15 Targeted by Evangeline Anderson Page B

instructor, Xen’dex lecturing. “The emergence and coming forward of the Kit’tara brings with it uncontrollable lust and desires so strong they are impossible for the Khalla to fight. And yet…” He had raised a finger, addressing all the young males eagerly hanging on his words. “And yet it is not always advisable to allow a Khalla to give in to these lusts to breed and bond with a male.”
    “ Why not, Master?” one of the young males had asked respectfully. “Isn’t that the desired achievement of the Tenrah, for the female’s true self to take form and a bond to be formed to the male of her choice?”
    “ It is indeed.” Xen’dex had nodded his grizzled head. “But it must be done properly or death, not bonding will be the result. To begin with there are four stages of Tenrah—Kalor, Scintil, Vlammen, and Hel. Some stages may be delayed but none must be skipped entirely. A Khalla may die if she breeds before going through the stages in the proper order. At the very least her Tenrah will be delayed—sometimes for years—and she will have intolerable pain, especially if she is bred by a wrong or incompatible male.”
    “ But I thought you said the Kit’tara coming forward causes uncontrollable lust,” one of the other males protested. “What can you do if that starts happening? How can you keep it from overtaking her?”
    “ There are ways—some stages are easier to control than others. With Kalor, the simplest way is pain.”
    “ Hurt her?” There had been a horrified murmur from the assembled males. Kindred held females in the highest regard and would rather die than raise a hand against them. And a Khalla was the rarest and most esteemed female of all—some said each was, in a way, the Goddess taking corporeal form to come among them. To hurt or wound such a female was not just wrong—it was blasphemy.
    “ This is the only time—the only time— when such an action is acceptable,” Xen’dex had said, raising his voice to be heard above the angry protests. “And it must be done properly with love and respect. You must punish her—treat her as a youngling who has disobeyed. Take her over your knee and apply only such force as is necessary to drive the Kit’tara back.”
    “ You mean… spank her?” Tragar had asked incredulously.
    Xen’dex had nodded.
    “ Indeed. Before the two parts of the Khalla merge, the Kit’tara is a reckless force—all appetite and no caution. She is like a defiant child, intent on getting what she wants. And like a defiant child, she does not enjoy punishment. So you must use whatever means necessary to drive her back. If not, the Kit’tara may force the Khalla to go through the stages of Tenrah too quickly and cause madness or death as it emerges.”
    It was only this old memory that Tragar had to go on—only the hope that he could keep Emily safe from herself and from the new hungers and desires being born inside her that led him to do as he did now. He would never have raised a hand to a female otherwise—especially not a Khalla. He gave her another hard, measured slap to her bare buttocks and noticed that she had suddenly gone limp in his lap.
    “ Khalla?” he muttered uncertainly. “Emily?”
    Then he heard the soft sound of her sobbing and his heart clenched in his chest.
    Gods, what had he done?

Chapter Nine
     
    Emily finally stopped struggling and lay limp across the big Kindred’s knee, the tears rolling down her cheeks. The other had at last receded and with her she had taken the shameless lust and reckless desire Emily had been feeling ever since she took the first, deep breath of his scent and lost herself in need. She was left with only a sense of shame so deep it seared her to the bone.
    Oh God, the way I acted…the way I came on to him…I practically begged for it! It was the same way she had acted with Grayson all those years ago back in college. The same behavior which had gotten her into the worst situation of her life. But do