Trusted Bond

bet it was after the fact. Imagine what it must be like in
    Koren‘s head? Here you are, a totally straight, totally alpha-type man, and
    then along comes this guy who gets in your blood so fast and makes you
    so hot that you agree to bottom for him? Christ, how do you even attempt
    to rationalize your feel—‖
    ―Bottom… really?‖ Crane whined. ―You had to go there?‖
    I snorted out a laugh at the look of pain on the man‘s face.
    ―Seriously—there‘s a limit, ya know? Jesus, Jin.‖
    ―I‘m just saying—and I‘m sorry to have offended your delicate
    sensibilities, but seriously, I figured Koren for a top.‖
    ―Because Logan is.‖
    I shot him a look.
    ―What?‖
    ―That comment right there—that‘s why our conversations get
    weird.‖
    ―Shit, I‘m just sayin‘—I think that Domin is making a mistake. He
    thinks that because Koren is Logan‘s brother, he didn‘t enjoy what was
    done to him, and so he‘s been waitin‘ around for Koren to make the first
    move while the whole time, Koren just wants Domin to take charge again,
    since he so obviously got off on it the first time.‖
    52

    Mary Calmes

    ―How do you know Koren liked it?‖
    ―Ivan said that the screaming he heard was not the pain kind and that
    when he finally went into the bedroom, Domin, not his prisoner, was
    passed out on the bed, and Koren was sittin‘ there just pettin‘ him.‖
    ―Domin let Koren pet him?‖
    ―Ivan says that Domin was too far gone to allow or not allow
    anything.‖
    ―Jesus.‖
    He shrugged broad shoulders. ―I think Koren really likes not being
    the guy in control or in charge and he wants Domin to just be that guy, and
    instead, for whatever reason, Domin‘s waitin‘ on Koren to take him.
    They‘re both fucked up.‖
    ―And so what?‖
    ―I think that you, as the reah of the tribe, need to sit them down and
    fix it up between them. Tell them what‘s what.‖
    ―Which I‘m sure will go over great with Logan and Koren‘s father.‖
    ―Oh, I didn‘t even think about that, that is funny,‖ Crane cracked a
    wide grin. ―Since you became reah of the tribe, not one but two of the
    man‘s sons are gay.‖
    I smirked at him. ―Yeah, it‘s great.‖
    He snorted out a laugh. ―You can‘t make anybody gay, Jin. They
    either are or they‘re not.‖
    ―Oh no? Before Logan met me, he was straight.‖
    ―Maybe, and maybe, like Koren, he just hadn‘t found the right guy
    yet.‖
    ―So it stands to reason that maybe there‘s the perfect guy out there
    for you.‖
    ―Or not.‖ He scowled at me. ―I know you don‘t get it, but some guys
    actually like sleeping with girls.‖
    I smiled at him.
    ―Listen, just do what I say and have a talk with Koren and Domin
    before they do something stupid and one of ‘em leaves.‖
    ―Why not you?‖
    ―I ain‘t you. Nobody listens to me.‖
    I was quiet, absorbing everything he‘d said.
    ―I think you tell Domin to jump Koren‘s bones and go from there.‖
    Trusted Bond

    53

    ―You‘re like an advice column all of a sudden.‖
    ―Screw you; get the hell outta my room.‖
    But I had no intention of moving. ―I should know all this.‖
    ―Yeah, ya should, but you‘re so freaked out about being Logan‘s
    reah and what does that mean that you‘re missing where you‘re actually
    needed.‖
    I grunted.
    ―Saint Jin of Perpetual Sorrow,‖ he teased me.
    ―What?‖
    ―It‘s what Domin calls you.‖
    ―I hate him,‖ I sighed.
    ―I know,‖ he said, bumping me with his knee.
    ―I‘ll miss seeing you every day.‖
    He pushed my thick hair out of my face, his fingers threading
    through the length of it without even realizing what he was doing. It was
    long, too long, falling now to the middle of my back. I left it alone because
    of Logan—he liked to bury his face in it, let it slide over his bare skin,
    tangle his hands in it and pull. I watched Crane twirl it through his fingers
    over and over.
    ―Crane?‖
    ―I‘ll miss you too, but it‘s for the best. I‘m going crazy living up
    here, Jin—I need my own place, my own everything.‖
    ―You must‘ve already discussed this with Logan—he knows you‘re
    going?‖
    ―Yeah, he thought it was because of Delphine,‖ he said, knotting his
    hand in my hair, and I felt the tug on my scalp.
    There was a part of Crane, a very small part, that thought of me as
    his, and sometimes, in subtle ways that most people missed, he showed it.
    His hand fisted in my hair, he flexed