The Wind and the Sun Read online

  A Total-E-Bound Publication

  www.total-e-bound.com

  The Wind and the Sun

  ISBN # 978-0-85715-140-7

  ©Copyright Vivian Arend 2010

  Cover Art by Natalie Winters ©Copyright May 2010

  Edited by Jess Bimberg

  Total-E-Bound Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2010 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom

  .

  Warning: This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has been rated Total-e-burning.

  THE WIND AND THE SUN

  Vivian Arend

  Dedication

  For Bonne—the sunshine is always there, even if at times it’s hidden behind the clouds.

  Love ya, babe.

  With Apologies to Aesop.

  Chapter One

  The Wind and the Sun were disputing.

  Again.

  It was a constant battle. They had begun while still youngsters because it was tradition for their families to feud about everything.

  The argument returned again to the original contest of strength the Sun had won. Well, strictly speaking, it was the current Sun’s grandfather who beat the current Wind’s grandmother, the position being inherited…

  * * * *

  “You can’t possibly think the record should still stand. When you read the stories it’s very clear your grandfather cheated.”

  “Cheated? Pop-pop? I don’t think so. You’ve just got a bad case of fable envy and that’s why you insist on reading conspiracy theories and convoluted twists into the very clear records.” Sunshine flashed a smile at Zephyr as she flipped her long blonde curls over one shoulder. She leant back in her recliner and took another sip of her Serengeti Smoothie. Her long tanned legs stretched in front of her, glistening from the thin layer of baby oil she’d applied minutes ago. She wore her favourite pale apricot sundress. It not only fit her extremely well but she’d once seen Zephyr walk into a pole when she walked past him wearing this particular dress.

  He was fun to tease.

  Sunshine flicked another glance at him. He towered over her, his feet spread wide as he glared at her. He ruined the total domination look by shifting to the side with an uneasy hitch to reduce his discomfort as his jeans visibly tightened.

  Score One.

  She reached over and placed her drink on the small table beside her chair, being careful to lean as far as possible to the other side before she released the glass. The move should make her dress ride up another few inches, perhaps give him a flash of her pale yellow lace panties.

  Except, oops, she wore a thong. It wasn’t possible to flash panties, just cheeks.

  Oh well.

  With a slow and deliberate motion, Sunshine sat back and grasped the bottom of her skirt. She gave a couple of tugs to wiggle it into place then with a casual glance, looked back up. She started at his toes, and by the time she’d reached his crotch, she knew she’d been successful.

  Score Two.

  The jeans had gotten tighter than before. Poor boy. He really was so much fun to tease. It was her absolutely favourite pastime.

  “Why don’t you sit, Zephyr? You’re giving me a headache twisting my neck looking at you. Sit or go away.” Sunshine lifted her arms to place her hands behind her head, elbows wide, closed her eyes and pretended to relax. She took a deep breath and sighed in contentment.

  Of course she knew deep breathing while her arms were raised produced a nice swell of her bosom to the top of the already low-cut neckline, but that was a mere coincidence.

  It was hard not to let a little smirk show on her face. Hmm, let’s see. Three points?

  There was a rattle as Zephyr dragged a chair next to her. A soft rustling noise followed and she caught herself before she opened her eyes to see what he was doing.

  She didn’t care, except she liked to make sure he suffered torments of all sorts. It was a matter of pride to make the mighty Wind family suffer. They were the most annoying, the most irritating of all the families. Her mother, Dazzle, told her the secret was to find the proper way to torment them. Mom had a running battle pitched with Zephyr’s Mom that involved showing up in public places wearing the same outfit Mistral just purchased. Of course Dazzle would manage to wear the outfit a couple of days before Mistral made an appearance. The constant media coverage all pointed out the obvious copycat tendencies of the Wind family in their attempts to reflect a little in the glow of the Bright family’s exquisite taste.

  Since Zephyr had little interest in a clothes competition, Sunshine had tried for years to come up with an appropriate method of sparring. The heat-up-the-bike-seat trick and the melting-ice-cream-into-puddles trick gained little more than rolled eyes.

  She’d begun to despair of being able to maintain the family pride until they became teenagers. That was when Sunshine discovered she suddenly had the ultimate battle weapon.

  Her hips.

  Backup artillery—other portions of her anatomy.

  Zephyr was now so outclassed in the competition Sunshine almost felt sorry for him at times. But only ‘at times’ and only ‘almost’, because, damn, it was good to be the Queen of the Hill.

  The rustling sound stopped and there was the flick of a bottle opening beside her. She smiled. She had him drinking his sorrows away.

  Score Four, but who was counting?

  “What do you think about a rematch?”

  Sunshine lifted one brow and turned to face him. She wanted to hit him with the full look of disdain she’d been practicing in front of her mirror.

  Oh. My. Word.

  Zephyr lay on a second recliner, mere inches away from her. The beer bottle she expected to see in his hand, the forlorn expression she expected to see on his face as he drooled over her…nowhere in sight. All she saw was skin.

  Hot, naked, firm, glistening skin.

  Did she mention naked?

  Holy Sahara, the boy had gone mad. He’d dropped every last stitch from his body and slathered himself in oil before reclining like a Greek god on his couch. He rested on one elbow, his upper body flexing arms that would make Hercules a happy man. Firm muscles swelled under the skin of his chest, and Sunshine’s fingers actually twitched with the need to press her palms against him to see if he was as solid as he looked. The ridges of his abs defined a beautiful six-pack, no eight, no… Hell, was it possible to have a twelve-pack? She couldn’t be sure because she was…kind of distracted…from concentrating on counting…because a trail of intriguing curls led down to where one leg stretched out, one bent in a perfect frame around…

  Well, let’s just say someone was happy to see her.

  Very happy.

  Heat, like she usually only produced on extreme summer days, flushed over her skin and she took an involuntary lick over suddenly dry lips.

  A wicked chuc
kle distracted her from her sightseeing excursion.

  “So what do you think?”

  Holy Zeus on a stick, what did she think about what? Sunshine forced her mouth shut and hurried to wipe the drool from her chin, trying to make it look like she had covered a yawn.

  Yeah, right. A yawn. Only because the total oxygen level in her body had dropped to negative twenty in thirty seconds or less. If she didn’t take in some air, she would pass out.

  Come on girl, pull it together. This was war.

  “I’m sorry, were you talking to me? I expected the cabana boy with a refill sometime soon. It’s impossible to get good service anymore.” Sunshine plucked a fan out of midair and waved it in front of her neckline. She wanted to produce a bucket of ice but that would have been a little obvious.

  He was gorgeous. Why had she never noticed before?

  “You know, maybe you’re right. I mean, your grandfather did win the contest as it was established.”

  Sunshine froze in mid-fan. “Did you…admit Pop-pop won? Fair and square?”

  Zephyr rolled to his back. Sunshine gulped and turned away to grab her drink. Anything to stop from looking at that flagpole rising bold as brass into the sky declaring, “Zephyrland—rides available.”

  “I said he won the contest as it was established. Personally, I think my grandmother was in the first stages of cyclone fever when she agreed to the terms. I mean, come on…”

  Oh, not a good choice of words.

  “…getting a guy to remove his cloak to prove who is stronger? Maybe Gramma was a few sheets to the wind, I heard she drank on occasion. Anyway…” Zephyr sat abruptly, swinging his legs between their chairs. His…attributes…were hidden by the bend of his body and Sunshine felt the loss.

  “I’ll admit your ancestor won. Still, I think it’s time for another challenge to see who is stronger now.” His voice was quiet and cool. It smoothed over her skin like a caress.

  It made her shiver.

  “What, you want to arm wrestle? That’s really fair.” Sunshine sat as well. Just because it was time to sit. Not because the view was better or anything.

  Zephyr chuckled, a low sexy rumble that hit her hard and deep. “Oh no, not a physical challenge. At least, not physical that way.”

  His thigh rubbed against hers, creating icy fingers zapping up her skin towards her womb. Sunshine closed her eyes for a moment to concentrate. She didn’t want any accidental bush fires on the African plains again. She took a close look at him for the first time in a long time. Zephyr’s straight brown locks hung to his shoulders instead of his usual military crew cut. A couple of errant strands fell in front of his eyes and she reached without thinking to brush them back. Her fingers tingled as she touched him and she bit back a moan.

  “What are you suggesting?” she asked. She swallowed hard as his gaze traced over her body, dark brown eyes with flecks of gold around the iris. “What kind of rules?”

  “Strength can be defined as being the most powerful. If someone is powerful, they can rule or dictate and people have to obey. I think the most powerful things are not those forced upon you, but what you want to do again and again. Your grandfather said ‘Kindness affects more than severity.’ He was right in his challenge. For our challenge, however, I want it said ‘Desire affects more than force.’”

  He laid a soft hand on her thigh and slid his palm over her skin like a cool breeze on a summer day. In an instant, every nerve in her body went on high alert. Small circles traced by his fingertips slipped along her inner thigh then sadly back towards her knee.

  “I challenge you to a contest of strength, Sunshine. Bright family against Wind family. You can use any trick in your repertoire and I can access all the emotions of the wind. At the end of the challenge, we will see what kind of desire rises to the top.

  “The person who created that desire will be named the victor.”

  Sunshine leaned closer, angling her body to be sure he saw down her cleavage. She had to get back in the game. She’d lost ground big time in the past couple of minutes.

  “We throw rays and gusts at each other? Let’s be clear on the attack method.”

  Zephyr ignored her chest and reached for her hand instead. He brought it to his mouth and gave her palm a soft kiss before answering in his dark chocolate voice. “You know what I’m talking about, Sunshine. Fooling around, making out, getting down and dirty. Foreplay for hours. Then sex. I have nothing scheduled for a few days my assistants can’t take care of. I suggest we find a nice location and prepare for the challenge.”

  Sunshine hesitated. Not that she was afraid or anything, but it was close to harvest season in the prairies and she’d hate to be distracted and cause—

  Zephyr lowered her hand to his lap and wrapped her fingers around his erect cock. His very hard, hot and thick cock.

  Sunshine gulped.

  Zephyr leaned close, his mouth a whisper away from hers. “So, we are agreed. Let the competition begin.”

  Chapter Two

  Sunshine gritted her teeth together and sighed. She caught her mother’s eye and Dazzle winked at her. “Don’t worry dear, you’ll start the contest soon enough. Plan ahead. Remember to play to your strengths.”

  Sheer torture, that’s what it was. Sunshine’s dad had to be told about the match and he demanded to help establish the guidelines. Luckily, he thought it was a rematch with family rules, not triple X. As if having him involved wasn’t embarrassing enough, Zephyr’s father joined them as well. Then the moms insisted on coming. It was only by a fortunate favour Pop-pop was out of town. Having him there would have made it infinitely worse.

  There were still too many large men in the room trying to out-intimidate each other.

  Sunshine blocked out the low rumble of voices to concentrate. Her strengths, what were they? To be more specific, which of her strengths were the ones that could bring Zephyr to his knees? She glanced over at him and the image of him on his knees in front of her made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. This should be a fun contest, if the parents would ever iron out the details and let them get started.

  “Alternating locations on Earth chosen by the contestants.” Mistral’s soft voice drifted throughout the room.

  Blaze flared. “I don’t see why they need to compete on Earth. So many other possibilities exist elsewhere. We’re limiting their capabilities—”

  “Hush, dear.” Dazzle turned her radiant face towards the Wind family. “I apologise for my husband. He’s still a little hot under the collar from visiting the equatorial region. Alternate locations will work fine. May I suggest two locations each? Of course, tradition dictates Zephyr, as the Wind representative, be allowed to select first.”

  “I think tradition should be set aside this time,” Chinook said. Sunshine turned to examine Zephyr’s father. He looked at his son, a gentle smile on his face. “Ladies first, that’s what I taught you, son. What do you think?”

  Zephyr leant back against the wall of the room, his strong legs crossed at the ankle. He’d put his jeans back on and replaced his T-shirt with a short-sleeved dress shirt in pale blue. It complemented her sundress to a tee.

  Interesting.

  “I think we have enough rules and you all need to leave. Sunshine will begin, as I always intended.”

  The room flooded with light as the Bright family flashed out, curtains flapping at the window as the Winds departed, leaving Sunshine and Zephyr alone in the room.

  “Well, that was about the most horrible thing I’ve ever had to endure. The only thing that would have made it worse is if our parents found out we were going to do the nasty.” Sunshine shuddered.

  Zephyr grinned at her. “I agree, but we did need to ask your dad to fill in while we’re…busy. I didn’t realise he would turn it into a NATO meeting.”

  “Well, you know, family. I’m sorry.”

  Zephyr laughed. “I think you noticed my insane parents in the room being nosy, so I apologise as well.” He held out his hand.
“Take me away, my dear. And may the best man win.”

  Sunshine narrowed her gaze as she slipped her fingers into his. “Thank you. She will.”

  * * * *

  They strolled the boardwalk, arms brushing together as they dodged the masses of people milling around them enjoying the beautiful summer day. Sunshine brought them to an amusement park near the ocean. She’d thought about her mom’s advice, and she knew the times she received the most compliments were on the long, hot days of summer. Days that stretched out forever with nothing to do but spend time with each other. It wouldn’t win the contest for her, but she planned on setting the foundation to blow him out of the sky with her second location.

  A slow, simmering build-up.

  They’d changed clothes as she flashed them to the park. Sunshine now wore a short and top combination in a pale gold. The shorts hung low on her hips and left her glittering belly ring exposed. It flashed in the sun as they walked and she smiled at the admiration she saw in the eyes of men around them.

  Zephyr drew closer, slipping a possessive arm around her waist. He had on a pair of boarder shorts with swirls of blue and grey and a matching grey shirt that said, “My Family is More Dysfunctional than Yours.”

  “Troubles, Zephyr?” Sunshine turned her face towards him and batted her eyes innocently. He growled at her.

  Growled at her! How wonderful.

  “The challenge is between the two of us, Sunshine. Don’t involve anyone else.”

  Sunshine lifted a hand to her lips and smirked. “But, Zephyr, the Cloud family is a traditional part of the challenge. I’m sure the Cumulus twins would be happy to join us. I have to hide behind them at some point. Or may I should hide between them…” She tapped a slim finger on her lips as she pretended to consider.