Free Bound by Sin by Jacquelyn Frank

but a woman to warm my bed,” Jaykun muttered. “Or would you deny me even that pleasure?” he asked of Dethan.
    “No. Of course not,” Dethan said, his chest growing tight in empathy. His brother suffered so much. If this woman gave Jaykun even a moment’s solace, Dethan could not deny him that. Still, Dethan couldn’t keep his tongue from saying, “As long as that is all it is.”
    “For the love of the gods!” Jaykun burst out angrily. “I’m not going to marry the girl! And so what if I did? I know my duty and where it lies. I know the responsibility that weighs on me! My back is breaking from the weight of it!”
    Jaykun turned and stormed back to his bedroom, leaving Jileana alone with his brothers. Completely unfazed, she was enthusiastically eating food from the display in front of her. Dethan and Garreth could only watch with bemusement as she gathered food to her and stuffed it into her mouth. She made pleasured sounds and clearly took an almost erotic satisfaction in the food…if her moans of delight were anything to judge by.
    “Food is so delicious, don’t you think?” she asked them. “I don’t get to eat these kinds of things where I’m from. I especially like the fruit.”
    “You don’t look like you’re starving,” Dethan observed. Although she was eating like a starving woman, she had a full, healthy shape.
    “Oh no, of course not. I get plenty to eat. I only meant the kinds of food I eat are very different. You eat such a variety of foods. It’s very nice. If you’re not going to eat that…?” she said, pointing to the toast by Dethan’s wrist.
    “Oh. Help yourself,” he said, handing it to her.
    “It’s crunchy,” she noted after taking a curious nibble of it. “Is it fresh?”
    “It’s toast. We hold it over the fire to make it crunchy on purpose,” Dethan said. He gave her a quizzical look. “Haven’t you ever had toast before?”
    “Never! How fascinating! You simply apply heat to it and it tastes different.”
    “That’s true of most food,” Garreth pointed out with amusement.
    “We don’t use fire to cook food where I am from. We prefer our food fresh and unmolested. But I like this just fine. My brother told me about cooking and I didn’t believe him, but now I see we really must start cooking where I come from…if it is at all possible.”
    “And where is it you come from that they don’t cook their food?” Dethan asked.
    “It’s not far…and yet it is.”
    “That isn’t an answer,” Dethan said.
    “Isn’t it? You asked a question and I replied. Thusly, it is an answer.”
    “Yes, but that isn’t a real answer!”
    “Well, it isn’t a fake one,” Jileana countered.
    “Stop it this instant!” Jaykun said sharply as he reentered the room. He was fully clothed, looking tall and strong and confident as he tugged on a pair of gloves. He was dressed in a black tunic with seams of gold, the emblem of their family crest emblazoned across his chest. It was the image of four serpents coming together from four different corners of the crest, their heads making up the four sides of a square. Each serpent was of a different color and design.
    “We weren’t doing anything,” Dethan protested.
    “You were grilling her for information. She is my guest, not a prisoner or a potential source of information.” Jaykun reached out a hand toward Jileana. She took it eagerly, and after pausing to stuff another piece of toast into her mouth and grabbing up one of the fruits, she let him guide her down from the table. “My lady, I believe I promised you an outing.”
    “Did you?” she asked through a mouthful of food.
    “For clothing,” he reminded her.
    “Oh! You don’t have to do that. I’m fine with this—or I can go without it.”
    Jaykun felt the stares of his brothers as he turned his back on them. “No. That is not wise,” he said to Jileana. He was still angry with his brothers, but in spite of it, her openness and innocence made him