Page 30 of Ruthless Scoundrel
“It’s done,” Jasper says, gesturing to my fish as he pulls me from thought.
I tug the stick out from between the rocks and bite into the fish. It’s hot, so hot my tongue recoils, but I don’t stop. I keep biting down and chewing the meat, keeping my tears at bay by sheer force. I will not show this man any weakness. I will not show him another thing about me he can use.
Jasper grabs my spear and his, then wades into the shallows. By the time I’ve finished my food, he returns with four more fish. He guts them all with ease and cleans them silently. I can tell he’s done this hundreds of times. I wonder if he’s ever fed another like this. How many captives has he taken? The answer in my gut says none. I don’t think he’s ever done this before, and he doesn’t want to, either.
That doesn’t negate the evil that he’s perpetrating against me now.
Jasper rubs each fish liberally with the seasoning and puts them to cook over the fire. “We’ll need to make camp on the other side of the island tonight.”
“I thought you wanted to get to the next one before sun fall,” I say.
“We spent too much time fishing. There’s not enough sunlight left, and I still need to finish the paddles,” he says, touching the braided husk that he’s been weaving between notches he made on a Y-shaped branch.
He’s quiet again as he works. I won’t help him. I won’t accelerate my fate.
I’m not sure how much time passes, but eventually the sun makes it past its apex and begins to fall. Jasper stands over me with the four cooked fish on his spear. “We’re leaving now, princess. I need you to hold these while I paddle.”
“Can’t you just turn into a giant monster again?” I ask.
“It’s an octopus, not a monster. And no, I can’t. I’m still magically drained,” he admits.
He passes the spear of fish to me, and I begrudgingly take it. He pushes the makeshift raft into the shallows and stares at me expectantly. “Get on.”
I consider whether I want to make this more difficult. The copper manacles on his belt jingle as he shifts his hips, reminding me that I could have it worse right now. I step into the water and climb onto the raft.
“Good girl,” he says as he seats himself at the front of it, legs dangling in the water.
“I’m awoman, you pig.”
“Pig,” he says with a snort. “I’ve never shifted into one of those before.”
Insufferable.
He carves through the water with his handmade paddle, his shoulders and back flexing under the strain. The rippling of hismuscles is hypnotizing. I can’t help but watch each pull of the paddle as his muscles move from his arms up his shoulder to his back. His loose gray shirt reveals tanned and marked skin. Inky navy swirls cover his upper back, and the urge to pull down his shirt for a better look surges through me.
Iwill notpull down his shirt.
We drift around the island through the shallows, each wave rocking us until I’m lulled into a trance. Darkness creeps at the horizon and for a flash, I panic. But these clouds are coming from the south, not from Fynren. It’s not the queen.
“Rain,” Jasper says, as if sensing my fear. “We’ll need to get a shelter set up as soon as we reach the other side.”
As if I know how to set up a shelter.
He glances over his shoulder at me with a dashing grin. “I won’t let you get too wet, princess.”
I groan and roll my eyes at the innuendo. “I’ve heard enough palace guard talk to understand when someone is being lewd. And you could never get me wet.”
“That sounds like a challenge,” he says.
“It isn’t an invitation.”
He turns back to the sea, paddling with long strokes. “I could get you wet.”
I don’t reply, loving the way the silence is making him squirm.
Then a thought strikes me.
If Jasper is sexually attracted to me, could I use that to escape him, or change his mind? Perhaps if he thought he liked me enough, he wouldn’t sell me.
