Carnal Rites by Ines Johnson (learn to read books .TXT) 📕

other lovers coming today." Something compelled him to go on, to assure her of her place in his heart. "You own my heart, Merlyn. I have loved you, and only you, every day since the first day I met you. I will continue to love you every day of my life."

She searched his eyes, her head cocking the opposite way as she considered every angle of his new statement. "Why is it that I believe you? There is no possible way to prove your declaration. Love isn't a tangible thing that you can point to. It isn't measurable."

Jaspir took her hand and placed it on his heart. "Do you feel that? What reason does a heart have for racing?"

"It’s a fight or flight response from the autonomic nervous system."

"Do you think I'm preparing to flee due to fear of you? Or that I'm preparing to harm you?"

Merlyn shook her head.

"Look at me, Merlyn. What do you see?"

"I see that your pupils are dilated." Her eyes dipped lower. "Your nostrils are flaring, and you are panting."

"I can tell you that my stomach aches when I think of you. My palms sweat and I feel light headed. Not to mention what happens in my sex organs. That's nearly every system of the human body engaged at the very thought of you."

"These symptoms happen every time you think of me?"

"Without fail."

"Fascinating," she breathed, eyes bright.

Jaspir grinned at the curious creature before him. She pressed one hand to his heart. The other she ran over his forehead. Her fingers came away with beads of sweat. Her thumb returned and traced his lower eyelid.

"I'd like to study this phenomenon some more." She looked into his eyes. Her own pupils were large, her nostrils flared, her breath came in small pants. "May I return to make more observations?"

"No," he said quietly. The word fell like a heavy weight between them. "Do you have the details of our kiss firmly in your head now?"

"I believe so." Merlyn withdrew her hands from him.

Jaspir had to stop himself from reaching out to her. "Good. Remember them well."

Merlyn gathered the plant. "I'll find a place for it to thrive. I promise."

Merlyn stood and walked the few paces to the door. She turned, and with a lingering glance over her shoulder, she slipped out the door and was gone.

6

She walked right by him without taking any notice. The sun was setting, dipping below the horizon. One of its rays shone brightly on his face like a spotlight. Aside from the fact that Liam was outside instead of in the lab, it was typical of his life with his fiancé.

A group of street boys approached him, harassing him for pocket gems. A bird chirped loudly on a branch above his head, its poop just missing Liam's shoulder. All of this cacophony went on around him, but Merlyn walked past him without even raising her head. In her hands, she clutched that blasted plant. Her brown face looked bright as the sun. Her lips swollen. Her eyes alight. The plant clutched tightly to her bosom.

Liam was used to being ignored. Used to not being listened to. It was his childhood on repeat. For years, he'd watched his mother ignore his sole living father, Josef. Liam had always known Josef was not his biological father. The two shared not a single trait. Josef was dark-skinned with curly hair and dark eyes. Liam was pale-skinned with floppy red hair and green eyes. His biological father had died when Liam was barely five. He remembered little about the man, except that his mother was always in an embrace with him.

The two adults constantly shooed Liam away and into the company of Josef. As a child, Liam hadn't minded. His mother and biological father had always disappeared behind doors and made strange noises. Noises that produced two sisters. As a boy, Liam much preferred to spend his days with Josef, uncovering the magic and mystery of numbers.

Josef was a mathematician. His formulas powered the energy grid that kept the city warm and bright during the winters. It made his family rich. It was the reason his mother had agreed to enter into a bond with the older man.

When Liam's biological father died, Liam had watched Josef try and console his mother, only to be shunned. Josef was then passed over a second time, for one of the manservants. Shoved into his office in the corner. Running numbers and improving the formulas that kept his wife in the lap of luxury while she snuck off with the help. He was left powerless, loveless, and silent in that house.

It was Josef who arranged Liam's bond with Merlyn. He'd done some calculations for Merlyn's Grand Mother. Josef knew that any offspring of the great Lady Regyn must have a practical mind. A mind that might be compatible with his son's. Josef believed that matching Liam with a girl who prized intelligence would give the boy a chance to be valued, to be wanted. If not for his body, than at least for his brain.

Looking down the street as Merlyn glided away, Liam saw more concretely than ever that his father had calculated wrong.

Liam glanced up at the signpost of the building she'd exited. Stallions, it read. Liam knew what the establishment was, a place of pleasure for males and sexually dissatisfied women. He knew who was behind those doors. He thought he'd gotten rid of the boy all those years ago. But it was clear that Jaspir, the outdoor servant, had never left Lady Merlyn's mind.

Liam's shoulders slumped. He was going to spend his life just like his father. Powerless, loveless and silent in his own home while his wife went after the help.

The sun had set. Liam was cast in shadows.

He marched out of the shadows and up to the front doors of the establishment. He walked inside. It wasn't what he expected a pleasure house to look like. The walls were a tasteful cream color. He'd