Jealousy

Summary: He won't allow anyone to touch her, not even the king.

Rating: T

Pairing: Sharrkan x Yamuraiha

Genre: Romance

It wasn't as if Sharrkan disliked parties. No, he loved them. He loved the atmosphere, watching everyone else have fun, hanging out with beautiful women he had never met before and drinking good wine around the fire.

But when parties involved a certain king getting drunk, that was a whole other question altogether.

Sindria's king wasn't exactly renowned for his good behaviour when drunk. In fact, it was a bothersome thing to deal with. Ja'far usually dealt with the brunt of it since he was practically King Sinbad's nanny, having to watch over him most of the time. And if Ja'far couldn't handle him, Masrur would make quick work of dragging the king back to his room and force him to get some rest for the night before he did something stupid and knocked up a random woman.

That was why Sharrkan wasn't expecting to get involved personally with the king's bad habits until he realized that a certain sorceress was within range of danger.

It was already kind of late by the time the dumbfounded swordsman saw that king was making his advances — albeit more sloppily than usual because of the alcohol — on Yamuraiha. Sinbad had his arms around the woman in a tight embrace on his lap and placing kisses down the column of her neck.

And it didn't help that she was also quite tipsy as well.

Sharrkan wasn't exactly sober either, which was why he failed to control himself like he normally would. He had seen Yamuraiha in these situations before, although she always managed to deal with those perverted men on her own. She was strong, and not easily pinned down by anyone; she was no pushover. In fact, she was one of the hardest women to get when it came down to it. Sharrkan had used his charms on her when they were much younger before, but the shrewd woman had bought none of it. Her only response was to mock his attempts and humiliate him in front of others. That nasty witch.

Which was why, seeing her with Sinbad like this caught him by surprised. Angered him, even. Just a little. What was she thinking, allowing herself to be touched like that so easily? What happened to being the mermaid who would never get a boyfriend? From where he was standing, he couldn't tell if she was trying to resist or if she was enjoying King Sinbad's company. He highly suspected it was the former, though. That had been her story when she told everyone the story of how Sinbad made a move on her when he was drunk the first time.

Where the heck was Ja'far or Masrur when he needed them?

Deciding he couldn't afford to waste any more time with Yamuraiha in this state, he leapt up from his seat, startling the women who were fawning over him and marched right up the stairs towards where Yamuraiha and Sinbad were.

"No... King Sinbad... Aahh..." Sharrkan's eye twitched and he balled his hands into fists. Boy, was she loud. He wasn't sure why the hell he was getting so pissed off, but he was. It wasn't the first time that he felt this way too. Whenever any guy tried to lay their hands on her, he would get irrationally furious, as if they were provoking him to a fight.

Sharrkan hadn't been there when Sinbad laid his hands on Yamuraiha the first time, which frustrated him to no end every time he thought about it. At least Sinbad hadn't managed to go too far since he had basically passed out after giving her a peck on her lips.

Damn it all. He was practically boiling inside now, and it wasn't because of one of Yamuraiha's dumb spells.

The minute he neared them, he snatched Yamuraiha by the shoulder, ignoring the king's protests and shocked expression as he smoothed out the sorceress' clothing. He was none too pleased to find her hair dishevelled and a red mark at the base of her neck. If it weren't for the fact that he owed Sinbad his life and was his household vessel, Sharrkan would have beaten him up real good. He was barely suppressing his ire.

"Ooohh, Baldy, you came," she giggled, swaying to her side as she tried to balance herself after being yanked from Sinbad's lap so suddenly. "King Sinbad was just telling me a little seeeeecret!"

Sharrkan set his jaw and glared at her briefly, not amused in the least by the cheeky grin she was giving him. With a sigh, he picked her up bridal style. She couldn't walk, not in this state.

"What do you think you're doing, Sharrkaaaan!" she whined, kicking her legs like a child.

"Getting you back to your room," he replied. "And quit it!" Her kicking was making it hard to carry her — she wasn't the lightest woman around. He turned around to face the king and ignored her empty threats of boiling him inside out. Sinbad was laughing like he usually did and had his arms around other scantily-clad women who were already swarming around him. "We'll be taking our leave first, King Sinbad."

"What are you talking about, Sharrkan? The night is still young!" he called after him, raising his cup of wine in the air and swirling it a little too hard, causing the scarlet liquid to nearly spill out.

"I think Yamuraiha had too much to drink," Sharrkan replied drily, letting his gaze rest on the hiccupping woman in his arms. With her cheeks flushed and her eyes drooping like that, she was actually really cute. The swordsman felt heat gather in his cheeks as his eyes absently travelled down towards her cleavage.

'Snap out of it!' he mentally chided himself, immediately feeling guilty for checking her out in such an indecent manner. Not that it was the first time he had caught himself staring at her voluptuous figure a few seconds too long before. He had better leave before other men saw Yamuraiha in this state and got attracted to her for the wrong reasons too.

As he strode down the courtyard, he caught too many groups of drunken men eyeing the woman in his arms with a look in their eyes that he didn't like. In response, he shot them a fierce glare and quickened his pace.

...Yeah, he was probably part of the reason why she would never get a boyfriend. He had taken extensive preventive measures against men who dared to make a move on her — beating them up if they so much as touched a strand on her hair, insulting her and making her reveal her monstrously temperamental side in public, always giving her reasons to stay in the palace to conduct magical research instead of going out to socialise were amongst a whole list of things he had come up with over the years.

Why did he go so far to stop her from getting into any romantic relationship?

Well... he supposed he did like her. Maybe a lot more than he would like to admit.

But it was also because he didn't want her to get hurt by other guys. Seriously, guys nowadays only saw women for their bodies. Yamuraiha was a beauty. The word 'beauty' didn't even cut it. There was something special about her that made her so much more captivating than any other girl out there. And it was more than just her bright blue hair that fell like an elegant waterfall down the sides of her fair face or her blue eyes that reflected the sky and the sea all at once, or even her sizeable assets and body that would make even a girl turn green.

They wouldn't be able to see past her beauty and understand her maniacal obsession with magic. They wouldn't know what faces she made when she was hungry, angry, upset, embarrassed, hard at work or afraid. They wouldn't know that she had weird fetishes like beards and stuff. They wouldn't know how she looked like in her sleep, or how silly she was when she talked in her sleep about magic spells and occasionally, new insults aimed at him.

He knew. He knew all of it.

Fine, he was just being selfish. He loved her, and he wanted her all for himself.

But the stupid girl would always assume right off the bat that he was just teasing her or playing a bad prank on her every time he tried to approach this topic. Once, she even nearly drowned him in the damn fountain.

"Sharrkaaannn, why are you taking me away from the paarrrttyyyy?" she slurred, whining as she pounded her fist weakly against his chest. "I still wanna have fuuuuunn..."

"Shut up," he said in annoyance, tightening his grip on her so she wouldn't fall. "You can't drink anymore."

"Who says I can't? I'll have youuu know, I can beat you in a drinking match aaaaanytime!"

He smirked. "We'll see about that another time. It's obvious that I'll win."

"Nooooo you won't, you Baaaaaldyyyy!"

"I'm not bald, you Beluga- Oh, forget it," he groaned, not wanting to engage her in an argument now. He needed her to just go to bed like a good girl. The palace halls were dark and quiet, with everyone else out enjoying the feast. His footsteps echoed through the hallways, and for a while Yamuraiha was quiet, closing her eyes and holding on to his tunic with her hand so she could press her head against his chest.

"Sharrkan..."

"What is it now?" He didn't know if drunk Yamuraiha or normal Yamuraiha annoyed him more.

"...I don't like your smell."

He felt his eye twitch. This woman really knew how to get on his nerves, even when she wasn't thinking straight. "You smell like perfumes..." she added. The next thing he knew, she was shoving him away from her with all her might.

Caught by surprise, he stumbled and lost his balance, causing them both to tumble to the marble flooring in a messy heap of limbs.

"What the hell?" he sputtered, rubbing his bottom which had hit the floor pretty hard. "What was that for?!"

Yamuraiha was trying to stand up now, albeit not very successfully. She could barely take a step without swaying from side to side. Clicking his tongue, he hurried forward to hold her, but the moment he touched her, she flinched away from him, acting as if she had been burned.

"Go away!" she shouted, right before slamming straight against a wall to help keep her balance.

"What's your problem now?" Sharrkan demanded, frowning at how ridiculous she was acting. Was she drunk and on her period? If so, this would make for a disastrous night with the two of them alone and no one around to put a stop to their endless fighting.

"Don't touch me," she muttered, bringing one hand to her face as she sniffled.

Sharrkan's eyes widened as he slowly stepped towards her. "What's wrong?" he asked, his tone gentler now. "Why are you crying?"

Thinking back to what Sinbad had been doing to her earlier, he furrowed his brows and set his jaw. "Did King Sinbad do anything bad to you?" he demanded, grabbing her by the shoulders to check for any bruises or anything that could possibly hurt her. From the rumours, Sinbad liked tended to be a little rougher with women when he was drunk.

She shook her head, pushing him away from her again. "Sharrkan, you jerk!" she yelled, pointing an accusing finger in his direction. She couldn't hold her finger still though, and he wondered if she could even see him properly. "You... you... You're the worst!"

"What did I do now?" He was quickly getting tired of this. Now all he wanted was to go back to his room and not deal with her tirade anymore.

"You're always with those women... Always touching them like the perverted bastard you are..." she muttered as she attempted to walk away from him one shaky step at a time, all the while clinging onto the wall for dear life and keeping her face hidden from him. "You're the worst!" she repeated, but this time, Sharrkan didn't miss the quiet sob that escaped her.

"Hey, quit that." He reached out to pry her away from that stupid wall. Ignoring her wild cries of protests, he yanked her away from it, into his arms. He squeezed her tightly, not caring that she was hurling insults at him hitting him at his sides with her fists or stomping on the ground like a spoilt brat.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. She was actually jealous. She was upset that he was always with women other than her and that he had the smell of women clinging to his clothes. One part of him was overjoyed, but a bigger part of him felt guilty.

It wasn't as if he had done anything wrong; they were not in a relationship after all. There was no such thing as commitment between the two of them. Just pure rivalry that was starting to seem like a mere disguise to hide their feelings from each other.

The only reason why he hung out so much with other ladies was because firstly, he needed something to distract him from Yamuraiha, because, well, she was Yamuraiha. He couldn't possibly like her. He didn't want to like her. Of course he eventually acknowledged his feelings towards her a few years later, but still, he needed a distraction. Being around those women were best able to stop him from thinking about her and worse, from thinking lewd thoughts related to her.

In some ways, she was right. About him being a perverted bastard, that is.

"Yamuraiha," he began, but she wasn't having any of it. She was still throwing a stupid fit and she wasn't listening at all. "Don't touch me!" she kept repeating in her shaking voice, clawing at his clothes and trying to get him away from her. "Don't touch me like you touch them!"

Anger got the better of him. Touching her like he touched them?

Grabbing her by the shoulders, he pulled her away from his chest and held her at arms' length, glowering at her. "I don't touch them like this," he growled, before leaning in to capture her lips in his.

"Mmph..!" At first, she continued to struggle, but he held her tightly against his body, caging her in his arms so she couldn't push him away again. It was only until he started nipping at her lower lip and skimming his tongue against hers that she began to relax into the kiss, even responding to him.

She was a good kisser, even better than he imagined she would be. Her hands soon stilled and came to rest on the front of his white tunic, right above his heart. She would be able to feel how fast his heart was beating. How embarrassing.

With one hand staying at the small of her back, the other slowly moved up to touch her long, silky blue tresses. He tugged at it, tilting her head up so he could get better access. Tiny moans escaped her lips as her hands too began to roam, from his neck into his hair. A low growl settled in the back of his throat when she tugged at it and clutched it in her fists — he liked that.

Sharrkan felt heat begin to envelop his body as he deepened the kiss, pushing his tongue into her hot mouth to mingle with hers. Soon, he had her back against the wall, pressing his body against hers, and he felt something down there harden as he began to become acutely aware of her shell-covered breasts against his chest.

If he didn't stop soon, this could develop into something ugly in the morning.

Reluctantly he broke his lips from hers, chuckling at the sound of her protest. He rested against his forehead against hers, loving how her breath was fanning onto his face as she panted, still trying to regain her composure from the kiss.

"It's a personal rule of mine to only kiss the woman I love," he boldly declared, smirking as he saw her cheeks slowly turn a light shade of pink. She still had her arms around his neck, and she probably had yet to realize it.

Cupping her cheek that appeared tiny in his big hand, he smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead. "You should get to bed."

"Sharrkan..."

Interlocking their fingers, he led her down the hall back to her room. Her hands were soft and small in his calloused ones. Cute. As they walked, she was quiet, and Sharrkan looked back a couple times only to find her quickly averting her gaze from his. She had been sneaking glances at him, the cheeky girl.

For once, she was finally looking at him the way he looked at her when she didn't notice.

But she would probably forget all about this in the morning. Oh well. At least he'd have this precious memory for a long time.

They arrived at her room faster than Sharrkan thought it would take them. A small feeling of disappointment made his stomach twist into uncomfortable knots. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to hold Yamuraiha in his arms, even if just for tonight.

Yamuraiha seemed to want that too, since she wasn't moving from him into her room. Instead, she held his hand tighter and tugged on his sleeve with her other hand. "What is it?" he turned to her and asked, feeling his heart swell with love for this beautiful woman next to him.

He loved her. He loved her too much, much more than he should.

"Stay with me tonight," she muttered, lowering her gaze as her face reddened, from the alcohol or embarrassment he couldn't tell.

His eyes widened. Was she even aware of what she was saying? Inviting a man to stay with her in her room? Thank goodness he had taken her away from the party in time. Goodness knows who she would have seduced tonight or who would have taken advantage of her if it weren't for him.

"You're drunk," he said, untangling his fingers from hers and gesturing to her room. "You don't know what you're saying."

"But-"

"Go get some rest, Yamu. Don't say or do anything you'll regret in the morning."

That silenced any protest remaining on her tongue. With a wave, he forced his usual smile on his face. "Goodnight, Yamu. See you tomorrow."

With that, he turned around and left. That is, he would have, but he was stopped by a tug on the back of his coat. "Don't... go..." she murmured in a barely audible voice. "I... I like you, Sharrkan."

Her words made him draw in a sharp breath. The man froze, not knowing what to do other than stay rooted to the spot and wonder if he had been hearing things.

"I like you," she repeated, tugging on his coat harder this time. "Stay, please?"

"Yamu," he muttered, grimacing. Was she telling the truth? Well, people did usually tell the truth when they were drunk. This sucked. She wasn't even confessing to him with a lucid mind. She would be forgetting all about this in the morning, and he would be the only one left with this awkward memory.

"Please don't leave me..." she sniffled. He wiped a stray tear on her cheek, cupping her face with his hands and gazing into her blue eyes. Unable to resist, he leaned in and kissed her lightly on the nose. Looking at him like this... How could he say no?

"Fine," he said, deciding that the best way out of this was to just go along with her whims and fancies until she fell asleep so he could go back to his room and get some rest, and most importantly, away from her and temptations that came with her presence.

He took her by the wrist and opened the door, watching as she crawled up onto her bed, clumsily removed her hat, shoes and the magoi storage devices behind her ears. No longer bound, her hair fell freely forward to frame the sides of her face, and Sharrkan tried hard not to make it too obvious that he was staring. Not that she would notice anyway.

Then she tucked herself into bed, and closed her eyes. "Goodnight, Yamu," he said, stepping forward and planting a soft kiss on her forehead. A faint smile appeared on her lips, and he chuckled. So cute. He waited patiently until her breaths became steady and looked like she was finally sleeping before he quietly opened the door to leave.

He was about to go when she called for him. "Sharrkan..?"

"Yes?" So she hadn't gone to sleep yet. Oops.

"Stay with me," she said, groggily opening her eyes to look at him.

"No, I'm tired. I wanna sleep."

"Sleep here."

"What?" He stared at her in disbelief. Was she for real?

"Here," she said, patting the other side of her bed lazily. "Come hereeee," she whined, and Sharrkan knew that if he left now she would be throwing a tantrum for the rest of the night or worse, follow him to his room. With no other choice, he relented and closed the door, stalking to the other side of the bed and pulling the covers over him.

In an instant Yamuraiha was cuddling up next to him, resting her head against his neck and draping an arm over his chest. "You..." He tried to think of some kind of insult to get her off of him, but nothing came to mind. He really did like it when she lay like that next to him, a little too much. Ah, well. This would be one more thing to add to the list of "Things Other Men Will Never Know About Yamuraiha". If only they could do this every night... Man, that would be a dream come true.

"Goodnight," she murmured against his tunic.

With a smile, he gently ran his fingers through her hair, closing his eyes. Well, just one night like this was good enough for him.

"Goodnight," he whispered back, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to hold her against him. Just for tonight, Yamuraiha was his, and he was Yamuraiha's. That didn't sound too bad.

Although, this was definitely going to be a long night of trying to get some sleep while stopping his lewd imagination from going wild.

A/N: I will be back to edit this later, but I wanted to publish this just so I wouldn't feel as bad about taking time out from studying to write this lol. Looks like I'll be staying up tonight to do work.

Thanks for reading and if you have the time, do leave a review! Love hearing from you guys :) Have a great day!