Brides of the Kindred(107)

“Then I’ll fight.” Baird glared menacingly at the large warrior who still had her firmly by the arm and then widened his gaze to include the other three unmated males. “Prepare to defend your claims with your lives. I offer formal challenge for this female who by rights—”

“Wait a minute!” Liv yelled. She looked at Sylvan. “What do I have to do?”

Sylvan shifted uncomfortably and Baird growled deep in his throat. “It’s of no concern to you, Lilenta. I will be glad to fight and die, if necessary, to keep you.”

“But it shouldn’t be necessary. Not if there’s something I can do to…to prove I’m yours.” She felt stupid saying it after all the times she’d told Baird she wasn’t his and never would be, but really, what choice did she have? She couldn’t let him fight and possibly die if there was some way out of this mess that didn’t involve violence.

“You must submit to him,” Sylvan said, looking her in the eye.

Liv felt her heart give a thump. “Submit to him? Submit how?”

“They need to smell me on you.” Baird gave her a significant look. “Come to me now and offer your throat if you’re serious, Olivia. I need to scent mark you.”

“What? Like…like you did last time, you mean?” Liv’s mouth was dry and her heart was pounding. All she could think of was having him on her, his big body covering hers as he stroked between her thighs. God, part of her craved that, wanted to feel him against her again, touching her, holding her, making her come. It’s just his scent working on me, she told herself. But from where she was standing she couldn’t smell that warm, spicy aroma she’d come to associate with him. Still…

“Not quite,” Baird said, breaking into her frantic thoughts. “But I will need to remove some of your clothes.”

Liv looked up at the warrior holding her arm and then back at Baird. Was she going to wind up stark naked in front of all these unmated males? God, she hoped not! But what choice did she have? Better to be naked with Baird, even if it was horribly embarrassing, than to be claimed by some unknown warrior. “All…all right,” she said at last.

“Come to me then.” Baird motioned for her to join him and then shot the male holding her arm a warning look. “You know you must allow her to choose. If she proves she is mine—”

“If she allows you to mark her, yes. Then you take her. If not…” The Tranq Warrior trailed off, a hungry gleam in his blue eyes. The other males behind him murmured among themselves but none of them protested as he slowly released Liv’s arm. “You can stay with me if you wish, little female,” he told her. “I will prove myself a better mate and protector than this one.”

“Not a chance.” Liv couldn’t get away fast enough. The feel of being surrounded by so many big, alien males and their strange scents in her nose made her feel sick and disoriented. The minute she reached Baird’s side she put her arms around him and pressed her face to his chest. Home. The thought came to her unbidden as his familiar, spicy fragrance filled her senses. She could be angry about his duplicity later—right now she just wanted the safety of his massive arms around her and the feel of his hard body surrounding and protecting her.

“Lilenta,” he murmured and held her close for a moment. Then he pulled away and looked her in the eyes. “I must mark you now.”

“All right.” Liv tried to brace herself but there was no way she could have withstood the flood of emotions that washed over her as, with a quick, ruthless gesture, Baird ripped open her blouse.

It was just a simple cotton button down—that and jeans had seemed like the most practical clothing for riding around on the Take-me. But as the little plastic buttons went flying, exposing her lacy white bra, Liv felt her breath catch in her throat. She wanted to ask whether such a dramatic gesture was really necessary but before she could open her mouth, Baird was pulling down the lace cups of her bra and exposing her breasts.

“Baird!” she gasped and tried to cover herself but he shook his head. God, this was insane! Did he really expect her to just stand here and let him do this—let him expose her to all these complete strangers? Out of the corner of her eye Liv could see the hungry looks that were being thrown her way and her bare skin tingled with embarrassment.

“Look at me.” The low, growling voice drew her attention away from the watching eyes and back to Baird. He was staring down at her, his golden eyes fierce.

“Y-yes?”

“Drop your arms.” He nodded down to where she was still trying to shield herself from the other warriors.