20. Reina

Chapter twenty

Reina

J asper slept in front of the door of the Captain's room all night. Blocking it from intruders, he said. But he'd warded the doorway and the window after we'd bathed, so I know that wasn't the reason. He's trying to distance himself from me.

It was the first night in a week that I didn't sleep with my back curled against his chest. The bed felt too big, too cold, and I felt like a stupid, petulant child missing her favorite toy. Except he's more than just a toy, or a security blanket.

But I'm not going to examine that thought right now because I'm still angry with him.

I walk beside him, manacles clapped on my wrists to keep up the charade that I'm some prisoner for transfer in Illya. Only Captain Alejandra knows the truth, but who knows what might happen out on the sea?

"Maybe this is just an elaborate ruse to get us on the boat, and then they're going to sail right up to the Fynren harbor and deposit me into my mother's waiting arms, and you straight to the hanging noose," I say as we walk down the harbor to the rowboats.

"That won't happen," he says, tightening his grip on my upper arm like he's worried it might. "I know which way Illya is. If I get even a hint that we're off course, I'll throw us into the sea before Alejandra could shout an order."

"And then what? We swim to Illya?" I ask.

"If we must," Jasper says, his patience for me apparently quite thin today. Maybe he shouldn't have slept in a chair leaned against the door.

My attempt to seduce him last night was completely ineffectual, and it made me realize just how na?ve I am about such things. I know he's attracted to me, at least enough to stick his head between my legs. But I need him to be more invested than that. I need him to need me so much that once whatever this is , is through, I can get his help with the queen.

"What if Alejandra has you killed in your sleep?" I ask.

"If she were going to kill me, she would've done it last night and thrown my body to the eksteinvas to hide the evidence."

I shrug. "Just as easy to throw your corpse overboard in predator-infested waters."

"It's starting to sound like you're plotting."

"No, I'm too curious. I can't be rid of you until I know what this is all about."

He snorts.

The sailors are packing up the last of the gear on the docks, sending the final rowboats to the main vessels. The sky is crisp and blue, making it look like the ships are floating in an endless, azure abyss. Nothing about it makes me feel peaceful, though.

"Do you promise to tell me—"

"Enough, Rei," Jasper says, pulling me up short before we're in earshot of the rowboat. "We are to be quiet and invisible on this trip. Do not talk to the crew. Do not talk to Alejandra. It would be best if you didn't talk to me, either."

His dark eyes hold no hint of warmth, or sympathy. He's the scared, angry man again. The one who threatened to make things worse for me. It shouldn't, but it makes my chest ache with an emptiness I didn't realize I could feel.

I want to say something witty, or sting him back, but my throat is so hot and tight, I couldn't speak if I wanted to. I rip my arm out of his grasp and continue down the port to the boat. One of Alejandra's men helps me in, and I take a seat on the bench next to the captain.

She must've heard Jasper, because Alejandra doesn't speak to either one of us on the way to the ship. She doesn't speak to us as she orders the crew weigh anchor and unfurl the sails. I stand on the deck, gazing out over the sparkling blue water, looking one last time at the city carved from black lava glass. I could've died up there if not for Jasper.

But he's being a complete prick to me now, so fuck him.

The salty wind carries us out of the port, and the Sea Snake waves off the Golden Doubloon as we part ways, one heading south, the other north. Captain Alejandra shouts commands all over the helm and deck for the first hour, but once the island is shrinking in the distance, she retires to her cabin.

"Let's go below," Jasper says behind me.

"Why?" I ask, not turning to look at him. I can't stand the thought of those cold, dark eyes.

"We'll get you settled."

"I'm quite happy here."

The boat rocks against a wave and sea spray hits my face. It cools the fire burning under my skin and the roar of the wave drowns out the replay of his words in my ears.

"We should—"

I glance over my shoulder. "I thought we weren't supposed to talk to one another."

A muscle feathers in his jaw as he glares at me. "I'm just trying to make this easier on us."

I scoff and turn back to watch the sea.

He walks away and part of me feels victorious, while another part pines indignantly. His footsteps return a moment later and he wraps his arms around my waist from behind.

I whirl toward him. "What are you—"

"If you're going to keep standing here all day, you have to wear a lifeline. That's not a request." His face is pinched tightly in frustration as he works the knot.

I follow the trail of the rope over to the mast. "What if someone trips on it?"

"No one is going to trip on it unless you pull it taut right under them," he says, meeting my gaze as he manipulates the rope. "Which I wouldn't put past you…"

I roll my eyes. "I'm not going to be a wretch to someone I don't even know."

He grunts in a way that makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

"You stole me and put me in chains on a slave boat," I whisper. "I knew enough about you to be a wretch. It was deserved ."

He looks up from his hands and I swear he's purposefully taking his time with the knot. "I'm not saying it wasn't."

"Then what was that… noise ," I say, not wanting to use a word that might make him smirk.

"Just a noise." He smirks anyway, making my blood boil. "I think you're reading into things."

"And I think we've talked enough for the whole trip," I snap.

His eyebrow ticks and he sighs as he finishes the knot. "There, now you won't be able to escape."

I scoff. "You know I can't swim, and with these"—I hold up my chained wrists—"I'm as good as dead in twenty seconds."

His face becomes unreadably placid. "I've seen death as your preferred method of escape before. Why couldn't it be again?"

Because now I have more things to live for. Now I have the possibility of an alliance with selkies. Overthrowing the queen and taking back the kingdom seems closer to reality with that future in mind, and I won't jeopardize it.

I give him a tight-lipped smile. "I guess you'll just have to watch me then, won't you? I've got enough slack in this rope to wrap it around my neck before I throw myself over. The drop might not be far enough to snap my spine, but maybe I'll choke faster than you can get to me."

He scowls down at the rope, then glares up at me. His eyes shine with opal light and he leans into me. My breath catches in my chest as I watch him react and show me just how much he's been hiding all morning.

His hands tighten on my waist and his body crowds mine against the taffrail. He gets so close I have to turn my face away. My heart is hammering behind my breast, and I snap my mouth shut to keep from panting. When his lips brush the tip of my ear, I have to swallow back a whimper.

"I will tie you up in the hold for the rest of the journey if you make another threat like that. Test me, Reina, and I will show you the lengths I'll go to keep you safe, even from yourself."

The possessive, absolutely animalistic rumble of his voice makes me shiver, and this is the reaction I want. This is him needing me.

I turn my head so we're cheek to cheek. "Is this that specific depravity for chained-up princesses on their knees and begging?"

Something flexes against my hip, and I realize that both of Jasper's hands are still on my waist.

"You forgot bratty ," he growls. "And you certainly are fitting the bill right now."

The way he says the word makes me want to act up, to brat more. "Well, if you tie me up in the hold, you'll have to watch me there, too. There'll be sailors down there frequently. Who knows what lengths I'll go to escape you?"

His erection bulks against my hip harder and he laughs deep in his throat. One of his hands snakes up my back, sending shivers through my spine and down my legs. He grips the nape of my neck and presses his lips against my temple as he whispers, "You like testing me, don't you?"

My eyes fall shut at the tenor of his voice.

This is exactly where I want him.

"Yes," I whisper.

He curses softly. "You enjoy the manacles on your wrists, being curled into my side, tied to me?"

Do I like it? I hadn't thought about how easy life has been since he abducted me. Hard, but simpler. And as for being curled against him, his hand tucked around my waist and his soft breath on my neck. It was…

I don't let myself think on it.

"You like being chased and hunted?" He doesn't wait for my response because I think he knows it. I think I know it, too. "You like being owned by me, Ohksana'amai?"

A tremble rolls down my body at the word and that deep chest ache of yearning throbs a little harder. But I need to keep him where I want him, not get caught up in it, too.

And I'm a brat.

I graze his earlobe with my teeth, and he hisses in a sharp breath. He swells impossibly bigger against my side, sending heat cascading through my body from the spot. I can't help it when my mouth waters at the thought of being on my knees, tied and begging before him.

"I would rather be eaten alive by the Voice of the Abyss for all eternity than let you own me for even a minute."

His fingers knead the base of my skull. "You are so fucking ruthless."

"Guess who I learned it from?"

"I'm sure nearly twenty years at court taught you some tricks," he says, then takes a deep inhale through his nose and groans. "Like how to lie."

My heart thuds furiously in my chest as I try to resist falling under the spell we're weaving together.

"No lies here. My body is just a mutinous little traitor."

"I think we could help you come around," he says, planting a soft, open-mouthed kiss where my jaw meets my neck. I suck in a gasp and clamp down on a moan.

"Luvine!" Alejandra barks from somewhere on the deck and I jump in his grasp.

Jasper pulls back slowly, his hand sliding from the nape of my neck to my chin. He turns my face so that my eyes have nowhere to fall but on his own.

"You will not hurt yourself anymore, or I will give you a reminder of whose body this is—who it belongs to—one that you will not soon forget."

His threat has my center aching with the need to feel what he did to me that night on the beach under the stars. I don't know if that's what he's promising, but I hope it is.

He steps back, leaving me clenching my knees together just to abate the throbbing that refuses to back down. In a swift pull, he adjusts himself to obscure just how much I was affecting him, then turns toward Alejandra.

"What can I do for you, Captain?" he asks as he leaves me at the taffrail.

The sailors on deck are all still working, but it's obviously at half-pace because they were so distracted with what we were doing. I twist back around to the sea before anyone can see how red my face feels.

This is going to be a long couple of days.