Captivated: 3 (Mating Ritual) Read online

  Now she was the fiancée of a poor Keulot farmer, as well as a shop maid. Her father would have been horrified, of course, but she’d learned to take her happiness where she could find it.

  What about the Spygian men, some little part of her prodded.

  No, they were dangerous. She couldn’t think of them. No matter that the memory of their images made her breasts go hard and her thighs wet. Spygians were space travelers and therefore much more likely to run into Malucons than she was here, in this small, rustic town.

  The bell above the doorway rattled as the door opened, and Cindra glanced up toward her newest customer. Her chest tightened when she saw who it was. Bannor.

  “Good morning,” she said, drawing her gaze down to the counter.

  “Morning,” his deep, sexy voice rumbled. To her shock, rather than perusing the store, he strode straight to her. “I find myself in need of sustenance. What do you recommend?”

  “I…” She straightened to full height, trying not to meet his eyes. Pointing toward the wicker baskets in front of the counter, she said, “The fruits and vegetables are very good. They are fresh-picked.”

  “From your farm?”

  His question startled her into meeting his gaze. “How did you know we live on a farm?”

  His silver eyes sparkled as he broke into a charming grin. “Small town.”

  “Oh.” How right he was.

  “So…” She squirmed in her spot. “What brings you here?”

  “My pod members and I are here to collect our mate.”

  Our mate, he’d said. Her gaze met his. Suddenly she remembered something else she’d once learned about Spygians. They tended to mate in groups. In pods, as they called it. Which meant…Bannor and his three pod mates were going to share the same woman.

  Oh gods. She bit her lip to hold back the lush moan that longed to escape. Her nipples hardened into tight beads and liquid rushed between her thighs. Why did the thought of those four wondrous men with one woman practically electrify her with desire?

  “Is…is she close by?” she managed to choke out.

  His grin widened and he leaned forward on the countertop, invading her personal space with an ease that sucked all the breath from her lungs. “Very.”

  “Oh.” She shifted in her spot, resisting the urge to fan her face. When had it gotten so hot in here?

  “Spygian mates are predestined, you know,” he continued in a low, silky tone. His hand crept onto the counter, inches from where hers rested lightly on the edge, and she watched with bated breath. His fingers were so strong, so long and artistic. Nothing like Adamon’s rough, farmworker hands. What would it be like to feel them against her skin? The buds of her breasts?

  Between her legs?

  Oh heavens, why was she feeling this way? She couldn’t recall ever feeling so…so tight, so needy. Certainly not with Adamon. All she felt when she was in his arms was comfort. A sense of home.

  So don’t ruin that, she reminded herself. No matter how tempting this Spygian might be.

  The doorbell suddenly clanged again and she drew back with a degree of alarm that probably looked suspect, when she thought further of it. Glancing toward the door, she saw that it was Amra, one of the townspeople. Forcing a smile to her face, she murmured, “Good morning.”

  “Yes, it is,” Amra snapped with her usual grumpy demeanor. She speared Bannor with a suspicious glance, but he pretended not to notice it. Snatching up an array of fruits and vegetables, he placed them onto the counter.

  “I’ll take these.”

  “Very good.” Trying her best to look collected and calm, rather than the raging mass of nerves she currently felt like, she grabbed a sack and concentrated on filling it. The sooner this Spygian was out of her store and out of her life, the better off she’d be.

  * * * * *

  Later that night, after taking her evening bath, Cindra bid Adamon good night, stealing a few chaste kisses while his parents pretended not to notice, and went off to her bedroom. She tried in vain to sleep, but it eluded her. Her skin felt hot and tight in the long cotton nightgown she wore, and her legs were unaccountably restless.

  Opening her eyes, she blinked at the dark. How different this small, Spartan bedroom was from her luxurious princess quarters back in Chivea. Her opulent four-poster bed had given way to a narrow, hard bed, and instead of silk coverings she now had to make do it with serviceable cotton. But it was something, more than she’d had when she’d landed here, and the Nashors had been so kind to offer her a room in their house. When they’d witnessed the growing feelings between her and their only son, they’d given their approval for them to marry.

  You have a good life, Cindra.

  So why did she feel as if she wanted something else? Something…more?

  Sighing, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. A cool breeze blew in from the open second-story window, caressing her heated flesh with twilight. There was no electricity on Keulot, but thankfully it wasn’t as hot on this world as it had been on hers. She wouldn’t have survived a night in Chivea without air-conditioning.

  Lost in her thought, she didn’t hear the creaking of the wooden floorboard until it sounded right beside her. Cindra’s eyes flew open…just as a hand closed over her mouth. She tried to jerk up, but a rigid wall of flesh held her in place. She let out a scream, but the sound was so muffled that she knew no one else would have heard it.

  Opening her eyes, she blinked until the figure above her came into view.

  Bannor.

  He’d tied his long, black hair back behind his neck, but otherwise he looked just as tall and formidable, just as delicious, as he had this morning.

  She tried to struggle against his grip, but he only said, “Shush. Shush, beloved. I’m not here to hurt you. I promise.”

  When he did nothing to harm her, just held her gently, she slowly stopped her struggle.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said, the flash of his silver eyes assuring her he meant it. “I but wanted to speak, and you are a difficult woman to catch alone.”

  She sort of knew what he meant. Once she’d left the store, Adamon had trailed her the remainder of the day, as if he feared she’d run off the moment he wasn’t paying attention.

  “I won’t let you come to any harm, I vow it,” he continued. “Do you promise not to scream?”

  She thought about it for a moment. He truly did seem contrite, and if his intent was harm, wouldn’t he have done it by now? Well, she could always agree then scream later, if she wanted to. Right now, she truly wanted to hear what he had to say.

  Nodding slowly, she forced her breath to regulate as he drew his hand from her face.

  “What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?” she whispered harshly.

  A slow smile lit his features as he sat back. “Ah, so the kitten does have claws.”

  Flushing, she scooted backward until she sat against the wooden headboard. “You didn’t answer my question. How’d you get in here, anyway?”

  He shrugged, the movement making his white shirt go tight against his broad shoulders. Her mouth went dry and she tore her gaze from his body to his face.

  “I climbed the tree outside your window,” he said.

  Oh, that damned beladora tree. She’d always thought it provided way too easy access into the house, but crime in this town was practically nonexistent and trees were as rare as precious diamonds, so no one even considered removing it or cutting the branches back.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “I wanted to speak with you,” he said, “but after today I began to doubt I’d ever get the opportunity without your fiancée standing about.”

  Her anxious fingers clutched the sheet covering her body. What was she doing? She should scream, should order him to leave at the very least. But for some reason…she couldn’t do it. Not yet.

  “What did you want to speak with me about?” she forced herself to say with anger in her tone.

  “I wanted
to continue our conversation from earlier.”

  Cindra blinked at him. “What do you mean?”

  “About our mate.”

  Her heart let out a strange thump. Moistening her suddenly dry lips, she whispered, “Why would you need to speak with me about that?”

  A mysterious smile lit his face. “Do you really not know, beloved? Can’t you guess? Can’t you feel it?”

  Sudden suspicion set off a tremor through her body. No, he couldn’t be suggesting what she thought he was. It wasn’t possible.

  “What?” she asked.

  He gave her a look, as if he didn’t believe she could truly be so obtuse. His beautiful hand reached toward her, slow and steady, as if he was giving her a chance to object. She sucked in breath…and waited.

  When his fingers combed through her loose hair before tugging it behind her ear, she fought the urge to let out a primitive moan. Just the touch of his hand on her hair practically electrified her entire body.

  “It’s you, Cindra,” he murmured.

  “Um…what?” She couldn’t think with him so near.

  Bannor let out a low chuckle. “You’re the one, Cindra. Our mate. We came here for you.”

  His words finally penetrated her mind and her startled gaze locked with his. She shook her head in automatic denial. “No, I…I’m not. I couldn’t possibly be.”

  “You are,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument. “And I know you feel it too.”

  “No.” It couldn’t be true. “I…I’m engaged. I love Adamon.”

  His breath hissed out as he drew his hand back as if he’d been stung. His gaze went dark and hard. “Does Adamon make you feel the way you feel around us?”

  Oh gods, how did he know? Could he sense her desire for him?

  “I…” She shook her head again. “I…”

  “Does he?” he repeated, his voice hard.

  When she didn’t respond, just stared at him in mute silence, he did something she would never have expected. He reached his hand out and closed it over her breast, right over the cotton fabric of her nightgown. She let out a low screech, but to her pure and utter mortification, rather than draw away, she found her traitorous body arching into his touch. Wordlessly begging for more.

  “Does it feel like this when he touches your breast, Cindra?”

  His silver eyes glittered at her, practically daring her to deny what she felt.

  “He…” He’s never touched my breast before.

  But she didn’t say it. Couldn’t say anything, even when he drew closer, his head bending slowly toward hers. Before she could take a fortifying breath, his lips closed over hers, full and firm and astoundingly erotic.

  Heavens… Adamon had certainly never kissed her like this. She was powerless to fight it, powerless to do anything but lean into him, allowing his tongue to plunder her mouth and his hand to knead her breast.

  Gods, his tongue. It was longer than hers and slick and smooth as honey.

  When he tore his mouth from hers, she found herself uttering, “Please.” But even she didn’t know what she was begging for. Him to stop…or to continue.

  He must have taken her whispered word as an invitation, because he scooted her down along the bed, his body sliding along with hers, until she was once again fully reclined. His upper body pressed against hers and his lips closed over hers once again.

  She let out a relieved sigh and her arms rose of their own volition, wrapping around his neck.

  On and on he kissed her, his tongue plundering the deepest recesses of her mouth, until she wantonly squirmed beneath him. She’d never felt anything like this before and she wanted so, so much more.

  Finally he pulled away, raking her with his hard, dark gaze. “Tell me to stop, Cindra. Tell me you don’t want it.”

  “I…” She couldn’t say more than one word right now, much less speak in sentences.

  His face took on a satisfied expression and he sat up, staring down at her for one second. Before she could guess at his intent, he tore the sheet from her body, then expertly slid her nightgown up from where it had tangled around her thighs…further and further up, until he’d scrunched the entire length of fabric underneath her breasts.

  Sudden alarm penetrated her foggy haze. Though he hadn’t taken her nightgown off, he might as well have. Her entire body was bared to him, from the tips of her breasts to the apex of her thighs. She tried to sit up. “No.”

  “Relax,” he whispered, pressing down on her stomach. “I’m not going to take you. Not unless you agree to be our mate.”

  There was that word again—our. Just as before, it made her thighs soft with moisture and her gut clench with desire.

  “I won’t,” she whispered. “I can’t.”

  Bannor stared at her for one long, loaded moment. His lips twisted into a bitter smile. “Then you’ve nothing to fear from me.”

  Something permeated the air, something harsh and disappointed, and she stared up at him, fearful to respond. Fearful he’d stand up and leave.

  Finally he took a breath and the heaviness dissipated. “Okay, Cindra. Have it your way. If you wish to marry a Keulot farmer, there’s nothing I can do to sway you.”

  He straightened, and she fought the urge to cry, “Don’t leave.” But he didn’t stand. Rather, his hungry gaze raked her body, drinking her in. She squirmed against the uncomfortable feelings it aroused within her.

  What was she doing? She should yank her nightgown down. But…she didn’t want to. Something about the way he gazed at her nude form made her want more. She was so confused.

  “But…” he continued. “Perhaps you should know what you’re giving up.”

  “Wha-what do you mean?” she stuttered.

  His gaze locked on hers. “Let me touch you. Nothing more than that. If, after feeling my hands on your body, you’re content with the farmer’s, then I’ll do nothing to stop it.”

  His words drew her breath tight. Let me touch you. It was as if he was reading her mind. Because yes, she did want that. She wanted to know what it felt like. It didn’t mean she wasn’t going to marry Adamon. And he’d already told her he wouldn’t take her without her permission. So why not indulge, just once?

  Because it’s wrong. Adamon would consider it cheating.

  But, then, unless she told him, he’d never know.

  Slowly, she nodded at Bannor. His face relaxed and he eased toward her once again, keeping his hands to himself as his lips found hers. He kissed her again, deep and erotic, a kiss that went on and on until she found her hands clenching the fabric of his shirt. That was when he reached down to cup her breasts.

  “Oh gods, yes,” she panted, trying her best to keep her voice low.

  He said nothing, merely gave her a pained smile as he kneaded her breasts, then lowered his mouth to one. She gasped at the amazing sensations it aroused when he suckled on her breast, then moved to the other to do the same. Heavens, but this was fantastic. How had she not done this before?

  “Please, oh please,” she whispered, shifting her head from side to side.

  Finally, without lifting his mouth from her breast, he trailed one hand down her body until it reached the apex of her thighs. When a finger slid along her soaked crease, she couldn’t stop the cry that tore from her mouth.

  “Shush,” he whispered. “You don’t wish to wake anyone.”

  Nodding, she bit her lip. He grinned, then moved his mouth back to her breast, sucking and tugging on the nipple in a move that almost made her cry out again. And then his finger found its way to the entrance of her body, and he shoved it inside in one silky thrust. She gasped and arched backward, digging her heels into the mattress.

  Oh, sweet heavens. She didn’t know it was possible to feel this way. To want so much. His finger in her body was the sweetest of tortures. She wanted more of it. No, more, period.

  For the first time, she wondered what it would be like to take a man into her body. Oh, she knew the process. She’d seen the camays and ot
her farm animals mating enough not to be ignorant of it. But she’d never truly wondered before. Now…

  “Don’t stop,” she muttered, her voice guttural.

  He groaned against her flesh, then withdrew his finger, only to replace it with two. They slowly worked into her soaked, satiny flesh, stretching her in the most delicious of ways. Spreading her thighs, she moved her hand to his, urging him to move. To go deeper. To do something.

  “By severn,” he murmured, his fingers gliding in and out. “You are so very tight. Lifting his gaze, he looked at her. “Have you ever been with a man?”

  Cindra stilled, staring at him for a long moment. “No.”

  He groaned, his eyes shutting on a pained expression. “Gods, Cindra, it’s all I can do not to fuck you right here.”

  When she tensed, fearful he’d do just that, he opened his eyes once again.

  “I won’t, Cindra. Not only did I promise you, but it’s against the custom of our people. A mating can only be accomplished with all members of the pod present, once the mate has agreed to the ritual.”

  All members present. Oh gods, just the thought of the other three men being here, touching her like this, made her thighs clench. “Please, don’t stop. Please…”

  Something flashed in his eyes. “You want me to make you come.”

  Taking a deep breath, she nodded. She didn’t know quite what that meant, but clearly he did. “Please. Make me come.”

  Growling, he smashed his lips to hers, plundering her mouth while his fingers rammed back into her body with a force that made her cry into his mouth. He slid them out, only to thrust them back in, hard.

  Oh yes, yes. Hell yes!

  This was just what she needed.

  When he forced a third finger inside, stretching her tight walls even further, she bucked against his hand, undulating her hips wildly while every muscle in her body constricted, squeezing the breath from her lungs. Her vision splintered, and suddenly she was soaring high, arching on a release like she’d never before experienced.

  She breathed hard into his mouth, riding out the wave of ecstasy that buffeted her body, until finally she collapsed into the mattress, spent.