“I can stay for four extra days. Then I have to return to prepare for my next mission.”
“I see.” His face twitched. “Very well. But you will return to Kansu, yes? There will be trade discussions which you will attend.”
Had my heart stopped? Or maybe I had gone numb. I couldn't remember why I wanted to leave Kansu. Oh, yes, it was because I didn't want a long-term lover, especially not an underwater one. I had to leave. But did that mean we couldn't be together when I visited in the future?
“Yes, I'll return, I'm sure. If you wish, we can always reestablish our agreement while I'm there.”
The Sea King went still, his gaze intense, and then he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. When he eased back, he brushed our lips together. “You will return often.”
I flicked my tongue over his lips. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Chapter Eighteen
You will return often.
They were simple words, commanding words. So, why did they affect me so much?
Because Jucai had said those words, and he'd said them with a plea in his tone. Jucai, the King of Ilshi, with his two harems full of slaves who would fulfill any desire he had. The Sea King who killed monsters and loved oranges. The man who had lain beside me and sang to me when he thought I was unwell. Jucai, the arrogant bastard who also comforted his slaves. The man who'd been asleep for longer than I'd been alive and had come awake with an insatiable hunger.
Except by me.
There it was. This man, who could have anything and anyone, wanted me. He wanted me enough to give up his bed slaves. Even knowing that I couldn't always give him what he needed, when he needed it, he still chose me. I wasn't what he needed. I was what he wanted. I was the man he raged in jealousy over and demanded more of. And that was intoxicating.
As I rode in a royal carriage to the Hall of Talons with Jucai the next morning, I set my gaze out the window. I couldn't look at him. It was too fresh. I had crossed a line with him that Iswore never to cross. I'd gone too far. He'd taken me too far after only three days. And I didn't want to go back.
Jucai's salty cinnamon scent tickled my nose. Salt makes everything taste better, and now it makes everything smell better. If I looked at him, I'd fall to my knees and beg him to take me back to the sea and never let me surface again.
Absolute insanity.
“I will speak to the sailors with you,” Jucai said.
I jerked my gaze to him. “I don't advise that, Your Majesty. I will get more out of them without you there.”
“I disagree. My presence will either scare them or make them nervous. Either way, they will be more likely to tell the truth.”
I leaned back and considered this. “All right. Let me go in first and see how much I can get from them. Then you can join me.”
“Agreed.”
I looked out the window again. “We are nearly there.”
“Come here.”
Oh, fuck. All right, be strong. I looked at him without falling to my knees. I can do this. Act casual. You are unaffected by his absurd beauty.
“What?” I turned back to him.
“I said, 'Come here.'” He held out a hand.
“We don't have time for anything.”
Jucai raised his eyebrows. “You assume I want sex?”
“Don't you?”
“I had you in the garden and then three times during the night. I am content for now.”
The memory of straddling Jucai on that garden bench flooded my mind. Naked from the waist down, I had ridden him hard, sealing our agreement. With the boughs of the orange tree hanging low to hide us, it felt like a secret world with two inhabitants. The scent of oranges would forever remind me of him and that moment.
