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

She saw a young and hopeful boy. A young man full of sadness. A grown man full of guarded compassion. When the song finished, he opened his eyes staring directly into hers. She felt she knew him, entirely, through that song. He didn't smile. His face held that guarded mask once more.

"Rest, my lady. We will take care of you."

He put his bow to string once more and began to play.

Time passed without synchronicity. Chanyn would awaken to Rianald urging her to eat. Another time to Brent and Tem washing her limbs with warm scented water, cooing over her. But most often, she woke to Khial playing. His face unguarded, telling more secrets.

This morning Chanyn woke up entirely alone. Her belly full, her body clean, her spirit light. She sat up, then stood up, and left her room. She found her way down the hall to Dain's room. The door was ajar. She poked her head in and saw him sitting up and reading. He looked duplicitously well. His gold mane shone dull around sallow skin. The muscles of his forearm strained as he held a tablet before his face.

"Dain?"

He instantly dropped the book, startled at her voice. A wide grin broke over his face, crinkling the dark bags under his eyes.

Chanyn came in and closed the door behind her.

"You're looking well," he smiled at her.

"So, are you." She lied and climbed onto the bed.

He immediately grasped her hands, eyes scanning her for wounds. Not of the external variety. He looked her over like he did after her first night with Jian, looking for signs of damage. He looked her over like he did after she fled her family’s compound, looking for signs of distress.

Chanyn couldn't hide her pain. Her chin began to wobble. Dain brought her into his arms.

"I'm so sorry, Dain."

He made shushing noises as he rubbed her back.

"You're leaving all you hold dear in my hands and I couldn't even hold on to..."

He pulled her away from him. "I'm supposed to be dead," he said. "Did you know that?"

Chanyn swallowed. Dain was the only one who spoke of his death. Chanyn, Khial and the manservants all avoided the subject by an unspoken agreement.

"I was supposed to have died at birth," Dain ticked the timeframes on his fingers. "Before adolescence. As a teenager. But this time, right now, this was supposed to be it. Last month I was out of miracles. And then I met you. You've kept me here, Chanyn. I brought you here because I thought you were an angel. I asked you to bond with me because I thought you could save the man I love. When I was inside of you, I touched the Goddess. She showed me. She showed me our daughter. She showed me you and Khial raising her together. And She was pleased. I was afraid to die, before. I'm not anymore. It’s hard to be fearful when you know you've pleased the Goddess and that you have Her blessings."

Chanyn looked into his smiling face. He had that far off look her mother got during the end of her life, before she went to the Goddess. She knew then that Dain would be leaving soon. There wasn't much time left, but suddenly it all became clear.

Chanyn got off the bed. She reached under her dress and slide off her undergarments.

Dain's eyes widened. "What are you doing?"

Chanyn hitched her skirts and climbed back on the bed, her legs astride Dain's. "What the Goddess foretold."

She reached down below the sheets and found the drawstring of Dain's pants. His eyes were wide, but he let her pull his flesh free. When she pulled him out, he was cool and limp. With a few strokes, he became hot, hard, throbbing.

Chanyn aimed him at her core. She lowered herself slowly, remembering Jian's coaching. Dain was panting before she had him fully seated. His teeth grit in concentration. His hands came to grip her hips. Chanyn began to move slowly. Her eyes never leaving Dain's.

She looked at this man. The first person ever to smile at her. The first person ever to care about her, to check after her well-being. The first person she ever loved.

Chanyn pulled Dain into an embrace as she rode him. They held each other tightly. They held on for dear life. When Dain climaxed a moment later, Chanyn felt it. She felt the presence of energy course through her. She felt it fill her heart.

"Ashe."

20

Khial stood in the doorway of his bedroom and waited for the jealousy to consume him. In his bed lay the love of his life curled around his wife. Dain's head rested against Chanyn's heart. His flaccid penis exposed, above the sheets.

Chanyn lay awake, starring off into space. Her hand rubbed circles at the base of Dain's neck. She must have felt Khial's presence because she turned to him. Her hand stilled.

Slowly she extricated herself from Dain. As she rose from the bed, she covered his mid-section. She straightened and made her way to Khial. Once there, she stopped and stood before him, back straight, hands folded in front of her, as though she were waiting for a scolding.

Something churned in his stomach. It rose to his chest, burning away the last bits of buffer around his heart. When the sensation reached his throat, it burst forth as a bark of laughter.

This woke up Dain.

"What's the matter?" Dain asked, his voice croaky with exhaustion.

Khial looked at his weary lover as he struggled from deep sleep to alertness. He returned his gaze to Chanyn. She looked different. Khial couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was an inner glow, like the halo seen in depictions of the Goddess.

"Nothing," Khial addressed the answer of Dain's question to Chanyn. "Absolutely nothing."

Khial bowed his head to Chanyn.

Chanyn put a hand under his chin. She lifted his head to meet hers. Reaching up on her tiptoes, she planted a small kiss at the side of his mouth.

Khial barely stopped