On Wicked Ground (Solsti Prophecy Book 4) (18 page)

“Gods, Alina—”

A can of coffee grounds clattered to the floor, knocked off the cabinet she sat on.

She didn’t even glance at it, locking her heels behind him. “Forget about—”

Voices drifted from the kitchen and the sound of running water reached his ears.
Shit
. The cooks must be getting started on the evening meal.

She froze, panting. Green eyes locked with his, radiating a hunger so raw he wanted to roar.

He needed to take her, now. His cock was so hard it hurt. But carrying her out of here and through the compound to his room, both of them smelling like arousal, may not be the best idea.

The goddamn pantry didn’t have a door, or he’d lock them in…
wait
. “Come here, baby.” He helped her down. “Don’t move.”

“What are you do—” She peeked over her shoulder at the continued chatter from the main room.

“Secret passage.” Caine pulled one heavy, six-foot-tall wire shelving unit away from the wall and crouched down. He pressed along the baseboard until the wainscoting gave a barely audible pop, and then a door cracked open in the panels.

Alina’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god, how did you know that was there?”

“Those of us in the inner circle know.” He tugged her down. “Get in.”

“Okay.” She ducked into the four-foot-tall door.

He followed on her heels, leaning down to clear the door frame. Once inside, he could straighten to his full height. Turning, he slid the secret door back in place.

“Where does this lead to?” Her shirt covered her breasts again as she stood with arms crossed over them. The corridor was pitch black, but he could see her just fine.

He stepped close, crowding her against the smooth stone wall. “It has two branches. One leads outside to the training yard, and one leads to a utility area underneath the compound.”

“Oh.” Her hands slid up his chest. “That’s convenient.”

“Hell yes.” He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his hips, pressing her heat against him. She burned so hot, even through all their layers of clothes. He inched forward. She was pinned between the wall and his body, and nothing felt more perfect. “Now where was I?”

She pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it somewhere in the dark. Her bra was beautifully askew, creamy breasts still exposed. “You were…” She leaned in to lick the side of his neck. “Trying to find out if I gave you an invitation.”

“Baby, if your little break-in of my room, plus this right now, isn’t an invitation, I’m gonna walk out of here with the bluest balls I’ve ever had in my life.” Leveraging her against the wall, he caressed her delicate ribs, stopping just below her breast. “Is it? Tell me.”

She nipped his skin. Vixen. He growled a warning and flicked his thumb over her tight nipple. “Tell me.”

She gasped and rocked into him. “Yes.” Her voice was half whisper, half moan and so sexed-up that he lost all rational thought.

He took her mouth in a savage kiss as his inner demon roared. She clung to his neck and whimpered as he cupped and squeezed her breasts. So soft and firm. He withdrew his fingers, leaving only his thumbs to circle her nipples, which grew harder with each stroke.

She moaned and dropped her head back against the stone. “Caine. God, I need more.” The fragrance of her arousal pierced the air, driving him past every turn-on he’d ever had. He needed to sink his cock deep inside her, but first, he needed to taste her. Make her insane and pliant against his mouth.

He moved them from the wall to the cool stone floor before she could get another word out. She reached around to unhook her bra, then leveled him with wild, yearning eyes. “Take your shirt off.”

He yanked the cotton over his head and went for the waist band of her soft pants. He pulled them down, needing her naked and exposed for him. Her panties got bunched up with her pants and he tugged everything off in one movement.

Bare. Beautiful. Open. Her slickness and fragrance called to him. His cock throbbed, but he dipped his head, licking up one thigh and then the other. “Gods, you’re intoxicating.” His voice sounded rough and wild, even to him. He met her eyes as he put his mouth at the top of her mound. “So fucking beautiful.”

She had no fear, no look of hesitation, only desperate mewling cries as she thrust her hips toward him.

Fuck
. He licked her slow, wanting to savor every second, but she grabbed his hair. “Need…you,” she gasped.

Thrusting a finger inside her hot walls, he imagined how good she’d feel clenching around his cock. He teased her clit, flicking it gently with his tongue and then sucking it into his mouth. He added another finger.

“God, yes,” she moaned, and he glanced up to see her little fingers toying with one engorged nipple.

His vision wavered and a rumble started low in his chest. The sight of her touching herself was like a visual stroke to his cock and he couldn’t help thrusting, but met only the floor by her knees.

“Oh god, do that again,” she gasped. “I’m so close. Make that noise.”

He growled against her, louder this time, cupping her ass in his hands.

“Caine!” she screamed as her body detonated. Her legs fell open wide and she threw out a wild string of curse words, hips pushing against him as he licked and sucked until she was a quivering, angelic pile of satisfaction. “Oh my god.”

Her taste slid down his throat, igniting a new level of ravenous desire, and in seconds he had his jeans open. Heavy with need, his cock sprang free. He reached into his pocket for a condom, opening it and rolling it on faster than he ever had before. Without words, he picked up her pliant sated body and pinned her up against the wall again.

Her legs wound around his hips, pressing her wet center into him. She fisted her hands in his hair.

“I need to fuck you hard, baby.”

“I can take it hard. I want it.”

He lifted her up and away for a split second, aligning her over his cock. It took everything in him not to slam her down on him. She was little and so tight. As bad as he wanted her, his lust wouldn’t allow him to hurt her.

She sucked in a breath as he nudged the swollen head inside. Dropping her hand, she gripped him and moved his shaft back and forth, coating him before guiding him back to her core. “Just let me get used to you.”

He nodded and gritted his teeth, pushing in. Fuuuck. She felt like heaven. First the taste of her mouth and sweet clit, now the feel of her tight muscles gripping him, combined to make him lose his mind. She was so fucking perfect.

She exhaled sharply, panting.

“You okay?” His words were strained. He was in serious trouble if she wasn’t. He was so goddamn aroused, his cock would break in two if she didn’t want this. But he’d never force her.

“Yes. You’re so big.” Her eyes were closed, but a sexy smile tilted her lips up.

He pushed in another inch, watching her. Her breathy moans and little teeth coming out to bite her lip slowed his frenzy, gave him the strength to take more time. Seeing her enjoy his cock tunnel deeper inside her satisfied his inner demon. Slightly. He still ached to fill her completely. His balls were tight and his dick still pulsed.

“I feel you throbbing,” she murmured, her tone whispering against his soul in a sensual caress. “I like it.”

With a groan, he buried himself to the hilt. He couldn’t wait. She felt too good, overloading his senses with sugar and sex combined.

Her eyes flew open wide, and she purred, a tiny-kitten-like sound of approval. He’d never seen anything so beautiful as her right now, all sexy eyes and impaled on his cock, and then she whispered. “Make me come again.”

“Fuck, baby.” He growled, “Hang on.” The last of his desire to hold back, to make sure she was feeling good, melted away with her sultry words. Pressing her against the wall, his hands under her ass, he thrust hard. No more going slow, no more gentle caresses. He plunged deep, lost to the powerful mating urge brought on by the solstice. Or maybe he would’ve felt this way about her anyway. He wasn’t about to stop and question it. She was wrapped around his body, she wanted him—and she’d get him.

His hips slammed into hers, bumping her body into the wall, but her soft cries urged him on. Dimly, he registered that one of her hands left his neck to dip between their bodies, fingers spearing into a V at the base of his cock. Her naughty touch was incredible. Putting more of her flesh on his was exactly what he needed and his orgasm built at the base of his spine.

She slid her fingers away a fraction, touching her own body again and damn if that didn’t send him into an urgent new rhythm. She came hard around his cock, crying out. Her wet channel bathed him in a fresh wave, and her inner muscles squeezed, pushing him over the edge. He plunged in, hard and hot, as he came deep inside her.

No female had ever felt this good. He was still filling her with his seed when she bit his shoulder, and the pressure of her teeth made him want to yell with pride. She was marking him. As if their scent wouldn’t give it away, now everyone single person here would know. Fuck, he’d walk around shirtless until the mark faded, then get her to do it again.

His pace slowed, his body finally crested the wave. His heart pounded in his ears, the sound mixed with her ragged breath. “Fuck,” he muttered.

“Yeah. Fuck,” she whispered, grinning. “That was exactly what I needed.”

“Hell, woman.” He smacked her bottom. “You sound damn sexy whispering
fuck
. Sounds like another invitation.”

“Mmm, I don’t know if I can walk right now, let alone—”

“Shit, did I hurt you?”

“No! Not at all. It’s just, um, been a while.” She bit her lip. “And you’re huge.”

He grinned and flexed his cock, which was still inside her.

She nuzzled his chest, probably unaware of how that little action hooked deep into his heart. The affection of it was so different from their raw coupling. Sex was sex, something that could be slaked with a willing female. But tenderness and affection resonated with him on a deeper level. He’d had fun with women. Plenty of them. There wasn’t a Watcher alive who didn’t have a bevy of groupies in every bar. But unlike his comrades who happily obliged the panty-dropping gaggles and didn’t want to be tied down, Caine had always longed for a mate. Someone to fill the gaping void left by the loss of his family. Someone to bond with, raise children, grow old with.

Not that he’d ever shared that thought with anyone.

His eyes dropped to Alina’s tousled blond hair, her arms wrapped loosely around his waist, and an ember of tantalizing possibility bloomed in the depths of his heart.

“Can we stay here a while?” Alina mumbled into the warm muscle of Caine’s pec. He was hard and soft in all the right places, and here in the dark passageway, her world distilled down to only him.

No prophecy, no new powers, and no claim on her heart.

“Sure, Boots.”

She giggled at the silly nickname, which she really didn’t mind at all, and he slowly eased out of her body and set her down.

Gods, he was magnificent. More than a foot taller than she, his chest was a ripped expanse of muscle that she planned on thoroughly licking soon. Her eyes zeroed in on the vee of muscles at his lower abdomen and the trail of dark hair leading down. His cock was semi-hard and still looked impressive. “You never took your jeans off,” she murmured, hooking a finger through one belt loop.

“I had a greedy Solsti to take care of.” His dark eyes twinkled in amusement as he pulled up his jeans, tucked that perfect cock back in, and zipped up. He sat and patted his thick thighs. “Sit with me.”

“Mmm, your lap sounds perfect.” She lowered herself, still naked, so she sat sideways on his legs. She leaned against his chest and stretched her ankles out in front of her. “And I mean that in whatever way you choose to interpret it.”

He nipped her ear. “My imagination is already conjuring up fantasies from that little comment. Don’t think I’ll forget it.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “So, what’ve you been up to lately? Besides breaking in to my room and rolling around on my bed?”

She chuckled, then sighed. “So much has happened. You left and my sisters all came here.”

“Yeah, I heard that in the briefing. I met their mates.”

Her fingers traced lazy circles on his chest. There was so much to say but here in the dark, cradled on his lap, she felt insulated from it all. “Me too. I met everyone at once.”

“How’d it go?”

“Good, but intense. My sisters all seem cool. They seem so…” She paused, searching for the right words. “Strong and confident.”

“I bet you’ll get some Solsti-style practice time in with them. They’ve apparently been dying to find you ever since that dream-vision message you sent them.”

Dream vision
. Memories of the regression spell rushed back to her. “Yeah.” Her voice sounded hollow. “I really like them. I just got a little overwhelmed yesterday. It was like, boom, instant family.” She snapped her fingers in the air. “Then Raniero brought Sebastian in…it was good, just emotionally draining.”

“I can only imagine.” His deep voice rumbled at her ear, but it was mirthless and tinged with a longing that pinched her heart.

A fresh stab of regret sliced her. “Oh my god, I’m sorry. Here I am saying how overwhelmed I am to have a new big family …and you…don’t have yours. That was beyond bitchy.” She cupped his jaw. “I’m sorry.”

He turned his head to kiss her palm. “You don’t have to apologize. It was a long time ago. Your reaction is understandable, especially since you also found out you’re a Solsti. Shit. That’d make anyone’s head spin.”

“Yeah.” She traced circles on his shoulder. “About that. I found out more details.”

“You met with Whysper.”

“Oh my god!” Her eyes snapped to his. “Do you guys all talk about every single thing that goes on here?”

“No. Well, sometimes.” He chuckled and caught her fingers in his. “I don’t know what the spell revealed because that wasn’t part of my immediate briefing with Arawn. I know about the attack because we’re all informed whenever shit like that happens.”

“Oh. Sorry.” She rubbed her eyes. “I didn’t mean to over-react.”