veins."
My hot rage was clouding my judgment. "I was born to be my village's sacrifice, yes I know this. Now will you please just get it over with?"
"We are not going to eat you, Tarla!" a voice shouted from the crowd.
"Well, only a little." Loud shouts of laughter greeted this speaker's jest.
I turned angrily to the gray haired man. "What aren't you telling me?"
"The women in your village are the last of a dying breed," the gray-haired man explained. "You are the only ones with whom our kind can mate."
I felt hot thudding in my ears that had nothing to do with anger. "Mate?"
"If you prove worthy, Tarla, you will be our queen."
I looked out over the crowd of men gathered watching. I saw several of them nod their heads. Others bowed in reverence.
"Your queen?"
"Yes Tarla. You will reign over all of us. We will pledge our lives to you and you will give us the next generation of our pack. But first, we must bind you to us."
I felt heat rising up from my core. I was suddenly aware of the fact that I was the only female in the room. All around me was a swirling mass of masculinity. Each one of them was taller, broader and stronger looking than the last.
But they weren't men. They were wolves.
I shuddered as I felt their eyes on me again. "So I am not going to die today."
The gray haired man chuckled. "No, not today."
"Today I become your queen."
"Today the pack bonds with you," he clarified. "And then you become our queen."
A shiver of knowing thrilled through me. "What must I do?"
The gray haired man nodded. Then he ran round the fire and leapt. Midway through his leap, a gray wolf burst out from the man, so that the beast landed on the platform with four paws. He then lifted his shaggy head to the invisible ceiling and let out a great howl.
The rest of them howled in turn, men and wolves alike. The sound ripped through me, rattling my ribcage and sending vibrations down through my toes. It was a wild, uninhibited sound. It was the sound of freedom and it thrilled every inch of me. I lifted my head and howled my own pale imitation of their call.
The cave fell silent. I could hear rapid, excited breathing, murmurs of appraisal, the snuffling of snouts in the air.
The gray wolf let out a short bark. There were several answering howls and then a man stepped forward from the crowd. He tall and deeply tanned, with the ropey, rangey muscles that come from a life in the wild.
He looked at me. In two strides he was in front of me and my sacrificial cloak was in a heap on the floor. "Hello, my queen," he murmured, his voice halfway between human and animal. "Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you." He licked his lips as he eyed me up and down. "I'm just going to make you scream."
He placed his heavy hands on my shoulders, forcing me down to my knees. I knelt there, blinking, as he undid the scrap of leather that hung around his waist. And then I gasped.
Remember that I am no blushing virgin. I thought I had tasted what men had to offer. But this was something else entirely. This tool of perfection was beyond my experience. Long and thick, it bobbed in front of my gaze already rock hard, the tip glistening slightly with the evidence of his desire. I licked my lips as he cupped his hand around the shaft and clenched the muscles of my core as they suddenly ached and throbbed. My head, which only moments before had been filled with resentment and rage now was clouded with a strange, wild desire. I had escaped death. Now I intended to live.
I shuffled closer, bringing my head up level with that bobbing cock. Then I looked up at him. The thrill of the howling was still rippling through my veins. I licked my lips, opened my mouth and prepared to take him in.
I stretched my lips wide around his girth, feeling the smooth skin of the bulbous head slip past my lips. I heard a soft, low sound, and realized it was coming from both
Eleanor Coerr, Ronald Himler