poison.
“Some fruits…meats…as you see.”
“There was an assassin in my chambers just now. How do you know that isn’t befouled?” Jaykun demanded of them.
Alarm crossed his siblings’ features.
“An assassin?” Garreth demanded. “Worry not about the food. We aren’t foolish. Our own cook provided the meal.”
“Thank the gods,” Jaykun said on a relieved exhalation. “Thank the gods.”
“Jaykun, where is the assass—” Dethan broke off, his eyes going wide once more as Jileana entered the dining hall wearing nothing more than Jaykun’s tunic. That she wasn’t Krizan was immediately obvious to his brother, and but while she might look completely harmless and unarmed, Jaykun had just claimed there had been a killer in his rooms. Dethan surged to his feet as if to cut her off before she reached Jaykun’s exposed back.
“No. It’s all right,” Jaykun said quickly once he realized to where Dethan’s attention had gone. “It wasn’t her. She’s…she…umm…she stopped the attack. She killed the assassin.”
Shocked once again and for the third time in as many minutes, Dethan eyed Jileana. The idea of her going up against a dangerous killer had to be ludicrous to an outsider.
“Was it a Krizan assassin?” Garreth asked, as doubtful as Dethan felt.
“A Krizan woman,” Jaykun informed.
Both brothers eyed Jileana skeptically once more. She smiled at them and waved, completely baffling them.
“Hi. I’m Jileana. I’m not an assassin. I’m just having a sexual exchange with Jaykun.”
Garreth choked and Dethan grinned.
“Is that so? And you are…?” Dethan said leadingly.
“Hoping to repeat the process,” she said brightly.
Garreth choked again and began coughing over his laughter.
“Jileana,” Jaykun said, determined not to blush like a young boy caught doing something wrong…even though that was exactly what he felt like. “These are my brothers, Dethan,” he said, indicating the larger of the two, “and Garreth.”
“You are much smaller than your brothers,” she observed of Garreth.
“Yes, I am,” Garreth said with a grin.
“Your brother Jaykun is very large,” she observed again. “He also has an excellent skill in all I have needed him for thus far. I imagine you are both equally skilled individuals. Although, I should warn you now that I am not interested in sexual congress with either of you. Not that you should be insulted. You are both fine-looking warriors. But I would prefer to remain with Jaykun as far as that is concerned. I’m hungry. May I have some fruit?”
All three brothers were gaping at her so she picked up a piece of fruit and pointed to it, repeating very carefully, “May I have this?”
Dethan snapped out of his disbelief first. “O-of course,” he said.
“Thank you.” She went to the table, sat down just to the side of where Garreth had been eating, crossed her legs, and began to peel her fruit. “I don’t consider this our one meal, Jaykun,” she said, reminding him of their bargain. “I am thinking the midday meal is the one you are required to attend. It will be easier and less rushed than the evening meal.”
“Less rushed?” Garreth asked as he picked up his cup.
“Yes. Before he has to burn like a star.”
Unfortunately, Garreth was drinking at the moment she said this, so he sputtered and coughed. “She knows about that?” he wheezed, looking around the room hastily to see who was there to overhear her. The room was empty of all save the four of them.
“Well, of course. I’ve watched him these past four nights.”
“Of course,” Dethan said. Clearly he was disturbed that she had this intimate information about his brother. “Midday meal?” he asked, arching a brow at Jaykun.
Jaykun had not prepared himself to answer his brothers’ questions about Jileana. In fact, some part of his brain had thought he could keep them completely ignorant of her existence. Now he saw just how foolish that idea had been…even more so now that she was standing there in front of them.
“Jileana is visiting the city for three days. I told her I would have a meal with her once every day while she visited.”
Dethan frowned at that. “Jaykun, we have a great deal to accomplish before winter sets in. Garreth and I return to our wives soon and you need to have the harbor secured for the winter.”
“I know what my responsibilities are,” Jaykun snapped. “But it just so happens that eating is one of those things I will be doing regardless of the constraints on my time, so I don’t foresee it interfering.”
Jaykun had changed his tone in
such a way that the brothers knew arguing further would risk his wrath—something neither of them welcomed and both had learned to avoid. The truth of it was that Jaykun was more than capable of seeing to his responsibilities and didn’t need his brothers making attempts to corral him, even if Dethan was the eldest of the three and by right of birth seemed to think he had the management of his brothers as his responsibility.
Dethan was concerned. Women, whatever their use or function, were a distraction and a potential powder keg. He should know. He was at present tightly entwined around the finger of a beautiful, good-hearted woman whom he had only intended to marry as a means of getting himself a kingdom and an army. He had given up his immortality for her, now had three children by her, and couldn’t imagine living a day on this planet without her. It was hard enough being required to campaign away from her in the summer months, but he knew he could have a much worse fate.
He could have Jaykun’s fate. Jaykun now carried the burden of the brothers’ pact with the goddess Weysa. She had forgiven Dethan and Garreth of that duty, save for the summer months in Dethan’s case. Garreth was simply there to assist them as needed as he fulfilled his own agenda for the god of love, Mordu, who required Garreth to open temples in his name and garner him followers just as Garreth’s brothers were doing for Weysa. Weysa had made way for the two brothers, but it was clear she would not be so forgiving a third time. No, their only hope for rescuing Maxum—their fourth brother—from unending torment was Jaykun. If Jaykun performed well, he might earn a boon from the gods. Or if they covered enough of the planet, listening to tales of the gods, maybe they could find Maxum themselves, just as they had found the Fount of Immortality that had started all of this—the fountain from which they drank and subsequently earned the wrath of the gods for their presumption.
So the complication of another woman in their midst was most unwelcome. In fact, it was quite dangerous. They could do nothing to anger the mercurial Weysa…and Jaykun dividing his attentions might do exactly that.
“She is but a woman to warm my bed,” Jaykun muttered. “Or would you deny me even that pleasure?” he asked of Dethan.
“No. Of course not,” Dethan said, his chest growing tight in empathy. His brother suffered so much. If this woman gave Jaykun even a moment’s solace, Dethan could not deny him that. Still, Dethan couldn’t keep his tongue from saying, “As long as that is all it is.”
“For the love of the gods!” Jaykun burst out angrily. “I’m not going to marry the girl! And so what if I did? I know my duty and where it lies. I know the responsibility that weighs on me! My back is breaking from the weight of it!”
Jaykun turned and stormed back to his bedroom, leaving Jileana alone with his brothers. Completely unfazed, she was enthusiastically eating food from the display in front of her. Dethan and Garreth could only watch with bemusement as she gathered food to her and stuffed it into her mouth. She made pleasured sounds and clearly took an almost erotic satisfaction in the food…if her moans of delight were anything to judge by.
“Food is so delicious, don’t you think?” she asked them. “I don’t get to eat these kinds of things where I’m from. I especially like the fruit.”
“You don’t look like you’re starving,” Dethan observed. Although she was eating like a starving woman, she had a full, healthy shape.
“Oh no, of course not. I get plenty to eat. I only meant the kinds of food I eat are very different. You eat such a variety of foods. It’s very nice. If you’re not going to eat that…?” she said, pointing to the toast by Dethan’s wrist.
“Oh. Help yourself,” he said, handing it to her.
“It’s crunchy,” she noted after taking a curious nibble of it. “Is it fresh?”
“It’s toast. We hold it over the fire to make it crunchy on purpose,” Dethan said. He gave her a quizzical look. “Haven’t you ever had toast before?”
“Never! How fascinating! You simply apply heat to it and it tastes different.”
“That’s true of most food,” Garreth pointed out with amusement.
“We don’t use fire to cook food where I am from. We prefer our food fresh and unmolested. But I like this just fine. My brother told me about cooking and I didn’t believe him, but now I see we really must start cooking where I come from…if it is at all possible.”
“And where is it you come from that they don’t cook their food?” Dethan asked.
“It’s not far…and yet it is.”
“That isn’t an answer,” Dethan said.
“Isn’t it? You asked a question and I replied. Thusly, it is an answer.”
“Yes, but that isn’t a real answer!”
“Well, it isn’t a fake one,” Jileana countered.
“Stop it this instant!” Jaykun said sharply as he reentered the room. He was fully clothed, looking tall and strong and confident as he tugged on a pair of gloves. He was dressed in a black tunic with seams of gold, the emblem of their family crest emblazoned across his chest. It was the image of four serpents coming together from four different corners of the crest, their heads making up the four sides of a square. Each serpent was of a different color and design.
“We weren’t doing anything,” Dethan protested.
“You were grilling her for information. She is my guest, not a prisoner or a potential source of information.” Jaykun reached out a hand toward Jileana. She took it eagerly, and after pausing to stuff another piece of toast into her mouth and grabbing up one of the fruits, she let him guide her down from the table. “My lady, I believe I promised you an outing.”
“Did you?” she asked through a mouthful of food.
“For clothing,” he reminded her.
“Oh! You don’t have to do that. I’m fine with this—or I can go without it.”
Jaykun felt the stares of his brothers as he turned his back on them. “No. That is not wise,” he said to Jileana. He was still angry with his brothers, but in spite of it, her openness and innocence made him smile gently at her. She honestly saw no trouble in the idea of running around naked. If this were true of all of her people, he didn’t imagine they would be hard to defeat in battle…not if they went into the battle stark naked and unprotected.
“I think it would be much better if you had clothing,” he said with a careful smile.
“If you think so,” she said, her enthusiasm for his input amusing. “I shall defer to your judgment on this.”
“Very well, let’s go shopping. I am told that it is a favored pastime for most women.”
“Well, if it is a favored pastime for most of your women, then I most certainly have to take part in it,” Jileana said eagerly.
Jaykun held out his arm and she took it. In her excitement, she squeezed him. It was like that the entire time they walked from the castle to the middle of the city, where there was a great bazaar in place. The bazaar was busy overall, but almost all the vendors were severely lacking in selections. The siege on the city had taken a massive toll on the businesses. But now that the siege was over, things should return to normal.
As it was, Jaykun did not venture out to the bazaar without an armed escort. He was of course not worried for himself, but Jileana was a stranger to these people just as much as he was and they might mistake her for a member of the invading forces, which might put her in danger. He would not have her harmed. The very idea of it turned his stomach sour. He told himself it was a concern he would feel for anyone he deemed vulnerable, but in truth, the feeling ran a bit deeper than that. He didn’t know why and he didn’t care to acknowledge or examine it.
So they were accompanied by guards as they walked through the bazaar. It seemed the only vendors who had not been too greatly affected by the war were the clothing and household goods vendors. They had their wares on ready display, the vendors themselves tidying up in the aftermath of the war. The booth Jaykun and Jileana approached was manned by a Krizan woman and her two small children. The children took one look at Jaykun and went darting behind
the protection of their mother’s skirts.
“Will you service us?” Jaykun asked directly. “This woman needs clothing.”
The Krizan woman took one look at Jileana and her already large eyes went wide. “B-but sh-she’s…” the woman stammered.
“Will you service us?” Jaykun demanded. “I have gold and I know the business in this city has suffered. Are you so rich that you can afford to be prejudiced against us?”
“No, my lord,” she said at last, turning her attention on him. “I-I will give you whatever you need. Th-thank you, my lord, for choosing my shop. I-I need to feed my children and we have had so little to eat since the siege began.”
“I am sorry you have gone hungry,” he said sincerely. “But that is over with now. The battle is over, and you and your people will be treated as fairly as you treat us in return.”
“Yes, my lord,” she said with a weak smile. “That is much appreciated. Now…how can I help the young w-woman?”
“Whatever the latest in fashion is for a Krizan woman should be fine.”
“Oh, I like this!” Jileana said suddenly, dashing over to a mannequin with a dress of orange silk crepe on it. She fondled the fabric. “Oh! It feels so nice!”
“That is silk, my lady. The finest there is,” the shopkeeper said with a wan smile. She cautiously approached Jileana, her eyes shifting back to Jaykun often as she moved. It was to be expected, this kind of fear. He was one of the conquerors, after all. They had no idea what to expect from him. The one thing in his favor was that he had not allowed his men to pillage the city, stripping it of every valuable thing they could find. He paid his men well enough in gold and gave them opportunities to fight. He saw no purpose in raping a village once he conquered it. It would take much longer to get it back on its feet if he allowed that to happen. Besides, a slaughter of women and children and other nonmilitant types did no one any good.