Wicked Waves: Solsti Prophecy #2

by Kay, Sharon

  “You smell better,” he said gruffly.

  “Thanks.” She rolled her eyes. “You don’t.”

  He grinned. “I deserved that.”

  “Listen, Kai, about last night…”

  Oh, hell no. He didn’t want to talk about last night. He was barely keeping it together now, being in this small space alone with her. He held up a hand, but she ignored him and kept talking.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have...”

  He stared at her but found only sincerity in her pale gray eyes. Sorry? I’m only sorry that it ended. She’d sure as hell been into him, the way she moaned and dug her nails into his skin. She couldn’t have faked her body’s response to him, but neither could she have faked the look of horror as she’d pushed away.

  He gave her his best cold glare. “Get some rest, Brooke.”

  “Okaaay.” Her tone held a hint of sarcasm, but she shrugged and left the room.

  Once he heard the rustling of sheets and knew she was in bed, he took a quick shower. He pulled on a pair of black fatigues and a black T-shirt from the pile of spare clothing. Settling on the couch to flip through TV channels, he heard a soft cry from her room.

  He shot to his feet and was at her bedroom door in a heartbeat, though he knew they were alone in the condo. Gazing in at the twisted sheets, he guessed she was having another dream.

  “No!” she yelled in her sleep. Not a dream, but a nightmare. He moved to the side of her bed and caught her hand as she flung it in a wild, uncoordinated motion.

  “Shh, Brooke,” he said gently. At least, he hoped his voice was gentle. He could pleasure a woman until she forgot her own name, but comforting one was unfamiliar territory. He held her hand, watching the rapid pulse in her neck and her erratic breathing. “Shh,” he said again, tracing small circles on her wrist.

  She let out a loud breath and tugged on his hand.

  “It’s just a dream,” he said, patting her head awkwardly. As he leaned forward, she pulled hard on his hand again, tucking it next to hers against her stomach, and she rolled to her side.

  Now what?

  He didn’t want to loom over her bed all night, but he didn’t have the heart to remove his hand. So he did the only thing he could think of, and eased onto the bed next to her. He propped himself on one elbow, his other hand entwined with hers. She sighed and snuggled her sweetly rounded bottom against him.

  He stifled a groan at the contact. Her curvy, sexy ass was the first part of her he had noticed. Not that he could help it, since she turned away from him at the exact moment he walked into the room. One time he overheard her complain to her sister that it was “too big.” That little comment gave him a monster hard-on, imagining what it would feel like to bend her over and drive into her from behind.

  And now, with her soft body pressed near him, the weight of her breasts against his arm, her lilac scent wrapped around him like a drug. His cock throbbed with need, and he frowned down at her. Cuddling wasn’t what he had in mind when he imagined getting her into bed.

  He studied the porcelain skin of her face, his acute night vision registering the fading flush on her cheeks. Her heart slowed and her breathing grew even, and she let out a contented, “Mmm.”

  If her dream was over, maybe he could slip away soon. Ah, hell. Her sweet smell and soft curves beckoned to him. He didn’t want to leave her side. He rested his head on his arm and breathed in the fragrance of her hair, deciding to settle in for a while.

  Kai disengaged himself from Brooke’s arms an hour before dawn, leaving her sleeping as soundly as when he laid down beside her. He didn’t want to leave, but he didn’t think she’d react well if she woke and found him beside her. Like a caged lion, he prowled the cheery condo, listening to her get ready for work.

  “Ready?” Brooke called from the hallway.

  Kai turned from his vigilant stare out the window and sucked in a breath

  Stepping into the living room, she tilted her head to the side as she walked and fiddled with an earring. She wore black knee-high heeled boots and a fitted, short black skirt, with a few inches of bare leg in between. On top she wore a sheer gray blouse that matched her eyes. She had some kind of other shirt underneath it, because he couldn’t quite see the curves of her full breasts. He was no expert on women’s clothing, except when it came to taking it off. But Brooke looked professional, feminine, and sexy as hell. He thought of the male he had scented on her skin and suppressed a growl.

  “Do you always wear stuff like that to work?”

  “Not when it gets cold. We only have a month or so left of decent weather, so I have to take advantage of it.” She bustled around the condo, opening drawers, not seeming to pick up on the deeper meaning of his query. “I know we have an extra fare card around here somewhere.”

  “Fare card?” He raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, for the El.” Brooke flipped through a stack of papers.

  “The El?” he drawled.

  “That’s how I get to work.”

  “How about a cab?”

  She stopped rummaging and stared at him. A smile tugged at her lush lips. “I don’t know what’s funnier, a demon on the El or a demon in a taxi.”

  Damn, but it was hard to resist that smile. A grin threatened to spread across his face before he pasted on a scowl. “Think whatever you want, Sprite. The El is too crowded.”

  He didn’t want her in places where a supernatural creature could pass as human and slip among the teeming rush hour commuters. And as much as he itched to get as close to her curvy body as possible, he didn’t want it to be on a crowded train. He’d just managed to get his cock under control, after throwing wood the whole damn night.

  He’d seen those trains at rush hour. Standing room only. Scores of men. Many of them would look at her, since on the hotness scale of one to ten, Brooke was a twenty. And in those crowds, men would brush past her, accidentally or not. The entire ride would have him glaring, growling, and not-so-subtly keeping Brooke’s personal space clear. He’d probably get them kicked off the train.

  “I doubt a Neshi is going to take the Brown Line.”

  Such a smart-ass. He folded his arms over his chest. “We’re taking a cab.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t think anything will happen to me in broad daylight, but whatever.”

  Following her out into the bright morning sun, he took a deep breath and registered no supernaturals. Good. The wards created an uneasy feeling in other non-human creatures, one that would make them hurry along and get as far from Brooke’s building as possible.

  Before he could stop her, Brooke reached the curb, stuck two fingers in her mouth, and gave a shrill whistle. This time he allowed himself to smile. He didn’t know she could whistle like that. She presented an incongruous image: a professional woman whistling like she was in a packed sports arena or a bar. Sexy as hell? Yeah, double that.

  A yellow cab pulled over and they climbed in. Brooke gave the address to the driver, and ten minutes later they stood in front of the low brick building.

  “I’ll be here all day.” She nodded at her building.

  “Call me and I’ll pick you up when you’re done.”

  “I’m not going to work late tonight. It’s Friday, and I got most of my project done yesterday. I really don’t think anything’s going to happen during rush hour.”

  “I’ll pick you up when you’re done,” he repeated, pinning her with his best don’t-argue-with-me look.

  “You won’t take no for an answer, will you?”

  He shook his head as a breeze caught her hair, lifting one chestnut tendril and blowing it across her eyes. He fought the urge to reach out and tuck it behind her ear.

  “Okay, then.” She turned toward the door.

  He froze. An offending scent assaulted his nose at the same moment he heard the deep male voice. A low growl rumbled up his throat.

  “There’s my Brooke!”

  Kai couldn’t help the rush of rage that threatened to turn
his vision red. A tall dark-skinned man loped across the street and threw an arm across Brooke’s shoulders. Kai recognized the same scent that had been on her skin the other night. He turned to them, mouth set in a grim line, fists clenched at his sides.

  “Baby girl, you look like you haven’t slept a wink!” The man tilted his head and looked into her face.

  “It was a short night,” Brooke said. “Charles, this is my friend Kai.”

  Charles looked Kai up and down, much as he had Brooke, and extended his hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

  Kai stared at him, not moving. The man was still touching Brooke.

  Brooke shot Kai a glare. “I work with Charles, and he’s a good friend.”

  Kai drew a breath in an effort to rein in his anger, and realized two things. The scent of another person drenched Charles. It exuded from his pores, so thoroughly were the two scents entwined. And…that other scent belonged to a man.

  A horn beeped on the street, interrupting their conversation. “Oh, there goes my Jay!” Charles said, waving exuberantly at a white Mercedes.

  Brooke waved and smiled at the olive-skinned man in the driver’s seat. “Hey, Jay!” she called before turning to Kai with a pointed look.

  Kai gazed back at her, his primal possessiveness fading to grudging acceptance. He cleared his throat and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Charles. Maybe I’ll see you again at the end of the day. I’ll be back to pick up Brooke.”

  Charles drew himself up to his full height, a few inches shy of Kai’s towering frame. His brown eyes bored into Kai’s. “Mm-hmm. You better treat my little Miss B right, you hear?”

  Brooke snorted and rolled her eyes. “Stop it, both of you. Charles, let’s go inside. Kai, I’ll see you later.” She grabbed Charles by the arm and hauled him toward the door.

  Kai watched them go, unable to help overhearing the rest of their conversation.

  “You sassy girl! You roll in with Mr. Tall, Blond, and Angry at seven–thirty in the am! Dish, girlfriend!”

  “He’s just a friend, Charles.”

  “Hmm, well, your friend looked like he wanted to take me down when I hugged you.”

  Kai let their voices fade from his ears when they boarded an elevator. Friends. They barely had civil conversations, but they shared a bone-melting kiss and a late-night cuddle that only one of them knew about. He didn’t think of Brooke as a friend, but if not a friend, then what was she?

  He pushed the tangled thoughts of her out of his head. It was time to debrief with the others. Once he got back to the house, they would come up with a strategy for dealing with future Neshi encounters on Earth.

  He scowled. There was one surefire way to subdue a Neshi, but it involved just as much danger as fighting one on a city street.

  CHAPTER 7

  “HELLS BELLS?” SHRIEKED BROOKE AND Nicole in unison.

  The sisters sat on one of the brown leather couches in the great room at Demon Central, ready to hear whatever plan the Lash demons had concocted during the day. Brooke curled up at one end, with Nicole in the middle and Gunnar at her side. Brenin leaned against the stone fireplace, flipping a pen end-over-end, while Kai paced the room with his jaw set in a grim line.

  “That’s what they’re called,” Gunnar said, twisting a lock of Nicole’s hair around his finger.

  “Let me get this straight,” Brooke said. “You’re saying this little plant can incapacitate a Neshi demon? Just by touching it or inhaling the scent?” She had a hard time believing a little sprig of lily-of-the-valley could take down a creature like the one who attacked her last night. Well, not the Earth variety of lily-of-the-valley, since Rilan had explained that the blooms on hells bells were deep crimson.

  “That’s right,” Rilan said from his position on one of the armchairs.

  “Then why the heck don’t you have any on hand?” Brooke asked, shaking her head.

  “Because we’ve never run into Neshis on Earth before,” Brenin said matter-of-factly. He tossed his pen toward the ceiling, caught it and resumed his flipping.

  “Okay, maybe this is a silly question, but why not have some lying around just in case?” Brooke tried—she really did—to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

  “Hells bells only grow in one small area of Torth. The region is inhospitable, and the plant is hard to track down. We had no need for it, so we never planned to collect any,” Rilan explained.

  “But you need it now,” Brooke said.

  Rilan nodded.

  “So, who’s going to Torth to get it?” Brooke asked.

  Kai stopped in front of the tall windows flanking the fireplace and stared out into the autumn night. “I am.”

  “Oh.” Brooke glanced down, trying not to sound surprised. Had he volunteered for the job? He didn’t want to talk about the other night. Does he want to get away from me badly enough that he’d go to another realm? She nibbled her lip, too curious to stay quiet. “How’d you end up drawing the short straw?”

  “I grew up in the area. I can find that fucking plant faster than anyone else.” His gaze remained on the dark yard.

  “Are you going by yourself?” Brooke asked. Nicole had spared no details about the dangers lurking in the demon realm. Kai was tough, but a thread of concern niggled at the back of her mind. Why do I even care?

  “Nope,” he said, turning to look at her. He raked a hand through his hair.

  Why is he making me drag this out of him? “So, who’s going with you?” She tilted her head, searching his face.

  Brown eyes settled on her with a piercing intensity. “You are.”

  “What?” she gasped.

  “Absolutely not!” Nicole’s tone could’ve cut glass.

  “Told you guys this was gonna go over like a brick,” Rhys drawled. He settled deeper into his leather armchair and folded his hands behind his head.

  “Why me?” Brooke squeaked.

  Gunnar held up a hand, stopping the chatter. “Why don’t we listen to what Rilan has to say?”

  The Elder nodded. “As Kai mentioned, he grew up in the region. He can navigate it more skillfully than the rest of us, and that includes finding the bells as well as avoiding any pitfalls.” Rilan’s tone was firm. “And Brooke, you wanted more challenges with your power. This area of Torth is extremely dry, more so than any part of this country. You’ll have the chance to try things that you can’t do here. I have a list of tasks for you, starting with pulling water from the proverbial stone.”

  Brooke opened her mouth, then closed it. A hundred thoughts fired through her mind. Be careful what you wish for was the most prominent one. That koi pond was looking better and better.

  She figured someday she’d travel to the demon realm, but she didn’t expect the day to come so soon. Kai scowled as he resumed his pacing. He didn’t look any happier about this arrangement than she felt.

  Her gaze dropped to where his black boots thudded a line in the floor. True, she had wanted to go. Will I slow him down? “How long will it…how long would we be gone?” She turned to Rilan.

  “It will only take a few hours, at most. You’ll go tomorrow morning and be back by lunchtime. I don’t need to remind you of Kai’s fighting skills,” Rilan said, giving her a small smile. “And if you run into unexpected danger, you can abort the trip and come right home.”

  “I don’t like this,” Nicole said. “And what do you mean by ‘inhospitable?’”

  “Picture the aftermath of a fire and volcanic eruption.” Kai pulled out one of the chairs from the dining table and straddled it backwards. “All you see is gray rock, gray clouds, gray ash. There are mountains with caves and dead trees. No water. Nothing green.”

  “It sounds like red flowers would be easy to spot,” Nicole pointed out.

  “You’d think so, but they hide in tiny crevices along the mountainsides,” Kai said.

  “What about other creatures?” Nicole asked. Brooke was glad for her older sister’s persistence, as she couldn’t form a complete sentence. />
  “We may see a few small lizards or snakes, and some birds. Hardly anyone lives there, since food and water are scarce. We’ll have the place to ourselves.” Kai’s gaze locked onto Brooke’s.

  Her stomach did a little flip. They’d be alone for hours, with just a few critters to keep them company. Her gaze drifted to his sensual mouth and those soft, demanding lips that had seared her skin. She fought the urge to touch her mouth as heated memories stirred butterflies in her belly.

  She also would never forget how quickly things had spun out of control. Her mad dash out of the training room sobered her thoughts, and her eyes returned to the dark luster of the oak floor. His skillful touch had driven her crazy with unexpected need, making her forget his condescending words and attitude. Thank goodness she stopped him before they went any further.

  Then he showed up last night and saved her life. And let her win the argument over where they would spend the night. Strong enough to sling her over his shoulder and haul her anywhere he wanted, he had acquiesced and carried her to her own home. She would never forget the safe haven of his arms.

  An unsettled feeling shot through her, followed by shoulder-sagging guilt. She barely knew him. He saved her life. Had she completely misjudged him? But he’s so rude…

  “You should get some rest, Brooke.” Kai’s words interrupted her thoughts.

  She nodded. I can do this. It’s not like they’d be sitting around. Rilan had specific tasks for her. Nicole huffed out an irritated breath next to her and Brooke grabbed her hand. “Come upstairs with me.”

  “Why can’t they just fly you to a desert on Earth to practice in a dry area?” Nicole muttered as they climbed the steps to the second floor.

  “I’ll be fine. Kai saved my life last night. You should have seen him.”

  “I know.” Nicole’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m so grateful to him. But I worry about you.”

  “I won’t have to stay inside the yard. Who knows what I’ll be able to try?”

  Nicole smiled. “Yeah, that was one great thing about Torth. I could do things there that I never could have done here.”