Queen of Men (King Maker 2)

Once we made it to the familiar watering hole, the spike of fear of the woods disappeared. It was early and no one else had come yet. Most of the kids our age were probably lounging in bed because they could. I, on the other hand, was most assuredly wide awake.

He only had to glance at me, and I knew what he was up to. His grip tugged me to the top of a boulder where an overhead tree branch loomed like an arm holding a rope. With his eyes fixed on mine, he tugged off his shoes and socks, tossing them aside. Then with a wicked glare, his shirt floated to the ground right before his pants. I gasped. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen him in his under clothing before but, again, I felt as if an electric charge stirred the air around us. Something was definitely amiss.

His fiery hands joined with mine. Leaning in toward me, he loosed words that both thrilled and scared me.

“My pa is going to ask yours for us to be married.” Without waiting for my response, he let go of my hand and took a flying leap, or rather a cannonball, into the lagoon below as I stood stunned by what he’d said.

It wasn’t as if nightly before I fell asleep my brain hadn’t imagined us together a thousand times under the cover of darkness. Yet, I couldn’t move. I should have been getting undressed while his head was under the water as I’d done countless times before. To have him watch me undress was unthinkable. Still, I stood there as he broke the surface.

“What are you waiting for?” he called out with a grin plastered to his face, along with his wet hair.

My heart beat so fast, I thought it might burst through my budding chest.

“Are you coming in or what?” His voice rang out in our private oasis. Trees surrounding the cove cloaked it in shadows with a burst of sunlight in the middle bouncing off the water.

His question felt more like a choice, not only if I was going in, but was I all in. I made quick work of my dress, feeling his eyes burn on me. They were like the sun and pricked my skin, creating a need I didn’t understand. I was barely a teenager, wondering if I’d ever have breasts more than the tiny mounds that made it only slightly obvious I wasn’t a boy.

As he waded, the water rippled around him. I shivered, clad only in my own underclothing, which was more than your average teenage girl wore outside the community. Covered from neck to knees, my arms and my calves were the only parts of me exposed. I dove in after giving silent thanks that my prayers had been answered. I’d prayed that if I had to marry and stay here in this forsaken place, I could do it with Turner at my side. Nervously, I wondered how he felt about it. Was it his family’s decision for us to be married? Though he’d told me, he hadn’t indicated that he liked the idea.

The water cocooned me in its warm embrace. It kissed the top of my head before totally taking me under. I relished the quiet it brought for the few seconds before I broke the surface. Would I dare ask Turner how he felt, or should I leave it alone?

That question was taken from me when I sprang free from the water’s depth and he swam toward me. Again, I shivered for no reason. The water was in no way cool. It had been heated since the first day of summer and only got as low as room temperature at night, or so I’d heard.

“Did you hear me?” he asked, coming to a stop so close the breeze of his words touched my cheek.

“Yes, does it bother you?” I asked, finding my courage. If Turner didn’t want this marriage, it was better to know now, so that I might influence my father.

I would accept him as my husband, but not if he didn’t want me to.

As was our custom, my hair had been bound. Turner reached around me and freed it. Wet, it sort of flopped around my shoulders. I dog paddled under the water and moved my arms about to keep me afloat. With him so close, I didn’t know what else to do.

I was only fourteen, and he was a few years older. When he leaned in, my eyes grew wide. No boy had ever attempted to get this close with the intention I could plainly see written on his face.

This sort of contact was forbidden, yet I didn’t stop him. I was thrilled that my first kiss wouldn’t be in front of a preacher and the wise eyes of my parents, along with the rest of the community. I was electrified that my first kiss was with my very best friend and the boy I secretly had a crush on, as had so many girls in our tiny one-room school.