Chasing Scarlett: A Breeder Romance

6. Mating Ritual

Scarlett

My room is an archaic wonder, and there’s a doe-eyed maid hovering over me with interest. She stabs a needle into my thumb, and she hums with excitement when blood wells under the skin. “I’m only a few centuries old. Not old enough to have been alive when humans graced these lands. You’re the first I’ve seen.” Her eyes seem to grow bigger and bigger with each word. “You bleed red! I suppose that answers my questions on your monthly cycle too! I can’t believe there are beings who bleed red! How colorful!”

What the actual f**k? Snatching my thumb back, I scuttle away from her. “Where are we?”

She snorts. “The castle.” I blink once and she is in my face again. “Is it just you, or are there other variety of humans who bleed in other colors?”

What is her obsession with the color of my blood? I awoke a few minutes ago to find her braiding and curling my hair, my body in the most comfortable chair I’ve ever sat on. I don’t even know how I got here, and I’ve never slept so deeply in my life, so fitful. Energy hums under my skin, begging to be expelled. I want to run, fly if possible, and this woman keeps asking me the most insane questions.

“Do you not bleed red?”

She beams, her crystal green eyes glittering. She stabs her thumb, and I gasp at the sight of blood so black, it could be tar. “Werewolves bleed black, Vampires bleed blue, Fae blood is ichor, Lycans…well, they don’t bleed. They have skin thicker than Adamantine. Though, if I were to take a wild guess—”

“Vampires? Lycans?” My voice is faint, breathy. My gaze zeroes in on her finger and the wound that is now closed. “You’re a werewolf?”

She nods enthusiastically. “Yes, but you can call me Adeline, my lady.” She f*****g courtesies. “I’m your lady-in-waiting, for however long you might be joining us.” The woman suddenly grabs my arm with surprising strength, and when I wince, she blanches, instantly letting go. “I’m sorry. I forget how fragile you humans are.”

I nod, rubbing at the soreness. It’s going to bruise tomorrow. I just know it. So, werewolves exist, as well as vampires and whatever s**t she just said. Laughter travels up my belly, but it doesn’t make it past my lips. Being my father’s daughter, rather than start with the hysterics, I begin to analyze first, and by the end of my analysis, I arrive at the conclusion that I haven’t awoken yet. In fact, I can’t be sure I ever woke up from that accident.

“Adeline,” I start rather calmly, surprising even myself. Do not be deceived. It’s the calm before the violent storm. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Only since the ninth hour.”

What’s the ninth hour, I think. How the hell am I supposed to know that? Out of habit, I start to tap my foot against the floor, thinking hard. I need to leave this place. It’s starting to feel eerily real. “I wish to go outside.”

Adeline shakes her head, curtain with rich, full black hair that seems to float. I know many who would die to look like this maid. Maybe I would too. No amount of plastic surgery could accomplish that sort of beauty. Her cherry lips pucker. “I’m afraid I cannot help you with that. You have been confined to this chamber and I am to attend all of your needs. Might you be famished?”

“Why am I being confined?” I ask, my voice a strangled rasp, and I start to reach for my neck, pulling unconsciously at the mysterious choker around it—a part of the hideous costume I’m wearing. My gaze travels around the room, in search of my purse. I don’t find it, and even if I did, I know my pills aren’t here.

Which is bad, because I’m starting to panic.

Adeline’s face takes on a contemplative look. “Well, for one, the castle is filled with dangerous creatures, all of whom want to get a feel of a dainty little thing like you, and more often than not, that isn’t far from death in itself. Secondly, the princes spelled the door to keep you in and everything malicious out, well, except themselves. Third, I’m to prepare you for…” She shifts uncomfortably. “For…them.”

The mating ritual.

Frantic, I grab her arm. “Get me out of here. You can’t possibly help them take advantage of me. I don’t want this. I didn’t consent to it!”

She blinks, staring at me like I’m crazy. “The mating ritual does not need your consent before it happens. When the time comes, you will merely be a vessel of pleasure.” She smiles softly. “You are frightened, which is absolutely normal, but they won’t hurt you.”

“They’re going to rape me! How could you possibly say that?!”

Adeline laughs, leaning forward to hold my shoulders. “You are overthinking this, my lady. During the mating ritual, your desires and theirs cease to exists, and only one thing takes hold. The insatiable urge to merge. You forget who you are. They do too. A secret? You’re not the only one who’s frightened. The males like to act like they have it all under control, but they do not, because the mating ritual is the only time they lose all sense of self completely. They will be just as vulnerable as you. That, is not rape.”

“What kind of logic is that?!” I yell. Then I peer down at my gown. A silky bright pink material that clings to my now sweaty skin. The corset bites into my ribs, cinching my waist and pushing my breasts so high, the pink of my n*****s are visible if you stare hard enough. “That is why you’ve dressed me up this way? I look like a ridiculous hooker!” I raise the material and peer under the skirt. “Where are my panties?! They were a limited-edition and my favorite pair!”

The woman laughs at me. “You are the most delightful lady I have been assigned to.” She points at the chair. “Please seat. I must color your lips to finish the look.”

I race for the windows, throwing them open. Too high. Is this a tower or something? We’re several feet above the ground that the buildings below—f**k, I can’t see a thing. Pitch black stares back at me and I shut the window. Nope. I’ll certainly die if I jumped.

The heavy door groans. My head snaps back, my heart lurching into my throat. The first one to enter is Riordan. His black eyes narrow on me, and for the next few seconds, his eyes travel along my body. Slowly. Warmth blooms in my chest, merging with my panic, and my heart starts pounding viciously. His eyes descend, attacking the fabric of my skin, and breasts are suddenly heavy and aching, my skin too tight. When they reach the tip of my bare toes—thank God I had a pedicure before this—they retrace their path back up, lingering for a moment on the base of my thighs, like he knows my undies are gone.

Without taking his eyes off me, he tells Adeline, “Thank you, Ade. We’ll take it from here.”

The maid nods, and…she winks at me! She f*****g winks at—oh God. The door parts wider and the three enter. I’m going to die. I just know that I cannot survive this.

“This is absurd!” I cry. I’ve only ever been with one man. Alexander took my virginity, and we’ve been together ever since. Thinking of baring myself to another man scares me, not to mention four men! My core pounds, and the heat becomes unbearable. I don’t know what the f**k is happening to my body, but I know that this isn’t what I want!

Riordan’s eyes flash, the black spreading until they cover the whites. Something burns on my skin. I peer down to see the crescent over my heart glowing. I raise my gaze to him, and…he’s so unutterably beautiful, and…I don’t know what I want anymore. I think I want to touch him. Never in my twenty-five years have I felt lust so blisteringly hot, it threatens to obliterate me.

“Scarlett,” he seems to say, but his voice is guttural. Deep. Sexy.

I ache. “Mon Dieu,” I whisper, fighting the urge to touch myself.

Then, my gaze shifts. It’s Tiarnan. The exquisite perfection of his face, much like his brothers’, makes it hurt to look at him, like if I continue, my eyes might bleed. I gibber wordlessly, words getting too far out of reach. His blue eyes lose their color too, and the mark on my right wrist ignites. I double over, unable to stand straight as my lust doubles.

Pressure begins building between my legs, yet, I have not been touched. I shut my eyes, to prevent looking at the third, but I know from the burn in my neck that…I gasp. My fingers rise to the choker and I rip it off as every sensation under my skin triples.

My fingers drift to my dresses neckline and I don’t know how, but I rip it. My breasts spill out, and a single caress of the wind against my n*****s drive me to climax. Something within me awakens as I shudder, moaning. A beast, savage and primitive opens her eyes.

And she purrs.

I stand, a stranger in my body, and my fingers work on the rest of my clothes, ripping here and there until there’s nothing left. My left wrist burns and I look into Cillian’s hazel green eyes, watching him watch me as his eyes turn wholly black. A delicious sense of anticipation overcomes me, and I arch my back, almost ready as lust slams into me again. In fourfold.

This, I think, as I fall back against the bed, this is what I’d been born for. The precipice my life has been building towards. All this time, I thought I knew my purpose. I thought if I worked hard enough, I could be the best daughter; the best wife; the best mother. I thought if I loved hard enough, I’d be loved too, just as intensely. I’d thought Alexander was my life. My love.

That might have been true, but there’s nothing truer than the men who stand before me now. They are destruction. Mine. And I exist to be destroyed by them.

At the first touch of their fingers, I come. It leaves my lips with a snarl. They turn me into an animal, and I have never been more willing. They turn me between them, kissing, licking, tasting, biting. They are passion and I am hungry. Words are incomprehensible at the moment, and I doubt there will ever be enough to describe what they do to me.

They’re everywhere.

Teeth sinks into my skin. Lips and tongue dart between my fold, stroking, sucking, f*****g. I taste myself on the perfect mouth that kisses mine. It might have been Riordan. He cradles my head like I mean something to him. He tells me I need to stay awake, aware. He says it’ll get worse before it gets better. I do not understand him. I do not understand words.

My wrists are held captive by a single hand, and the headboard bites painfully into my pulse points. Lorcan’s lips clamp on my n****e, flicking them with his hot tongue and my eyes become unseeing. My waist is arched and my thighs are spread apart.

“Merde.” It is all I can manage as they fill me. This is s*x to die for. They could be killing me, and I wouldn’t know. Wouldn’t care. I need to have more. I’ll die if I don’t. They smell like fire and spice and taste like sweet, poisonous nectar. The strength of their bodies, hard against mine, defies any description I could give. They’re so f*****g beautiful, a far cry from the monstrous things they do to my body, my insides. Wild, insatiable creature. Not them. Me. I try for more words; Harder. Faster. Please. Later, I would be thankful the words do not make it out of my throat. Later, I would be grateful for even this moment of peace and bliss in their arms, because my life is only about to get crazier than being f****d by four men at once.

But…there’s only now, and my orgasms. I lose myself, and all I hold on to is the hunger.

When they are done with me, I am not nearly satisfied. Because something is growing inside me, overwhelming me. And then, I understand what Riordan meant by worse, because I am suddenly plunged into a fire that engulfs me. Pain erupts inside me and I scream, thrashing against the sheets.

I feel my bones shatter. I feel my mind expand. I feel my teeth grow and my fingertips shred. Every crack, I feel in the depth of my soul, as well as the foreign presence in my mind. With every passing second, it proliferates, and when it reaches a height my human body can no longer take, I pass out.

When I wake in the morning, alone and cold, it is to Adeline shaking me abruptly with a news I am unsure what to do with. Apparently, someone murdered the Lycan King last night.