Desire Untamed (Feral Warriors #1)(24)

Sweet goddess, he wasn't letting her go. She had to be his. His logical mind took up the cry of his beast. Mine.

But she would only be his if his fingertips glowed in the mark of the true mate.

His scalp began to tingle with cold realization. Glowing fingers would have triggered a shout. A cheer. The only sounds that met his ears were the crackle of the fires and the stunned and utter silence of his brothers. He knew. Before he ever pulled away from her and looked at his hands, he knew there would be no glow.

Mine! his beast roared in anger and betrayal. But he lifted his hands and stared at the traitorous normalcy of his flesh.

Kara wasn't his.

He released her and stepped back, her gaze clinging to him even as he turned away. Pain lanced his aching body.

This was good, his logical mind cried. He didn't have time for a mate. But his beast growled at the treacherous fates, and he knew his beast was right.

All his life he'd been alone. And hadn't realized it. He'd thought it was just him, just the way he was. Until Kara. The first time he touched her, he'd felt an awakening deep inside, a stark and painful illumination of the lonely hollows within him that he'd never acknowledged, perhaps never even known existed. An ache that eased when he touched her.

But she wasn't his. The goddess, in her cruelty, had given her to another. And those hollow places inside him, raw and open, would bleed for the rest of his life.

He would never touch Kara again.

Kara covered her face with her hands, longing to sink into the ground and disappear. Never had she been so humiliated. Every time Lyon kissed her, she came. It was embarrassing enough to do in front of him, but she'd just done it in front of eight men. Men she was supposed to live with!

Oh, God.

She lowered her hands and saw the men exchanging glances, felt the unnatural silence blanketing the dungeonlike room. Had something gone wrong, or were they merely horrified at the sluttiness of their new Radiant?

The odd cherry-sweet smell of the fire smoke teased her nose as Tighe approached her, his muscular chest bare above his low-slung blue jeans, a silver armband with a tiger's head tight around his upper arm, glinting in the firelight. Above his right nipple he had the scar, the four claw marks just like her own.

Tighe stopped in front of her, demanding her attention. For once, he was without his sunglasses, and she gasped when she saw his eyes. No whites rimmed his irises. Instead, golden tiger eyes stared back at her with the same disconcerting hunger she saw in the others'. A chill slid down her spine.

Never had she been the object of such attention, and never from men such as these. While it was a heady experience to have so many men desire her, there was only one among them whose attention she wanted.

Lyon.

Tighe's gaze caressed her face. "Look at you," he breathed. "You're glowing. Absolutely glowing." He shook his head, looking mystified. "He should have been the one."

He slid his hands over her shoulders, his hands shaking ever so slightly, telegraphing the hunger she saw on his face. "I feel like I'm encroaching on something sacred." But he pulled her lightly against him as Paenther had and kissed her with surprising passion, sweeping his tongue inside her mouth. She kissed him back because she was supposed to, and because she liked him. But the kiss was mildly pleasant, nothing more.

Tighe pulled back and looked at his hands, then met her gaze with a lopsided grin. "I got a little carried away. That kiss you gave Lyon was… inspiring." He cupped her chin, briefly, then turned away.

Kara looked at Lyon, but his gaze was fixed firmly on the floor. What was going on? Lyon had told her this ceremony was only to choose the man who would help her ascend. But they were taking it far more seriously. With a sudden, horrible certainty, she knew it was more. Much more.

Vhyper strode toward her, his bald head gleaming, his silver earring shining with a fire all its own. "I keep waiting for someone to start the duck, duck, goose, but they're all so somber tonight."

Kara forced a smile, but couldn't hold on to it for more than a second. Her heart was starting to pound a deep thud. "What's the purpose of this ceremony?"

His gaze met hers, a spark of something sharp slicing through his eyes. "To find your mate," he said, then pulled her against him for his kiss.

Mate. Mate? As Vhyper's seeking mouth touched hers, she struggled against his hold. He released her so suddenly, she stumbled backward, off the pedestal. Strong arms caught her from behind and righted her before she hit the ground.

Vhyper thrust his hands in the air and turned in a circle like the champ of a prizefight. High above his head his fingertips glowed like blue Christmas tree bulbs. When he turned to face her, his eyes flashed with triumph.

"It looks like you're mine."

No. Kara leaped off the pedestal and ran to Lyon. But unlike before, he didn't open his arms to her. Instead, he clasped his hands behind his back and looked over her head, his shoulder-length golden hair framing a face made of granite as he refused to meet her gaze.

"You said this ritual was to choose the man who would help me ascend."

His jaw tightened, sending the bones of his face into harsh relief. "It was. It did."

"But that's not all it did, is it?" Tears burned her eyes as her hands fisted at her side. "You purposely misled me. What was the reason for this ritual, Lyon? What have you done to me by bringing me here?" She slammed her fists against the light furring of his hard chest, demanding he look at her, but he refused. "You've sold me." She beat on his chest. "You've sold me."