Page 25 of The King’s Man (The Kingdom of the Krow #3)

~ DIADRE ~

I slept like the dead only to be nudged awake by a bladder ready to burst. For the first moments of consciousness, I smiled and stretched, my body languid and heated by a warm, heavenly scented cocoon. My pillow was the smooth cushion of a broad masculine chest and—

My eyes flew open and I gasped.

Jann startled as I jerked my head up off his shoulder, frantically wiping at his skin where I discovered I had drooled on him. I was mortified.

“Oh my god. I’m sorry. I’m so—”

Jann chuckled. “I’m just glad you slept,” he said in a delicious, rough rumble that made my belly clench.

But I couldn’t afford to clench anything. My bladder was ready to explode.

“Sorry. I’m sorry!” I hushed, pushing up when his wings unfurled, then blinking suddenly against the harsh sunlight bright enough to make the tent walls glow. He’d kept me blanketed in his wings all night, cutting out the dawn light so I’d slept late and…

And if I didn’t find a chamber pot quickly, I would embarrass myself a second time.

Shoving out of his arms—my chest pinching with grief at the loss of his warmth—I hurried to the chamber pot at the base of the bed.

Usually I’d leave the tent and use the cesspits, but this was an emergency.

My cheeks flamed and I kept my back to him, but I’d learned a long time ago that men were far less unconcerned about the functions of the body, and if I wanted to work with them effectively, I had to be willing to put aside my easy embarrassment and just get shit done.

No pun intended.

When I’d regathered my modesty and the shreds of dignity that still remained, I cleared my throat and turned to face him, praying it was still dim enough that he wouldn’t see the red in my cheeks.

“Good morning,” Jann said easily, his voice still gruff from sleep.

“Good morning.” I wasn’t avoiding his eyes, I had merely found what looked to be a point where my undershirt was thinning and might need a patch soon.

Suddenly uncertain what to do with myself and feeling that his patient attendance overnight needed some kind of acknowledgement, I went back to my side of the bed and sat down. But as soon as I did, Jann rolled off and walked to the chamber pot himself.

Facing me.

My eyes widened as he shamelessly untied the band of his underthings and let the side fall open to free himself.

I was a second too late averting my eyes.

The childish question that had lurked in the back of my mind about the Nephilim and their size and whether they were proportional was emphatically answered as Jann took himself in hand.

I snapped my head away, frowning at the tent wall and mentally casting projections about how bright the sunlight was and what time that likely meant it was.

Meanwhile, Jann merrily relieved himself, sighed happily, unconcerned by the fact that I was so close and could hear every sound. In the corner of my eye I saw his chin rise and felt his eyes land on me. I couldn’t see it, but I knew he smiled.

No chance he didn’t see the red in my cheeks now. He probably thought I was some simpering virgin, unaware of men’s bodies or—

“Did you sleep well, Diadre?” he asked quietly, that delicious ragged edge to his sleep-rough voice.

“I did, thank you for… um… keeping me safe.”

“It wasn’t a burden.”

“Well, I am grateful in any case,” I said quickly, then winced.

Why did I always regress to my childhood when I was embarrassed?

I sounded like one of those prim noblewomen who did everything formally and had probably never had an orgasm in their lives.

It was stupid and foolish, and cowardly.

I knew that. We were adults, and he’d been very sweet and caring, and not at all inappropriate.

I found myself… drawn to him. Taking a deep breath, I lifted my chin and turned to tell him so—only to be greeted by his broad, scarred back bending forward on the other side of the tent and his tight ass bare as a baby’s while he bent over to dig through clean clothing.

My eyes widened and my belly tingled at the sight of his heavy balls and the head of that trouser python dangling between his thick thighs—

Mortified, I slipped off the bed and turned to my own bag, kneeling to dig through and find my clothing for the day. My hands were shaking, but it was the first time in two days that it wasn’t from fear.

Dear god, what was wrong with me?

Nothing, I told myself. I had simply rested properly, and was finding my center again. Jann was a handsome and well-built man.

Soldiers saw each other naked all the time. It was unavoidable in the field, though I usually planned to bathe at different times from my men, so as not to be a distraction. Still, we were both officers and mature adults.

I could admire his form without making an ass of myself.

Though, speaking of asses—

“Are you hungry, Diadre?”

“Yes, actually,” I murmured as I let my sleep shirt fall over my own bare ass and pulled on my leathers underneath it, in case he’d turned as well.

“Thank you for your words last night. I feel… ready to face the challenges today,” I said genuinely, as I unbuttoned the shirt and let it drop, keeping my back to him without turning to face him, pretending I dressed and undressed in front of men who were not lovers every day.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

God, he sounded almost as formal as I did.

I had slept in his arms and drooled on the man. Pissed in front of him. And seen his, erm, spear. How was I going to face him and pretend nothing had happened?

As soon as I had my shirt buttoned, I turned as I shrugged on my jacket, but Jann was at a different chest now, buckling weapon straps and arming himself with the quick, efficient movements of a man who’d done it every day for decades.

I made sure to sheath more than one knife on my person, though something inside me still quivered at the thought of why I might need to draw a weapon in this place, then waited until he was ready.

When he finally turned from his weapons chest, it was to find me watching.

Our eyes locked and I sucked in a breath as my body froze.

His golden hair was messy, falling into his eyes. His cheeks darkened by stubble that glittered in the light, somehow making his jaw appear even sharper. But his eyes…

His eyes froze me in my tracks. Those pure, honey-colored eyes peering at me like a predator in the grass, framed in thick lashes and shadowed by heavy brows.

He’d stopped moving as well, his expression frozen somewhere between speaking and stunned. As our eyes locked, something snapped in my chest, a spear of electric need that shallowed my breath and made my hands twitch towards him.

Confused by my body’s reaction to him, but equally thrilled , I opened my mouth only to find I had no words.

While I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to say, Jann blinked and the moment was lost. As he turned toward the door and lifted a hand, beckoning me to go first, breathless disappointment tumbled like rocks bouncing down a hill from my ribs to my toes.

It surprised me. But I still didn’t understand what had happened, or know what words were needed, I blew out a breath and walked towards the tent flap, thanking him quietly as he held it open for me, then followed me through.

I had slept late. The sun was well up, and there was movement outside, and the rise and fall of voices all around us as we walked the trails towards the cook fires.

I shivered in the shadows of other Nephilim when they passed us on the trail, and didn’t miss that Jann stayed right at my back. None of the men we met even glanced in my direction, their eyes all going to him over my shoulder, or avoiding both of us.

I was shaky when we made it to the cookfires, but I felt much stronger than I had the day before.

“Well done,” Jann rumbled in my ear.

“Yes,” I murmured dryly. “Such an achievement to walk through camp without crying.”

“Celebrate every victory, Diadre. They make the losses easier to bear.”

I nodded as we joined the line waiting for food—I was beginning to understand that in a Nephilim camp there would always be a line for food.

But I was preoccupied because his body had brushed my back when he leaned in and goosebumps now washed down my side, raising the hair on my arms. I crossed them, though no one would see with my jacket on.

Jann was greeted by several of the men, some with the raucous enthusiasm of peers, others with the careful submission of inferiors.

He returned every greeting, and sparred with his peers, but never moved away from me.

The warmth and weight of him made a wall at my back that allowed me to breathe.

Instead of keeping my eyes down to talk myself through the fear, I was able to make careful examination of my surroundings.

Politically, these men were my allies. How we would balance that alongside their personal threat, I didn’t know.

But I couldn’t be of use to Yilan if I spent all my time shrinking from these men.

I had to form a new strategy. Find a way to walk among them that remained safe, but allowed me to observe.

Yilan and I were agreed—while these men could likely be trusted to fight for Melek and were critical to support his claim to the throne, they were not yet true allies to our people.

While we worked together for Melek’s crown, we must also uncover any of them who may have slipped through the clash and retained hidden motives, or simply be incapable of working for peace with the Shadekin.

When we made it to the head of the line, I dished myself a large plate. I’d eaten little the day before. Now, after a truly refreshing sleep, I needed to eat well and rebuild strength so I could safely walk the shadows if needed—or run.

That thought raised the hair on the back of my neck.