12. Reina

Chapter twelve

Reina

I open my eyes, disoriented and tired. It's dark. Why am I awake?

Jasper groans behind me and shivers.

He's burning up, and while his warmth is nice against the cool sand, I know he has a fever. Is he sick? I look over my shoulder at him. There's a sheen of sweat on his forehead and his cheeks are tinged darker in the low light of our moons.

He's sick, and we're attached at the arm…

Not every sickness travels by air, but we learned more than enough about illness from Wolfsheim when they experienced their plague. Some can move right across the space between people and infect another.

Jasper moans again, his body shaking violently.

I have to get away from him.

No, more than that. I need to escape him.

I saw the look in his eyes when I asked how close we were. We're closer than he was letting on. Maybe there's something on this very island. With what he's taught me so far, and my growing magic, I can make it on my own.

Probably.

Fish for food, coconuts for water. I can do this.

I snake my arm between us and reach for the band of his pants. Bastard keeps the key in an interior pocket because he thinks I won't reach in there. Well, I'm not afraid to brush his penis to get my freedom. If it happens, it happens.

My fingers slip under his waistband, and I search for the key on the left side of his leg. It's easy to find, so I pull it free—thankfully without touching anything I don't want to.

Jasper's breathing speeds up, each exhale ending in a whine. My stomach tightens and I pause, considering trying to heal him. But he's in such a deep, distracted sleep, now might be my only chance. If he dies…

My people need me.

My rebellion needs their weapon.

I'm the only one who can defeat her.

My jaw hurts from how hard I'm clenching. I move slowly and silently as I stick the key in the manacle. It clicks and pops open. I watch Jasper carefully as I slide the manacle off. His brow is pinched and eyes winced shut. He's in real pain.

But it's not a pain I can do anything about.

With slow precision, I extricate myself from his hold and put his arm around a spare coconut. Jasper shivers as I pull away from him and something in my gut turns sour. It stabs at me, telling me I'm doing something bad, something horrific.

But it's just fear.

I've never been on my own, and I will be completely abandoned now. Bartering for travel, finding my way. That's going to be hard. But I will do it. My people need me.

I slide back through the sand and push the opening aside to leave.

"Rei," Jasper groans, and I look over my shoulder.

I shouldn't have.

He claws at the coconut and a second later, his eyes snap open. They glow white with pulses of opal color, but they're completely black beneath his magic.

I'm in danger.

Adrenaline surges through my body and I bolt. The sand makes it hard, but I pump my arms and legs as I dash for the trees. My muscles are sore and already burn, but I keep going.

" Ohksana'amai! " Jasper roars.

I don't know what he's saying, or what the language even is, but I know it can't be good.

Will I even escape him? He can smell my arousal, so he can most certainly smell my sweat and fear. There will be no hiding from him. Now that he's awake, there's no fleeing him.

Yet I can't stop. Terror propels me forward. What will happen if he catches me?

"Reina!" he snarls and there's something in his voice that's predatory yet lustful.

He's close, but I can't stop. I can't give in.

" It's ritual. It's purposeful. The chase," the wind to whispers.

What the hell was that?

I'm tackled from behind and yelp as I go down. But I don't hit the ground. Jasper turns as we fall, cradling my body against his as we collide with the sand.

I flail and struggle, but he promptly rolls me onto my belly, pinning me down.

"Ohksana'amai , " he breathes against my cheek before his tongue snakes out to taste my sweat.

The action sends heat surging through my body, tightening in my pelvis. It shouldn't. It can't . I won't let it.

"So sweet," he says, his voice a low, guttural thing. "All mine."

He grips my wrists in one hand as he rolls me over with the other. His eyes are completely black below the glow of his magic, and there's something untamed about the way he looks at me. But I know I'm safe with him. Some deep part of me knows Jasper would never hurt me. Can I trust that instinct?

Arousal makes my heart beat even faster. He slides one of his legs between mine and holds me still as he speaks in that foreign tongue. My fear abates at the worshipful nature of his voice, the way his gaze skates over my body and his hand caresses my side.

"Stop, Jasper. Please," I whisper. "I'm scared."

His face hovers over mine and he whispers in his strange language. It's soothing, loving even. He grips my chin gently and plants a gentle kiss on my jaw, uttering words that I can't understand while he moves up to my ear.

"Ohksana'amai , " he moans, then licks my pulse point.

Fire erupts in my pelvis and I grind against his leg. I don't want to feel this for him, but the sensation building between my thighs is too intoxicating. He coos, then sucks on my earlobe as he pushes me back into the sand.

"I can't understand you," I say, cursing my mother for not letting me study languages.

Jasper locks eyes with me as he slides down my body, releasing my hands. If I wanted to fight back, I could. I could throw sand in his eyes and worm away, then find a rock to beat him with.

But then Jasper's lips slide across my collar bone and my mind evaporates. Heat skitters down my spine and lights a blaze in me. All thoughts of escape are gone.

I don't want to escape this.

My hands fall to his shoulders as he kisses down my chest. He pulls the strings of my loose shirt and I watch, a small part of me screaming for him to stop, that I need to maintain my chastity for marriage, for crown and country.

But what's just one tit? Nothing. It's not my honor. And if it gets him to grow an affection for me, to learn to obey me, it's worth it.

Jasper whispers his sweet words as he pushes the shirt aside. His tongue coasts over his lips, wetting them with a glistening sheen before he moves in, planting a kiss beside my nipple. He whispers more secrets in the language I don't understand as he kisses between my breasts, but then moves lower, ignoring them.

I crave his touch there so badly, and he's denying me?

My fingers tangle in his dark curls and our eyes meet. He waits, watching me with the stillness of a predator. I pull on him, bringing him back to my pearled bud.

Jasper licks across his teeth, and that's when I see his fangs. He didn't have those before, but I don't care at this point. So long as he doesn't sever anything, I need his mouth on me.

He lets me guide him over my nipple, and then he smirks. He says more nonsense, and it sounds like a question.

"Please," I whisper.

This makes him grin. He opens his mouth and extends his tongue. I watch with shallow, hot breaths as he moves closer. A shock surges through me when he finally licks me and I lose my mind, moaning without meaning to. Jasper gives a satisfied groan and latches onto me.

His sharp teeth play against my skin so delicately as he sucks. My chest is a living flame, erratic and hot. I squirm against his leg, and he growls, grinding into me harder.

Jasper drags his tongue across my chest to my other nipple and shows it the same attention. When he's thoroughly claimed my breasts, he slides down farther, kissing my stomach through my shirt. My hands tangle in his hair and grope his shoulders. I don't know what else to do.

I know I shouldn't be doing this.

Jasper stole me from my home. He means to sell me.

But he's not selling me for money. He's not selling me for some vain, tangible prize as he's stated. He needs me.

Needs me.

He just won't tell me why.

And I'm beyond caring as his mouth connects with the soft skin of my hip. His fingers dig into the waistband of my pants and I moan affirmations and ascent. He pulls on my pants and I shift, helping him to remove them.

Jasper's eyes transfix on my center, looking at me hungrily as he discards my clothes in the sand. The world goes silent; lapping waves fade away and the night creatures drone into darkness as Jasper speaks again. " Euah oena. Euah noi'oe. A haanei ak au i ka, ohksana'amai. "

There's dark promise in every sound he makes.

And I want it all.

I nod, uncertain exactly what I've agreed to other than his lips on my overly sensitive body. He doesn't wait, forcing his face between my legs like a dying man seeking salvation. The touch of his lips, tongue, and sharp teeth against my most private area is so intense, I cry out.

Jasper doesn't stop, doesn't look up as he locks my legs over his back and pins my hips to the ground with his forearm. His other hand reaches up to pluck at my nipple as he feasts on me.

Pressure builds in my center, the same I've felt when seeing a particularly handsome knight, or hearing of my ladies encounters. But there's more to it with Jasper's touch. There's a fever that spreads through my body like a fire burning a field of wheat. It's fast, all-consuming, erasing me and creating me anew.

"Yes," I moan, my fingers tangling in his hair as I rotate my hips toward his mouth.

Jasper groans and attacks me with vigor, ratcheting the tension in my lower belly to new heights. This is like nothing I've ever experienced. The pressure, the pleasure. It's building to something so great, too great. I might come apart right here on the beach.

"Jasper, I'm—" I don't get to finish the thought.

Jasper's warm, calloused hand presses against my bare chest and pins me to the sand as he devours me. He's on his knees now, his other arm wrapped tight around my hips as he pulls me up onto his lap so he can feast. Opal light pierces through the black as he watches me.

What does he see?

My body glows blue with magic and my skin heats. Jasper responds, his arm transforming into two massive tentacles split at the elbow. I let out a surprised yelp and his eyes dart up to mine. My breath comes in heavy pants as I glance between his eyes and the tentacled arm sliding up my chest.

He covers my breast with one of the tentacles and the suckers lining the underside latch onto my nipple. I mumble-moan something that sounds like, "More," as I writhe under his attention and Jasper grants that wish. He wraps the other tentacle around my waist and hoists me harder against his face, devouring me.

Beyond Jasper is the black sky and the stars. It's just us.

"Ohksano'amai ," my mouth utters and I don't know why among the thousands of things I could've said, I whispered repeated nonsense.

Jasper pulls away, his dark stubble glistening with my arousal and his saliva.

He licks his lips. "Say it again."

The timbre of his voice sends a pulse of pleasure through my body, despite my core being cold and needy.

"I don't—"

"Again," he growls.

"Ohksano'amai . "

The opal glow in his eyes becomes blinding against the dark contrast of the night. I fall inside him as he returns to feasting on me.

Each thrash of his tongue has me whimpering. Every nip of his sharp teeth puts me in a spiral. I squirm in his punishing hold, digging my fingers in the sand as if I can hold onto the world that way.

"Jasper—I'm, I don't know what this is," I moan in both fear and pleasure. I'm not sure I'll survive what he's doing to me. It feels as if something is about to break. As if I'm about to break. And I'll spill my heart into the twinkling sky above us, lost to the stars forever.

The pressure in my core reaches a pinnacle and I suck down a deep breath. There's no escaping this. I'm at the edge of an abyss and I want to dive in. I want to disappear into the sensation Jasper is giving me.

Bliss erupts from my pelvis like a sun flare. The wave of it rolls up my body, and my muscles seize all at once. A carnal scream rips from my throat. My heels dig into Jasper's back as he continues to lap at my center, wringing me dry.

When the sensation becomes too much, I clamp my thighs around his head. He slows his affections, kissing my legs gently as he releases me back down to the sand.

The pulsing between my thighs thunders in time with my heart. It feels as if the gods are here with me. I stare at Jasper, not a single fucking thought in my head.

There's no rebellion. No horrific queen mother. No suffering.

There is only this. Only Jasper and what he can do to my body with his mouth.

Slowly, the black recedes from his eyes, revealing his dark brown irises and white sclera. He wipes his two pale tentacles over his chin, covering his mouth as he pants and looks down on me. There's horror in his unaltered eyes and it quickly banishes my euphoria.

"What is it?" I ask, propping myself up on my elbows.

He takes a deep breath, shaking his head. "You said…you called me…" He pauses and his arm transforms back into that of a man. He wipes his hand over his face. "Never mind."

Jasper gets up and walks over to my pants, then throws them to me. He doesn't say anything as he walks back to our makeshift shelter, leaving me with a cold truth.

That wasn't seduction. That wasn't me using his lust to overpower and escape him. That was me taking my own pleasure.

Oh, Zephrom.

What have I done?