Savage Lessons (Temple of Luna #3)

Savage Lessons

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2009 by Moira Rogers
Previously published by Changeling Press. All rights have reverted to the author.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Born into poverty and obscurity, Lexa worked harder than most to earn a place as a novice at the Savage Temple, where women trained in the art of pleasure heal the souls of battle-weary warriors. While others might be content to enjoy the luxury and prestige due a priestess of Luna, Lexa aspires to something greater -- the honor of wearing the silver robes and the security that comes with being one of their world's most powerful women. But first she must prove herself worthy by testing her strength against the Temple's most infamous trainer, a near-feral wolf whose job it is to educate women in the art of controlling a warrior through submission.

Dejan doesn't deal with novices. Time spent as a prisoner of the humans left his soul fractured and his beast far too close to the surface, making him dangerous but useful. When he accepts Lexa as his pupil he has no way of knowing the novice has the power to bring him to his knees. Their passion doesn't fade when she's promoted to the Temple's elite circle, but the rules allow no involvement between a trainer and priestess. Caught between ambition and need, it's only a matter of time before their forbidden affair threatens the lives they've fought to build.

Lexa kept her stance relaxed and tried not to let her excitement and nerves show as she faced the Temple's high priestess. "I'm ready, Celine. Now. Today."

"So you say." Celine's fingers tapped an absent rhythm against the arm of her chair. "So your teachers say. You've worked hard."

She'd busted her ass. Most of the other acolytes came from privileged families, and had been guided since birth toward the service of Luna. Were it not for the patronage of the queen mother, Lexa wouldn't have made it through the door of the Temple. "I've tried my best because I wish, more than anything, to serve."

"As did I, when I was your age. But I also knew where I wanted to be in ten years, and twenty. Do you?"

Most priestesses were gone by thirty, advantageously married off to soldiers returning from the war. Lexa didn't plan on being one of them, but she also wasn't ready to bare her soul to Celine. "I haven't decided, but I am giving the matter no small amount of consideration."

Celine nodded. "You're strong, and so is your magic. Strong enough to give you a chance at silver robes someday."

The words soothed the desperate longing inside her. "Kweku said he has nothing more to teach me. I checked the files, and there's only one high-level trainer unoccupied at the moment." The one she'd wanted all along. The best.

"Dejan." The high priestess's expression was unreadable. "If you've been checking files, my dear, you know that Dejan rarely works with novices. In fact, I believe that's common knowledge throughout the Temple."

"I could convince him to make an exception."

"You're assuming
he's
the one you'd have to convince."

Of course he was. Celine's expression was skeptical, but... "We wouldn't be having this conversation if you weren't considering it, and you wouldn't be considering it if it wasn't the best step for me."

Silence stretched out between them, broken only by the soft click of Celine's nails against the arm of her chair as she resumed her slow tapping. After several tense seconds, she smiled. "Looking at you is like looking into the past. In the ten years since I became high priestess, Lexa, not one other girl with your fire has passed through these halls."

"I would say you flatter me, Celine, but that didn't sound like a compliment." Curious, she smiled and tilted her. "I remind you of yourself?"

"Very much so." Celine gestured to her opulent surroundings. "There are worse lives to live. I serve my Goddess and my King. I receive the respect and deference of men and women born to privilege I couldn't have imagined as a child. Is this what you aspire to?"

It was tempting, seductive, and beyond comprehension. "Even the life of an acolyte has been more luxurious than anything I'd experienced before coming to the Temple, Celine. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want respect and security."

"I didn't rise this far by being born into wealth or gently reared. But think hard about where you want to be before you take this step. Respect is already yours as a novice of the Temple. And security can be found as easily in the arms of a man who loves you. Dejan teaches only the best of the best, the women who aren't interested in a comfortable life as a warrior's mate."

Lexa had seen the sort of fleeting security one found in a man's arms. She'd watched her mother flit from warrior to warrior, with no thought of tomorrow, much less forever. "I want him for my teacher. I wouldn't let you down."

The high priestess nodded, but Lexa couldn't tell if the look in the older woman's dark eyes was regret or satisfaction. "Then you'll have him tonight. And in the morning we'll discuss your future at the Temple."

Promising words, indeed. Lexa smiled and bowed. "Thank you, Celine. Shall I contact Dejan, or will you make the arrangements?"

Celine laughed. "For tonight, be like any other novice and let me do my job. I'll send a message when everything's finalized and let you know when to meet him."

She bowed again and turned for the door, her heart pounding. It was the coup she'd hardly hoped to manage. If Dejan trained her,
approved
of her, she'd be that much closer to silver robes. To having everything.

She had to be perfect. Everything about this night had to be perfect.

Dejan had known for three months that Lexa would be his student.

Discretion was a requirement in the Temple of Luna, but the trainers talked. They had to talk, if only to ensure the safety of the young women who served Luna by taking emotionally wounded warriors into their beds. No novice graduated to full priestess before the trainers were confident in her ability to handle a warrior's needs.

But even the trainers had specialties. Some were gentle, experienced in initiating a novice in the mysteries of sex. Some preferred to confine their attentions to the experienced novices, testing their readiness.

Dejan did neither. The women who came to him were almost exclusively priestesses in their own right -- strong, dangerous women who aspired to the silver robes, as well as the prestige and impressive stipend that came with them.

Almost exclusively. He'd been watching Lexa for a month now, ever since the morning Kweku had limped into the trainers' dining room and sworn he'd almost been bested by a virgin. Kweku was still young for a werewolf, thirty-eight and newly returned from the front lines, but over the course of the last month, Lexa had very nearly eaten him alive.

Anticipation had licked at Dejan then, but nothing compared to this afternoon, when Celine had finally summoned him.
Test her,
was all the high priestess had said, but Dejan had known her long enough to read between those terse words. Lexa was her choice for her successor.

And it was his job to train her.

Dejan surveyed the large bed and tried not to imagine what it would look like when she was stretched out on it, her dark hair spilling across the sheets and her deceptively sweet face staring up at him. Lexa had the wide-eyed charm of an innocent, but he wasn't fool enough to underestimate her like Kweku had.

A panel by the door chimed softly, and he forced himself to relax back in his chair, both legs sprawled out in front of him. Appealing as she was, Dejan was no eager puppy. He was the most respected trainer at the Savage Temple.

The door slid open, and Lexa walked in. Her robes clung to her legs as she moved, and she stopped before him with a small bow. "Thank you for having me."

She was sturdy. Sinful. Wicked curves and sleek flesh, tempting in a way the fragile, petite woman weren't. His cock hardened, but he did nothing more than smile and gesture to the plush cushions at his feet. "Sit."

Her answering smile was soft and sweet. When she sank down to the cushions, she arranged herself in what seemed at first to be a modest position. But from his vantage point, he could see down the front of her filmy robe, and her face was mere inches from the inside of his knee. If she tilted her head the slightest bit, she'd be resting her cheek on his leg, the very picture of ready, eager submission.

No wonder Kweku couldn't handle her.

Dejan dropped his hand to his knee and tugged at one strand of her long, unbound hair. "You've studied a great deal, haven't you?"

"Of course. How else could I hope to serve Luna and her warriors to the best of my ability?"

"Some novices take their time."

"Mmm." She flashed him a knowing grin. "I took the time I needed."

He curled that strand of hair around his finger and returned her smile with just a hint of a bite. "Such a confident little kitten. Maybe the novices don't gossip about me like they used to."

"I don't listen to gossip." Lexa shifted to kneel. "What would the novices know of you anyway? Not a single one has darkened your door in ages."

"Until you." Having her on her knees between his legs made it too easy to forget why he was here. "Women come to me to learn how to deal with the wild warriors. The feral warriors. To learn when to submit quietly and when to give as good as they get."

She nodded. "How would you like to start?"

He leaned forward and released her hair so he could trace his thumb along her jaw. "Tell me what you've learned about your own pleasures. What makes you ache with need?" A dangerous question, since he'd have to imagine another man touching her, but his possessive nature made him good at his job.

"Kissing." She licked her lips. "I'm fond of exploring. And I like... extremes." Her eyes darkened, and she inhaled sharply. "So slow it takes all night, or -- or fast and hot. Intense. Those are the things that make me come."

"Mmm." The perfect words, delivered in a breathy little whisper with a huskiness meant to make a man hard. It was easy to picture her in front of the mirror, practicing how to find just the right mix of invitation and hesitation.

She's too good at sex to be great at sex.
Kweku's words made perfect sense now. They also made him sad. He slid his hand around the back of her neck and fisted his fingers in her hair, urging her head back until she was staring up at him. "You're trying too hard. Sex is not a chore or a job within the Temple. If you don't celebrate it, you don't belong here."

The seductive invitation faded, replaced by a hint of defiance. Determination. "I belong here."

Defiance was good. "Do you? You won't impress me by seducing me, kitten."

Lexa licked her lips again, the gesture nervous this time. "Is this training or a test?"

"You know as well as I do that all training
is
a test." He lifted his free hand and rubbed his thumb along her full lower lip. "Other trainers are testing you to see if you can handle men. I'm testing you to see if you love doing it."

Her teeth closed on his thumb, and he felt a quick, teasing flick of her tongue before she released him. "There's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

With her body between his legs it was easy to trap her, pinning her arms against her sides. Another tug arched her head back, and he moved his hand and claimed her mouth with a soft growl.

She met him with a moan, her own mouth open and inviting. He could hear her heart thudding, could smell her arousal. Both gave lie to the tales he'd heard of her detachment and distraction. Both aroused him.