He was a man anyone would be proud to call friend.
Tipping his head back, he inhaled deeply. The sweet, spicy scent drifted to him, and he purred long and low. A stirring began in his loins, the same stirring that had started when the dance rehearsal had started. The beat of the music, the provocative dancing, the aggression...
He smiled and licked his lips, the purring growing even lower and deeper.
As the last hours of the afternoon dawdled by, a faint rumble of thunder sounded but faded without repeating itself.
Thunder, rain, hot sex ... it was going to be purrrrrfect.
* * * *
There were no Felys kits in the Meeting Hall tonight. They were cozily tucked up with grandparents, and a few other volunteer Felys families, so that their parents could indulge in the dance and the hot after-effects without worrying about their litters.
The single Felys had nothing to worry about at all. Those without nature-mates might find them tonight, those who didn't would find a willing pair of arms and eager body.
Illam was going to have Tera any which way he damned well pleased.
Eleven
He could feel the heat prickling through him. His skin felt deliciously sensitive. The night air outside was damp, the thunder rumbling in the distance. The yellow lights lining the path would be needed for the Felys to get home that night, to light the path and ensure that no one might slide in the rain that would undoubtedly start falling.
The inside of the Meeting Hall was lit dimly. All light was centered on the raised dais that jutted out from the back wall. Wide and long, it allowed the Felys to gather around it easily, with plenty of space in-between each other if wanted.
Heavy red velvet curtains covered the windows, but these had been drawn aside to reveal the lightning that snaked across the night sky, barely visible through the tree tops.
Nature was promising them a wild night in more ways than one.
Heavy red velvet curtains were draped across the back of the dais, to be parted to allow the dancers through onto the dais when the time came.
Anticipation filled the air. Sexual tension was already building for all knew what was coming. The intensity of the night was coming upon all who stood in that hall.
Slowly every light in the hall, including those lighting the dais, went out. Everyone held their breath.
Out of the dark came feminine snarling, aggressive and threatening. Female scents assailed Illam but one came to him clearly, familiar in its spicy sweetness.
Tera. Heat pooled low in his belly and he felt his own lips quiver into a silent snarl.
He knew the glow coming to the eyes of those around him reflected his own growing arousal.
Music sounded, loud and heavy, every beat vibrating deliciously through him. His heart thumped in time to the beat and he snarled softly as yet another feminine round of snarling cut through the music. He heard the swish of material, the soft tread of feet, and knew the female dancers were present.
The lights flared suddenly onto the stage, and his eyes cut immediately, instinctively, to Tera. His throat closed over, his eyes glowed. His hands clenched.
Hips swaying enticingly to the heavy music, her body easily keeping pace with the Felys, Tera was the embodiment of all his fantasies.
Her slim figure was clothed the same as the Felys female dancers. A low riding, flimsy material skirt that only came down to mid-thigh, and was split high, almost to the waist on each side. Beneath she wore delicate lace underwear, her flesh peeking enticingly out from between the scrolling.
Her blouse was sleeveless, showing her rounded arms to perfection. Gaping open all the way down the front, it was loosely tied by a narrow ribbon only at her breasts. He could see the valley between her breasts, and beginnings of her breasts, the curve and shape, but not the nipple, for the ribbon stopped it gaping too far. Her belly button was clearly visible, and he licked his lips hungrily.
Her legs seemed to go on forever. Simple little sandals were on her small, elegant feet.
The thick brunette hair swung heavily down her back, a silken, shining swathe that he longed to drag his fingers through.
Illam dragged in a deep breath, trying to focus. His sexual peak ebbed enough for him to mange to appreciate the dance, to watch hungrily as Tera, the object of his desires, danced with a sinuous, feminine aggression.
Her movements were identical to the female Felys dancers. She swayed, dipped, and thrust her hips as though she'd done the dance all her life. When she dropped to her knees, keeping them apart, and arched her body back in perfect unison with the others, the little blouse fell away at her waist. He caught a glimpse of black lace in the apex of her thighs—then she slithered effortlessly up again.
Now her gaze was focused on him. She licked her lips and tossed her head at the exact same moment as the dancers. Her heavy fall of hair snapped aside then fell forward over her shoulders. She bent lithely, her bottom in the air, then down she went onto one knee, dipping her chest down before straightening.
His harsh breathing was echoed by every male Felys in the hall. The sexual tension was climbing as the scent of the female Felys grew more intoxicating, as the males sucked it in greedily, as the scent of arousal filled the air.
As the music, heavy and wild, called to their feral sides.
Every male Felys’ eyes were glowing, some green, and some gold.
The dancers bent their knees and shuffled forward with legs spread out, their shoulders rocking in time, their faces alive with sexual enticement. Soft lips glimmered as they were moistened with pink tongues, and gold and green eyes fell on the males in the audience.
Supplication, aggression, a hint of submission ... an invitation to play.
Feminine snarls split the night again, sending heat shooting into every male's groin.
Tera didn't even attempt to snarl. But her eyes were hot as she stared at Illam. Daring. She lowered her thick lashes briefly, then coquettishly flicked her hair back over her shoulder.
He wanted her right then and there.
"Easy,” Ceric said softly from beside him. “Your turn will come."
His friend's words managed to drag him back from the hot need pulling at him so urgently. Yes, my time is coming. Soon, Tera, so very soon you will be mine.
The music soared, the wild beat going faster, and the Felys females dropped to the floor in one fluid movement. The music was fading just as they finished. Lying on their stomachs, one knee curled beneath them as though ready to take flight, the other leg stretched out behind them. One arm stretched out pleadingly, the other bent with one hand braced on the floor. Backs arched, breasts barely brushing the dais, heads up ... and eyes boldly on the male.
The stance was submission ... with a hint of aggression.
The lights flared up, then out. Darkness fell, and a last round of feminine snarls filled the air. The music was low but the beat was still strong, continuing the atmosphere.
Thunder boomed in the background, and Illam's heart pounded. His blood was rushing through his veins and he had to tilt his head back and gulp in air. Lust pulled at him, desire made him ache. Tera's scent filled his senses.
There was only the slightest movement to let him know that the females were leaving the dais. Seconds later the lights came on and automatically he started towards the back of the hall, slipping between the curtains at the side of the dais to take his position up on it.
The females were gone and he knew they would have exited out the other side and be moving into the main area of the hall. Waiting to watch the male dancers.
Illam felt the searing through his blood, the tingling that seemed to almost set him on fire. He was impatient, alert. Dominant.
His sexual peak was upon him.
* * * *
Tera sipped at the glass of berry juice with hands that trembled. Not from fatigue, but from the excitement of the dance and the sexual tension that was filling the hall so intensely. The males were openly becoming aroused, an
d the nipples of the females were giving their own arousal away. And from the way some of the Felys, both male and female, were lifting their heads and scenting the air, no doubt they could smell the arousal.
The eyes of the males and females glowed. The ones standing with their partners, be they nature-mated or not, rubbed sensuously against each other, nuzzling and nipping playfully at each other. Those whose partners were dancing waited with barely restrained patience.
Illam had looked at her out of eyes that almost burned. His facial muscles had been tight, his cheeks lightly flushed. She knew he'd been inhaling her scent, for she hadn't missed the way his nostrils had flared, and the way he'd titled his head back, scenting her.
Placing the glass down on the side table, she wiped her palms down the sides of the delicate skirt she wore. The soft material brushed against her thighs, swirling with every move she made, and the filmy blouse caressed her nipples which budded so unashamedly against the front of it.
If I'm getting aroused now, what will it be like when Illam dances?
Even as the thought appeared the lights in the hall and on the dais went out. The male snarls that split the night were so openly aggressive, that Tera swallowed. The threat of male power and dominance seemed to fill every corner of the room.
The heavy music that beat out was exactly the same as she'd just danced to. The vibration seemed to tremble through her. She heard several female snarls come from the darkness around her.
There was no soft tread of feet this time. The unison steps were decisive, authorative. Males coming to claim their mates.
The lights flared onto the stage, and the male dancers were there in mouth-watering glory. Where the females were femininely seductive, the males were aggressively so. Instead of the normal loose-legged pants they wore, they were tight instead, unashamedly showing the partial arousal of the males. Black calf-high boots adorned their feet. Their chests were bare, lean muscles moving effortlessly under smooth skin. Long, multicolored hair was either tied back at the napes, or left to hang free.
Illam's was tied back almost carelessly, the usual token gesture at being civilized.
Tera's breath caught in her throat. Illam was in the line behind the one directly opposite her. His gaze was unblinkingly on her, and there was nothing civilized in him at all. In that moment he was feral. His lips lifted slightly in a snarl, and he was undoubtedly aroused.
His eyes boldly raked over her and she felt it as hotly as if he'd actually touched her.
The music throbbed and the males moved in as perfect unison as the females had. But their steps were pure aggression, no playfulness, no enticement. Every step was hard determination. There was a wild beauty in their movements, but there was also barely-leashed savagery.
Every dip, every thrust of their hips, every sway was pure sexual heat poured into blatant masculinity.
She couldn't take her eyes from Illam. She was aware that her breathing was rapid and shallow, that she moistened her lips several times. Knew it because his eyes darkened. When he dropped to his knees, keeping them apart, and arched back in perfect unison with the others, the muscles in his torso and arms rippled. His erection was a hard bulge that pressed hungrily against the front of his pants.
Every man on the stage was aroused. Every male and female around her was aroused. Low growls filled the hall, several deep, languid purrs. Someone snarled, and there was a sex-laden laugh.
When Illam went down onto one knee, he looked at her with such hot promise that she felt moisture starting to gather between her thighs.
The dancing was intoxicating. It was erogenous. It brought up every hidden fantasy, every desire, and every fear to the fore. It was a delicious fear.
Illam was going to dominate her, she knew it. Expected it. Feared it a little. Wanted it a lot.
The sexual tension was reaching an almost screaming proportion. The heat of aroused bodies filled the hall. Felys rubbed against their partners, and those watching their own partners on the dais were breathing heavily.
A couple of Felys males with their partners snarled warningly if another male got too close to his female. The other males would snarl back, but shifted away.
The snarling was coming more frequently now from those around her, and Tera knew she was seeing the some of the feral side of the Felys. The sexual, feral side. Wild, uninhibited sexual desire, with no excuses, no apologies.
The dancers bent their knees and shuffled forward with legs spread out, their shoulders rocking in time, their faces alive with sexual aggression. Their lips seemed fuller, achingly male in their sensuality, and their gold and green eyes fell on the females in the audience.
Promise, threat, aggression ... no hints. Dominance.
Male snarls split the night again, sending the sexual tension in the hall soaring to feverish heights.
Illam's nostrils flared as he continued to hold her gaze prisoner, almost mesmerizing her. His pupils had dilated, thin rims of gold showing only around it. He scented her, licked his lips, and growled loudly.
If they were alone, she just knew he'd have dragged her onto the dais right then and there.
Or come for her.
The music soared, the wild beat going faster, and the males dropped to the floor in one fluid movement. The music was fading just as they finished. But they didn't drop to their stomachs. They stayed upright on one knee, with the other on the floor. And they were facing the waiting females with one hand outstretched.
It was not an invitation to take their hand. They were demanding the females to do so. And Illam was looking directly at Tera, silently commanding her to take his hand.
The lights stayed on but dimmed. Thunder crashed overhead just as the males let out one more snarling roar. The music continued to throb and beat.
Illam's outstretched hand curled slowly into a fist, then he opened it again and looked at her almost warningly. She became aware of the other females approaching the dais and placing their hands in their male's demanding hand.
Several steps were all it took before she reached out and carefully placed her hand onto his palm. His fingers closed around her hand with a startling speed and strength. Keeping hold of her, he moved quickly, pulling himself to the end of the dais and sliding down sensuously until he stood on his feet. Then with his hips against it, he jerked her forward into his arms, holding her tightly to him with one arm at her back whilst retaining her hand in his strong, relentless grip.
His kiss was hard, demanding entrance, and she opened willingly to him. His tongue was relentless, sweeping through her mouth, taking her essence with no gentleness but a hunger that burned right through her. He left no part of her honeyed cavern untouched.
His kiss was hard, but not bruising. His hold was tight, but not crushing. But wildness beat in the very air around him, and when he finally released her mouth, she saw his slitted pupils, the black threads that were incredibly still. No writhing, no sensual undulating movements, but as though they waited for something. They added a startling element to his eyes. And instinctively she knew Illam was in his sexual peak. Oh God. Oh boy! Oh ... God.
Dimly she heard several snarls, a growl, even a yowling. Some of the couples had left, some were just leaving. The females were tucked close to their mate's sides, others had been swept off their feet and were actually being carried. One couple were in a heated embrace at the dais, she sitting upon it with her legs wrapped around the male's waist, he with an aggressive stance between her spread thighs.
If I was able to smell things, I bet the air would reek of testosterone.
"Look at me,” Illam rasped, and she obeyed instantly. His fingers grabbed her chin, not hard but firmly. “Do you give yourself to me tonight?"
That he'd asked while so obviously in a sexual peak, his dominance screaming out to him to simply take her, touched Tera to the core. In that second, without hesitation she whispered, “I submit."
His nostrils flared, and she felt the tension practically sear though him. She w
atched as the last thread of anything she remotely knew as him left his expression. Now she was facing a fully aroused Felys male in his sexual peak. And he was dominant.
He stepped forward, and she stepped back. Another step forward, another step back. His snarl was half laugh, his eyes glowed hotly. Then he bent suddenly, his shoulder moving firmly against her hips to tip her off balance, his arm coming around the backs of her thighs to hold her firmly as he straightened.
Surprised, Tera could only gape at his naked back in front of her nose as he stalked through the crowd, which parted to let him and his prize through—yes, I am his prize—whoo boy!—and out into the chill night.
His arm was a hot band on her skin, his back warm, but the night air was darn cold on her flesh. His hand ran up the back of her calf, making her momentarily forget the cold.
Bracing her hands on either side of his lean waist, she attempted to push herself up a little and was able to look back at the hall.
A whole heap of sexually fuelled, beautiful, wild, feline-type people were coming out and disappearing into the night, some to homes, some into the forest. The music was still throbbing.
Illam's hot palm was now on her bottom beneath the skirt, his fingertips slipping beneath the fragile lace panties to stroke her intimately.
Tera gasped and jerked on his shoulder, but was ultimately helpless to do more than hope to the stars that no one was seeing what her feral was up to.
He turned his head, his long ponytail swishing across his back in a whisper, making several strands tickle her nose. In the act of blowing the strands away, she froze when she felt teeth graze her thigh. A rough rasp of a tongue across her skin. A hot mouth fastening to her thigh and sucking hard and deep.
She nearly went to jelly right there on his shoulder. Her insides quivered, and she had to bite her lip against the moan that almost slipped out when he laved the spot on her thigh with his tongue, then nipped her lightly.
A cold drop of rain hit behind her knee, making her shiver suddenly as the chill wind made it even colder. Instinctively she started to push upright, only to stop when a threatening rumble vibrated in the muscled back beneath her hands. The arm across her thighs tightened.
Love's Beguiling Healer Page 28