Honored Vow (38 page)

“I thought Mikhail told me he and Danny talked,” Logan told me as we watched Mikhail carry the younger man from the room.

“They did, but,” I said with a shrug, “come on. Between the alcohol and the pheromones in here, hearing other people screwing, smelling it, seeing it—are you kidding?”

He made a noise, and I laughed softly before he fisted his hand in my hair, yanking my head back sharply so he could kiss a line up my throat.

“What’re you doing?” I chuckled even as he pushed me down under him.

He stared at me with his warm gold eyes, and I felt the relief and peace wash over me.

It should have been heat, being that close to him, with his big hard body pressing down on me, trapping me, with the scents and sounds all around us… but all I could feel was joy.

“I’m supposed to be making you hot.”

I started laughing.

“Shit,” he grumbled as he rolled over on his back, bringing me along with him.

Leaning over, I kissed him gently, tenderly, letting him feel how much I loved him. “When the priest introduced each of the mates of the semels before the sepat began, he said Jin Rayne.”

Logan was searching my face, and I watched as he stilled, like he was holding his breath, waiting for what I was going to say.

“And I thought,” I said as I inhaled his delicious scent, “that I wanted to be just like those yareahs. I wanted to have my name be the same as yours.”

“Oh.”

“So I thought,” I said as my breath fluttered over his face, “that if it was still on the table, I would really love to take your last name.”

His hands lifted to my face, and the look in his amber eyes made me breathless. They were glowing with pride. “You would?”

I nodded.

“Because you know that’s what I want,” he assured me. “And it would make me… I mean, you’re not Jin Rayne anymore, are you?”

No, I wasn’t. I had not been since I met him. He made me different, stronger, better, kinder, all the things that a mate was supposed to do. All the good things, at least.

“So, then,” he whispered, easing me down until I was lying on top of him, my hands flat on his chest, “when we get home, we’ll change your name.”

I nodded.

“And begin the process with the surrogate.”

“Yes,” I managed to get out.

His eyes searched mine. “I never wanted it to be my sperm and a woman I didn’t know, you know? I always wanted it to be you and Delphine. It’s how I dreamed it.”

“But you deserve to have—”

“My line, and you,” he said, squinting hard, his eyes reddening, softening as he stared at me. “Do you even get how bad I wanna see your big gray eyes on someone I can protect and never let get hurt and take care of?”

My vision blurred as my eyes filled.

“I want my own family with you. The second I met you, when I knew you were mine, I swear, Jin, I could see my whole life in that one moment.” He eased me closer, my lips hovering over his. “Thank you for taking my name, it means more than you can imagine.”

I bent and kissed him, and he opened for me so I could taste him, slide and rub my tongue over his, take thorough possession of his mouth. When he rolled over on top of me, arms wrapped around me, holding me tight, I moaned deeply, loving the feel of his big hard body on mine. As the kiss changed, grew more heated and carnal and urgent, Logan broke it off, rose and grabbed my hand.

He tugged me after him, passed many people engaged in various sexual acts, some couples and a few in threes and fours, until we reached the priest, and both of us kneeled down before him. I saw how heated the older man’s eyes were as they raked over Logan. I understood then that yes, he had wanted Logan to be semel-aten because he was semel-netjer, but he also simply enjoyed looking at my mate. It made sense; he was gorgeous.

“Semel-netjer, will you and your reah grant us the honor of watching you and your—”

“I request permission to take our leave, Your Grace,” he said as he rose. “I will see you all in the morning when the semel-aten chooses his household, but for now… I need my reah.”

“But we would be honored to have you claim your mate here.”

The priest wanted to watch; he was curious, and it was very human, but also, in this instance, something that was not in his power to demand. Not with a semel and his true-mate.

There were laws that could be changed and others that were finite, like the one that protected Logan and me, always, from prying eyes.

“It would do my reah no honor, nor me.” He bowed, and I did as well. “So we will take our leave and bid you good night, Your Grace.”

And no one said another word as we left.

Back at our quarters, Logan started stripping out of his clothes.

“What are you doing?” I asked, as Yusuke was trying not to look, Crane was chuckling, and Mikhail was confused.

“I’m going to go for a run with my mate.”

I was stunned. “But, Logan,” I said, starting to take off my parka, which I had put on just to get from the mouth of the cave to the ger maybe a hundred yards beyond. It was so damn cold. “You were in your panther form for so long? I didn’t think you’d want to—”

“I’m not afraid of being a panther, Jin, and running with you is one of the great joys of my life. I know who I am.”

I caught my breath.

“And I know what’s mine.”

I nodded because I couldn’t speak.

“Hurry up.” He smiled at me before he shifted.

Crane was laughing as I tore off my clothes.

Chapter Nineteen

W
E
ALL
stood near the entrance of the cave late in the morning, having convened after breakfast. There were Jeeps outside to take us to the airport and a helicopter that would take the new semel-aten and his chosen household, along with the priest and the Shu warriors, to a secluded airfield where a private jet stood fueled and ready to make the long trip first to Beijing and then on to Cairo. We would be making a similar trip, except that we would fly first back to Beijing and then on to Los Angeles. Logan had been on the phone that morning booking Yusuke’s flight back, even though he had no idea yet if everyone who had come with me would be flying home with him.

Whatever happened, he was prepared. I was not.

It had taken hours for everyone to say their goodbyes to the priest. He and Logan had met at dawn, as it was the priest’s favorite meeting time, and they had spoken at length. I had not been included, which was fine with me. I had become, to the priest, a worrisome creature to be feared. That was unfortunate, but I hardly cared. I was happy that Jamal had sought me out and that the two of us had talked, and though he still seemed wary of me, he was no longer openly resentful of my power. When I had dragged him through his shift, he had been at first surprised, then furious, and finally ashamed. He was supposed to be stronger, certainly stronger than my sheseru or my sylvan or my beset. That Yuri and Mikhail and Crane had been able to keep from turning into panthers was hard for him to accept. The others—Logan, Domin—they were semels, so it made sense. But not him. It was good that we had talked and would be parting ways on good terms.

As I stood beside Logan, silently waiting along with everyone else, including the semel of Khertet and his household, I watched Domin and held my breath. He looked good this morning, shaved, hair still pulled back in a queue, every bit the new leader of the werepanther world. When he turned, giving Logan the playboy smile, my heart stopped.

“Anyone, semel-netjer?”

“Anyone,” Logan said, nodding. “I want the semel-aten to be safe.”

Domin nodded, smiling bigger, and looked over all of us, all of Logan’s household.

“And you don’t have to choose from those here,” he told him. “If you want Ivan or—”

“No,” he called over to Logan. “I would never ask Ivan or Markel again. They both have their lives there with you, especially Markel.”

“Yes,” Logan agreed, smiling back at him. “It’s amazing how many good things came out of something that was hard for all of us.”

Domin nodded, and I saw his jaw clench with emotion before his eyes found what he wanted.

I caught my breath.

“Mikhail,” he said softly, “come with me to Sobek.”

And I watched Mikhail Gorgerin smile slowly before he bowed. “It would be my privilege, semel-aten.”

Domin’s eyes then flicked to Yuri, who was barely standing still.

And every part of me screamed,
No, not like that, not to be sheseru
.

“Taj,” Domin said, looking away, “come and be the sheseru of the tribe of Rahotep. I need someone I trust completely to carry out my orders until I become fluent in the language and customs of my new tribe.”

Taj was touched by the depth of Domin’s faith, and it was there on display for everyone to see. He nodded and bowed low. “Yes, my semel, it would be my honor.”

I didn’t want either of them to go, but I didn’t want Domin to leave either; I wanted my family and my tribe together forever.

“This is
maat
,” Domin said as Mikhail took his duffle bag and walked over to Domin to stand at his side. Taj did the same, and so he was flanked on either side by his sylvan and sheseru.

When Mikhail’s eyes met Logan’s, there was the slightest nod of understanding. They each knew what they meant to one another, and it was up to Logan to take care of Mikhail’s family, parents, siblings, as well as his business there in Nevada. He would make the transition seamless for Mikhail, making sure that everything he needed would be shipped to Egypt, and if any member of Logan’s tribe wanted to follow him, they too would be allowed to go. Only semels released tribe members, and Logan always did what was best.

He would do the same for Taj, although for him, returning to Sobek was more homecoming than leaving.

“As for the maahes of the tribe of Rahotep….” Domin took a breath and looked at me. “It’s time, isn’t it?”

Logan put an arm around me and tucked me against his side.

“I need my circle to be impenetrable against corruption. I cannot ever, for a moment, not trust my sylvan, my sheseru, or my maahes.”

And I knew what he wanted, but I also knew that unless I nodded, gave him my blessing, that he would not take what was mine. Only I could release Crane Adams; only I could release my beset and promise at the same time.

I nodded because it was the right and best thing to do for my friend.

“As Crane Adams remains forever the beset of a reah, he is able, under that aegis, to defend my honor in the pit should there ever come a time. So I choose for the maahes of the tribe of Rahotep the beset of the reah of the tribe of Mafdet.”

“Thank you, semel-aten.” Crane bowed low.

I sucked in my breath as my best friend threw away all propriety and bolted toward me. He filled my arms and hugged me tight.

“I love you,” I told him, whispering urgently.

“Me too.” He nodded, squeezed me tighter, and kissed my cheek and then the side of my neck.

He let go first, and when I let my arms fall away, Mikhail was suddenly there, and Taj. There was a time to honor tradition and a time to let it fall to the wayside. I hugged the other two men and then watched Logan embrace them all as well.

“You will all always have a place in my tribe,” he told them. “And you, Crane, will remain beset of my reah from this day forward. You will never be replaced.”

He couldn’t speak. No one could, and as Domin joined us, the two semels shook hands.

“I’m not done taking from you.” He smiled at my mate.

“I know, but I approve.”

“Which means more than you know,” Domin said, gripping Logan’s bicep tight before he released him and turned around to face Yuri, standing still and alone.

He moved quickly, stopping in front of my sheseru, staring into his eyes. “Come with me. Artem will care for your company; I talked to him last night.”

Yuri just stared at him.

“Your reah has his mate to protect and care for him, don’t worry about your duty.”

Yuri’s eyes flicked to mine, and I smiled and nodded.
Go, don’t hesitate.

“If you come,” Domin said, sucking in his breath, “you will be the mate of the semel-aten.”

Mate.

“I want you at my side forever.”

I held my breath and watched Yuri’s jaw clench even as he looked at Logan. He had to honor his semel even as what he wanted more than life itself was offered to him.

Logan nodded, just as I had.

Go.

“I love you,” Domin said, in front of everyone, loud and clear. “You know I do.”

With that, Yuri lunged at Domin, the emotion too much to contain.

And if the priest was surprised at Domin’s choice of mate, he had the presence of mind to say nothing. Because, really, with Domin having made Ebere mastaba, he already had his children, as he had laid claim to hers. The priest could make no claim that Domin needed a yareah, as procreation had already been dealt with.

Domin Thorne was always thinking, and sometimes I missed how critically fast his mind worked.

When Yuri released Domin, I was surprised that the smaller man grabbed his face and bent him forward into a kiss. “You’re mine,” he said, looking up into Yuri’s eyes. “So says the mark I put on you, so says everyone here to bear witness. You belong to me, Yuri Kosa. Never forget it.”