Kiss of Snow p-10

by Nalini Singh

  “I have a free afternoon.” Sienna opened her own bottle, took a long draught. “Thought I’d spend time with Toby and Marlee, do some work on a course paper at the same time.”

  Indigo’s eyes gleamed as she put down the water and reached back to redo her long black hair into a tight ponytail. “You know anything of what’s happening between Walker and Lara?”

  Sienna began to buff her fighting staff with a towel. “What are you talking about?”

  Indigo laughed at her fake innocent act. “They’re not getting away with it, you know. Everyone’s just being real polite and pretending not to notice they’re kissing each other in dark corners.”

  Sienna’s lips twitched. “My uncle would never be so common as to kiss a woman in a dark corner.”

  “No, must be someone tall, blond, and silent who looks exactly like him.”

  Sienna was still laughing at that dry statement when she went to join the children after a quick shower to wash off the sweat. However, she hadn’t been at the family apartment long before she got a call from Riley.

  “Sienna, I know you’re meant to have the afternoon off, but can you accompany Mariska and three of her techs up to check on the hydro station?” he said, referring to the “green” system that used the natural power of the water crashing over the mountains to supply the den’s power. “The plant is secure, and I’ve got Drew heading up with the team, but he should have backup, just in case.”

  “Of course, but I’m with Marlee and Toby. Can you—”

  “It’s not even a question, sweetheart. Bring them over—they can hang out in the senior soldiers’ break room off my office.”

  Knowing the kids loved spending time in the hub, which saw a constant rotation of the pack’s dominants—with more than one willing to pull up a chair to chat to a couple of “pups”—she said, “We’ll be there in fifteen.” It actually took closer to twenty to get everything sorted, but she left her brother and cousin competing with each other to tell Riley their latest news.

  Drew was waiting for the team at the exit—or more accurately, he was kissing Indigo and smiling all the while. They’d been laughing before they kissed, Sienna thought, remembering Hawke teasing her as they lay in bed. She’d felt it when he smiled as he kissed her. It had been more wonderful than she could’ve imagined. “Ahem,” she said, lips curving at the memory. “At least find a dark corner.”

  Indigo shot her a laughing look. “Touché.” Another kiss before she headed down the corridor, a woman with long, long legs and a body that moved with lithe muscular grace. “Don’t get shot,” were her parting words to her mate.

  “Too scared of you to dare!” Drew called out, then grabbed some of the techs’ gear. “Let’s go, boys and girls.”

  HAVING spent the day with Matthias’s and Alexei’s teams to make sure they were comfortable with the terrain and aware what their duties would be in a combat situation, Hawke was more than ready to take some time for himself. Thanks to his people, he could.

  Waylaying Sienna as she headed to her quarters after returning from the hydro station, he tugged her down to the garage. It was tempting to lick up the taste of her, but if he put his mouth on those lush lips, they wouldn’t make it any farther than his bedroom.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked once they were on the road, the light diffuse as the first whisper of night touched the Sierra. “Am I being Psynapped?”

  His wolf laughed. “We’re going to play.”

  It should’ve sounded silly, Sienna thought, when there were so many other things to worry about, but there was no denying that the constant state of battle-readiness was an unrelenting tension at the back of her mind. Last night had been a sensual respite, one that had left her more alert and aware today. “Play isn’t a waste of time, is it?” she said out loud, having never quite understood that until this moment.

  “The wolf has decided that that question doesn’t deserve an answer.”

  It made her laugh. “What’s the game?”

  “Wait and see.”

  Half an hour later, he brought the vehicle to a stop deep in den territory, the area so dense with trees that he’d had to punch up the hover drive and get creative in his driving. As he set it down, she peered out at the small cabin hidden amongst the firs. “It looks new.” So new the area was still littered with wood chips.

  “The lieutenants in the den banded together with the senior soldiers and started to throw it up.” He shook his head. “Apparently the other soldiers got wind of it and wanted in. It took them twelve straight hours with a revolving crew and by the end . . . seems almost every able-bodied adult in the den had something to do with either building the cabin or making sure it was furnished.”

  She heard the stunned joy in his voice, felt her heart clench. “They love you.” Just like me.

  “Yeah.” Shaking his head, he got out and jogged around to open her door. “I’d have torn into them for spending time on this when we’re so close to war, but Drew tells me the project boosted morale back to normal levels, so . . .” He pulled her from her seat. “This is ours,” he said, leaning down to rub his nose against hers. “The area’s off-limits to the pack when either of us is in the vicinity.”

  Sienna stood on tiptoe, her hands on his shoulders. “Just us?”

  The bright slash of his smile echoed her own. “Just us.”

  It was an incredible gift. She loved SnowDancer with every beat of her heart, would die to protect the people who’d become her own, but being able to be truly alone with Hawke for even a few hours, a few minutes—she had no words for the force of her joy. “Let’s go explore.”

  Laughing, he followed at her heels as she ran up the two small steps and crossed the porch to push open the door, flick the manual light switch. “Oh, it’s wonderful,” she said as the cabin was bathed in a soft glow. The entire place was a single large room, except for an alcove at the back fitted with a wooden sliding door.

  There was a kitchenette off to the left, with a table and two chairs tucked in neatly under the window. To the right was a fireplace set with an eco-friendly laz-fire, in front of which lay a fluffy white rug Sienna could already feel plush and decadent against her skin. The rest of the available space was dominated by a huge bed with a wrought-iron headboard. Her eyes widened.

  “Hawke,” she said, “why are there fur-lined handcuffs hanging from the headboard?” Stepping closer, she saw—“They’re too big for my wrists.” Oh.

  Hawke made a growling sound low in his throat. “Probably Drew’s idea of a joke.”

  “No,” Sienna murmured. “Drew told me to never, ever talk to him about sex. As far as he’s concerned, I’ll be a virgin until I’m a hundred, same as Brenna.”

  Unhooking the cuffs, Hawke brought them to his nose. Sniffed. “Son of a bitch.” His grin was half-amused, half-feral.

  “Who?”

  “Figure it out. Who do you think is sitting at home laughing his ass off at the dance you’ve led me?”

  Sienna paused, considered all the people who cared about Hawke and who’d dare pull a prank like this. “Lucas,” she said. “It was Lucas.”

  “Damn cat must’ve snuck in here after the crew left.” He fiddled with one cuff, smiled as it made a snick of sound. “What do you know—they tighten up fine for smaller wrists.”

  She didn’t trust that look. “Hawke.”

  “Come here.” A command, for all that his voice was soft, his eyes hooded.

  She swallowed, took a step back. “Um . . . perhaps . . .”

  “Scared, Sienna?” Thick, silver-gold lashes lifted to reveal those impossible eyes, the eyes of a husky or a bird of prey.

  “No.” It wasn’t fear that caused her heart to beat a staccato drumbeat against her ribs, her blood to turn molten.

  Hawke smiled . . . and she realized he was stalking her in slow, steady steps. Twisting, she saw she was about to back herself into a corner. She jerked left, expecting him to stop her. When he didn’t, suspicion li
cked through her veins. “I’m glad you’re going to be reasonable about this,” she said, never moving her eyes off him.

  “I like your hair.” That wild gaze stroked over her. “Put it down for me.”

  “I don’t think that’d be a good idea.” It was instinct to disobey him, to challenge him.

  “I disagree.”

  Her hair tumbled around her shoulders before she so much as sensed him shift position. He was crouched on the bed, on the other side of the room by the time she realized what he’d done. A very satisfied, very male smile flirted with his lips.

  Playing with her, she thought, he was playing with her.

  And tonight, there was no leash on the wolf.

  “You think you’re so smart,” she said, inching to her left again as he reached back to pull off his T-shirt with masculine roughness. The door was only a few steps away.

  T-shirt on the floor, he angled his head in a way that sent his hair sliding over one side of his face. “I think you should take off your top.”

  “Try it and I’ll—” She shot up a column of cold fire between them, making him come to a skidding halt, his nose a bare millimeter from the flame.

  He bared his teeth. She grinned . . . and took off, slamming the door shut behind herself as she dropped the wall of flickering red and gold. Something crashed hard on the wood as her feet hit the earth and her instinct was to turn around, check he was okay. But that wasn’t the game. And she was nowhere near wolf-fast. He was breathing down her neck in seconds.

  But she was an X. A cardinal.

  She blocked his way using her abilities until he fell back. Chest heaving, she came to a halt, bracing herself with her hands on her thighs as adrenaline thumped through her. God, but he was fast. Never had she seen anything or anyone move with that kind of speed. Dangerous man. Her man.

  Having caught her breath, she rose to her full height. But even with her every sense on alert, she didn’t have the slightest inkling he’d circled around on her blind side until she turned to find herself staring into eyes gone night-glow. “Pretty, pretty, Sienna.”

  Gripping her wrists before she could summon the cold fire, he tugged her close, shattering her concentration; his chest was a gorgeous, touchable distraction. There wasn’t even a hint of sweat on him. It should have been annoying, but she was far too fascinated by the smile flirting with his lips to care. “My Sienna.”

  The absolute possession in his voice didn’t scare her. “Yours.”

  A short, sharp nip at her neck. She shivered with pleasure, before twisting away from him using a move Indigo had drilled into her until it was second nature. She wondered if the wolf lieutenant had known this day would come. Hawke smiled at her, a delighted predator. Then he lunged.

  She scrambled backward, only to feel him brush past her and into the forest.

  The game was on again.

  Taking off in the opposite direction, her night vision ample in the early evening light, she began to laugh inside. This was fun. It was only a couple of minutes later that she felt him pacing her in the trees to her left. Heart pumping hard and fast, she raised a wall of X-fire and disappeared in another direction, muddying her scent by using every trick in the book. It wouldn’t work of course. He was an alpha, his senses acute, and—

  A bouquet of wildflowers in her path.

  Laughter bubbling out of her, she picked them up, put a cherry red bloom behind her ear. Taking the rest in hand, she looked up. And realized he’d herded her back to the cabin.

  To the bed.

  Butterflies in her stomach. Because she understood his words from last night now, knew that he’d been on his very, very best behavior. Tonight . . . tonight she’d be tangling with the dominant, wild heart of him.

  Creeping up to the cabin, she tried to locate him in the dark shadow of the trees.

  Silence.

  Taking a long, deep breath, she made a run for it. Her feet left the ground midway through the journey, and she barely had time to utter a short scream before he dumped her on the bed, the wildflowers scattering around them as he braced himself above her, all playful smile and wolf eyes. “I win.” A sharp nip to her lower lip. “What’s my prize?”

  Chapter 46

  OH DEAR GOD. She was melting into a pile of goo. He was big and beautiful and impossible . . . and hers. He was hers. Not as she’d once imagined he would be, but this bond that continued to grow between them? It was as strong, as precious. “I’ll brush your hair for you.”

  He blinked, thought about it. “All right.”

  Delighted, she waited for him to get off so she could rise. He stayed in place, his gaze never moving off her lips. She parted them, felt his breathing change. “Hawke?”

  “I’ll get you the brush.”

  She hadn’t even managed to catch her breath before he was back over her again. “Here.”

  Taking the brush, she reached up to push one hand through the thick silk of his hair. It was cool, soft, stunning. A wolf’s pelt given human form. “Beautiful.”

  “More.” He dipped his head, allowing her to run the bristles through the strands. A low growling sound of pleasure accompanied her first stroke, and he lowered his body a fraction, so she could feel his weight against her legs. “Harder.”

  Obeying, she ran the brush through his hair over and over. “You’re closer to your wolf than any other changeling I’ve ever met.” It told her so much.

  “I am as I am.” A wolf’s answer. It had no time for overthinking things. “Open your mouth.”

  She dropped the brush. “Wh—” His mouth took hers.

  The kiss was hot and deep and all kinds of sinful, his hand closing gently around her throat to hold her in place as his tongue played with hers and his thigh rubbed against the arousal between her legs. When he let her breathe, it was only for the barest instant before he was taking her again. Her hands clenched on his shoulders, muscle and tendon flexing so powerful and hot under her touch.

  “Sienna,” he murmured against her lips. “Smart.” Another bite to her lower lip, this one softer. “Strong.” His body settled heavily on her own, his erection a demanding hardness between her thighs. “Mine.”

  When she used her nails on his back, he growled and dipped his head to suck on the pulse in her neck, making her body arch. Or attempt to. He was too heavy to shift. Fisting one hand in his hair, she breathed in the scent of him and knew that tonight he’d demand more than surrender, more than submission. He’d demand everything she was, then ask for more.

  “Your heart’s fluttering like a bird’s.” A lick over her pulse.

  It took concentration to find the words, to put together a coherent sentence. “This is only my second time, you know.” Then she used her mouth on the strong cords of his neck.

  He liked that, his chest rumbling against her. “I’ll make it good for you. You know I will.” Arrogant and sexy and tender, he braced himself on one arm, running the fingers of the other down her front, over the buttons of her shirt. “I don’t like this.”

  The shirt tore down the middle.

  As she sucked in a startled breath, he pressed an openmouthed kiss to the bared flesh of her abdomen, his hand stroking under and around the torn shirt to spread over her lower back.

  “Hawke.”

  Sliding his hand around to the front again, he moved it in slow circles over her navel. “Hmm?” Another kiss, this one on her breastbone. “Does something hurt, baby?”

  She shook her head. “Kiss me.”

  A wolf-sharp smile before he gave her exactly what she wanted. A kiss that tore her wide open with its sensual tenderness and reformed her anew. She nipped at his mouth this time, and he paused, gave her a look out of eyes slitted until she could only see a strip of wolf-blue. “You bit me.”

  “I say it’s fair play.” She tapped her own lower lip. “You’ve done it more than once.”

  He growled low in his throat, splaying his hand over her ribs. “Bite me again.”

  Undone, sh
e did. Then, deciding to play as wild as her lover, she dug her fingernails into his shoulders and gripped the taut tendon of his neck between her teeth. He froze above her, his entire body tense with expectation.

  She bit down hard enough to leave a mark before releasing him.

  He snarled at her—but she wasn’t fooled. She’d seen the wolf laughing in his eyes. “I marked you,” she said, smug.

  His hand closed around her throat. “Maybe I’m mad at being marked up.”

  “Are you?”

  His answer was to move his hand, place it over her breast, her bra no protection against the primal heat of him. “I know where I’m going to mark you. Again.”

  Feeling her flesh swell under his touch, she said, “What if I don’t like being marked up?”

  “Tough.” A blur of movement and her bra was in so many shreds around the bed.

  Sienna rose toward him in wicked invitation. He made a deep rumbling sound in his throat that peaked her nipples to tight points, and then his lips were on her soft flesh, marking, branding, tasting, and sucking. Thought scattered, sensation crashed. Thrusting her hands into his hair, she held on for the ride of her life.

  HAWKE tried to pull himself back, knowing Sienna wasn’t equipped to handle everything even after last night. He couldn’t do it. He’d waited too long for her—wolf and man wanted her with feral ferocity. “If you need to stop me,” he forced himself to say, lifting his head to meet her gaze, “do what you need to do.”

  Cardinal eyes gone black with desire locked with his own. “Are you planning to hurt me?”

  He growled. That was a question that didn’t need an answer.

  “Then why,” she murmured, “would I want to stop you?” Her hands tugging at his hair, pulling him up so she could seduce his mouth with a hot, drugging kiss. “Give me everything.” A whisper. A command.

  He didn’t take orders from anyone . . . but for her, he’d make an exception. Closing his hand over the erotic invitation of her breast once more, he squeezed, catching her responding cry with his mouth. Under his palm, her nipple was hard, pebbled, pure temptation.