Bound by Sin Read Online Free

their hideous male counterparts.
    “Again he lies,” the second warrior said. “Who wouldn’t want the beauty of a Krizan warrior woman? Kill him. His words irritate my ears.”
    “Yes, do get on with it,” Jaykun said with a sigh.
    His blasé tone enraged the Krizan warrior. He balled up his fist and punched it dead-on into Jaykun’s face. And it hurt. There was no two ways about it. Krizan warriors were definitely strong, if not exactly bright. Had they been bright, they would have learned how to fight on land…seeing as how they lived on land and not on the ocean.
    The Krizan pulled a dagger from his boot and reared back to plunge it into Jaykun’s chest.
    Oh no. Not that again, Jaykun vowed to himself. He wrenched a hand free somehow, surprising his over-arrogant attackers and reached to catch the downward plunge, his hand grabbing the meaty forearm of the warrior and stopping the dagger dead in the air. The warrior seemed as though he couldn’t believe his eyes for a second, couldn’t believe that Jaykun had the strength to counteract his strike.
    The two struggled for several long moments, the warrior pushing down, Jaykun staving off.
    Then the softest little sound slid through the air. Like a musical note, only gentler and more beautiful. The Krizan warriors froze, and to Jaykun’s surprise, all the strength behind the dagger was gone. Instead the men were suddenly tripping over themselves to withdraw.
    “Prava!”
one said to the other, their eyes wide. Both men scrambled off Jaykun, turned, and ran. They were trying to run so fast that they fell more than once.
    Jaykun sat up, at a complete loss to explain what had just happened.
    Then he heard it again. That soft, lilting note. Like a laugh. The sweetest, most singsongy laugh he’d ever heard.
    He got to his feet and peered out into the moonlit darkness. That was when he saw a figure standing there in the moonlight. A woman. She was slight of build, tall but slim. She had long hair that whipped around her body in the ocean breeze. He could not tell what color it was, only that it was dark. It fell all the way to the backs of her knees. It could cover her entire body, he found himself thinking. And a good thing too, for she was completely naked.
    She was dark skinned—again, an undetermined color—but it appeared to be an even and beautiful tone in the moonlight. She had small breasts, curvy hips, and long legs. And though he couldn’t make out her features perfectly, he knew she was quite beautiful. Not a Krizan woman—she was too tall, too lithe, too pretty.
    She came closer, increasingly revealing her beauty as she drew to within five feet of him. She was smiling softly, her eyes running down the length of him, no doubt sizing him up just as he was assessing her. She seemed…fascinated. She reached out as if to touch him and he jerked back. Her hand lowered.
    “I won’t hurt you,” she said, her voice musical and sweet.
    “Who are you?” Jaykun demanded of her.
    “I saw you. Saw you burn. Saw the waters boil. How did you do that? Why would you do that? Do you enjoy it? Does it not hurt? Do you do that often?”
    She barely paused between questions, leaving him a moment to get over the shock of knowing he’d been watched. He supposed it had to happen sometime, but he had not seen anyone in the cave. He could have sworn he was alone.
    “Did the Krizan hurt your tongue? Can you not answer? Is the moon not beautiful tonight?” She turned her face up toward it, closed her eyes, and drew in a deep breath. She opened her eyes again and looked at him, and he saw they were a pale, silvery color in the moonlight.
    “Who are you?” Jaykun asked again.
    “Jileana. Who are you?”
    “Jaykun,” he answered in turn. “Where did you come from?”
    “From the beach,” she said. “Can you show me how to make the water bubble? I want to learn how to do it.”
    “No, I can’t, and trust me, you don’t want to know how.”
    She frowned at him in