Trusted Bond

stripped off the T-shirt he had been wearing under his dress
    shirt and pulled it over my head. With his button-down tied around my
    waist and his T-shirt hanging on me like a nightshirt, I was sure I looked
    like an orphan in the oversized clothes. But for Logan, the important part
    was that I was covered, only my arms and legs visible.
    ―The semel-aten said I had to cover my head.‖ I told him.
    ―We‘ll run,‖ he told me.
    The way his eyes glinted when he looked at me, I couldn‘t ever
    remember being so content.
    ―I have good news for you.‖
    I waited.
    ―I left Domin and Koren home. They needed time together, and after
    you were taken… I think Crane would have jumped on a plane himself if I
    hadn‘t let him come.‖
    Crane was there? The surge of happiness ran right through me.
    He cupped my face in his hands, drew me forward, and tipped my
    chin up so he could look down into my eyes.
    Trusted Bond

    163

    ―There‘s not a mark on you anywhere as far as I can see. Tell me
    how that happened?‖
    With my last shift, I had healed every wound on me. ―I think
    whatever it was I turned into, I guess it‘s more powerful than my regular
    panther form.‖
    ―You guess?‖ He chuckled. ―Jin, I have never seen anything like
    that. If I didn‘t know that was you running toward me outside, I would
    have hauled ass away. Do you get how big you were? I mean, just your
    claws and fangs… it was terrifying.‖
    I swallowed hard. ―Logan, what if I change again and can‘t shift
    back?‖
    ―That won‘t happen.‖
    ―But what if it does?‖
    ―Love,‖ he said softly, his voice like a caress, ―it won‘t.‖
    ―How do you know?‖
    ―Why did you change out there on the steps?‖
    I stared up into amber eyes that had chips of gold and brown in them.
    ―I wanted you to hold me; I wanted to be in your arms.‖
    ―And it was that simple. You wanted it, and so you did it. I think,
    without sounding overly conceited, that because you love me and because
    you want me, you‘re never going to turn into anything scary. It‘s not you
    and it‘s definitely not you when you‘re with me.‖
    ―Logan––‖
    ―Jin, honey, even if you don‘t want to admit it, your heart knows that
    first, before anything else that you are my reah.‖
    I nodded, suddenly unable to speak.
    ―The love in you, your innate compassion, all of it makes it
    impossible for you to shift into a monster. To protect me, to protect those
    you love, I have no doubt, for a time, you could be frightening but not for
    long. It will never last. Like I said, you‘re my reah and besides, you can‘t
    stand at my side if you‘re bigger than me.‖
    I stared at him as his face lit up in a huge smile.
    His laughter, the rakish waggle of his eyebrows, brought a surge of
    feeling through me and with it quick tears. He knew me so well, knew
    what to say and when. I loved him so.
    164

    Mary Calmes

    ―But I‘ve been feeling really strange the last few days,‖ I said, my
    breath catching as I calmed, settling in my skin.
    ―Just like me,‖ he murmured, easing me into his arms, wrapping me
    up, rubbing his chin on the top of my head. ―I don‘t seem to be calm
    anymore. I‘m angry all the time, it‘s just—it was like I wasn‘t myself. I
    didn‘t feel like me.‖
    ―Me either,‖ I sighed, leaning against him, squeezing and rubbing
    my thighs together.
    ―What‘re you doing?‖ he asked, his voice husky with laughter. ―You
    gotta pee?‖
    ―No,‖ I groused at him, shoving his shirt that was tied around my
    waist between my thighs for a second before pulling it free. ―I have stuff
    running down the inside of my thighs.‖
    His laughter was loud, and I tried really hard not to smile.
    ―You‘re an ass.‖
    ―Absolutely,‖ he agreed, still chuckling. ―Hey.‖
    I tilted my head so I could see him, and he bent and kissed me hard,
    making sure he missed nothing as he inventoried my mouth with his
    tongue and lips.
    I leaned with him, not wanting to break the kiss, but he was taller, so
    I couldn‘t keep the contact when he straightened to his towering height.
    ―I feel good,‖ he announced after a minute of staring into my eyes.
    ―What?‖
    ―I feel like me now. I didn‘t know who I was this morning, I felt
    strange in my own skin, but now… I feel like there‘s a weight lifted off
    my chest. Just holding you, I can breathe.‖
    I felt the same, exactly the same.
    ―Now, c‘mon, don‘t you wanna shower and put