Honored Vow

legs around his
    back and held on.
    We were a single, sweat-slickened creature when his hand fisted in
    my hair and he lifted me, bringing me up to him so he could remain buried
    to the hilt in my ass and claim my mouth at the same time. I wrapped my
    arms around his neck and ground my lips over his, our tongues tangling,
    breath mingling as we trembled with aftershocks, trying to press closer
    together, tighter, joined.
    When he could finally move, when I could, he eased gently from my
    body, and we lay down together under layers of blankets.
    “Jin.” He whispered my name as he kissed behind my ear and
    nibbled down the side of my neck. “I want a promise.”
    I rolled over in his arms so I could see his face.
    His hands were clutching me tight, pressing me closer. “Swear that if
    I die tomor—”
    “Logan.” I caught my breath. “You—”
    “Promise,” he growled, dragging me under him, staring down into
    my eyes, pinning me there, reminding me that he was all big, hard, virile,
    muscled man and outweighed me by a good hundred pounds. “Jin.”
    I closed my eyes, just savoring the feel of his warm, sleek skin
    against mine, the strong hands holding my face so tenderly and his hot
    mouth as he sucked on the side of my neck. I would be covered in marks
    in the morning, and I was so glad. I loved carrying evidence of our
    lovemaking on my skin.
    “Jin.”

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    Mary Calmes

    With effort, I got my eyes back open and met his beautiful amber
    ones.
    “If I die in the pit tomorrow, I want you to go home and start the
    process with the surrogate that Delphine knows to have our baby.”
    I clenched my jaw tight so I wouldn’t cry.
    “Before this all started, I was going to tell you that I think it’s time to
    start having children. Everything’s ready, we’ve just been waiting for the
    perfect time. It’s time now, Jin, and if I die tomorrow, you have to promise
    to follow through, because the thought of you holding a baby, our baby…
    I need to carry that with me, okay?”
    There were no words.
    “I need to know when I walk into that pit tomorrow that no matter
    what, you’ll be okay.”
    “I won’t be okay,” I told him even as he blurred.
    He brushed my tears away with his thumbs, bent, and kissed my lips,
    his big body absorbing my shudders, holding me still.
    I tried to breathe around the lump in my throat, my hands holding
    onto his wrists.
    “You have to live, Jin, and know that I’ve never been prouder of
    anything than being the owner of your heart.”
    There were so many things I wanted to say, but I couldn’t get
    anything out.
    His hands fell away as he hugged me tight, crushing me to him. “It’s
    gonna be okay, baby, I promise.”
    I dragged in air. “Then you gotta live, Logan,” I said, wrapping my
    legs around his hips. “That’s the only way I’ll be okay. You need to know
    that.”
    “Love—”
    “No,” I said, my voice hoarse. “I did everything I was asked to, so
    did you, and now I’m telling you, I need you to live for me.”
    “Jin,” he rasped.
    “I do,” I told him, making sure he could both hear and feel my
    desire.
    “Oh God,” he groaned, because when he had given me room to
    move, breathe, I had twisted around under him, lifting up, wanting him

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    again and letting him know it. I had gone months without him; once would
    not quench my thirst. “Jin, you can’t still—”
    “Show me you want to live.”
    He slid inside me easily, as I was still slick with his semen, and I
    instantly felt the tingling, breathless excitement that always took hold of
    me when Logan was buried in me. My body, accompanied by my heart,
    never failed to be touched by the contact.
    “Say it, so I know.”
    “I want to live.”
    I purred with contentment as he pressed me tight to his heart.

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    Mary Calmes

    Chapter Eighteen

    I WAS a sticky, sweaty mess in the morning and so took Khongordzol up
    on her standing offer to use the hot springs that ran under their home to
    bathe. I slipped out without waking anyone, even Logan, went to the
    entrance of the cave, was allowed to enter by the guards, and was then led
    to the bathing area by two men.
    It was still early, and I was the only one there. The water was warm,
    and the enormous natural basin was huge, carved into the rock over
    thousands of years, smoothed by another hundred years of use. Even
    though I wanted to stay and soak up the warmth and comfort, I made
    myself get out, dry off, and