Mated to the Warg, (Wargs of the Outland, #1)

The Night Gift

Rowan pulled away, her heart racing. Thank the gods her mother and Merritt weren't here to witness her depravity. She swallowed, the tang of blood clinging to the back of her throat.

Only animals drank blood! Yet she'd thrilled in the erotic pleasure of that dark act. Right up until Elgret's stern glare gusted into her mind like an imposing chill.

But she was saved from self-reproachment, because suddenly the veil of darkness was lifting and the night sprang to life before her very eyes. Vivid, beautiful night colors that stole her breath away. She turned in a circle, a grin exploding onto her face. A laugh bubbled out before she could rein it. Her eyes were like full moons as the night bloomed to life before her.

Glowing indigoes, luminous blues, and rich bright purples illuminated the landscape around her. Above her, the stars blinked like fat jewels set in great billowing clouds of diamond dust. She could even see Mantor cresting the hills yonder like a black disc, serene in his lover's dark embrace, his great eye fully shut.

"This is...amazing," she breathed, grasping Thrax's arm.

All around her stood the wargs in their animal skins. Even Thesta was somewhere among them on all fours. But she didn't know what the warga's pelt looked like in wolf form. Likely a darker version of her hair shade, which seemed to be the case with the others. Thresh's unruly hair was ash blond and his coat was pale and ashy.

Hundreds of uncanny wolf eyes burned like mirrors in the dark, catching whatever fleeting light stretched down from the stars. For the first time, it was actually easier to look at Thrax than at them. He, at least, was in human form. A human in all appearance except his strange eyes and pointy ears. To say nothing of his mountainous frame and naked state. Still, he looked mostly human. Until he smiled and flashed his canines at her. But it was a genuine smile and it sent a ripple through her skin, stirring the fine hairs on her nape. Her tongue darted out as she looked away.

Standing beside Thrax was an elder, also in human form. Behind the warga was a ceremonial arbor that was draped in bones, foliage, marsh flowers, and herbs. Like all the others, she was naked, too. Unlike the other wargs, though, she wore an intricate headdress of herbs and flowers, and a pair of tall antlers that made her look fearsome. Especially so with the wargish yellow eyes gleaming spectrally from her strange face, ancient yet devoid of wrinkles. The wise one, unabashed by her nudity, nodded a greeting but was otherwise silent. For a tense moment, her eyes narrowed on the nixrath ring. At her feet stood a clay pot.

Rowan's gaze returned to Thrax, but she focused on his neck, avoiding his grinning eyes. The impressive expanse of brawn entranced her to slide her glance down his chest. Then over his cobblestone abs before dropping to the arrow of muscle tempting her gaze lower still.

She blew out a breath, feeling her stomach swoop and her face burn. She blinked, her eyes flitting about like a trapped bird as she tried to settle her gaze on anything but that...that yard of flesh churning chaos in her mind.

The horizon. She studied the jagged horizon almost without seeing the colors staining the sky. "I've...I've never seen anything more beautiful," she said.

The sound of his chuckle made her blush all the more because she'd been admiring his body moments before spilling that thoughtless compliment. She was just about to clarify that she was talking about the scenery, but she stopped herself, knowing it would only amuse him all the more.

With a light touch, he steered her face back to his. "It's called the night gift, min skani."

What, his cock? She almost glanced down again. But his gaze was so dominant that she couldn't look away. Even if she'd wanted to, not with his glowing gaze trapping her like a moth.