His Carnal Need (Xylon Warriors 2) (7 page)

“Our healing cream won’t remove the marks?”

“No,” she answered, trying not to sound defeated. “They run too deep. It helped, but only to a degree since…”

“Since you couldn’t self-heal.” Kam turned and left the bath.

Leila’s anger, frustration, and overwhelming sadness broke free. She kicked over a pot with a Purple Starleaf in it. Ironic, considering Starleaf plants gave off a calming agent.

A tear slid down her cheek, and she swiped it away. “I can’t blame him for leaving. I’m hideous. I’m—”

No!
She raised her chin, not about to put herself through more emotional turmoil.
This is not my fault!

“I look the way I look, Kam. Get over it,” she said to no one in particular. She grabbed a drying cloth and dried her body, and as much of her hair as she could, then she donned her favorite white, fuzzy cover-up.

She entered the bedchamber and stopped short. Erik materialized beside Kam, fully clothed, which looked odd since Kam still stood naked. They spoke a moment, then quietly argued about something, most likely her condition. She couldn’t make out most of their words.

So, Erik actually was part of the Alliance, too. She felt disappointed that he hadn’t entered the shower instead of Kam. Maybe he thought Kam a calming presence given her wariness and allowed him to approach her first. Well, neither of them would want her now. And that was fine. She didn’t care.

Liar.

She swiped away another tear, before anyone noticed.

Erik pushed Kam.

“Hey!” She rushed forward. “What’s going on?”

Neither man said anything. They just stared at each other with fire in their eyes.

Without warning, Erik turned and dragged her into his arms. He kissed her soundly, for just a moment, then released her. When she teetered backward, and her hands sought purchase, both men reached out to steady her.

“Point made, Erik,” Kam said. “Even if done a bit barbarically.”

“Next time, I’ll rip off your head. And I’m not necessarily speaking about the one on top of your shoulders.”

Confusion filled her. They stared at each other like mortal enemies. Whatever was going on had to be a male thing. She touched her mouth, still tingling from Erik’s kiss. His spicy taste lingered. She drew her tongue along her lips, trying to capture the unique flavor.

Erik’s head turned, and his eyes met hers. She quickly slid her tongue back into her mouth. A look she couldn’t discern, almost like possession, crossed his face. No man had ever looked at her like she belonged to him. Her independent nature bristled at the thought, but deep down something about the idea warmed her and made her feel complete.

Kam had certainly told him of her damaged back, given the intensity of their conversation. She wondered about his thoughts. She normally applied skin patches to the scars, which made them virtually undetectable, even on naked flesh. But she hadn’t had time, not expecting the re-initiation to take place without notice.

The air by the door shimmered. Braden materialized in. A moment later, Torque followed. Kam must have called them.
Shit.

“What’s the problem?” Braden asked.

“Limp already, boys? You had to call for backup a little soon, didn’t you? Can’t get ‘em up?” Torque laughed.

“Shut up, Torque,” Kam ground out.

Erik stood uncharacteristically quiet. His eyes held a hard look. This could not be good.

Kam turned toward her. “Drop your cover-up for them, Leila.”

She glanced around the room at the four men staring at her. She didn’t want to be gawked at. They couldn’t change her appearance anyway. So, what did it matter? “No. I want a few minutes of privacy.”

Even though Kam would certainly tell Braden and Torque what had happened, she still wanted to cover the scars, so they wouldn’t look at her with pity, if they did continue with the re-initiation.

“Drop the cover,” Kam repeated. “Or I’ll rip it from you myself.”

Her eyes widened in shock. His voice had come out deceptively calm. But she saw the seriousness in his eyes and suspected the medicine contributed to his harsh words and maybe his actions too, which might have caused the problem with Erik.

“Back off, Kam,” Erik warned.

She retreated a step. If he dared touch her in anger, she’d never give him another shot. That formula adversely affected his personality, too adversely. He could end up hurting someone, and she didn’t want that someone to be
her
. Even as she thought the condemning words, she knew they weren’t true. She’d never let him suffer, no matter what.

“She has the right to choose what to do.” Erik pushed Kam aside and wrapped his fingers around her arm. “Come over here with me.” He pulled her toward the far side of the room.

Kam hesitated a moment, looking at Erik like he wanted to punch him out. As she and Erik passed, Kam went to speak with Braden and Torque.

“Someone want to tell me what’s going on?”

With her back turned, she heard Braden ask Kam the question. After that, all she heard were whispers.

She was surprised that Kam had let Erik shove him twice, with virtually no response. True, Erik outranked him, stood taller and more muscular, but Kam wasn’t a pushover. “You shouldn’t treat him like that.”

“Kam needs to learn his place.” Erik stared into her eyes. “Did he hurt you in the shower?”

“No, of course not. He’d never hurt me. You know that.” A strange question for him to ask.

Erik raked a hand through his hair and grumbled. “Yeah, I suppose. Did he touch you?”

“Just my breast.” Clarity struck. Erik hadn’t known about Kam coming into her bath until after it happened. She glanced at Kam, then laid a hand on Erik’s arm. “I’m all right. Really.”

His jaw tightened, and he nodded. His eyes held a combination of anger mixed with what looked like sorrow. “I knew they abused you and made you suffer. I didn’t know they beat you and left you scarred, Leila. You should have told me.” A muscle in his jaw ticced.

She didn’t want to talk about this, didn’t want to think about what had happened to her. “It’s done, Erik. Over. There’s nothing you can do to change what happened.”

His voice rose and sounded strained. “But it matters to m—” he stopped, lowering his volume. “What happened matters to the Council. Even though I don’t agree with how Kam approached you tonight, we’re going to need to see, and record the scars, for The Lair records.”

“Everyone doesn’t need to see.” She hated the way the scars marred her body and certainly felt uncomfortable showing them off. She’d never even sought medical treatment for them, not wanting anyone to know about her abuse. She’d treated the wounds herself. She’d known at the time, if she said anything, Dare would kill her…or worse. The three had threatened her with unspeakable things, guaranteeing her silence.

If older, with more experience, she’d have gone straight to Laszlo, but her fear had held her back. After Laszlo found out and banished the three, no reason had remained to fear, but by then nothing could be done. Laszlo didn’t offer to re-initiate her. Even if he had, at that time, she never would have agreed.

Maybe he’d known that.

“It’ll help us to know the scope of what happened to you. It’s time to stop hiding. Get everything out into the open. Finally. Deal with it. We can help you. We want to help you.” His gaze darted around the room, before finally returning to meet hers. “I want to help you.”

“I know.” She saw the compassion in his eyes. “We’re friends, of sorts, right?”

“I’d like to think so.” The look in his eyes softened even more. “I’d like to think we’re more.”

Her breath hitched in her throat. Instead of responding to his statement, she took the coward’s way out and continued with what she’d originally planned to say. “Even so, you were disgusted when you saw the video of my Initiation, those few moments of it anyhow. We never talked about it, but I remember your face. You wouldn’t even look at me right after.”

He looked at her now, directly, and honesty shone in his eyes. “Yes, I was disgusted and angry as hell.

At them. At myself, for not being able to change what happened. Never at you. I intend to kill all three of them, Leila, if we ever cross paths.” His hand rose toward her cheek, but then he curled his fingers inward.

“Leila,” Braden said, drawing her attention.

Erik dropped his hand to his side, and she turned away from him. Despite his caring words, he couldn’t even bring himself to touch her now that he realized how terrible she must look naked. A dull thud started in her chest. Since he could probably possess any woman on Xylon he desired, she couldn’t blame him.

“We need you to take off the cover.” Braden walked toward her.

She fidgeted at his words, not quite knowing what to do. Nakedness wasn’t normally a problem within their society, but she felt vulnerable and didn’t want to see her imperfection reflected in their eyes.

Besides, she’d never been as free with her body as most others. Somehow revealing herself to a stranger had always been easier than the thought of being intimate with a friend or Warrior who served on the same team as she. She’d worked hard becoming a Warrior, even harder to become accepted and respected among their exclusive ranks. She didn’t want them looking down on her. “Braden—”

“Come on,” he interrupted and reached for the belt on her cover-up.

Once he made up his mind, no one changed it. She could absolutely refuse, and she doubted he’d push.

But what was the point? They already knew, so the damage had been done. And now that her injury was known, she realized just how tired she’d become of running from her past. “All right.” She nodded and allowed him to open the cover-up.

From behind, Erik slipped the garment off her shoulders.

Kam pushed aside her still damp hair.

Not wanting to see their reaction to her scars, Leila kept her eyes closed. She heard a muffled curse from Erik. When she felt them moving around her, but nobody said anything further, her curiosity got the better of her, and her eyelids fluttered open. They stood surrounding her, staring at her, no longer moving. They barely seemed to be breathing. And she didn’t see pity in their gazes, but…lust.

Braden’s eyes locked onto her breasts, and her nipples grew long and hard. His nostrils flared, making her feel more desired than in ages. He’d seen the rough and damaged skin on her back and apparently didn’t care. Torque stared at her pussy. His tongue grazed his lower lip, and her vagina throbbed in response. An image of him licking her until she came entered her mind. She almost groaned. She heard Erik’s heavy breathing behind her and felt his fingers trace the scars on her back and ass. Nobody had ever touched her scars. His tender caress made her lose her breath. She couldn’t see or hear Kam, though she felt his hand tighten in her hair.

She reached for her cover-up.

Braden pulled it out of range and dropped the garment to the floor.

Her heart pounded wildly as the men continued to stare at her body. “Um, somebody say something.

Please,” she whispered, afraid to speak any louder.

“Sorry,” Braden said, clearing his throat. “You’re just so gorgeous.”

Gorgeous? She gulped.

“I wasn’t expecting—” He shook his head. “Kam, record her injuries. We’re going to do things differently tonight, Leila.” He looked over at Erik and made a few hand signals.

Though a Warrior herself, only Class 1 and Class 2 ranks trained to communicate this way, so the significance of the signals were unknown to her. Braden’s words and reaction had taken her completely by surprise. And Torque looked at her with such fire in his eyes that she almost went up in flames.

Instead of fear, an unexpected sense of excitement filled her, a feeling she hadn’t experienced in years.

Erik said nothing as Braden continued signing. Finally, Erik growled and puffed out a large breath. “For observation only, until I otherwise direct.”

“Agreed,” Braden replied.

“What’s happening?” she asked, worry starting to replace her excitement.

“We’re going to put you through an immersion, of sorts,” Braden explained. “And the full Initiation.”

“Full? Why?” He couldn’t be serious.

He reached toward her breast, then glanced up at Erik, and let his hand drop before touching her. “After everything that happened to you, I can’t be confident the original three performed the first two steps of your ceremony correctly.”

“The first step isn’t effective anymore, Braden.” She felt an urge to cover her breasts and pussy, but refrained. Standing there naked while the rest of them watched, unsettled her now that they were in conversation and her sexual arousal had waned. “And we’re not even so sure about the second step, given what we know.”

“The protection may not be completely effective, but some protection is better than none. You’ll be protected from the Egesa, just not Marid Assassins and Commanders. The preparation of your entire body needs redoing to make sure that you’re ready for breeding when the time comes to choose a mate.”

Though she hated to admit the truth, what he said made sense. “And the immersion?” He couldn’t mean what she thought he meant with immersion. As a Healer, she understood the process. As a woman…

“Wh-what did you mean by that, exactly?”

His gaze again dipped to her bare breasts, before he answered. “We’re all staying, Leila, and we will put you through a full sexual experience to help you overcome what they did to you. Get in bed.”

Staying? All of them? Her heart slammed against her ribs, and her gaze flickered over the four men.

“Fucking me, over and over, isn’t going to make me forget, if that’s your plan.”

“What we do to you will break through your sexual barrier and start the healing process.”

She automatically turned to Erik, realizing right at that moment she trusted him more than any other to protect her. They’d always had a volatile relationship, but he’d never let her down when she needed him.

“Erik?”

He leaned close. “I’ll take care of you.”

“Erik, let’s talk a moment,” Braden said, pulling him away. “Then I’ll get the rest of the needed equipment so we can Initiate her properly.”