Lilith turned her back to him and backed her buttocks against his crotch. She ground her buttocks against his cock and arched her back and moaned. He thrashed against his bonds in agonizing desperation. He couldn’t pull away from her and he couldn’t move toward her. Then she turned around to press her body against him. She bit him down his neck, down his chest, and down his belly to his swollen cock. She bit his cock through his pants until he howled to the stars in tortured ecstasy.
Lilith stood up and faced the crowd. She nodded to the guards. “You can go back to camp now. He is ready.”
Tara couldn’t swallow the lump in her throat. She couldn’t find voice enough to ask again what they planned to do with Taig. She slumped over on the ground and closed her eyes. She couldn’t look at him hanging limp and defeated from his outstretched arms. She didn’t move when the guards kicked her and ordered her to get up.
Reina helped her to her feet. “Come on, Tara. We have to go.”
Tara dragged her head up. “We can’t leave him. We can’t leave him like this.”
“We have to,” Reina told her. “If we try to help him now, we’ll all die. Come on. We’ll go back to camp. We might be able to help him later.”
“But they’re going to kill him,” Tara cried.
Ari appeared at her side. “He’s not dead yet.”
Tara’s head shot up. She’d never heard that low menace in Ari’s voice before. She studied his face in the torchlight. The old careless humor was gone. Smoldering hatred burned in his eyes. He didn’t look at Tara. He kept his eyes fixed on Taig.
A shadow darkened his face, and Tara found Lilith at her side. “Go back to camp. The sacrifice takes place at sunrise, and after that, we have the feast.”
“What feast?” Aeifa asked.
“The sacrificial feast, of course,” Lilith replied. “We consume the sacrifice to make him part of us. That’s our law.”
The friends stared at her. Only Allen had enough presence of mind to ask. “Are you telling us you’re going to eat him?”
Lilith shrugged. “He’s the sacrifice, isn’t he? He’ll be perfect. Delicious.”
Chapter 4
Tara came to her senses in a dark tent. She whimpered in her sleep and started upright, but a cool hand touched her forehead and eased her down. “It’s all right. I’m here.”
“Taig!” she cried.
“He’s all right for now,” the voice told her. “They won’t sacrifice him ‘til morning.”
Tara’s mind cleared enough to recognize the voice. “Allen. What are you doing here?”
His soft voice came to her out of the dark. “Someone had to stay with you. Reina wanted to, but I convinced the others to let me stay.”
She looked around, but her eyes couldn’t detect the faintest light. “What time is it?”
“It must be after midnight,” he replied. “The whole camp’s asleep.”
She swallowed a lump in her throat and her voice quavered. “Except Taig.”
“It’s all right,” he murmured. “We’ll find a way to get him out. We won’t stand by and watch them kill him.”
She clamped her eyes shut and threw her arm over her eyes. She couldn’t break down now, especially with Allen sitting right there. His hand settled on her shoulder. “It’s okay.”
She tried to sit up, but he pressed her down again. “Rest a little longer. You’re spent.”
She sank back on a pile of blankets. Her eyes hurt, and nervous exhaustion tortured her every nerve. She wished she could sink into unconsciousness, but worry for Taig kept her alert.
Out of the darkness, Allen’s hand came to rest on her forehead. He stroked her hair back from her face and soothed her nerves. “You passed out when they told us they planned to eat him. They let us bring you here, but they would only let one person stay with you.”
“Why did you decide to stay?” she asked.
“I care about you,” he murmured. “Don’t you know that by now?”
She blinked. She couldn’t see any more of him than a shadow. “I didn’t think....”
“Don’t think.” His lips landed on her forehead, and his breath rushed into her hair. “Shh.”
She relaxed back on the blankets. Her mind roiled at the possibilities, from Taig out there tied between two trees, to her parents and village vanished without a trace, and back again to her cousins and friends. She couldn’t forget the danger they were in, but her soul cried out for Allen. She could lean on him for comfort in a way she couldn’t with anyone else. She could show him her fear and let him support her.
If Reina was here, Tara would have to be strong and sure. She couldn’t show any uncertainty around Reina, or the girl would fall apart. Tara would have to get up and formulate a plan for their escape. Allen had a twin brother of his own. How would he feel if Taman was tied to that tree right now? Would she be able to offer him comfort in the face of a hopeless situation?
Without meaning to, she threw her arms around his neck and hung on for dear life. Everything she’d ever done and everywhere she’d ever gone, Taig had been by her side. If anything happened to Taig, she would be alone in the world for the first time. Not even Ari and Aeifa could take his place. Allen could anchor her. His massive shoulders could shelter her and keep her safe.
He jumped in surprise when she caught hold of him. Then he settled into her. His furry head dropped into the hollow of her neck, and his breath warmed her neck. The blocks of muscle along his back and shoulders tightened and lifted her off the bed. Tara shivered, but the longer she held onto him, the more the shivers changed into tremors of excitement.
She’d rolled around with Lycaon boys back in the village. Everyone her age did it, but none of them set her alight this way. His breath scorched her skin, and she rubbed her head against his fur. She ran her fingers through the coarse hair, and even that sparked surges of energy she couldn’t suppress. His very alien nature, his Ursidrean-ness, drove her out of her mind. Her body tingled with a thousand sparks. She arched her back and her body rippled against him.
The scene between the trees flashed through her mind, with Lilith’s hands squirreling into Taig’s pants, his crotch bulging, and his breath coming in gasps. Lilith’s tongue slithered into his ear, and her teeth sank into his flesh. Against her will, Tara thrilled to that forbidden pleasure. Her crotch twitched with excitement, and warm juice oozed out of her.
Allen growled against her shoulder. Was he thinking about the same thing? Did Lilith excite everyone with her antics? Were Ari and Reina touching and exploring each other right now in the next tent? What about Aeifa and Taman?
She couldn’t hold herself back. She bent her head and slipped her tongue into Allen’s ear. He reacted instantly by sinking his teeth into her shoulder. The thrill of pain brought a gasp from her mouth. She bent one leg around his back and drew him down on top of her.
He rubbed his fur down her neck to her chest and moved her shirt aside with his cheek. She hugged his head against her chest, and the rumblings from deep in his throat vibrated through her bones, down through her guts, and set the velvet tissue of her genitals humming to the same vibration.
His shoulders loomed over her. When did he get so big? She always thought of him as a little boy, but he dwarfed her now with his massive bulk. A giant with glowering eyes and hulking muscles caught her in his grasp. He could rend her in two, but he held her safe in his hands. His bulk protected her from the danger outside the tent. He would always protect her.
He rolled over on top of her. His weight overpowered her like nothing she’d ever experienced. She had no choice but to spread her legs around him, and his hips drove between down them. She panted for breath, and her hands raked through the fur down his back to his pants. She drove her fingers under his belt and down inside his pants. Warm fur covered his buttocks and ran down the back of his thighs.
Tara squeezed his ass with both hands and forced his hips against her. He pushed his b
ulging cock into her tender flesh, and his hands followed her down, down to her ass seething up and down in anticipation. He crushed both her buttocks in an iron grip, and he pushed her pants down over her hips. Her delicate petals sprang free into the brisk night air, and she sucked her breath through her teeth. The air hadn’t chilled her steaming juices an instant before he shoved his rigid bulge against her.
She clawed at his waistband in desperate need. She tore his pants off, and his cock shot out toward her. She arched her back one more time and aimed her hips with expert precision. His teeth caught her ear and he deafened her with his bellow. She spread her legs another fraction, and his cock plunged into her depths. She yelped into his ear, but the tide of desire wouldn’t let her settle. Hot flames licked through her, and she bucked and kicked against him. He didn’t rest a moment, but lifted his shoulders high above her. His eyes burned into her soul from far above her. She couldn’t see them with her eyes, but they burned in her mind and drove her into an intoxicated daze.
Her body moved of its own volition. She couldn’t stop it undulating against him, dancing in rhythm to his steady strokes. He growled between his teeth in harmony with her moaning. Their breath gasped faster until they both choked, but they only rode faster toward each other. At the last second, her eyes shot open. She strained for any sight of him, but explosions of light in front of her eyes blocked her vision. Then she tumbled down into dark oblivion where nothing existed but him.
She lay in the delirious glow of his love until he coughed into her hair. She stirred under him. “We should get up.”
“It’s not sunrise yet,” she replied.
“We have to find some way to rescue Taig,” he told her.
Tara sat up. She had to get her thoughts in order. “Where are the others?”
“They’re asleep in another tent,” he replied. “Under guard, of course.”
“And we’re under guard, too, I guess,” she remarked.
He nodded. “I had a good look around while you were asleep. There must be a hundred people surrounding us. I don’t know how we’d even get out of this tent, and even if we got away, they would track us down.”
Tara drove herself to her feet. “There must be some way.”
She peered through the tent opening. The aurora had faded, and clouds blocked out the stars. Pitch dark surrounded the tent on all sides. Tara couldn’t make out anybody beyond the door. “How could you see where they were?”
He snorted. “Ursidreans can’t see as well in the dark as Lycaon, but we can hear and smell as well as you can, maybe better. There are five over there and another six over there. I can hear another bunch moving around beyond those trees, and they’ve definitely stepped up their activity since you woke up. They’re guarding us. Make no mistake about that.”
She dropped down on her haunches. “Then it really is hopeless. We couldn’t get past them to free Taig, and we couldn’t get the others out, either. We’re stuck. They’ll probably kill us all.”
“No,” he replied. “Lilith explained it to us. Taig is supposed to be a price we pay to join these people. She said everyone who ever joined the Outliers paid the same price.”
Tara groaned. “They must be some kind of deviant.”
“I don’t know how they developed,” he replied, “but that Lilith is a demon. She said she came to the Outliers with her brother. She had a twin from her mother, and the Outliers sacrificed him so she could stay.”
“How awful!” Tara whispered.
“Do you want to know the most awful part about it?” he asked. “They were barely old enough to walk when it happened. She said her brother’s sacrifice is one of her earliest memories, and after they killed him, she sat down with the others and shared the feast. They ate him, just like they plan to do with Taig.”
Overwhelming fear and horror threatened to knock her off her feet. She would pass out if she stayed in one place a moment longer. She jumped to her feet and paced around the room. “We’ve got to get out of here. These people are evil. I don’t know what they are, but they can’t be people like us. They must be some kind of animal, or maybe they’re alien like the Romarie that brought our mothers to Angondra.”
Allen shook his head. “I think they’ve just lived in isolation so long they’ve developed these awful rituals. Lycaon hunters eat the hearts of the animals you hunt to take their strength into yourselves. It’s not that much of a stretch to do the same thing with people.”
“It’s not anywhere near the same thing!” she shot back.
“I didn’t say it was the same,” he countered. “I said it’s not that difficult to understand how they could develop a custom like this. They haven’t had contact with the rest of Angondra in centuries. The other factions had to deal with each other, in war, in peace negotiations, and they formed alliances with some factions while they fought others. They never existed in isolation like this. They couldn’t have developed something like this without the others finding out.”
“If that’s true,” Tara replied, “maybe the Aqinas have weird customs like that, too. Maybe that’s why no one ever comes back from there. They get eaten.”
Allen chuckled, but he shook his head again. “My mother has seen the Aqinas, and she says they are peaceful and civilized.”
“I sure hope you’re right,” Tara murmured. “I hope our parents aren’t trying to negotiate with people like these Outliers.”
Chapter 5
A flurry of activity and babble of voices startled them from outside. Figures crossed the tent doorway headed toward the trees where Taig remained tied. Tara started forward, but Allen held her back. “Not yet.”
“We have to,” she insisted. “We have to move now or we’ll be too late. We don’t have time to stand around talking about this. They’ll be on their way to kill him soon.”
Before she could answer, a tiny light bobbed in the darkness. It danced across the ground and grew stronger and nearer, until it floated into the tent. “Aeifa! Ari! What are you doing here?”
Ari and Aeifa hurried into the tent with Reina on their heels. Aeifa didn’t answer, but nodded over her shoulder. Lilith entered behind her with another lantern in her hand. She surveyed the friends. “There. You’re all together now.”
Tara glared at her. “Leave us alone. You’re going to kill my brother and eat him, so don’t come around trying to be friendly. I swear I’ll spend the rest of my life searching for a way to pay you back for this. If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll kill you for this.”
Lilith returned her gaze with distant detachment. Then she nodded. “I understand. Believe me, I understand how you feel.”
“You couldn’t understand how I feel,” Tara snapped. “You’re a zombie. You’re dead to the Angondran race. You might as well be dead from the neck up, and I’ll never have anything more to do with you.”
Lilith waited until she finished. When she spoke, she kept her voice low. “They killed my brother, too.”
“And you enjoyed that, didn’t you?” Tara hissed. “Was he as delicious as Taig?”
Lilith winced. “I don’t remember.”
Tara threw up her hands and spun away. “Get out of here. Don’t show your face to me again.”
Lilith didn’t move. “I came here to tell you I’ll get you out of here if you only listen to me.”
Tara spun back around the other way. “What?”
“I’ll get you out,” Lilith replied. “I’ll help you get Taig and get away.”
The others exchanged glances. “Why would you do that?”
Lilith shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. The important thing is to make sure you get out and make it back to the inhabited territories.”
“How will we do that?” Allen asked.
“It shouldn’t be too hard.” Lilith looked down at their feet and back up to their faces. “You’re Lycaon. You can run back before anybody knows you’re gone.”
Ari snorted. “That’s not l
ikely to happen. There are guards crawling all over this camp. They’re all around this tent and all around Taig. How are we going to get past them?”
“And don’t forget Reina,” Aeifa added. “The boys can’t run as fast as we can, but at least they can run. Reina can’t. She’d never be able to keep up with us.”
Taman frowned. “We can’t trust her, anyway. She’s trying to trick us by offering us a chance to escape. I don’t believe a word she says. She’s the one who did this to Taig. She’s the worst of the bunch.”
A sad smile played on Lilith’s lips. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you the truth. Just take this chance and go while you can.”
Tara crossed her arms over her chest. “None of us is going anywhere on your word until you explain why you’re doing this. None of us has any reason to trust you.”
Lilith cocked her head the other way. “It’s her.”
The whole group gasped. “Aeifa, why her?”
Lilith studied Aeifa. “She reminds me of my mother. She sort of looks like her, with that light colored hair and her eyes. I don’t remember much about my life before I came to the Outliers, but I remember what she looked like.” Lilith shook her head. “I haven’t thought about this for years. I suppose it’s you showing up here that made me think of it.”
“What does that have to do with letting us go?” Tara asked.
“We’ve sacrificed dozens of people, that I can remember,” Lilith replied. “I’ve never seen anybody react the way you did. Or maybe I just didn’t notice the way they reacted. I noticed the way you reacted, though. I never really thought about it before. The Outliers’ customs always seemed normal to me. It’s all I’ve ever known. But when I saw how upset you got about Taig, I started thinking about my mother. I thought maybe she would react that way if she knew about my brother Ledo.”
Rohn (Dragons of Kratak Book 1) Page 78
