Wicked Wind (Solsti Prophecy #1)

by Sharon Kay

  He pulled away from her hungry mouth, but before she could protest, he pressed a fiery line of kisses along her jaw and down her throat. His ragged breath seared her skin, sending shivers of white-hot need straight to her core. Reaching the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder, he grazed her skin with his teeth, making her gasp in pleasure. She remembered what he had told her about biting pretty girls, and wondered if it was true. And then, immediately and irrationally, wished for him never to do it to anyone else again.

  He licked and nibbled his way across her shoulder until he reached the thin strap of her tank top. Pulling it between his teeth, he tugged and let it fall back in place. His mouth was velvety soft and oh-so-hot, destroying her defenses in a sensual onslaught. He grabbed her hips and pulled her flush against the hard ridge of his erection. Desire shot through her body, and she reflexively rocked into him.

  He moved his hands slowly up her torso, pausing just below her breasts as he continued to nuzzle her overheated skin. She was infinitely thankful that in her haste to get dressed earlier in the evening, she had grabbed a tank top with a built-in bra. She ached with the unquenchable need to feel his hands all over her.

  “Touch me,” she breathed.

  A low rumble escaped his throat as he cupped her breasts and squeezed gently. He drew his thumbs tantalizingly across her nipples, which hardened into stiff peaks. Liquid heat pooled between her thighs as her entire body went soft and pliable for him. He continued to tease her nipples through the soft fabric of her top until she wanted nothing more than to rip it off right there in the hallway.

  Pulling back with a devilish grin, he untangled her hands from his neck and placed them at her sides, caressing her arms upward from wrists to shoulders. As if he knew just what she needed, he slipped her straps down to hang loosely against her biceps. He gently traced the gaping neckline, dragging his finger across the tops of her breasts slowly in one direction, and then the other.

  Her muscles trembled. Every nerve ending screamed at his delicious torture. With each pass he pushed the cloth a little lower, until the pink tops of her nipples were visible above the fabric. His tender touch burned. She writhed against him–and her top slipped down to her waist.

  For a moment he gazed reverently at her, his eyes glowing sapphires in the dim hall. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered as he cupped her again, lifting and shaping the small weight of her breasts. He rolled her nipples between his thumb and forefinger as he lowered his head to kiss her throat, eliciting a soft, ragged moan from her mouth. With a gentle nudge, he turned her so her back was against his chest and she instinctively pressed her bottom into his hips, feeling his thick hardness against her soft curves.

  She angled her head in invitation as he bent to kiss her neck, expertly using his teeth and tongue to send hot tendrils of fire racing through her body. Her knees weakened, her breath came in gasps, and she was grateful for his powerful strength holding her up. His hands were on her breasts, flicking his thumbs over the tight peaks slowly and then quickly, circling and tracing, tugging them gently. Need surged through her like a searing desert wind. Oh, God. Her eyes slid shut and she reached back to clutch his thighs. His name escaped her lips on a ragged moan.

  He wrapped his arms across her chest and buried his face in her hair. “I’m furious with you.”

  She gasped and rubbed her backside against him. “I’ll have to make you furious more often.”

  He nipped her ear and she sucked in a breath.

  “Or maybe not,” she added. “If this is furious, then I can’t wait to get you in a good mood.”

  He stroked her arms, reaching for the straps of her tank and pulling them back up into place.

  Confusion slammed into her. “What are you doing?”

  “Covering you. You’re half naked in the middle of the hallway.”

  “That didn’t bother you ten seconds ago.” Her body was still trying to process the loss of his touch.

  “I shouldn’t have pushed you that far. You’ve had an exhausting day.”

  “I wasn’t complaining.” She turned to face him, a small frown on her face. “Are you punishing me?”

  At his raised eyebrows, she went on. “For making you mad?”

  He chuckled and she loved the smile that tugged at his gorgeous mouth. “Nicole, if I was punishing you,” he brought his hand down hard against her bottom, the resounding crack echoing in the hall. “You’d know it.”

  She gasped and jumped, not because it had hurt, but because it hadn’t. It hadn’t even occurred to her that he might be into...that. Not that she was averse to domination games in the bedroom now and then. She realized again how little she knew of him. And his world. Maybe stopping at second base is a good thing. “Okay.” Her breathing sawed unevenly. “Goodnight?”

  “Goodnight, Nicole.” He kissed her forehead.

  She walked into the bedroom, closed the door, and leaned against it. Brooke came out of the bathroom then, her scrutinizing eyes sweeping over Nicole. “You look like you’ve been…busy.”

  Nicole smiled, nodded, and bit her lip. She hadn’t planned to make out with Gunnar; in fact she hadn’t even been certain that he would talk to her. But like last night, her body reacted so swiftly to his that her mind still hadn’t caught up. She looked at her reflection in the mirror over the dresser, taking in her kiss-swollen lips and the side of her neck, reddened from his hungry mouth. The attraction between them was undeniable, but she didn’t want to spend any more time on the wrong end of his Vesuvian temper. Nor was she going to let him order her around.

  She ducked into the bathroom, washed her face, and climbed into bed next to Brooke. It brought back memories of sharing a bed when they were younger. “I still don’t like this,” her sister said.

  “I don’t think it’s about whether or not we like it,” Nicole murmured into the darkness. “This is bigger than anything we could have imagined.” She wanted to reassure Brooke that she’d be fine, but her sister’s mind was intractable. Excited and a little fearful about the upcoming day, she drifted into a fitful sleep.

  Music pulsed through the smoky air of the club and bodies gyrated around Nicole and Gunnar. The lights flashed and streaked across the hard, chiseled granite of his bare chest. She hadn’t had anything to drink, but her mind hazed over, her senses bombarded. Being that close to his raw masculinity intoxicated her. His hands stroked up and down her back, which she realized was bare.

  A downward glance told her that she was dressed only in a black lace bra and panties, but no one else in the club seemed to notice. The other dancers moved in their own world, oblivious to Gunnar and Nicole. She looked back up at him. Blue eyes flared with undisguised heat. Stretching up on her tiptoes, she wound her arms around his neck. Goodness, he was tall. He made her feel small and safe and…

  Her thoughts were broken by a surge of heat when he slid a hand down to cup her ass. A gasp wrenched from her throat as he hauled her tight against him, molding them as closely as possible. She scored his back with her fingernails. He hissed, nudged her legs apart with one of his muscular thighs, and kept it there. A delicious pressure built deep in her core.

  She tugged him down to kiss her, needing his mouth on hers. He took over, nipping her lower lip and sweeping his tongue inside. Not teasing or gentle, but rough and possessive, and she craved him. His thumbs slid under the straps of her bra and he moved them down again, caressing the skin at the tops of her breasts. He kept up his maddening strokes until she was ready to tear the bra off herself, and then it disappeared.

  No one in the club even glanced at them as Gunnar growled, tearing his mouth away from hers. Her nipples beaded into hard points as her breasts rubbed against his bare chest. Gunnar’s nostrils flared at the surge of warmth between her legs.

  He grabbed her ass and lifted her like she weighed nothing, holding her up in front of him so that her breasts were even with his mouth. He closed his lips around one of her nipples and her whole body jerked. Need tore
through her. She couldn’t hold back a moan as he laved and suckled one tight peak, and then drew her deeper into his mouth. She watched him release her, then flick his wicked tongue across her neglected nipple. Biting her lip, she writhed against the sweet ache he created.

  Her feet brushed the floor as he set her down, his fingers trailing across her skin to circle her hips. One wicked hand moved around to squeeze her backside, then down to her panties. He fisted the fabric and yanked, and they were gone.

  She stood before him, completely naked and trembling with need. The other dancers didn’t even glance her way. She reached for the button of his leather pants, popping it open with urgent fingers. But before she had a chance to touch him, he took both her hands in his and guided them behind her. Gripping her wrists in one hand, he held them against her back, keeping her in place in front of him. He lowered his mouth to her aching breasts, seeking her nipples, kissing them so languidly that she let her head fall to the side in surrender. She melted into him, carried by a blazing need that was beyond her control.

  With his free hand he traced a teasing line down her belly, across her hip, to slide beneath her and cup her intimately. Delicious shudders made her legs wobbly. His fingers curled upward to drift across her slick skin, coming forward to lightly circle her clit before moving back with drugging slowness. He stroked and teased her as she rolled her hips toward him, wanting more. He pushed one finger inside her, then two, stretching her as she arched into his hand. Her need grew to an unbearable intensity, her mouth barely capable of speech, and she simply whispered, “Please.”

  In a flash of movement so quick she couldn’t track it, he tugged down the zipper of his pants to free himself, and lifted her up with his hands on her hips. The fire of his blue eyes locked with hers as he lowered her slowly onto his thick length.

  She wrapped her legs around his waist, taking every long inch of him as she reveled in the way their bodies fit together. He had tortured her so deliciously and thoroughly that she was close, so close to losing control. He raised her hips, withdrawing almost all the way before plunging back inside. The sensations of his enormous cock stretching her sensitive tissues, and the tips of her breasts grazing his chest as he thrust beneath her, combined to destroy her completely. She cried his name as she shattered into a million fragments in his arms. He roared as his release followed hers, pumping into her until every last drop was wrung from each of them.

  Nicole jerked awake, hot and trembling. She struggled to calm her heart, which raced from the single most erotic dream she’d ever had. Evidently her body was still processing the little interlude she and Gunnar had shared in the hallway. An interlude that left her needier than she realized.

  She glanced over, relieved to find Brooke sleeping soundly next to her. Sure, they were close, but it would have been mortifying to explain herself if she had woken her sister during that dream. It had been so real, right down to the dampness she could still feel between her legs. Sighing, she stared at the ceiling. The gray light of dawn peeked along the edge of the window. She dragged herself from the bed and into the shower, wondering if there was any possible way to prepare for the day ahead.

  An empty beer bottle had the misfortune to roll into Kai’s path. Drawing his boot back, his kick sent it hurtling across the street to smash into a satisfying abundance of glass shards. Another night dragged on with no sign of those fucking Skells. After yesterday’s encounter when he had deep-sixed of some of their sorry asses, he itched for a repeat. Especially since one of them managed to get away. He would find that one and make it wish it had never seen him.

  And then the call came in from Rhys that Gunnar’s perky new blonde had gotten into trouble with some Skells down on the south side and needed to be rescued. No way in hell he was going back to the house now. He so did not need to deal with any woman who thought she could play vigilante, and he didn’t need to see Gunnar getting all pissy over a girl.

  He shoved his hands in the pockets of his black fatigues and glared at a couple of drunks lolling on the sidewalk. He knew what he needed right now: a curvy warm female beneath him. Or on top of him. Or bent over in front of him. Whichever. It didn’t matter, as long as he got laid.

  He leapt up to the rooftop in order to travel faster. He knew where to find what he wanted. The trendy north side neighborhood near historic Wrigley Field was full of pretty young professional women, many having moved there from the suburbs, who thought they were hip because they lived in the city now.

  Let ’em think so. Really, they were open books. He knew how to seem similar enough to the guys they usually met at the local bars, but just a little more rough, a little more edgy. With a sincere look on his face and understanding in his brown eyes–puppy dog eyes, he’d heard more than once–they fell for him every time.

  Even at this early hour of the morning, people milled in the streets, wringing as much revelry as they could from the long holiday weekend. He entered a packed bar that had a beer garden and grabbed a glass of the piss that humans called light beer. He eyed the crowd, surveying the scene. He took note of a bachelorette party that had some possibilities, and then spotted three women moving toward the garden. They were all hot, but he decided he wanted the redheaded one.

  As he made his way outside he noticed she was on her phone, standing a little bit apart from her friends. Good. He walked up to her, got into her personal space, and waited. She glanced up at him with a small frown on her pouty lips. She opened her mouth to say something. He smiled. She stared at him, blinked, and closed her phone. He brushed a lock of hair off her shoulder. “It’s a nice night.”

  “It just got nicer,” she purred.

  The game was on. A little chit-chat, a little flirting, a touch on an arm or knee, a few drinks, and they were his. This one was no exception. Before long before she was sitting on his lap with an arm hooked around his neck, his hand on her hip. Her low cut top revealed full generous breasts and he was looking forward to spending lots of time playing with them. She giggled at something he said, and he leaned closer to suggest they find someplace more private, when he registered a blur on a rooftop across the street.

  He froze as his keen night vision recognized the slight frame and grayish skin of a Skell. Oh, hell no. Now the miserable fuck had to make an appearance?

  “Gotta go, babe.” He peeled the confused redhead off his lap. “Hey, your friend over there wants to tell you something,” he murmured, turning his would-be bed partner toward the women in her group. That goddamn Skell was really going to be sorry now.

  Not bothering to make his way to the front door, he vaulted over the high fence that enclosed the beer garden. His movements were so swift that none of the patrons would notice, and their alcohol-fueled minds would only register a slight draft. The creature hadn’t seen him. Perfect. He planned to track the bastard to his hiding place. The dumbshit Skells were up to something, and there was most likely a mastermind behind their activity.

  Kai followed it silently along the rooftops of the leafy neighborhood. It hurried along in a southerly direction, and soon they were in an industrial area that flowed into a railyard. Kai opted to move along the tops of the boxcars instead of crunching on the gravel covered ground, although the Skell was so noisy and clumsy that it probably didn’t matter.

  They moved to a more desolate area on the south side, and Kai guessed the Skell had to be near its home base. But it kept going. Soon the urban streets gave way to suburban ones. If the thing had any intelligence, Kai would have thought it was taking him on a wild goose chase. When the smaller demon reached a highway overpass, it stopped and looked around.

  The demon crept down a grassy embankment toward the underside of the bridge, where it stopped. Kai stopped as well, hidden behind some overgrown shrubs.

  “Son of a bitch,” he hissed as a beat-up Pontiac sedan pulled over to the shoulder, allowing the Skell to jump inside before the vehicle roared into the southbound lanes. Kai took off running along the shoulder.


  Faster than a human, anyone who happened to see him would only imagine a shadow crossing their vision. But the car cruised farther south without exiting, and Kai knew he couldn’t keep up the high-speed chase for much longer. He stopped as the tidy suburbs gave way to open fields, cursing foully. Not only was he not going to get laid tonight, but that goddamn Skell had gotten away again. He broke into an easy jog, hoping to make it home before dawn.

  Nicole stood transfixed by the shimmering circle that vibrated in the air before them. It was beautiful, like a giant iridescent ring, its center shining with ever-changing hues. She studied it, her skin tingling with anticipation and with the remnants of her dream. She was aware of Gunnar watching her reaction to the portal. Hell, this morning she was aware of everything about him, from his piercing blue gaze to his thick-soled black boots.

  Nicole swallowed as she looked through the sheen of wavering light, peering at the trees on the far side of the lawn. Since Rilan wasn’t going with them, he provided Gunnar with an amulet that would enable him to open a portal one time, allowing them to return. Better not lose it.

  Brooke stood a few steps back with Rhys, Brenin, and Rilan. The sisters had hugged fiercely, each one nervous but resolved to see each other again soon.

  “Ready?” Gunnar asked her.

  “Yes.” She forced more bravery into her voice than she truly felt.

  They only planned to be gone for a day, but Nicole had stuffed extra clothes into her backpack just in case, as well as some throwing stars and additional knives. She also wore the small silver dagger with the sapphire hilt strapped to her thigh. Gunnar, however, was draped in weapons, mostly blades of different lengths. They hadn’t brought any firearms, because he had explained that bullet wounds healed rapidly among the residents of Torth. He hadn’t been kidding about dismemberment and burning being the best ways to harm someone over there.