a Pleasure Rites, #1 by Ines Johnson (reader novel .TXT) 📕

looked back to the house. "But, we need to recruit and train new brothers."

New brothers. It was what Jian had been hoping for, for years. Fresh recruits to replenish the ranks. But their reputation had been so dismal, their finances so negligible that not even street thirds saw them as a viable career opportunity.

"The brothers and I discussed it. We'd like you to work for the temple as a teacher. To train the next generation."

"A teacher? Not a brother?"

"A teacher has access to the temple, but outside of the temple, the temple does not have access to the teacher. The teacher would be free to love whom they chose. It seemed the best way through, to me."

Glancing back at the house, Jian saw Lord Khial watching them from the window. Lady Chanyn walked up behind him, her hand on her belly. She reached up to her husband and spoke. In answer, Lord Khial pointed out the window. Chanyn's face brightened when she saw Jian. She leaned in to her husband and smiled at her lover.

Jian looked back at the man who'd veritably raised him. The man who’d rescued him after being discarded. He opened his mouth and gave Elder Gerry the only answer he could.

31

Chanyn stood at the shelf and watched as the two figures ran their hands over her wardrobe. Her heart pounded rapid fire, like the percussion of a woodpecker's beak. She glanced up at what opportunity brought to her door.

"Are you ready?"

Khial framed the entrance to her bedroom where Tem and Brent fussed over the final touches to Chanyn’s dress. He was splendid in a beige suit. His brown skin like the fertile earth, his blue eyes a clear sky. A small smile played on his lips. It quivered like the smallest string on his violin.

Khial offered his arm. Chanyn put her hand in the crook, tucked safe and secure. They crossed the threshold together and headed towards the stairs.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked.

"You don't...?" Khial tensed the muscles of his bicep, trapping her fingers.

"No, no. I do."

Khial relaxed his arm. "Good." But then he frowned. "I just realized I never asked you if this is what you wanted to do. I just assumed. Dain and I knew each other for so long, we just always assumed what the other wanted. And in the times we were wrong..." He smiled that secret smile when he thought of the good times with Dain. "The times we were wrong, we spent convincing each other of the rightness of our positions."

He shared that secret smile with her. He'd begun doing that more often. Sharing stories of Dain along with small smiles.

"My assumption is right, though?" he said. "You do want to bond with Jian. You love him." It wasn't a question. Khial stated the facts.

"I do." Chanyn tucked her free arm around his bicep, lacing her fingers. She leaned her head against his arm. She loved Khial, too. Not in the same heady, romantic way she loved Jian. Not in the same steady, companionable way she loved Dain. When Chanyn looked at Khial, she saw herself, a lonely person reaching out. Chanyn grasped Khial's arm tighter, squeezing herself into his side. Trying to let him know that she was there, that she would always be there for him, holding his hand and his heart.

"I want that for you," Khial put his hand over hers. "For you to have the man you love, in your life." Absentmindedly, he rubbed her fingers, particularly her ring finger which carried the gem of himself and Dain. A fourth gem joined the three. Jian's; a green malachite, which symbolized healing. "I trust him, and I respect him. Jian is loyal."

At the bottom of the staircase stood the man in question. Jian waited for them, dressed in the same beige ceremonial clothes as Khial. His gold sash tied around his waist. Though he no longer wore his robes, he kept his sash. It represented the knowledge he'd earned from his time at the temple. That would never be taken from him. It was that knowledge the monks now sought from him. In a month, Jian would begin training a new class of Pleasure Hounds.

Chanyn watched as Jian took in Khial, the same heat mirrored in the eyes of both males. Then Jian's eyes fell to Chanyn. His face lit with delight. Chanyn felt her entire body warm. The warmth traveled from her heart to her stomach. She knew it was too soon but she was sure she felt a kick in her gut.

Khial squeezed her hand and led them both down the stairs to Jian. The room below was filled with the people who cared about them. The manservants, Rianald, Tem, and Brent stood off to the side. Merlyn, and her intended bond mate stood together. And throughout the room stood the monks of Jian's temple, all come to celebrate their brother.

A month ago, Chanyn had been alone, wishing for family and love. She had Khial's hand in one. With the other hand she took Jian's. In her belly, growing stronger every day, was the love she shared with Dain. Chanyn had yearned all her life for her one true love. In the end, she had found three.

Hand in hand, the three of them walked forward to say the vows that would link them together for the rest of their lives.

Actually, wait!

There’s more.

Chanyn loves Jian and Chanyn loves Khial.

But will Jian and Khial ever come to have feelings

for one another?

Find out the answer in a series of short vignettes,

The Pleasure Hound Unleashed.

Carnal Rites SNEAK PEEK!

"Oh, rats!"

Merlyn withdrew her finger. The tiny dots of blood welled from her thumb, bright red against her brown skin. She looked down at the rodent who bared its teeth.

"My apologies, Darwin 16," she said. "I am aware that you are a mouse, but biting is the type of behavior that I attribute to rats. So the insult will stand."

Merlyn reached into the side