Desire Untamed (Feral Warriors #1)(22)

"No." The word was softly spoken, but laced with steel.

A dark suspicion had her catching her breath. "You told me there was no sex involved in this ritual."

"I told you the truth."

A harsh burst of strangled laughter escaped her throat. "Then why did you have to… turn me on? Why no underwear? Why the  p**n -queen dress?"

He turned slowly, his hot gaze skimming the dress and every one of her curves, setting her on fire all over again. But when his gaze finally met hers, his mouth twitched in what might have passed for a very strained smile.

"That  p**n -queen dress has been worn by our Radiants for nearly a thousand years."

A thousand… ? Kara's eyes widened.

"My intent wasn't to turn you on, as you put it, but merely to ready your body for the passion that will rise naturally during the ceremony. Passion opens the body and mind in ways nothing else can. It's the way nature finds… the one who will help you ascend."

"Passion." Why did she get the feeling he wasn't telling her everything. "But not sex?"

"No."

She met his amber gaze, searching for the truth. "You promise?"

He met her gaze, then crossed to her and took the hairbrush from her unsteady fingers. Turning her, he began to pull the brush gently through her hair.

"There is no sex involved in the ceremony, Kara. Nothing for you to fear. We would never hurt you." His deep voice soothed her senses, easing her disquiet with every word, with every stroke of the brush. "You're our Radiant. The conduit to our power. You hold our very lives in your hands."

Tossing the brush onto the bed, he turned her around to face him, then stepped back, as if afraid to touch her. His gaze slid over her slowly, his eyes hot, admiring, heating her all over again. He took a deep, unsteady breath and motioned toward the door. "Let's go."

They descended one flight of stairs and crossed through the empty and silent house. As they started down a second, much longer flight to what she assumed was the basement, the dread she'd felt earlier returned, tightening like a band around her chest until she could hardly breathe. And she began to wonder what her real role was destined to be in this strange world.

What exactly did it mean to be the Radiant and lifeblood of the Feral Warriors?

In this dress, with her hair down and her feet bare, she was beginning to feel more like a blood sacrifice.

* * *

Chapter Seven

Lyon lifted Kara onto the foot-high pedestal in the center of the sacred circle, his hands shaking with need for her as they splayed at her narrow waist. It was all he could do not to bury his face in her neck and drink in the sweet scent of her skin. It was all he could do not to lift the hem of her dress and sheathe himself deep in her heat.

He'd done too much as it was. Kissing her. Fondling her. Hell, he'd done everything but make love to her. Never had he struggled so hard for control and lost it so badly. The lack of radiance was definitely getting to him, too.

"What's going to happen?" Kara's voice quavered as her gaze slid around the smoky, dark-paneled room. The flames of the six sacred fires cast shadows over her face. "It's spooky down here." Her gaze caught his, whispers of fear in her eyes. "What's going to happen, Lyon?"

A fierce protectiveness rose inside him, a need to fight back her fears as he'd been doing since he found her. But her fate was in the hands of the goddess, now.

"It's just ritual, Kara. You have nothing to fear. All you have to do is stand here as we call on the Earth's wisdom to pair you with the one who will aid your Ascension to your power."

"All I do is stand here?"

Lyon hesitated, deciding he'd put off the explanation as long as he could. At least the part she needed for now.

"One by one the men will approach you… kiss you… until the one is found."

Her blue eyes widened, her mouth dropping open in disbelief. "You're making that up."

"No."

"I'm not kissing all of them," she hissed.

"It's the only way." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the last two warriors, Vhyper and Paenther, enter the room. The slap of forearm to forearm echoed through the ritual room as his men greeted one another, along with a few low, ribald comments. One man would indeed be well bedded tonight.

"It's time," Kougar said. The fires that ringed the circle were lit and flaming. The men all there.

Lyon pulled his shirt off and tossed it to the ground outside the circle, as did the others, standing in nothing but his pants. The Pairing required flesh. Against flesh.

He took his place in the circle. Each man was bare to the waist except for the silver armband that curved around his right biceps, an armband with the silver head and jeweled eyes of his beast. Lyon gazed at Kara standing before them, proud and wary. More beautiful than any Radiant before her. The goddess personified. A rumble started deep in his chest, vibrating through him as his animal fought to stake his claim.

Mine.

He clamped down on the beast within. She wasn't his, and he didn't want her to be. The last thing he needed was the time-consuming responsibility of a mate. But, heaven help him, she filled his senses. Never could he remember feeling this insanely attracted to a woman. Attracted, jealous, possessive.

Damn, but this ceremony couldn't happen quickly enough. When she was paired, he'd be free of this obsession once and for all. He had to believe that.