A Love Untamed (Feral Warriors #7)(7)

The remnants of a Ming vase crunched under her heels as she paced, fury vibrating through every pore of her body, making her hands clench and unclench at her sides.

The damned Feral had noticed her reaction to him and acted upon it, flirting with her like she was a normal, sex-starved Ilina. She’d meant to show him exactly what she thought of him. He should have felt pain. Pain. Instead, he’d felt pleasure, arching as if he were in the throes of orgasm.

The breath caught in her lungs, and she sank back against the nearest wall, one hand curved protectively around her stomach, the other palming her forehead. She was still there moments later, her mind reeling, when her queen and friend materialized at her side.

Ariana touched her shoulder. “What happened down there, Mel?” she asked worriedly.

Melisande glared at her. “I’m going to kill him.” At Ariana’s raised eyebrow, Melisande rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to kill him. But I want to. You have no idea how much I want to.”

Ariana studied her. “He’s the one, isn’t he? The one you can’t intentionally harm. The one suited to be your mate.”

Melisande started to laugh, then choked instead, pushing away from the wall. “Never. I want no male. Especially not a shifter.” She’d hated the shifters for so long, both the Feral Warriors who were able to access the power of their animals and the nonshifting Therians. They were all shifters to her. All equally vile.

Well, maybe not vile. Not all of them. As much as she hated to admit it, the current batch of Ferals appeared to be honorable enough. The nine originals, at least. Ariana certainly thought so. And she couldn’t deny they were fighting to keep Satanan and his Daemon horde from rising again, which any creature of the world appreciated.

But that didn’t alter the fact that her history with shifters was a bad one. She’d spent most of her life hating them. Now, her traitorous body wanted one of them. She dug her fingers into her scalp and met Ariana’s sympathetic gaze.

“I don’t want to feel this way.”

Ariana’s eyes widened. “You want him.”

“No. Yes.” Heaven help her. For centuries, thanks to a traitorous shifter and his horrid clan, she’d been unable to bear a man’s touch. The thought of it still filled her with dread. But her body had somehow awakened again despite that. And it wanted.

She shook her head, eyeing her friend helplessly. “When I blasted Fox . . . the pleasure he felt . . . I felt it, too.” Not like he had, not . . . orgasmic. But even now, tendrils of heat swam through her blood, dampening her in secret places.

“I don’t want this!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, gripping her head because, even as her body ached, her mind reeled with horror at the thought of lying with a man again. Memories she’d locked down for so long were beginning to stir, memories of soul-destroying betrayal, and of soul-stealing pain.

“Why now?” she cried. “Why a shifter? Why him?”

“Mel . . . I’m sorry.”

None of this would have happened if Ariana hadn’t found Kougar again, if she hadn’t married him, forcing the Ilinas and the Feral Warriors into this unholy alliance, and the thought hung thickly in the air between them, unspoken.

“Is there anything I can do?” Ariana asked quietly.

Melisande met her friend’s gaze. “Leave Kougar and forbid us from ever going near the Ferals again.”

A glint of dark humor gleamed in Ariana’s eyes. “Other than that.” Ariana stepped closer, her eyes soft and serious. “Mel, if you need to step down from your post for a while, I completely understand.”

“No.” The word shot from Melisande’s mouth before her brain fully processed the ramifications of Ariana’s offer.

“Think about it,” Ariana said kindly, then misted away, leaving Melisande standing among the wreckage of the shattered vase and the remnants of her own hard-won equilibrium.

With a groan, she leaned back against the nearest wall, closing her eyes, forcing herself to consider her options. Because stepping down from her post as Ariana’s second-in-command would mean no longer having to go anywhere near Feral House. Or the far-too-disturbing Fox.

But there was no real choice, she knew that. She was by far the strongest of Ariana’s warriors, by far the best able to protect her queen and her race. Ironically, the only one she trusted as much was Kougar. He would give up his life for his mate and had nearly done so not long ago.

But with the Mage determined to free the Daemons back into the world, none of them could be too careful. Melisande sighed. She had no choice, not really. Dodging Feral House, and Fox, meant dodging her responsibilities, and that was something she would never do.

Perhaps if she ignored the too-handsome shifter, he’d go away. She snorted. After she’d nearly driven him to sexual release with a flick of her hand? Not likely. He knew she hadn’t meant for that to happen. Worse, he knew she’d been affected as well. The knowledge had gleamed plain as day in the predatory look in his eyes.

No, he wasn’t likely to lose interest anytime soon. The male was bent on seduction. And her defenses were badly shaken.

One day ago

Kara sat on the floor of Skye and Paenther’s bedroom, playing with Skye’s pets, smiling at the antics of the black miniature schnauzer, Lady, and the tabby kitten, Tramp, as they simultaneously attacked a vicious chew toy. She was glad for the distraction.