Trusted Bond

head of panther, but the rest was almost like
    a dragon, or, Christ,‖—he raked his fingers through his thick hair—―baby,
    no one‘s ever seen anything like you, and they‘re terrified.‖
    I lifted up from my crouch and took a step back from him.
    ―No.‖ His voice was hard, firm. ―Not me. Never me. I didn‘t say I
    180

    Mary Calmes

    was afraid. I felt your power, felt all that force directed at others because
    you were protecting me. Everyone was scared except me. You don‘t
    frighten me at all.‖
    I stared at him. I was turning into a monster.
    ―Shift,‖ he commanded softly. ―I want to look in your eyes.‖
    The second I was me, he reached out and grabbed my wrist, yanking
    me forward and into his arms. I was crushed tight to his chest.
    ―You gotta stop just rushing in. I can‘t lose you because you—you
    have to be more careful,‖ he insisted, his fingers brushing over the healing
    wound just below my collarbone. ―This could have been fatal if she knew
    where to drive the knife. She aimed for the panther‘s heart, not the man‘s.
    A better-trained assassin doesn‘t make that mistake.‖
    His skin was hot next to mine, fevered, and his scent filled my
    nostrils. Between the sweat and the blood and the pheromones, my body
    was starting to throb.
    ―No,‖ he growled in my ear, kissing the side of my neck before he
    let me go and took several steps away. Then his fur rolled slowly over him
    and he was an enormous golden panther. He was beautiful, but when I
    reached for him, he bounded away.
    ―Wait,‖ I said, following.
    He crouched down, then lifted up, raised his head, tasting the air, and
    then bolted a short distance before he came loping back. It was like he
    wanted to play.
    I had to smile; there was no way I couldn‘t. ―Christ, we‘re both
    nuts,‖ I breathed out. ―Honey, Ammon El Masry wants you dead, and
    Laurent wants me dead, and Abbot and… shit. We need to get the fuck out
    of here and run home.‖
    He rolled over on his back and looked up at me.
    ―What the hell are you doing?‖ I chuckled, not wanting to. ―This is
    life-and-death, idiot. Do you get that at all? Is this whole thing gettin‘ to
    be a little too much for you?‖
    The purring was loud, and I threw up my hands in disgust before it
    hit me. ―Holy shit.‖
    He rolled over fast, looking at me upside down, letting his paws fall
    limp like he was a huge overgrown tabby cat lying there waiting to have
    his belly rubbed.
    Trusted Bond

    181

    I did this—I got all in my head and missed facts and planning and
    just simple basics. Domin was right: I was a drama queen. There, in the
    huge room, in the middle of the night, I calmed, took a breath, and looked
    at my mate as he shifted back to the gorgeous man he was and grinned at
    me like I was stupid.
    Which I was.
    ―Tomorrow you will tell everyone at the hearing what that fuck
    Laurent Bruyere did to you, after which I will kill him in the pit.‖
    The way he said it, so matter of fact, left no doubt in his mind that he
    would.
    ―After that, Yuri will kill, or punish, Abbot George and his friend
    Ian, who attacked you in the kitchen of our home. It‘s your sheseru‘s right,
    as well as his choice, and I won‘t take that away from him. Before any of
    that, tomorrow morning I will take Mikhail and Yuri with me, and we will
    go and see Ammon El Masry.‖
    ―No, Logan, you—‖
    ―He needs to know that I know he tried to kill me.‖
    ―Logan—‖
    ―He won‘t try again,‖ he said, gently silencing me. ―And even
    though I get that, I still need to see him.‖
    ―Why won‘t he try again?‖ I asked, my breath catching.
    ―Because you scared the crap out of him.‖
    ―What‘re you—‖
    ―Jin, he‘s scared to death of you. Before tonight, he was thinking it
    would be nice to be in control of all your power, break you, be the man
    who could tame a nekhene cat, be the man who takes you to bed‖—he
    smiled slowly, wickedly—―but when he saw what you became to protect
    me, saw how big and scary you were, how deadly and unrestrained, he
    nearly crapped himself right there. I don‘t think you understand how
    frightening you truly are.‖
    ―But you‘re not scared,‖ I said for my benefit as well as his.
    ―No,‖ he agreed, ―but that‘s because you‘re mine. There‘s untapped
    power in you, and I don‘t know where the end is. I don‘t know how fast
    you‘ll get, how big, how strong, how… whatever. Your limits may