Uncomfortable with the subject and suddenly aware of her partial nudity, Reyna pulled the sheet over her lower body and sat up, tailor style, in the bed. “Before last night I was a Quork—”
“A what?”
“Quork. It’s a Felini female who can’t shift into her animal form. The change usually comes on during puberty when the female goes through her first estrous. If estrous doesn’t occur naturally, a firestorm can kick start it. Only, mine didn’t. Kick start, that is,” she added when he still look confused. “That stuff you injected me with—”
“The mating venom.” he helpfully supplied.
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that. It did what the firestorm didn’t and threw my cat into heat. Jorlan realized what was happening before I did and…” Reyna searched for an easy way to explain without going into a lot of detail. “…and helped me through my first shift.”
Eyes narrowed in suspicion, he watched her face intently. “I think there’s more to this story than what you’re saying.”
Reyna kept her expression bland and her mind, hopefully, blank. “The cat still wants to breed and since Jorlan is the strongest male in our little pride, it set its sights on him.”
He scowled. “So you’re saying what happened in that cave was my fault?”
It was most definitely his fault. “In a way, yes.”
“And the other?”
Her face wrinkled in bewilderment. “What other?”
“Yesterday—or was it today?—I felt you. You were frustrated, angry, and painfully aroused. When I described what I was sensing to a close friend, he said it sounded like a firestorm.”
“How…?” Her mouth fell open and she slapped a hand over it, shaking her head. “How would a vampyr know about a Felini firestorm? We don’t share our customs with outsiders.”
“That’s his story to tell.” Tariq placed a hand on her thigh and squeezed. “Come closer.”
“Why?” It came out sounding suspicious instead of curious.
“You’re too far away.”
Reyna reminded herself she’d promise to give a relationship with him a try. His request was simple enough. So holding the sheet to her waist, she scooted forward until her knee bumped his leg.
“Now tell me about this firestorm.”
Reyna shivered and curled into a posture she knew screamed self-protective.
Tariq cursed and tugged her into his arms, holding her close. “I can feel how much you don’t want to talk about this, but I think I need to know.”
The words were slow in coming. “The firestorm isn’t sex. The males’ duty is to arouse the female but they aren’t allowed to copulate, nor do they allow the female to orgasm. Or at least, I wasn’t allowed,” she finished flatly.
His grip tightened. Reyna didn’t think he’d done it deliberately. “How long does a firestorm last?”
“As long as it needs to get the desired results,” she said.
In a carefully controlled voice he asked, “And if it doesn’t work?”
“Once the female recovers, she can request another one. I didn’t.” She had a flash of sensory memory and shuddered convulsively. In her mind she saw a picture of herself as she must have appeared, lying pathetically on the bed in the fetal position, unable to stand anything touching her.
Tariq’s snarl sounded like an enraged animal. He cupped her chin, lifting her face up to meet his. “That’s sexual torture.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re reading my mind again.”
“If you didn’t request another firestorm, why were you put through it again? Was it punishment for being with me?” His concerned, angry gaze roamed over her face.
This time she frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t know. All Jorlan would say is that it was necessary. I argued and fought against it, seeing as how I’d already successfully made the change but there’s no altering his course once he makes up his mind.”
His eyes flashed red and the hand holding her jaw tightened. Reyna felt a hint of talon. “No one hurts you again.”
Staring into his Heart’s Blood sorrow-filled brown eyes, Tariq felt a protective fury rise up inside. Reyna hid it well but her emotional turmoil hit him square in the heart. This pain tasted old and settled, as if it had been there so long it had seeped right into the essence of who she was at the core. It angered him she’d been so mistreated by the ones who should have loved and protected her the most.
“I’d like to meet this Jorlan, face-to-face,” he muttered in a viscous undertone.
Reyna stiffened, pulled away, and turned to confront him. “No, you won’t harm him.” She’d picked up on his violent intentions.
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t,” he demanded, irritated she continued to defend this male she claimed wasn’t her lover.
“I’m here because of Jorlan,” she stated flatly.
Disbelief held him immobile for a suspended few seconds. Leaning forward aggressively, he demanded, “Explain!”
Reyna arched one elegant eyebrow. “Excuse you?”
Abruptly reminded his Heart’s Blood wasn’t one of his subordinates, Tariq adjusted his attitude and tone accordingly. “Please explain what you meant by that statement.”
She nodded her approval. “Because of my…family history, I wanted nothing to do with your kind. Especially the males.”
The way she said ‘your kind’ grated on his nerves like nails on a chalkboard. Something to be dealt with later. Right now Tariq sensed he was close to understanding the source of Reyna’s pain. Since to his knowledge there weren’t any unmated Vampalien females on earth, and remembering the story Alvaro told him, Tariq connecting the dots and came to the logical conclusion. “It’s your father who is Vampalien.”
“My father is dead,” she said neutrally, but her expression said his death was no loss.
Tariq could personally attest to the fact that Alvaro was still among the living. Maybe Reyna had been misinformed? Trying to reason it out, he asked, “Your mother, she’s also deceased?”
“As far as I know she’s still alive,” Reyna said with a slight shake of her head.
“As far as you know?” How could she not know?
Her gaze shifted to someplace over his head and a shadow crossed her face. “I haven’t seen my mother since she kicked me out of the pride when I was nineteen.”