Trusted Bond

and answer, but I felt weightless suddenly, like I
    was floating.
    ―Reah? Shift for me so I may see your form and hear your words.‖
    Any sound. I even tried to blow out breath and managed nothing.
    ―I wonder what my semel will say about your mate‘s lack of care.‖
    To defend Logan was paramount, but there was a gentle dip and then
    blessed quiet.

    Trusted Bond

    99

    Chapter 8

    MY EYES hurt, felt as though they were full of gritty, grainy sand. Like
    when there‘s an eyelash that you can feel but just can‘t find no matter how
    much eye rubbing you do. Slowly, I opened my right and then my left.
    ―Reah.‖ A gravel-filled voice spoke my title. ―Be careful, don‘t
    move, you have several IV lines in your back.‖
    I turned my head on my paws, sighed deeply, but did nothing more.
    ―Rest, reah, the doctor is here. He is giving you the fluid and all the
    nourishment you need. He says that your heart is strong and that you will
    recover all your strength. I‘m here to protect you; you have all the time
    you need. I won‘t leave you; no one will disturb your sleep. Close your
    eyes.‖
    I did as he told me, grateful for his vigilance.

    THERE was the smell of jasmine once, another time a smoky flavor like
    black tea, and on a different day the aroma of sandalwood and oranges. I
    stretched and made a sound that was more growl than yawn. I realized I
    was still a panther and coiled up into a ball and fell back to sleep. I was
    not ready to change my form. At least there were no needles still in me,
    which was probably progress.

    100

    Mary Calmes

    MEAT.
    I smelled food, and my body reacted. My head came up, and when it
    did I saw the platter of rare, just barely charred steak. It was piled high
    waiting for me.
    Inching forward, I tilted my head, leaned forward, and took a stack
    that was sliced thin between my jaws. I had it chewed and swallowed
    seconds later, the meat so tender that it disappeared in my mouth after five
    bites. When I reached for more, I heard the throat-clearing.
    ―Do not eat too fast, my reah, you‘ll be sick.‖
    The sheseru was right, even if I didn‘t want to hear it. Recoiling, I
    inhaled the smell of fresh water before my tongue began lapping at the
    bowl that sat on the bed beside the platter of meat. Never had I tasted
    anything better.
    ―Slowly, my reah, be careful.‖
    I wanted to guzzle it all down, drink until I was sated, but I didn‘t
    dare. The overwhelming tiredness rose up and ambushed me. Never had
    the simple act of eating nearly put me into a coma. Laying my head on my
    paws, I closed my eyes and sank back down onto the bed.

    IT WAS dark except for the glow of several candles when my eyes
    fluttered open.
    ―May I see your true form?‖
    I lifted my head and turned toward the sound of the voice.
    ―I am Roshan Tabir, sheseru of the tribe of Rahotep, enforcer of my
    semel, the semel-aten, master of Sobek, Ammon El Masry.‖
    Tribe of Rahotep, I remembered. The tribe that called Sobek home.
    And the man I had seen for several days, for at least a week, who was even
    now looking at me hopefully, expectantly, flames flickering in eyes filled
    with absolute adoration, was the sheseru of the strongest semel of all. He
    had dark eyes, brown, not the black that my gray ones turned in my
    werepanther form, but close. His face was kind, almost too gentle to be a
    sheseru, but from his power I knew that maybe he didn‘t need to look
    scary, he simply was when it was necessary.
    ―Please.‖
    Trusted Bond

    101

    I owed it to him. He needed to know that I was a man and not a
    woman, but the fear, so ingrained, slithered through me. I was afraid to see
    everything in his face change in an instant. And I knew he would look at
    me differently. No matter what, he would. Whether he would turn that
    confusion on himself or toward me was the only question. I had asked
    Yuri about it months ago. His feelings of protectiveness, the need to
    serve—did he feel strange about those because I was a man? For him, the
    answer had been no. My sex did not change the pride he felt at being my
    guardian, my servant, my friend. I wondered if Roshan would feel the
    same.
    ―Please.‖
    The fact was that the man deserved to know who I really was. Rising
    stiffly, I sat up.
    He lifted his hand to stop me from doing anything more, shifting,
    fretting, and moving. ―Let us do this. I must bring you more food, more
    water. When I return, I beg you to shift so I may see your sweet