Wicked Wind (Solsti Prophecy #1) (3 page)

Two women interceded in a fight between a beefy man and a diminutive young woman. It didn’t appear that they stumbled upon the scene unprepared; rather, it seemed that they were looking for it. Their speed and efficient grace were a marvel to watch; their martial skills unquestionable. But the jolt of power from the blond woman floored him. The lingering trace of it piqued his curiosity because he didn’t recognize it. She wasn’t a demon, vampire, or shifter.

But hell, she was drop-dead gorgeous. Tall for a woman, all lean curves and willowy limbs. He gazed in appreciation as she moved, dark jeans hugging her hips like a second skin, T-shirt clinging to her high, rounded breasts. She and her companion worked with confidence and accuracy. He could tell her senses detected him as he watched her dispatch the junkies that stumbled into their path a few minutes later. He’d allowed her to register his presence, even as he remained mostly hidden.

He tracked the women, too curious to let them disappear into the night. He travelled along the rooftops, a silent stealthy shadow. His suspicion that they actively sought out trouble had been confirmed by their second encounter with street scum. They’d efficiently nullified the drug dealer even as he felt another burst of power from the blonde. Their practiced ease told him they’d done this before, and not just the fighting. This wasn’t the first time the blonde had used her energy to get what she wanted.

He followed them to their next stop, a four-story Lincoln Park condo building.
Her home?
He now stood in the shadows across the street, watching the front entrance, completely intrigued. Unfortunately, staking out a leggy blonde who may or may not be a supernatural creature was not on his agenda. She obviously wasn’t a Skell demon.

And he hadn’t caught any. Kai, his brother-in-arms, would give him hell for that, and for chasing a woman around. They had serious work to do, like keeping tabs on control-hungry demons and taking them down when necessary. Many creatures from their realm craved ruthless, dominating power. Some would kill for it.

For the last several months, Gunnar, Kai, and a few others had been staying at the group’s headquarters north of the city. The demons were able to move to different cities if they wanted, but Gunnar liked the fluid energy of Chicago’s neighborhoods. He glanced down to check the time on his phone and realized he had spent a half-hour lost in his thoughts in the nice, leafy north-side neighborhood. He was about to leave and head to the tough, west-side Austin area when the door across the street opened.

Good Gods.

Gunnar felt his jaw slacken at the sight that emerged from the condo building. Blond hair loose around her face and shoulders, the female was no longer dressed for kicking drug dealers’ asses, but for a night out on the town. Her perky backside and mile-long legs were poured into a pair of jeans even tighter than the previous ones. She wore knee-high black heeled boots and a clingy red top with a low V neck. She talked on her phone as she got into a waiting cab, pausing to give an address to the driver. An address Gunnar had no trouble overhearing, due to his heightened demon senses.

There was no way he was letting her out of his sight until he did a little more investigating into her identity. Was she going to meet up with friends, or a man? He had the sudden, irrational thought that he would rather see her meet friends. A woman as hot as she was wouldn’t lack for male attention, though. Gunnar wondered why he even cared. Spending time with females, supernatural or human, wasn’t a problem, and he’d never pursued a serious relationship. He couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of anything long-term, not when his daily activities took him from one kind of danger right into another.

He followed her cab to a night club. Muffled music behind an unmarked gray metal door exploded into pounding sound as the entrance burst open to admit several chattering young women. The blond female was still on her phone as she exited the cab and walked inside, all sweet curves in those snug jeans.

From his position near the door, a muscular bouncer folded his arms across his chest. Gunnar approached with a fifty folded between two fingers, meeting the man’s wary stare. The bouncer took it, his face breaking into a brief smile, and nodded at the door.

Inside, a deafening beat poured from huge speakers set up around a packed dance floor. Smoke hung in the air, illuminated by brightly colored flashing lights. Crowds surrounded the massive bar, and tables were scattered around the perimeter of the room. Gunnar scanned these first, noting a few supernatural creatures present but none that normally caused trouble. Two female fairies kissed each other, holding their human male companions enthralled. And one male Trant demon held court with a bevy of females in a corner. Since the Trant’s purpose in life was seducing others, Gunnar dismissed him. Unless he tried to seduce the blond woman, Gunnar couldn’t care less how many women went home with the Trant.

Looking across the crowd, he spotted her heading toward a table along the far wall. She greeted two brunette women and a man who had an arm wrapped around one of the women. Her friends had an amber-colored drink waiting for her, which she tossed back and grinned. Gods, she had a mega-watt smile. The unattached brunette took her hand and tugged her toward the dance floor. They wound their way into the sea of writhing bodies, stopping near the center to dance together.

Gunnar couldn’t take his eyes off her, and neither could several human men. And no wonder. With her arms raised languidly above her head, her hips swaying to the pulsing beat, she was mesmerizing. She and her friend grinned at each other, letting their arms slide and tangle together as they moved. In just a few short minutes they were joined by two males in black leather pants and black T-shirts. They partnered off, and the man she was dancing with moved nearer to her. Gunnar narrowed his eyes as he watched them get as close as two people could get without touching, and when the man placed his hand on the small of her back to tug her against him, Gunnar’s patience snapped.

Nicole’s body hummed with energy. Fluid and free, her second wind coursed along her skin. She grinned to herself at the joke that only her sisters would get. She felt good about her accomplishments today, and being out with Julie, Bryce, and their other friend Alicia was a perfect way to top things off. The two guys dancing with her and Alicia were cute, although not tall enough for her taste, but it was only a dance. It wasn’t as if she was looking for Mr. Right. She’d been in lots of short relationships, but nothing serious. It was kind of hard to explain her ability. “Oh by the way, I can manipulate air currents and temperature, but otherwise I’m just the girl next door” didn’t tend to go over well. Not that she ever tried. She hadn’t found a reason to.

She let her head tilt slightly to one side as she danced, just as her partner put his arm around her waist to pull her right up against him. Nicole took it in stride. This was a hot, just-opened club, advertised by word of mouth only. The wild energy in the room stoked the patrons to a kinetic level. All forms of dress paraded here tonight, including downright skimpy and dominatrix wanna-be. She wasn’t about to sweat it if her cute-but-bland dance partner put his hand on her waist. And if he did try anything she didn’t like, she could knock him on his ass in two seconds. She smiled at him as they moved to the pounding music.

Glancing to the side, her body ground to a screeching halt. Words fled her mind as her eyes locked onto a mountain of a man.

Dark strength radiated from his frame. He was tall, so tall that even in her boots she knew she’d have to look up at him. Built like the biggest linebacker in any football league, he parted the crowd as he stalked toward her. His eyes only left hers when he got up close, in order to glare at the man she’d been dancing with. He jerked his head to the side. Her partner gave her one last glance before melting away into the crowd. She raised an eyebrow at his boldness, but when he turned to her with a playful grin, any shred of resistance slipped away.

Nicole gazed up into hypnotic eyes that radiated Caribbean blue. She blinked. It might have been the funky lighting in the club, but she could have sworn his eyes actually glowed. His black hair hung sexy and disheveled—in a good way, with the longest layers just touching the neckline of his shirt. Her eyes drifted down to his sensual mouth and square jaw, then lower to the rippling muscles clearly visible beneath his black T-shirt. Mercy, he was fine. Mouth-watering. She swallowed, aware that she was staring. She started swaying to the music slowly, her eyes back on his. Her lips tugged into a small smile.

He smiled again, and—oh my god—he had
dimples
, on top of all his gorgeousness. He moved with her, boldly placing his big hands on her hips. Her lids grew heavy, wanting to slide shut so she could luxuriate in the sudden warmth flowing from those hands into her body. But she couldn’t look away from those eyes. She smiled again, allowing his touch. Tracing her fingers lightly along his shoulders, she wound her arms around his neck. She couldn’t remember the last time she flirted like this.

A tiny voice in the back of her mind needled her.
You don’t know anything about him
. Maybe she should think twice about being so forward. But she never doubted her strength. Tonight, daring and power were her wingmen.

The tempo of the music picked up and she turned away from him, only to raise one arm up and back to wrap around his neck. She leaned back into him, until she felt their bodies press together, her back to his chest. For an instant, she thought she heard him groan. His hands found her hips again and locked her against his pelvis as they began a slow, dirty grind. One of his hands left her hip to travel up to her waist, then farther up to caress her ribs, stopping maddening short of her breast before moving all the way down her thigh and finally back to her hip. He did it again on her other side, turning her entire body into a live wire.

Then a tiny spark of reason emerged in her lust-fogged brain. She paused. God, she was so into him, she almost forgot they were in public. In a packed night club, in front of her friends. Nicole turned around to face him, touched his arm, and nodded toward the front door. He kept one hand at the small of her back as they made their way through the gyrating crowd.

He took her hand in his as they stepped through the entrance and out onto the sidewalk. They walked several feet away from the front door before Nicole stopped to lean against the brick wall of the building. The cool night air felt good against her skin as she looked up at him. “I’m Nicole.”

“Gunnar,” he murmured, his hand brushing a few stray strands of hair from her face. “I like dancing with you, Nicole.”

She loved the way her name sounded on his lips. “Me, too. I just needed some fresh air.”

“I’m glad you decided to take me along,”

“Of course. Maybe I’m not done dancing with you.” She wasn’t usually this bold.
Where had that come from
?

“Is that so?” He placed his hands against the wall on either side of her head. His body blocked everything else on the street as he slowly lowered his head toward hers. She knew he was giving her the chance to back out, but every nerve ending in her body screamed for his kiss. He smelled like leather and smoke and woods on a rainy night. She inhaled his scent, her body responding to the heat rolling off of his, the intensity making her feel like they were right back on the dance floor.

“Yes,” was all she could manage to whisper before his mouth closed over hers.

Her lips were soft, sweet, and giving under his demands. Right now Gunnar didn’t feel any need for teasing, gentle kisses. Oh, they had their time and place, but not following the round of hot dirty dancing that had just gone down inside. Her lips parted further, welcoming him as his tongue swept inside her mouth. She tasted delicious, a sweet mix of mint and Jack Daniels. Chest to chest, he felt her heart speed up, and damn, but he couldn’t resist touching her. He took one hand off the brick wall behind her and slid his fingers into her soft blond hair. Her arms wrapped around his neck once more, keeping him close as she sighed into him. Every inch of her skin that he had touched was silky smooth, belying the strength of the sinewy muscles beneath.

He stifled a groan as she moved one hand down to his waistband, teased her fingers along the edge, and then found one front belt loop. She hooked a finger into it and tugged hard, pulling him flush against her lean curves. He couldn’t resist pressing against her just a little more, making sure she felt the evidence of his arousal. He’d been hard for her ever since she first touched him on the dance floor, and when she rocked her perfect ass up against him, he nearly lost it. He broke away from her lush mouth to trail a line of kisses along her jaw and down her throat, reveling in the way she sighed his name.

He lifted his head to study her face. The bright emerald of her eyes darkened with desire as they flicked down to his mouth and back up. Her lips were slightly parted and swollen from his kiss. Still keeping one hand in her hair, he moved his other down her back to settle at her waist. His body roared for another taste of her. He bent to kiss her mouth again, then froze.

Nicole stiffened, too. They both looked toward the street corner, where a man was trying to snatch a woman’s purse. Unfortunately, she tried to fight him off.

“You are
not
taking my Hermes, you freak!” she shrieked. He cuffed her head and she started to fall, but because she was wearing the purse across her body, he lost his balance as well.

Gunnar advanced on the pair as a zing of energy surged around his body. A sudden forceful gust of wind shot past him, lifting the hair at the back of his neck. The man lost his grip on the purse strap and crashed to the ground. Gunnar planted his knee in the man’s back and looked for the woman, who was already being helped by Nicole.

“Are you okay? Do have someone you want to call?” Nicole asked her.

“I’m fine. I just live a block away, right over there.” The woman clutched her over-priced purse with a white-knuckled grip. “Thanks for helping me.”