Page 37 of The King’s Man (The Kingdom of the Krow #3)

~ DIADRE ~

The bond was shocking. So tangible. Terrifying. And beautiful.

He towered over me, curling himself as if to shield me—when in truth, he was the one who needed protecting out here. But the thought barely appeared before it was gone, because when he touched me, my body came alive.

My nerves, my fear, my uncertainty all paled in the face of that onslaught of unity. The place in my chest that had suddenly, unequivocally become him.

I fought a war inside—the bond, the togetherness of it driving me closer. But my mind shrieked that there was so much about this man I didn’t yet know.

Awed and afraid, I stared up at him, overcome by formless emotions that tugged me in opposing directions.

Jann cupped my face with both of his huge hands, so tenderly, staring down at me like he was afraid I would bolt.

“No,” he rasped.

“No, what?” I whispered, startled.

“No. Be angry with me, Dee. Be irritated. Be furious… but never afraid. Never frightened. Never unsure. I am here. And I am yours. ”

The words hit me square in the chest, leaving me breathless. When he kissed me I was speechless, and succumbed.

The kiss was frantic, both of us clawing, shaking. I simultaneously wanted more, pressed my body against him and shook with nerves, hesitant—wary.

I felt him in my chest—a space that had been aching and paining me at times, now full and fluttering. But I caught myself stifling it—closing around it as I would to defend my mind. Only around my heart.

I knew it would cause him pain if I were to deny the bond now, so I eased in, giving in to my body that wanted nothing more than to be skin-to-skin, deepening the kiss and letting him steal my thoughts.

But I was trembling, and clung with my fingernails. And Jann noticed.

He broke the kiss, sucking in like he needed to come up for air—but then speaking against my lips, and teasing me with lips and tongue between thoughts.

“Diadre… I will not force myself on you—”

“I want you, Jann.”

“I want you with me, not afraid—”

“It’s all moving really fast, but I’m here. I’m in.”

“Are you certain?”

In response, I pulled him back into the kiss, giving him no room to pull away and second-guess, but he was too strong.

Once more, he lifted his head, gasping like he’d been running to fast, and met my eyes—his own dark as night, but blazing.

“You need to be certain,” he gasped. “Because if I give over to this bond, it will grip me, Dee. My soul was wounded… I’m afraid it will kill me if we don’t… if I give in and it doesn’t—”

“Jann?” I whispered.

“Yes?”

“Please shut up. I told you I want you—now you’re making me wonder if you truly want me.”

With a fierce growl that made me chuckle, he dove for my mouth and clawed at my shirt—awkward because we were tied together, so I couldn’t use two hands on his buttons while he fumbled with mine.

But the kiss got deeper and when he walked me backwards. I prayed he’d pin me against a tree and use those muscles of his to keep me up and—

I sucked in a breath, losing the kiss for a moment as the bond between us thrummed, swelling, driving my blood in my veins. I tipped my head back and Jann took the opportunity to kiss his way down my neck, leaving tingles in his wake wherever his lips met my skin.

But as I sank into that sensation and threw caution to the wind, Jann jerked his head up like he’d been slapped and stared down at me.

I looked around quickly—were we about to be interrupted? We were still hours from Jhonas and the troops, but it was possible he’d sent a scout who—”

“Yilan said you were bleeding!” Jann gasped.

I blinked. My cheeks flamed. I couldn’t believe she’d told him that!

Mortified, I dropped my face in my hands. Jann pulled my hands up, but he was being gentle and I fought him.

“It’s not like that,” I whined, embarrassed.

“Did I hurt you, Dee?”

I shook my head, my cheeks turning hot. “It’s nothing…

nothing serious. It can happen with anyone, even…

not as, erm, large as you,” I said into my palms, pleading with God to open the earth and swallow me up because I was never going to be able to meet his eyes again.

“It will heal without any intervention—” Oh God. How embarrassing.

“Dee…” he pried at my fingers, tried to pull my hands away from my face. “Dee, look at me.”

“I can’t.”

“You can. I’m your mate.”

When he said the word, something happened in my chest. I sucked in and my head snapped up of its own accord, as if the word were a summons I couldn’t deny.

Or didn’t want to.

Our eyes locked and he took my hands, twining fingers on the ones that were bound. “Never be embarrassed with me,” he growled. “You are the other half of my soul. Whatever you need, I need. Whatever is good for you, is good for me.”

I was stunned. How could this cocky, oafish, flirt suddenly speak my heart back to me?

But then the bond throbbed in my chest, and I gave a shaky, nervous laugh. “Well… okay.”

He arched one brow, but didn’t speak, just looked over my shoulder, his chest rising and falling quickly with his heavy breaths. “Is there water near here, safe for bathing?” he growled.

My cheeks flamed again. I’d always imagined visiting the pools in this forest with my husband… then always told myself not to be stupid. If I was ever here with a man who loved me, it was likely we were on a mission and…

I swallowed hard and nodded. “About half a mile that way,” I nodded in the direction—off the path—because he had my hand twined with his.

“Mineral pools. You can’t drink it, but it’s warm and good for your body— whoa!

” I shrieked as Jann leaned down and whipped me up into his chest, my arm bending oddly, but luckily the twist in the binding allowed our wrists to pivot against each other.

A moment later I was in his arms, held tightly against his chest as he plowed through the forest at a pace I thought had to be a run—until I realized, no. He had simply shortened his steps to walk with me when we walked together before.

Now, his long legs ate up the ground, and his jaw set, brows furrowed over his eyes.

“You tell me when to turn. We need to bathe and… soften your skin.”

His eyes cut down to me and the hint of a smile crept up on his beautiful mouth.

My belly fluttered, and I discarded any idea of being coy with him.

Instead, apart from the occasional whisper of a landmark to look for and directions, I wrapped my arm around his neck and made a study of tasting the skin on his neck and throat and under his jaw.

He was shaking by the time we broke into the small clearing where the steam of the mineral pools met the shifting mists.

The moment we were at it’s edge, he lowered me to my feet, then we set about undressing—a tricky undertaking with the binding.

By the end, we were both laughing, and he’d used a blade to cut the length of my sleeve because I couldn’t get the shirt off otherwise, and he didn’t want me stuck in wet clothes.

Then, when we were both naked, he whipped me up into his chest again and plowed into the water carrying me.

I shrieked when the splashes of his passage settled on my skin and chilled immediately in the cool air, but a moment later, he dropped, sinking us both below the surface, crouching and making himself my chair as he lowered us both into the warm water.

And the moment I sighed and turned my head to look at him, he kissed me again, and I stopped thinking.

With soft kisses, gentle stroking, and whispered words, Jann put me back on my feet, standing between his knees, and he began to bathe me, rubbing my skin under the water in a way that felt divine—and made my breath catch when his hand trailed up between my legs.

I’d been cupping my hand, pouring water over his shoulders and rubbing it to remove the salty sweat from his skin, but I froze, trembling, when he stroked me so tenderly.

“Here?” he whispered. “Is this where I hurt you?”

Oh God. My heart pinched, and that made the bond thrum, and that made me breathless.

“You didn’t hurt me, Jann,” I murmured, my free hand braced on his shoulder for balance, because his gentle, probing touch was making my breath come too quickly. I gripped his forearm with the hand that was bound to him, and would have been embarrassed, but his touch lit me on fire.

With a low rumble in his chest, and his breath audible in the cool air, Jann shifted me closer and closer, pulling me into his body, trailing one hand up and down my thigh and between them, teasing my flesh so that my breath caught, gently—hesitantly—inserting fingers and massaging my most private skin.

At first I did war with the intimacy of it, avoiding his eyes, keeping my head down and focusing on the delicious feel of him—but he caught me averting my eyes and his hand between my leg stopped.

His free hand came up, tipping my chin, forcing me to look at him.

I was afraid of what he’d say—but instead of speaking, when our eyes latched, he touched me again.

So softly at first. So carefully. And then, as my breath quickened and I widened my stance to urge him on, he probed more.

There was something incredibly vulnerable about staring into his eyes as he touched me—seeing the shadows and flashes in his gaze, and watching him respond to mine.

I was glad he didn’t speak, because I thought it might overwhelm me in the all the wrong ways.

I merely clung to him, panting, and urged him on with nods when a question entered his eyes.

I cursed the tears when they came—I was just tired! And the last few days had been so hard.

But Jann’s low growl of apprehension made me shake my head and hold his arm in place with my bound hand when he stopped touching me, and I lifted my free hand to cup the back of his neck and keep him there with me.

“It’s just emotion. I’ve been cursed for it my entire life. But it’s… it’s just feelings, Jann.”

“Which feelings, though?” he rumbled.

I huffed and leaned into him. “I am… really happy,” I whispered. “And also so scared.”

“I don’t want you to be scared. I don’t want to take you if you’re—”

“You must know that sometimes the only way we can overcome a fear is to face it?” I whispered, awed by this soft, tender side of him.

“I do,” he agreed reluctantly.

“Then do this… for me,” I whispered, leaning in to kiss him and sighing happily when he resumed stroking me… then increased his touch, the pressure, the slide making my breath short and my heart pound.

A minute or an hour later, I wasn’t sure, I had a hand curled around the back of his neck, my forehead on his shoulder, and my body twitched and jolted with every pass of his fingers. He’d added his thumb and was stretching me and massaging and setting my skin on fire.

When he growled and sank deeper into the water, it took me a moment to realize he’d sat down, and was pulling me into his lap.

I had to catch myself on his shoulder again, but he helped me, whispering instructions and urging me to straddle his thighs.

“But—” I felt too high, too separate from him in this position. If he took me this way I’d be sitting out of the water and—

“I want you in control, Dee. I want you certain that you choose—to have me, or to leave me. Whatever you wish.”

“I already know that,” I mumbled, wishing he’d go back to touching me so I could focus on that instead of his intent gaze.

He shook his head, and pulled me to sit in his lap. He was hard, but flat against his belly so I straddled him.

“I’m yours, Dee. Do as you please.”

God, why were men so dense sometimes?! I cleared my throat and made myself hold his eyes. “What pleases me is… you pleasing me,” I admitted, trying to ignore the warmth creeping back into my cheeks.

But Jann smiled and kissed me—slowly, deeply, and long enough that for a time I almost forgot everything but that.

Then he pulled back far enough to meet my eyes and smiled again, touching my jaw with his free hand. “It pleases me to please you, too,” he said gruffly.

My belly fluttered and clenched as he pulled me against him and kissed me even deeper. Until neither of us was thinking about speaking or pleasing or anything except how to get closer.