Rust[1] is aimed squarely at this use case. The GC and runtime are optional. A toy kernel[2] and Linux kernel module[3] have already been written in it. The language is young and still unstable, but it's being designed by veteran C++ programmers with the goal of using it for a safer, faster, more maintainable successor[4] to the browser engine in Firefox. Worth checking out!

[1] http://www.rust-lang.org/

[2] https://github.com/charliesome/rustboot

[3] http://thechangelog.com/rust-ko-a-minimal-linux-kernel-modul...

[4] https://github.com/mozilla/servo