a Pleasure Rites, #1 by Ines Johnson (top ten books of all time TXT) 📗

a theory that a child's gender is determined by the male sperm. All men come from women. Therefore, they contain both male and female DNA, where women only contain the female. So it should follow that it’s the man's sperm that determines the sex of the fetus. There were studies done back in the twentieth, but most of that information has been lost or destroyed. But I think I'm close to cracking the code. I hope to complete my work before Grand Mother finds me a second mate. I'm certain a pregnancy would slow me down."

Chanyn glanced again at the male at Merlyn's back. He hadn't spoken a word. He met her eyes. His dark gaze reminded Chanyn of the boar she'd slain in front of Dain and Khial. The creature had only been seeking warmth. When it found a place it thought safe, it had been gutted.

"I would like to see you again," Merlyn said, suddenly shy. "Though I don't think that Grand Mother would approve."

"You're welcome to come over at any time."

Delight shone in Merlyn's eyes. She reached out a tentative hand and patted Chanyn's shoulder in an approximation of the gesture Chanyn had done earlier.

Merlyn turned to go, but then stopped and turned back. "They're not all bad. Our family. They want what's best for us. They don't waste time with... emotions like love. Or friendship."

"I'd like to be your friend," Chanyn said. "If that's agreeable to you."

Merlyn beamed, then quickly composed herself. She turned to go. Liam regarded Chanyn with a quirk of a brow. Chanyn offered him a friendly smile, but he looked away and followed close behind Merlyn.

Dain came over to her then. "Are you ready to go, my lady?"

Ready to go to her wedding night. With her husbands, and her hound.

Chanyn hadn't seen Jian since the night he held her after she professed her love for him. Chanyn had said the words out loud, but Jian hadn't. He hadn't needed to. His heart was in every look, every touch, every kiss.

He'd held her all night, neither of them needing any further physical connection than lying in each other's embrace. In the morning he'd waited for her to awaken before kissing her lightly, like she were the most precious thing in the world, and then leaving.

The next two days had been a blur of preparations for the ceremony, followed by quiet evenings sitting with Dain, and sometimes Khial, as Dain recovered.

Now Chanyn took her husband's hand as they left the bonding temple and returned home to consummate the bond. Khial trailed behind them.

15

Three small gems winked back at Khial in mockery when he looked down at the band on his finger. There was his family stone, the sapphire. The stone meant loyalty to family and healthy relationships. Khial clenched his fists so he wouldn't wrench the lie off his finger. The band bit into his hand.

His thumb traced over the ruby. The feel of Dain's stone instantly calmed him. The red stone was a promise that Khial never felt necessary to publicize. Between the lie, and the promise, sat the sparkling diamond that represented their wife.

Khial was married. To the man he'd pledged his life to as a boy, and to a woman he barely knew as a man.

The last two days he and Chanyn had been cordial. Their goals were in alignment, with each nursing Dain back to health. Thumbing their noses at his weak organ, willing Dain's heart to keep beating just as his mother and fathers had kept it beating with only the force of their love. Khial believed that he and Chanyn could do the same for him.

Today, Dain looked the picture of health. A perspiring picture of health. An anxious picture of health. A slightly trembling picture of health.

"You don't have to do this," Khial said.

Dain wiped the sweat from his brow with a clenched fist and thrust up his chin. Khial sighed at the stubbornness of his mate, his husband. He sighed to keep from laughing. The action brought to mind a young Dain fearful of jumping off a cliff into a stream of water.

"You don't have to do this," Khial had yelled up at him then, while he tread water below the cliff.

The younger Dain had thrust his chin out in the same way as his older self. He'd taken a deep breath, and jumped. At the bottom, in the cool water, the two had laughed and splashed each other. It had been a high jump and not the best of dares for a sickly child. But Khial knew that if Dain had hurt himself on the fall, he would have been right there to catch him. Khial would always be there to catch Dain.

They stood before the marital suite once occupied by Dain's parents. They'd never used this room. Dain's rooms were large enough to suite them both. But, now that there were three of them...

Dain reached out a hand to Khial's shoulder. "You have been a part of my family for as long as I can remember. Just as my parents embraced you, I need you to embrace her. She is a part of our family now."

Khial looked into those green eyes that he woke up to every morning, and the last thing he saw before he went to sleep each night. Dain was healthy. He would stay healthy. Khial had to admit that part of Dain's recovery was due to Chanyn. With her second pair of hands added to his, Dain recovered in half the time. That fact should have made Khial bitter, but it didn't. It couldn't, when he looked into Dain's healthy, determined face. Khial felt nothing but gratitude for Chanyn's care and help.

"I'll embrace her as family," Khial acquiesced, "but not as anything else."

Khial passed in front of Dain, anxious to get this night over. He was not enthused about watching his lover make love to another person. At least that's what he told himself. His dick, on the