29. Jasper

Chapter twenty-nine

Jasper

" I think that's enough, sunshine," I say after three hours of practice. Her magic is coming in tiny spurts now, and a sheen of sweat glistens on her forehead in the low light of the magus crystals that float on little leaf boats we made. If she's not careful, I'll be carrying her back to the tent.

Again.

Not that I mind. She practiced to the point of exhaustion the night before, and the night before that…and the night before that. She's taken to training like a sha'kara scenting blood in the water. For almost two weeks now she's practiced every night, and I've had the pleasure of watching her grow, and experiment. She's a wonder.

"One more try," she says, sloshing the water around her ankles as she resituates.

Relentless, just the way I love her.

She opens her hands to the ground beside her and splays her trembling fingers. Blue fire shoots from each fingertip, and then a wide circle from her palms. The force of her magic casts ripples through the water that reach me at the shore. Her arm muscles strain and bulge as she fights to keep them steady, and herself rigid.

She's got it in her mind that she can fly with her magic, or at least hover, and who am I to tell her otherwise? I want to see her soar.

Reina grits her teeth and curls her fingers, uniting the streams of magic into one powerful blast that sends the water splashing away from her. But then her left arm gives out. It bends at the elbow, making her fly sideways in a sudden burst. I leap through the river into her path, and she smashes into my chest with a yelp.

"I've got you," I say, holding her tight around the waist.

She pants heavily, going slack in my arms. "I know I can do it."

"I know you can, too. You just need to get a little stronger," I say, carrying us back to the sandy shore.

"I want to be stronger now ."

I chuckle. "You'll have to settle for soon ."

She blows out a heavy puff and finds her footing. I help her stand, though I don't want to let her go just yet.

"You don't have to chaperone me every time, you know," she says, leaning down to grab her water skein.

I smile. "But who'll carry you to bed every night?"

She rolls her eyes and holds the skein up, then shakes it a little when nothing comes out. I can't help but laugh again as I pass mine over. She takes it with a panted "Thank you" and then drinks it dry.

She closes her eyes and moans a little at the first drink. Warmth swells in my groin from the sound. I shamelessly watch her sweaty throat work and her chest heave with every swallow.

"How much longer until we reach Hammon?" she asks, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Another week or so. We're about to pass the final fork on our journey and only Anthony and Gizelle are heading the same route as us."

I'd taken time every night to speak a little with the other travelers, Anthony specifically. It's interesting to learn about them and what they do.

It's good to see the goodness in Ki'ah Ohn.

But all that talk was mainly for getting valuable information. The merchants going down our route know of Erik Vansen and his bid for a powerful wife. Some of the other Illyan island territories will be sending their strongest magi.

It seems that the unrest has grown since I was last here, and seeing someone with power able to fight off the Illyan royal navy not once, but three times…

It's making dissenters bold.

If I were the king and queen, I'd be sending my own assassins to this "royal" function under the guise of a marriage prospect. If that's the case, we may not end up with bloody hands after all.

I can only hope it will be that easy.

If Reina and I can focus on finding and freeing my people, that will be enough. I said I would save them, not avenge them. While I would love to sever the false king's head and carry it around on a pike for a few weeks to let everyone know what happens when you fuck with a selkie, what's most important is getting them out, and safe.

And home.

"I need more time than a week," she says once she's caught her breath.

I shake my head. "I've been keeping track of the days to the eclipse; it's soon after we arrive. We'll have a few days in town to get properly dressed and find forged paperwork, but then we'll be on our way."

She scowls at me. "Forged paperwork? I thought you were presenting me as I am?"

"I've had a change of heart," I say, picking up our magus lights. "I don't think it will be in our best interest."

"Why not? Won't it be the fastest way to get a private audience?"

Because I don't want you to have a private audience.

"I'm worried that the crown will be sending their own assassins to handle him. From the discussions I've had with the other merchants, it appears that's likely."

"And? What if they fail? We need to be certain."

I sigh. "We'll wait until the evening when he's properly drunk and his guards are weary."

She crosses her arms and takes on that defiant stance she gets. "If an attempt is made and fails, they'll take him to a safe location, warded and locked. We won't be able to get to him. We need to stick with our original plan."

"We don't need to kill him to free my people. If he's locked away safe with all his guards, that will mean my people are un guarded. It may even be better for us to be able to get them—"

"But you said you remember them being under some kind of spell. What if the king is the one in control of it? What if you have to kill him?"

I run a hand through my hair and walk past her as I pace.

She's not wrong. I remember the nets the metal-headed men used to capture my family. It rendered their magic inert, and then controlled them somehow. I don't have enough details to know what is generating that control.

I mutter a curse.

If only I'd been able to spy more effectively, but there were only so many places I could get to as an octopus and a dog, only so many whispered secrets I could hear.

Reina's warm hand lands on my back. "It's okay, Jasper. We can do this. Let's stick to the plan."

"But if there are other assassins…" I hiss in frustration.

"Maybe we can work with them."

"Or maybe you'll get caught in the crossfire." I grab her arms and hold her close, looking down into her wide eyes. Anger wells up in the pit of my stomach at the thought of her harmed, or worse. My heart thuds painfully as I think of a future without her in it. I couldn't bear it.

"Help me get stronger in the week that we have left. Help me push myself."

I snort. "You push yourself to the brink already."

She lifts her hand to my face and electricity tingles where she touches my cheek. "Then carry me back every night."

My arm slides around her back and the worry that had been turning my stomach flips until I'm craving her, craving everything that she is. Gods, she's perfect, even when she's throwing shoes at me.

"I can do that," I whisper as I draw her in closer.

My body is humming for her, my magic coming alive at her touch. It yearns to reach out and envelop her, mark her, and make her mine.

"Jasper." She says my name like plea.

"What is it, sunshine?"

"Are you going to stick your tongue down my throat?"

I grin, sliding my hand up to her mid-back. "Do you want me to?"

Her parted lips glisten in the light of the moons as she sucks in a wavering gasp. "Yes."

We hang in a silent contest for an instant before I grip the back of her neck and descend on her with hunger. Our lips meet and she moans, throwing her arms around my shoulders. Gentleness leaves my vocabulary as I press her into a desperate kiss, one born from weeks of unmet desire.

I'm pushing her back before I know what I'm doing. She hits a tree and her lips part in a groan, giving me the access I require. My tongue slides against hers and she keens. Her nails rake up my scalp and she grabs a fistful of my hair like I might try to escape her.

Never.

I grab her ass and pull her up. She opens her thighs and clamps them tightly around my waist as I rock her against the tree. The electricity between us has the air shimmering with our tangled magic, opal and blue cascading around us like hot ocean waves.

Her hips thrust into mine, and the pressure of her against my cock pulls a deep trill from my chest. Her hands are everywhere, grabbing and tugging like she can't get enough.

"I want you," she says as she pulls on the waistband of my pants.

I grab her wrists and realize I've half transformed, my hands gone, replaced by tentacles. I wrap one tightly around her arms and push them overhead, then wrap the other around the tree to secure her. She whimpers against my lips, nipping them like it might get her closer, get her more.

"Take my honor. It's yours," she begs.

"I want more than your honor," I growl, forcing my way to her neck.

She moans loudly as I suck on her pulse point. Her blood is thundering through her veins, hot and full of desire. I can almost taste the mating bond.

"What do you want?"

I bite and lick my way up to her ear. "Everything. I want all of you. Your mind, your spirit, your heart."

The air rushes out of her. "You want my heart?"

I pull back to see her face. She's flushed and has a curious look in her wide eyes.

"If I'm to be your husband, it will not be in name alone."

That curiosity transforms to horror in a blink and doubt floods my veins.

"Is that not what you want?" I ask.

"Love is dangerous," she whispers.

"Why?"

Her eyes glisten. "It makes us foolish."

My heart pauses, threatening to leap out and abandon me. If this is a test, I'm not sure what the right answer is, but I know what answer I can't live without.

"I'll be your fool."

I lean into her, and she stretches up to meet me. Our lips crash together in a mess of passion that restarts my pulse. No other thoughts breach my mind but of her, of wanting this.

Ohksana'amai .

I won't take her honor. Not now. Not until she loves me. But I'll make her scream until she's gasping for air. Until she's passed out in my arms once again.

My other arm slides under her and I push the tentacles between us. Her bare thigh is smooth and searing hot. My suckers pull at her skin as I make my way closer to her center, leaving my marks everywhere on her.

Finally, I slip through her undergarment and find her soaking. I wriggle the tip of my tentacle across the swollen bud I know will make her writhe. Reina arches her back and moans into my mouth. "More." I move faster for her, sliding up and down the length of her sex from opening to clit.

She grinds her hips into me and tugs on her arms. "Need to. Touch you," she whispers between ravenous kisses.

I press the tip of my tentacle inside her and she keens so loudly, I worry the other travelers can hear her. My other tentacle slides up beside the first and latches onto her sensitive little pearl. I work in and out, suckling on her in time with my thrusts.

"Gods, Jasper," she says with animalistic hunger as she throws her head back against the tree.

I dip my chin low and bite her nipple through her dress, sending her over the edge. My cock aches at the sound of her orgasm lighting up the night. I ease off her, slowly letting her come down.

Reina pulls on her arms again. "More," she begs. "I want you."

I grin and flick my tongue across her hard nipple. "So greedy, sunshine."

Suddenly, the skin of her arms flares hot under my grasp. I release her on instinct. She throws one arm around my back and pulls herself against me as the other dives for my waistband again. She forces her way under my clothes and grips my cock. She pumps me hard and feverishly, sending jolts of pleasure coursing up my spine and down my legs.

"More," she pleads again, and so I give her more.

I push my tentacle deeper inside her and bulk it, like closing a fist. It expands, hardening, and she cries out. I swallow the sounds and keep thrusting. Her fist tightens and spreads my arousal over my head. The pressure of her fingers is perfect for fucking myself against her into oblivion.

But not yet.

My suckers slip along the crests of her perfection and make her keen higher. "Again," I groan. "Come for me again."

Her legs constrict around my waist, and she sucks down a deep gasp to scream. I force a tentacle into her mouth to stifle the sound, and by the gods, she begins to suck. I grind my hips against her hand as the sensations of being inside her threaten to overwhelm me. Her tongue coasts along the ridges of one tentacle as her pussy clamps down on the other.

I press her into the tree, driving myself deeper into her hand and my tentacles farther into her heat. Her throat works as she chokes me down and I know I'm going to lose myself. Her palm is so slick and her grip so strong, fucking her fist feels like transcending to the afterlife.

I bury my face in her neck and try to hold on. I'm greedy, too, because I want more. I want to last. I want to watch her bounce on my cock and scream out her pleasure again and again. The image has my balls tightening against my body as my muscles tense.

"Reina—fuck—I'm coming."

I thrust against her and spill myself as I bite down on her neck. She moans and the vibrations along my tentacle shimmer down my arm and mirror the sensation in my cock. Euphoric haze washes away the world as I suck on her neck, fucking her hand with my dick and her pussy and mouth with my tentacles.

My mate.

Mine.

Ohksana'amai.