Defying the North Wind Read online

  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.

  <<<<>>>>

  Coming Soon

  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:

  AnnaHackettBooks.com/newsletter

  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.

  Excerpt from Claiming the East Wind

  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.

  As the warm, humid breeze ruffled her hair and made her skirt ripple, she stiffened her spine. She wasn’t going to stand here and let the WindKeeper intimidate her.

  She took a step forward. “You can come out now.”

  There was a brush of someone passing through the foliage. Then a man stepped out.

  Skye’s breath caught in her throat. He was ridiculously good-looking. Tall, lean, muscled. Dark hair curled around a face that was razor sharp—firm jaw, knife-edged cheekbones and hawkish nose. She felt a lick of appreciation inside that shocked her.

  “They sent a coniglio this time.”

  He had a deep, melodious voice to go with the looks. And she knew enough Italian that his words stung. “I’m not a rabbit.”

  “Little rabbits like to run.”

  Her lips firmed. “I haven’t run.”

  He tilted his head. “Not yet.”

  She swallowed and looked past the handsomeness. Power radiated off him. A ragged blast that surrounded him like a black aura. Lines cut into his cheeks and his eyes were a turbulent gray that made her think of storm clouds.

  He was a man who’d slipped over the edge and was barely clinging to the cliff. He was out of control, his power threatening to consume him—and if he joined his Tempest Wind, they would be capable of wreaking destruction on the entire planet.

  To distract herself, she looked away and spied a brilliant red flower. She fingered the edge of it. It was beautiful, exotic. Like the man. “You don’t scare me.” She wouldn’t let him.

  Suddenly he was in front of her. His gaze burning into her.

  She fought not to take a backward step.

  “You’re a liar, little rabbit.”

  ***

  He stared at the woman.

  The small crowd gathered outside had been sending in tall, toned women. They’d come promising to help him, help him remember. They’d wanted to save the world. And they’d watched him with wariness, like he was a weapon about to go off.

  This little wisp of a thing stared up at him with big, sad blue eyes, her pulse fluttering in her throat.

  She was…different.

  Whispers poured through his mind, tearing into him, as they had for weeks. Take. Take everything you want. Take it all.

  His fingers flexed. He wanted to be back in his office, on his computer, trading stocks, checking his bank balance. He needed the addictive thrill of making money, collecting wealth and riches, every minute of every day.

  “Are you here to save the world like the others?” he asked. “To do your duty?”

  The woman chewed on her lip. “No.”

  That single word made him pause. “No?”

  She shrugged. “I’m not here for the world or for you. I’m here for me.”

  He liked her crisp, British accent. She didn’t smell of greed but here she was telling him she was acting on selfishness. It intrigued him. He let his gaze slide over her slim build. She had the most delicate wrists he’d ever seen. Her long hair was the pale gold of fine champagne and her clothes were shapeless and simple.

  “What’s your name?” For some reason, he needed to know.

  “Skye.”

  It suited her.

  “And yours is Soren,” she added. She watched him carefully. “Soren Vulturnus Venti.”

  He frowned. Soren. It sounded right. But he didn’t want to know any more. All he wanted was to focus on what he desired and collecting everything he could. “And who are you, Skye?”

  She shrugged. “I’m no one special. Just a woman. Timid, shy.” Her big eyes flashed. “I’m broken and I’m tired of it.”

  Her words were quiet but they speared in under his skin. Her honesty was refreshing. He blinked, unable to take his gaze off this intriguing woman. He circled her, pulling in the scent of her. She smelled like the promise of a spring storm. “Why are you here, little rabbit?”

  “I want to be strong. I want to do something that matters.”

  “Helping me matters?”

  She nodded.

  He leaned in, his lips brushing the delicate shell of her ear. “Greed beats deep in my veins. I take everything I want.”

  She shivered but she didn’t back away. “Are you going to toss me out like the others?”

  For a reason he didn’t understand, he wanted this woman close by. She didn’t back down and she didn’t push against him like the others who’d blazed in here ready to do battle. She fascinated him. And right now, any distraction was welcome.

  “You stay.”

  Also by Anna Hackett

  The Anomaly Trilogy

  Time Thief

  Mind Raider

  Soul Stealer

  Salvation

  Anomaly Trilogy Boxed Set

  The Phoenix Adventures

  At Star’s End

  Perma Series

  Winter Fusion

  The WindKeepers Series

  Wind Kissed, Fire Bound

  Taken by the South Wind

  Tempting the West Wind

  Defying the North Wind

  Claiming the East Wind

  Standalone Titles

  Savage Dragon

  Hunter’s Surrender

  One Night with the Wolf

  Anthologies

  A Galactic Holiday

  Moonlight (UK Only)

  Vampire Hunter (UK Only)

  For more information visit annahackettbooks.com

  About Anna

  I’m Anna Hackett and I write action romance stories to thrill you, excite you and leave you inspired. I write about people overcoming unbeatable odds and achieving seemingly impossible goals to inspire you with the truth that the possibility exists for all of us to do the same.

  I blame my parents for my insatiable need to mix action and romance. When I was young, I raided my mother’s romances and as soon as I could reach the shelf, my father’s action adventure thrillers. I love being exhilarated and left just a little breathless. I love car chases, explosions and spaceships…and of course when the boy wins the girl. Oh, and I’m a sucker fo
r that moment when the team is walking in slow motion, shoulder-to-shoulder heading off into battle. After reading, watching or writing an awesome action romance story, I’m left energized and feeling like anything is possible. I aim to give the same to my readers.

  Website and blog – www.annahackettbooks.com

  Twitter – @AnnaHackett

  Facebook – Facebook.com/AnnaHackettAuthor

  Goodreads – Goodreads.com/Anna_Hackett

  New Release Newsletter – annahackettbooks.com/newsletter/

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