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

time. They ate with their hands on plastic slats. Dain was lucky Khial humored him; they had perfectly good rations in the vehicle. Dain kept up his inquiry of the strange girl. Khial was largely uninterested in the conversation. But one thing niggled him.

"Where did you get the firearm?"

The girl startled at his voice, as though surprised to find Khial sitting there. "There's a dwelling called Walmart about two miles from here. All of the canned foods within are inedible and the electronic devices are useless. But I've made use of the weaponry."

She indicated the firearm in question and the dagger, restored to her boot. Her eyes once again connected with Khial's. It was a warning. Dain, she trusted, but Khial, she was still apprehensive about. She was smarter than Khial gave her credit.

"It's getting late," Khial said. "We should retire now so that we can get started at first light."

The girl's face fell at those words. Her arms came around herself, though it wasn't cold.

Dain's face mirrored hers, his hands reached out to rub her shoulder.

Khial barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. He knew what would come for him when he and Dain were alone. But Khial had already formulated a plan to distract Dain.

"All right," the girl said. "You can use two of the Reading Rooms—"

"We only need one." Khial met her eyes again in challenge.

She frowned slightly, but nodded.

They all rose. The girl led. Khial took a step to follow, but was hit in the gut. Dain's tap didn't hurt. It served as a warning for Khial to mind his manners, a lesson Khial needed frequently. Dain's eyes narrowed on Khial. The message clear: Be nice. Khial shrugged and followed the girl.

The room she led them to had a sliding glass door and more shabby curtains with holes. The setting sun gave the room a bit of light. There was a worn mattress on the floor, with old sheets to cover it. Books lined each wall from floor to ceiling.

Khial peered at the titles. The Holy Bible. The Evolution of Physics. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

The last title made Khial freeze in the doorway. Dain bumped into him from behind.

"This was my mother's room," the girl said as she went about straightening up the already tidy room.

Khial didn't respond, his eyes still on the book stack.

Dain squeezed past Khial and reached out a hand to the girl. "Lady Chanyn, we thank you again for your hospitality. We would not have survived this day without you."

Khial shook himself and looked away from the familiar title. He would not let memory drag him down tonight. He had work to do. A plan to enact, to save his oldest and most trusted friend from his overused sense of charity.

"I won't be far, if you need anything," the girl said. She moved passed Khial without looking at him, and then was gone.

Khial gave the curtains where she exited a good tug. He set his pack down next to the bed. Turning to Dain he began unbuttoning his shirt, waiting for Dain's first offense. It didn't take long.

"We're taking her with us."

Khial didn't answer. He freed himself of his shirt.

"The way she lives is unconscionable. A woman on her own. With no men to protect her, provide for her, or pleasure her."

Those were the three edicts of men in their society. The only things men were allowed to do any longer.

"And you plan to do that for her?" Khial asked as he undid the clasp on his pants.

The garment fell to the ground. Dain’s gaze lingered on Khial's barely covered package before returning his green eyes to Khial's face. "She might be the answer to our prayers, Khi."

Khial stepped out of his pants and strode toward Dain. "I haven't sent up any prayers." He began unbuttoning Dain's shirt. "The Goddess can go fuck herself, for all I care."

"Khi."

Khial pulled Dain's opened shirt down his torso. Trapping Dain's arms in the garment, Khial pulled Dain into his chest. "If there's a way out of this, I will find it."

They stood nose to nose. Lips only a breath apart. Khial's eyes shone fiercely as he looked into Dain's. Dain's eyes, as they had been for too many months, dimmed in resignation. He rubbed the side of his face against Khial's, the day old stubble rough against Khial's cheek. Then Dain pulled away to peer into Khial's eyes.

"You know that I trust you with my life, Khi. But I need you to trust me, too."

Dain was the only person on the earth he trusted.

"If we can't find what we're looking for, she's the next best thing we have to a solution." Dain looked over his shoulder at the glass door where the girl had exited. "I really do believe she's an angel sent from the Goddess."

An angel? That got Khial's blood boiling. What female lived out in the middle of nowhere away from society? It was unnatural. The girl had to be up to something.

"Oh, my goddess," Dain laughed. "You're jealous."

Khial's answer was to shove Dain.

Undaunted, Dain reached up and caressed Khial's chin. "You are. It’s adorable."

Khial slapped his hand away. Dain grabbed with the other. Khial maneuvered out of this grasp as well, but lost his footing. Dain guided them so that they both fell onto the mattress with a loud thunk. The men continued the struggle, but Dain's laughter left him at a disadvantage, and Khial quickly gained the upper hand, pinning Dain beneath him.

Dain gazed up at him, adoration in his green eyes. He reached his free hand up and cupped Khial's cheek, all struggle gone, his eyes turning thoughtful. "I've loved you for more than half my life."

Khial flinched at the word love.

As always, Dain ignored his reaction and increased the pressure and insistence of his caress. "Do you really think it possible for me to feel for anyone else what I feel for you?"

Dain asked the question in a serious tone. His head cocked as though