But never would she be happy here. Not while her kingdom lived under her father’s heel. Worry for her people would consume her, and never would she abandon them.
Just as Aruk would never abandon his duty. So similar they were, though it had taken him so very long to see.
Not much longer would he have to see her at all. He’d recovered canvas and timbers from the wreckage of her ship, then remade the dinghy to sail and added projecting floats to stabilize it. Another day or two would cure the resin that waterproofed the outrigger hulls, and then they would set out for Savadon.
Where she believed that Aruk would kill her father in exchange for one night with her. Yet that was not what Aruk would do.
Kill her father, yes. But Jalisa had already paid enough. No more blood would Aruk ask her to shed in her search for freedom.
The sun was high when he returned from a short hunt to the hut—which was empty. To the beach Aruk went in search of his princess, slowing as he saw Jalisa shedding her silk shift and walking into the turquoise water.
This cove was well-sheltered by a reef, the waves gentle and waters calm. Yet she had not often bathed in the water—not when the salt stung her wound. Now her sleek golden skin was bared to the sun, only slightly paler over her back and ass. Her hair was not so wild as it had been when she’d first arrived on the island. Aruk had carved a comb for her, and every night she untangled the snarls. Still the dark tresses hung in thick, messy waves to the upper swell of her ass.
He recalled the woman at the parade who had risked a trampling simply to see Jalisa’s beauty, and thinking that beauty was not worth as much as gold. Yet now Aruk would have crossed oceans to look upon his princess.
So beautiful she was. Yet Jalisa’s true beauty was not her face; instead it was her warm and generous heart.
A heart so generous, it might have killed her.
In all of his travels, Aruk had seen many warriors—men and women—fight and bleed to protect their homes. He’d seen them sacrifice their lives to defend the people they loved. He’d risked his own life many times, and not always for love. Sometimes simply for gold or for adventure.
Yet the risk Jalisa had taken…in Aruk’s experience, almost always it seemed to be women who sacrificed themselves in that quiet way. Almost always it was mothers and wives. Most did not use magic, but it was the same. Silently bleeding as they did what needed to be done. Always giving pieces of themselves to others, without keeping anything for their own.
Mothers and wives…and now a woman who would be queen. And Aruk had thought her selfish when she’d spoken of having something for her own. She had simply wanted a life where she was not always bleeding for everyone else. Still she would be kind and generous—but she wanted something for herself, too.
True freedom, she’d called it. Aruk would do anything to see her have that freedom. For she was worth so very much. He was nowhere near worthy of her.
Yet he could not stay away.
He shed the rag around his hips at the water’s edge. She had seen him bathe too many times in this cove to be surprised by his nudity, so when she turned to him, it was with a warm and welcoming smile.
“Join me! The water is so fine!”
As was Jalisa. Waist-deep she stood, two long locks of wet hair hanging forward over her shoulders and veiling her breasts, the waves lapping gently at her stomach. Waist-deep for Jalisa barely covered the hot rise of Aruk’s cock. Farther out he waded before facing her.
Her gaze slipped downward before lifting again, soft color in her cheeks as she laughed at him. “You returned from your hunt too quickly! I have been caught being lazy.”
Never lazy was she. If she had been, they would not already have a store of fruit and smoked fish ready for their voyage. “We only need enough meat for this night and tomorrow. So it did not take long.”
“Oh.” The laughter in her eyes dimmed and she sighed. “Yes.”
“Do you wish to stay longer?” Aruk would. But he did not truly think she wanted to.
She confirmed that with a small shake of her head. Softly she said, “It is just…so lovely this island has been.”
“Yes,” he agreed gruffly, chest aching.
Eyes downcast, she skimmed her fingers through the water in idle swirls. “You must be eager to rejoin the tournament finally.”
“I am not. But I must rejoin my brother and carry out our duty.”
“You are not rejoining the tournament?” She looked up, brows arched imperiously. “Then what is the duty that will take you away from me, warrior?”