Wicked Waves: Solsti Prophecy #2 (10 page)

She wrapped her arms around her waist and swallowed hard. Kai fought the urge to walk over and pull her into his embrace, her words from the other night echoing in his head.
This was a mistake
.

He raked a hand through his grimy hair. “Listen, the guys and I will talk about it tomorrow. We’ll come up with a plan. The important thing is that you’re safe.”

She nodded and looked at the couch.

Damn, he couldn’t stand her looking so small and uncomfortable. He needed distance between them. “You should get cleaned up. You smell like a swamp,” he said.

That snapped her out of it. She scowled at him and turned to leave the room, pausing long enough to say, “You can use the shower in the hall bathroom. It’s stocked with towels and stuff. And help yourself to any food you can find.”
 
With that, she stalked down the hall to her room.

Kai didn’t want to take a shower until she was done with hers, and he didn’t want to sit on any of her furniture until he had changed clothes. He roamed idly through the living room and kitchen, his brain and body now calm enough to reflect on the evening’s events.

His mind had turned black with fury when he saw Brooke clutched by those scaly Neshi arms.
Too close
. If anything had happened to her, he may as well have taken his own life. For the gods’ sakes, she was a Solsti and the Lash demons were sworn to protect her.

Miranda’s arrival had been a surprise, though he knew she was in Chicago. Kai had been too high on adrenaline to fully process the oddity of seeing the woman he wanted to bed standing next to the woman he had bedded regularly. Miranda was a trusted ally, a friend who would always have his back. And he’d seen her often enough on hers.

Kai never sought her out, but their paths crossed occasionally over the decades. She and Kai shared an aversion to commitment as well as boundless enthusiasm for casual sex. They had a perfect “friends-with-benefits” relationship. That’s how Kai knew she wasn’t his mate.

He paced Brooke’s bright yellow living room, pausing at one of the many bookcases. They overflowed with novels and biographies, a well-worn paperback of Ray Bradbury’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes” ready to slide off its shelf and hit the floor. Another shelf held a dozen framed photos. Most of them were of Brooke, Nicole, and a third brunette. He recognized her as Gin, from the many family pictures Nicole had shown him.

There was a photo of an older couple, likely the sisters’ adoptive parents. And the smallest frame held an image of a blond female toddler, smiling as she sat outside on a blanket. He didn’t know if it was a baby picture of Nicole, or if it could be the youngest sister. He’d heard about Alina, who died at a young age of a birth defect.

And there lay the mystery of the fourth Solsti.
Four females linked by blood
. The three sisters didn’t have any family left, yet Rilan told them that all four Solsti existed.

Kai shook his head and walked to the window, noting it was the one he had climbed through a few nights ago. He inhaled, finding only a trace of his scent on the frame. His heightened senses detected Brooke, Nicole, and Gunnar, but no one else had been in the condo for a while.
No other males
.

He heard the shower turn off and tried not to think of Brooke’s wet, naked body. Sensations from last night rushed back to him, firing his blood. Her full breasts had overflowed his hands, and he ached to bury his face in the deep valley between them. He wanted to taste every inch of her creamy skin. But he couldn’t pull himself away from her lush lips. She kissed him like she couldn’t get enough, and gripped his shoulders like she would die if his mouth left hers.

Pushing the heated thoughts from his mind, he gritted his teeth and stalked to the kitchen for a drink. He found glasses in a cabinet and filled one at the spout on the stainless steel fridge. He drained it just in time to hear her bare feet pad across the floor, and turned to see her lean against the half-wall separating the kitchen from the living room.

Her damp, wavy hair cascaded past her shoulders. She wore a clingy black tank top and loose pajama pants in a goofy pattern of pink and black plaid with dogs mixed in. Dragging his eyes from her curves, he noticed her toenails were painted purple.

“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. S
exy 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.