Defying the North Wind (7 page)

“Luca—”

“Let me finish. You aren’t.”

His words in the bell tower echoed so loudly in her head it was like he was here beside her. She turned and looked out toward San Giorgio Maggiore Island. Instantly she spied the bell tower rising high above the other buildings.

He’d pushed her away. To protect her. “You idiot, Venti!”

A couple standing nearby eyed Rayne like she was crazy. Ignoring them, she broke into a run and headed for the nearest ferry to San Giorgio Maggiore.

The trip took her far longer than she wanted. After a boat trip spent wrestling her nervous energy and a sprint across the island, she finally took the steps of the tower two at a time. As her lungs started to burn, she cursed that the elevator was closed during the renovations.

She reached the top.

And saw her WindKeeper with one shoulder pressed to a pillar, staring out across the City of Bridges. So strong yet so alone.

She started toward him. He sensed her and spun around, his blue eyes just a little frosty. Oh, she’d have them back to their brilliant cobalt before long.

“You shouldn’t be here.” His tone was dark.

She shrugged a shoulder. “You know I like to defy you every now and then. Far too many people give into your demands.”

He pressed a hand to the pillar, his fingers digging deep into the stone. “The anger’s still inside me, Rayne. It’s quiet right now, but I hear it. Like a damned distant beat I’ll always hear.”

“I know that.” She took a step closer, desperate to touch him. “And I know you’ll fight it. You’re nothing like the monster I grew up with.”

“Rayne—” Her name was a tortured sound.

“Let me help you. Fight for us.” She held out a hand. “Fight and give us a chance.”

With a groan, he reached for her. “Damn, you’re stubborn.”

When he swept her up into his arms, she gave a startled laugh and slid an arm across his shoulders.

He let out a shuddering breath. “I should be stronger. I should let you go.”

“Stop fighting what’s between us.” She rubbed a finger over his lips, saw the flare in his eyes. A feeling of calm settled inside her. “I could get used to you carrying me around.”

“You’d better.” He strode to the edge of the platform and set her down on the ledge. “Because now I’ve got you, I’m not letting go.”
      

“We can go to the safe house—”

He shook his head. “No, this time there’ll be no
Venti Tempesta
, no winds, just us.” His hands slid into her hair. “And I need you far too much to wait until we go somewhere else.”

He stepped back and slipped out of his shirt. He unbuckled his trousers. Rayne leaned back, her pulse thumping a crazy rhythm. Behind her, the lights of Venice were like a sprinkle of diamonds in the night. Below, she had a dizzying view to the ground and in front of her was a perfect specimen of man who sent desire storming through her belly.

He watched her through hooded eyes and she loved the blatant way he studied her.

As he shucked off the last of his clothes, Rayne gripped the edge of her top and ripped it over her head before shimmying out of her trousers with a teasing slide designed to torment him. She dragged a hand down her naked torso, over her breasts and down her flat belly.

His gaze followed her moves like a starving man eyeing a feast. He strode to her and she slid to her knees, heedless of the hard cement. When she cupped his hard cock, he froze, a low groan torn from his throat.

She slid her hands up, down. Suddenly he gripped her wrist and crouched down. She moved to complain but realized he was tucking his discarded shirt under her knees.

Her heart melted a little more. She tugged free of his grasp and started a tortuous slide that made him groan again.
Up, down. Up, down.

One of his hands slid into her hair. “This was supposed to be about you, to be for your pleasure.”

She leaned forward, knowing he’d feel her warm breath on his thighs. “Oh, this is my pleasure, Luca.” She sucked his cock into her mouth.

He jerked, his hands curling, but he didn’t tug her hair, or get rough. She lavished attention on him, feeling him get harder and harder.

“Enough,
cara
.” He gripped her shoulders and pushed her back. Then he hooked his hands under her arms and lifted her onto the ledge. He stepped between her legs, pushing up against her. Naked skin against naked skin. “I love how the moonlight finds the fire in your hair and turns your skin to marble.”

Her heart tripped and tumbled. She’d never, ever have guessed Luca would say anything like this.

He lined up his cock with her center and slid into her, causing her eyelids to flutter. He thrust steadily, his gaze glued to her face. She knew he was watching every naked emotion flit across her features.

They moved together, in an intoxicating, slow and steady tempo. Soon the passion built so high neither could hold back any longer. They came together, cresting a wave of pleasure neither of them could stop.

Luca held onto her as he spilled inside her. “You’re mine now.”

In the aftermath of their loving, Rayne sat nestled in Luca’s lap, perspiration drying on her skin. Luca was a big, strong presence holding her secure with one arm wrapped around her waist. The cool evening breeze curled around them

She’d had a pretty crazy week, but right now, everything was perfect.

“Stay with me.”

Luca’s whisper made her heart stop then start a rapid tempo. She turned her head to face him, their noses touching. He had the “serious Luca” look she’d seen him wear in the office before an important negotiation or takeover.

“Let me love you, Rayne. Let me take that chance?”

A small smile quirked her lips. “I’d like that.”

She felt his body relax. “I don’t think you’ll ever follow my orders.”

“Nope. Whenever you get high and mighty, or lose your temper, I’ll defy you.” She rubbed a thumb over his lips.

He rolled her onto her back on the nest of their discarded clothes and rose up above her. She felt his erection hot and hard against her thigh.

“I want you again. I think I’ll always want you.”

Oh, she hoped so
. “I want you too. All of you. The good, the bad, the calm, the anger.” She wrapped her arms and legs around him, her WindKeeper. “And whatever happens, I’ll be there when you need me.” Always.

<<<<>>>>

I hope you enjoyed reading
Defying the North Wind.

Don’t miss out!
To ensure you don’t miss the release of the next (and final) book in the WindKeepers series,
Claiming the East Wind
sign up for my new release email at:

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Check out the rest of the WindKeepers series:

Book 1: Wind Kissed, Fire Bound

Book 2: Taken by the South Wind

Book 3: Tempting the West Wind

Book 4: Defying the North Wind

Book 5: Claiming the East Wind (out May 2014)

Exclusive excerpt:
Turn the page for an excerpt from
Claiming the East Wind
–
Soren’s story.

The WindKeepers: Book Five ~ by Anna Hackett

She was the virgin sacrifice for a greedy wind god.

Skye Santini clasped her hands together and tried to wrestle her nerves into some sort of submission.

She was failing. Big time.

Swallowing hard, she stared up at the beautiful villa. A cool, brisk wind blew in from Lake Como and tossed her hair around her face. She scraped it back. She could do this. She
wanted
to do this. Besides, she wasn’t exactly a virgin and the male locked inside wasn’t exactly a god. He was a man. A man who usually ran the finances for the successful company he and his brothers had built, Venti Enterprises.

Oh, and he was a WindKeeper on the verge destroying the entire world.

“This is insane. Skye, you can’t do this!”

Skye turned and watched her sister storm up to her. Rayne never held back from saying what was on her mind. She was also a trained Aurae warrior and the best big sister in the world.

“Rayne, I’ll be fine—”

“Fine?” Rayne gestured wildly. “The man has succumbed to his vice. He has no memory of who he is, no idea of his power, and no clue about the danger lurking close by.”

Skye looked again at the building. Vines climbed up the side of the cream-colored villa. Windows overlooked the manicured gardens that reached down to the lake. It was beautiful and she imagined, on most days, peaceful.

Today it was nothing of the sort.

The water of the lake churned, whipped into a frenzy by the wind. Storm clouds cluttered the sky. And she felt a darker force looming nearby, watching her, watching the house, like a large, crouching beast.

Yes, Apeliotus, the last remaining
Venti Tempesta
, was close. Desperate not to lose his freedom.

That made it even more important that Skye do this. “Rayne, he won’t let his brothers in and we’ve sent in other Aurae warriors. He booted every single one of them out. It’s time to try something different.”

And Skye was as different as possible. She was no warrior. She was nothing, just a woman who’d hidden away from the world for far too long. Who’d let her stronger, loving sister protect her.

Now Skye needed to do something worthy. It was time to stop letting her past keep her from having a future.

“No.” Rayne lifted a stubborn chin.

“Rayne.” A deep male voice.

A handsome, imposing man climbed the last few steps and stood beside Rayne. It still amazed Skye that her sister had linked herself to this…angry man.

Luca Venti. Keeper of the North Wind. And it’s vice of anger.

Oh, he kept it leashed. Skye could see that. But still…she wrung her hands. She was good at assessing a man’s capacity for rage.

“Remember,” he said, “you once told me we have to trust them to stand on their own?”

Rayne’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t mean for my baby sister to be some sexual sacrifice to your brother!”

Luca touched the nape of her neck and Skye saw a flash of emotion in his face. The way he looked at Rayne, and the way her sister softened for him, it made Skye a little envious.

“I know. I didn’t want this either. But we have to do everything we can to save Soren before Apeliotus gets to him.”

Right, which meant Skye, who had very limited experience with men, had to entice the WindKeeper. Her stomach roiled. Legend said that the female keepers of the seasonal breezes, the Aurae, could soothe the vices of the WindKeepers. Aurae blood ran in her veins.

Her gaze cut back to Rayne and Luca. The man certainly seemed calmer whenever he was around her sister. Skye stared at the windows of the villa, her thoughts turning to the WindKeeper who’d locked himself inside. He had no memory, and was dangerously close to losing himself forever to the vice of greed. She wondered if he was looking down on the people trying so desperately to save him.

A long time ago, she’d prayed for someone to save her. She hadn’t needed a crowd. Just one person able to see past her silent suffering to a girl too afraid to talk. Just one person willing to reach out.

In the end, it had been Rayne who’d saved her, who’d forced their mother to see the monster she’d invited to live in their house.

Skye pulled in a long breath.

Butterflies winged through her belly but she forced one foot in front of the other. She was tired of always being afraid. She wasn’t a traumatized young girl anymore.

“I’m going in.”

Rayne’s hands clenched. “Why?”

Skye faced her sister. The one person she’d always counted on to look out for her. Neither of them had ever strayed from the roles. Rayne continued to protect her from the world, and Skye kept letting her. “I have to do this. It’s time I do more than hide and cower.”

“You don’t cower—”

“Rayne.” Skye grabbed her sister’s hand. Love was a fierce tangle in her throat. “You can’t protect me forever. I need to take some risks, live, do something for myself. It was never your fault. You have nothing to make up for.”

Her strong sister’s lips trembled but she firmed them quickly. “I love you.”

“I know.” Skye reached up for a hug and was yanked into a fierce embrace. “Now, I’m going in.”

Rayne stepped back, her reluctance obvious in the way she dragged her feet. But she stayed quiet as Skye turned to the building.

“Good luck,” Luca said. “And
grazie
, for trying to help my brother.”

He thought she was going to fail. Skye saw it written in his eyes. But even though it was buried deep, she also saw hope.

She walked up the steps and pulled the door open. She stepped inside.

The door slammed shut behind her.

Her heart hammering in her ears, she forced herself to move. Her footsteps echoed down the long hall.

The inside of the villa was as beautiful as the outside. The rich wooden floor was polished to a high sheen and antiques graced the shelves and walls. She stared into an ornate mirror, catching a glimpse of her pale hair and paler face.

There was no sound. No tick of a clock, no humming appliances, just eerie silence. And despite the fact it was early afternoon, the gathering clouds outside made it dark inside. She swallowed. She hated the dark. Bad things lurked in shadows.

Skye continued walking. She wandered through the massive house until she stepped inside a conservatory. The glass walls and roof were fogged by the humid air rising off the heated swimming pool. Greenery was everywhere. Plants hung from the roof and others rose up from pots on the floor. An indoor jungle. It was gorgeous.

She reached out to touch the bright green leaf of some tropical plant. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of movement.

Her heart leaped into her throat and she spun. A wind rippled through the plants and twirled around her. She stayed still, but the fingers of one hand curled into her palm. The urge to use her own power rippled through her. But she knew it was useless. She hadn’t been able to use her breeze since…well, since she was young.

Another flash of movement. She spun again. Her pulse hammered through her veins.