Grady's Awakening

Prologue

Gina took the bar of soap from the tiled dispenser and worked up a lather while steam wafted around her shoulders. A moment later, the soap was taken from her hands as the steam thickened and a hard, male body filled the space next to her in the decadently large shower enclosure.

One of his hands roamed down her shoulder, onto her back, massaging, caressing. The other cupped her sensitive breasts, tweaking the nipples with slippery, soapy fingers as her breath caught.

A second presence loomed out of the steam. Another man, larger than the first, stood on her other side. He grasped her hips, massaging downward with enticing thoroughness. The fingers of one hand roamed forward as his other hand moved aft, meeting in the juncture between her thighs with explosive results.

Gina gasped as the first man turned her head, sealing his lips to hers, his tongue sweeping inside her mouth, while the other man thrust one long finger into her core. The kiss drugged her even as the other’s touch electrified her increasingly desperate body. The rush of sensations curled her toes.

This was the most delicious dream she’d ever had.

Yet…something told her this was more than a dream. She’d had prophetic dreams before. Not often and never quite so erotic, but she knew the flavor of such portents. These men—shockingly, two of them—would be in her life soon.

She’d never been good at guiding her dreams. She wanted more than anything to see their faces. She wanted to be able to recognize them when she saw them, but the steam was thick and the things they were doing sidetracked her.

The second man’s fingers brought her to the precipice as the first man’s kiss and enticing caresses took her over the top. She came with a gasping cry even as she jolted to full wakefulness. Only a few final impressions were left in her hazy mind.

The first man had had dark hair and the hands of a warrior. His muscles had been sleek, like a panther coiled to strike. He had felt deadly and dangerously attractive.

The second man had been more of a puzzle. Pale hair had gleamed in the uncertain light and she had the impression of flashing blue eyes that crinkled at the corners when he smiled. She’d felt deep and true emotion from him, a shuddering need that made his calloused hands shake.

“Did you have the dream again, Gina?” a soft voice asked from the darkness of the dormitory-style room she shared with a roommate.

Gina sighed heavily. “It was…more…this time. I saw them more clearly.”

Her roommate had a much stronger gift of foresight, and they had discussed Gina’s dreams before. A variation on the shower dream had been plaguing her the last several nights, but tonight’s dream had been the most vivid by far.

“So, spill. Who are they?”

“I don’t know. One has brown hair, tanned skin, sleek muscles like a fighter. He was tall and though I couldn’t see his face clearly in the steam, I know he was handsome. Sharp cheekbones and deep-set eyes was the impression I got.”

“Hubba, hubba. So he’s human. He’s not one of the Brotherhood or you probably would have recognized him. Intriguing.” She paused. “Maybe he’s a new recruit. Could be you’ll meet him right here one day soon. Or you might run across him when they send you out on a mission. How about the other one? Were they a set? Like twins?”

“No.” Gina thought back to the hazy dream images. “The second one was even taller than the first and bigger all the way around. He was deeply muscled, yet he moved with a warrior’s grace.”

“Oh, I like the sound of that. What else?”

“He was shaking with emotion too long denied. At least that was the impression I was left with.”

“Another human then.” She spoke with finality in the darkness. Her words made Gina pause.

She’d cupped his head in her hand as she broke from the dream and felt…the slender point of his ear.

That stark realization made her sit bolt upright on her small bed. The second man in her dream had been Alvian.