Queen Sized - Jessa Kane Page 0,17

rushes to say. “No, it would be the least I could do to entertain them for a while after everything you’ve done for me and my family. And goodness knows you deserve a rest.”

Gwen’s gaze drifts to mine and I let her know, without words, that she’s not going to get any sort of rest. I also let her know that she’s coming with me, come hell or high water, and her pink cheeks and glassy eyes tell me the message has been received, loud and clear.

“Just for a little while, then,” she says breathily.

7

Gwen

Corbet glowers at a group of soldiers as they pass, stepping closer to me as if claiming his property. “Do you have to walk right beside me the whole way to the tent?” I whisper out of the corner of my mouth, earning me the same grumpy glower. “Everyone is going to think there’s something going on between us.”

“There is something going on between us,” he growls.

“I’ve agreed to a conversation.” I regard him warily. “Unless that’s some kind of code for…relations.”

“Just hearing you talk that way makes me stiff.” He doesn’t seem at all bothered by my scandalized gasp. “There will be a conversation, yes. An important one. But you know damn well what else is going to happen in my tent, woman. I’ve told you in plain detail. And still you follow me there. We’ve been honest with each other all along. Let’s not start lying now.”

The king has me there. His words echoed stubbornly in the back of my mind all throughout the water carrying competition.

This sugary little cunt belongs to the fucking king and the king means to have it.

I can still feel his mouth moving over mine in that starving barbarian manner and there is no sense in pretending to myself that I don’t love what Corbet stirs in me physically. I’ve never paid a lot of attention to my sexual urges, mainly because the farm work tires me out to the point that I collapse with exhaustion at the end of every day. But they’ve been awoken quite dramatically since last night. Since the king used his tongue between my thighs and conquered my mouth so boldly.

Perhaps I am lying when I pretend as if a conversation is all that will take place in the king’s tent. Perhaps I ache to be the recipient of his hunger again.

When the dust settles at the auction tonight, the final event of the Joining, I might end up betrothed to someone who doesn’t attract me like Corbet does.

In fact, finding a man who arouses me so insistently would be impossible. I’ve seen the offerings in the crowd at each competition and I’m more likely to loathe whoever I end up with, but at least my sisters will be cared for and we can keep the farm.

My trepidation over a lifetime with someone who doesn’t excite my body might actually be the reason I’m allowing myself to be guided to Corbet’s tent.

There, I admitted it.

If I’m going to resign myself to a life of sharing a bed with someone far less dynamic than this warrior king, maybe I’ll be able to keep myself warm with a memory of one evening together. Every time I see this man, my heart gallops like an untamed stallion and I can’t find it in me to simply ignore that. I’m rarely selfish, but tonight I will be.

To a point.

I have to keep my virginity intact.

A woman must be a widow or an untouched maiden to take part in the auction. The rules are what they are and I have to abide by them to gain a husband. To keep the farm.

When we reach Corbet’s tent, I can’t help but marvel.

It’s four times the size of the one I’m sharing with my sisters and outfitted with the finest rugs and furs. Lanterns flicker in the waning light, casting a wavering glow against the walls of the tent. A pallet bed, fit for a king, has been arranged in the corner of the tent and it looks more comfortable than my own bed at home, thick with linens and furs.

It’s a seductive ambiance, intimate and dreamy, so I feel the need to remind myself of my ultimate goal at the Joining. Just so I keep my head and don’t lose myself to the romantic atmosphere surrounding us.

“I, um…I saw that my sisters were sitting near you. Your ears must have been ringing after a while. They tend to chatter.”

“I didn’t