Page 58 of When Storms Ruin

A hiss of pleasure escaped his lips as he pulled me closer, his hands on my hips, beneath my waist. I wanted to erase any distance between us, to feel him against my hips…my thighs…

“I want this.” My voice came out barely above a whisper as I dug my nails beneath the waistband of his pants. I pushed them down, using the friction of my legs to push them even further to pool around his ankles.

Nik let out a soft laugh. “I think about this every day. About you. How fuckinggorgeousyou look beneath me. How you sound when you say my name.”

One of his hands remained firmly behind my waist, pulling me against him, as the other traveled down over my pants and between my thighs.

A cry escaped me as he pressed against my core over my pants, the sensation so much but not nearly enough. He worked the spot between his two fingers and pressed harder, another cry escaping my lips as I pressed harder into him, chasing the sensation.

“You like that, firecracker?”

I bit my lip, my head thrown back against the mat, my auburn hair surrounding me, spilling outward in a halo.

“Yes,” I breathed.

His mouth found my throat again, kissing a trail over my collarbone, my bra, down my sternum, as he worked me with his fingers. This was pureecstasy. I ran my fingers throughhis mess of blond hair as he glanced up at me through his eyelashes, his mouth still on my skin.

The sight of him like that…

We both startled as the door to the training room burst open, Nik falling to the side of me to cover me from view. Isaac stormed in, not noticing he had interrupted something at first.

“I-” he stuttered, casting his gaze down to his feet, his jaw tight. “Sorry to interrupt. The two of you need to get dressed, now. Warrick and Puck have returned. There has been a sighting of Donika in Prins.”

Tyr was dragged into Isaac’s new office in chains. His cheeks were red, his eyes covered with a thick black piece of cloth. Nik and I had dressed as quickly as we could and joined the rest of the council, my hair mussed, and my face flushed. Tess shot me a glance, letting me know I wasn’t the only one who had been interrupted by this revelation.

“Exactlyhow much of the spell did you successfully transcribe for her?” Warrick asked, his voice hard.

He knelt before Tyr so that his face was level with his before ripping the cloth from his eyes. Tyr startled, flinching backwards as his vision adjusted to the room around him.

This office was much bigger than the last one Isaac had claimed in the other safe house, and it was lined with windows, the shades now drawn shut against the oncoming night.

A chill ran down my spine all the way to my toes.

Had Donika found us?

Isaac had said there had been a sighting of Donika in Prins, and to my knowledge sheneverleft The Stone Palace. Ever.

“Cousin, I am much better at playing the bad guy, if you would just—” Nik started, his arms crossed.

His words were cut short by the glare of pure loathing Warrick shot his direction. Things had been even more tense than usual between the two of them over the past few weeks.

“I didn’t… I didn’t get that far in the transcription. Not nearly far enough that she could wield an actualspellout of the damn thing!” Tyr’s voice shook with his words, his eyes darting back and forth.

He had been found innocent by the council, but Isaac had still thrown him into the prisons of the resistance the second Donika had been spotted far too close to where we had been hiding. Tyr wouldn’t admit it, but Isaac suspected he had given away our location.

“Then how do you explain the Noctani?” Warrick asked, gripping Tyr by the back of the neck hard enough to make him gasp.

“I don’t know!” Tyr spit out, struggling to get away, his hands still bound. “I swear to you! I never even knew the location of the new safe house—Icouldn’thave given away your position. I only transcribedsomeof the siphoning spell, not enough for her to have created those monsters. I swear it!”

“Do you believe him?” Warrick asked as he turned towards Isaac, his grip still tight on the back of Tyr’s neck.

A muscle ticked in Nik’s jaw as he met my eyes. I could tell he wanted to be the one interrogating Tyr, and if that were the case, we would be having a very different ‘discussion.’

“I’m not sure what to believe anymore,” Isaac replied, running a hand down his face.

He appeared tired, as if he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since that day I lost control of my own storm. Liss had been taking care of him, but the lines of exhaustion were clear on his face.

“Most of what Donika did with her Noctani was done after Tyr escaped Akra. I don’t believe he had anything to do with it, for what it’s worth,” Zion said from the far corner of the office, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were narrowed on Tyr and Warrick in the center of the room.

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