Ecstasy Untamed (Feral Warriors #6)(26)

"How long have you and Maxim been promised to one another?" Olivia asked.

Faith grimaced. This was the question she'd been dreading. "I just met him. Yesterday."

"What?"

"Yesterday?"

Faith groaned, burying her face in her hands. "It's all so weird!"

She felt a hand on her right knee, another on her left shoulder. "Tell us," Kara said softly.

Faith looked up, her gaze moving from one face to the next. If she'd seen only more curiosity, she might have held back, but in their faces she saw sympathy, too. And concern.

"The moment I met Maxim, I felt this powerful certainty that we belonged together. We both felt it."

Olivia sighed. "I know that feeling. I knew Jag and I were destined to mean something to one another the first time we met. Of course, I thought that something was enemies."

Skye nodded. "I fell for Paenther the first time I saw him." A pink hue rose in her cheeks. "Or maybe I just wanted him."

Delaney snorted. "God, Tighe was hot. He scared the crap out of me, but I couldn't stop wanting him. Still can't."

"You're talking about lust," Faith objected. "I'm talking about . . . a knowing. I can't even explain it. But not lust. I don't think of Maxim like that."

"You're kidding."

"Seriously?"

"Now that's just wrong."

Their voices pelted her with disbelief, all talking at once.

"Do you love him?" Kara asked softly. "Was it love at first sight?"

No, she realized. She didn't love him. It wasn't love at first sight, not at all. Just that strange conviction that they belonged together. But she couldn't tell the women that. Not when she and Maxim might still someday be mated. It wouldn't be fair to either of them. So she hedged. "I don't know, Kara. I don't know what I feel right now."

"What about Hawke?" Skye asked quietly.

And that was the real problem, wasn't it? "I like Hawke," she hedged, wanting to say more; but admitting the way Hawke made her feel was so unfair to Maxim. Still, she felt comfortable with these women as she hadn't with anyone in a long time. When was the last time she'd had real friends besides the girls she tried to help? "There's something about him."

"He has the kindest eyes, doesn't he?" Kara asked.

Delaney nodded. "And a great smile. It doesn't break often, but when it does, it makes your whole day."

"He's incredibly protective," Olivia added. "Of all of us."

Skye smiled. "If I weren't in love with Paenther, I think I'd be in love with Hawke."

"Me, too," Delaney and Olivia chimed in unison.

Kara smiled sympathetically. "It'll all work out."

Faith sighed. "It's going to work out better without me here for a while. I think I'm going home."

Kara made a sound of dismay. "You just got here."

"I know. But it was monumentally foolish to follow a man I'd just met halfway around the world, pull or no pull."

Kara took her hand. "But if he's really meant to be your mate . . ."

"Then he'll wait for me. When I first met him, I felt this kick of recognition. But maybe that's all it was. Maybe I recognized him from somewhere and mistook it for something more. And what I feel for Hawke is just . . . well . . . he's a very attractive man. You all know how rare it is to find a true mate."

Olivia sighed. "I'm afraid you're probably right, Faith, as much as I hate to admit it. Half the women on the planet would lust for our Feral Warriors if they got anywhere near them. The other half are too young, too old, or into other women."

"Will Maxim let you go?" Delaney asked.

"No, not happily."

"We don't want you to go." A hard light entered Delaney's eyes. "But he won't keep you here against your will. We won't let him."

Faith felt tears prick her eyes as she looked at the fierce, protective faces that surrounded her. She'd been watching over others for so long, yet she could barely remember the last time anyone had watched over her.

"Thank you."

Olivia gripped her knee. "Faith, don't be too quick to move on this. Give both of them a little more time, please? They all say that newly marked Ferals can be a pain in the ass. Once Maxim shifts, he might surprise you. And you said yourself, you've only known him a day. Have you even been . . . this is none of my business . . . intimate?"

Faith's cheeks heated. "No. Not even a kiss."

"There you have it." She patted Faith's knee and straightened. "You don't know what's between you, yet. He's probably too screwed up with the raging testosterone new Ferals are known for to be thinking straight. Give him a little time." She shrugged, a small, knowing smile lifting her mouth. "Speaking as the mate of a former ass**le, sometimes they're worth all the trouble."

"There's another consideration," Delaney said. "Hawke's seen something in you that he responds to. Maybe it's just sexual attraction, maybe it's more than that. But you made him smile and laugh for the first time since he got out of that trap. Tighe commented on it. Taking that away from him right now might do him more harm than good."