Julian froze, for just a second, his mind not believing what he was seeing. Jaden twisted in the air, yelling at Finn to run, as she arced gracefully her face set in a feral grin.
“Hey asshole,” she yelled, “eat this.”
Declan shot a bolt of energy at Jaden, and it enveloped the dagger, burning an intricate series of etchings into the metal. The sorcerer shouted, “Julian, now!” It kick-started him into action.
His feet dug in, but he snarled as pain lanced across his back end. He whipped his head around, canines exposed and deadly. One of the shadelike creatures grinned at him, but then Nico ripped into the side of its neck, and though no real damage was done, the eagle knight faltered enough that Julian was able to escape.
Julian whirled back and glanced up, his heart nearly beating out of his chest as Jaden sailed through the air, end over end. Her arm was extended and the dagger sliced through Nanauatl, eliciting such a roar of pain and anger that the walls shook from the force of it.
She landed on the other side with a jarring jolt, and Julian was there in an instant, avoiding a blow from the sun god as he streaked by. Finn leapt in front of him, took the hit, and went flying from the force of it.
A great rumbling began underneath their feet and Declan’s eyes burned a savage red as he held his hands aloft, glistening symbols dancing on the air in a strangely beautiful arrangement.
The phantom eagle knights bellowed as they tried to run past their sun god, but an invisible wall held them back.
The air was rank with dark energy. It rolled off Declan in waves, and Julian didn’t care to know what he’d tapped into in order to gain such power.
“Finn!” Jaden shouted, and she would have moved past Julian, but he held her still, his massive body shoved against hers even as she pounded her fist into his side.
“Get the hell out of my way,” she screamed. “He’s one of my men!”
Mist crawled along his body, and as the earth continued to groan beneath him, he let the magick take hold and pushed her toward Declan as his body shifted, the jaguar falling from his skin as his human form took over.
He ran toward the fallen man. Nico was there, and the two of them grabbed the eagle shifter as an incredible ripping sound sliced through the air. It was a sharp, keening noise, like nails raking along glass, and he shook his head as it pounded against his brain.
They reached Declan just as a massive hole opened beneath them, and the world fell away.
Chapter 16
Jaden came awake with a start.
At first she was disoriented, then slowly her mind cleared, and she became aware of a few things. One: it was cold, damp, and the air was stale, full of the smell of ancient earth. Two: there was a complete and utter lack of noise, which was eerie. And three: her body was pressed tight against a hard-bodied male.
The scent that flowed into her lungs was Julian’s. She lay across his chest and felt each and every breath that he took. They were slow, measured, and even though she couldn’t see his face, she was pretty sure he was unconscious.
To be truthful, she had no clue where she was or how long she’d been there. The last thing she remembered was the floor opening up and falling through, like a crazed Alice in Wonderland.
Except she was no Alice, and it wasn’t a rabbit hole she’d slipped down.
Her head lay against Julian’s shoulder. She carefully moved her body and rolled to the side, her back slamming up against cold stone. A wave of dizziness washed over her, and she paused as her body struggled to orientate itself.
She was able to see clearly. A wash of golden light made it possible, and though she couldn’t find the source, she was grateful.
Her eyes swept toward Julian, and her heart rate increased as she rested them on his face. He looked younger and so much more vulnerable. An image of him as a younger man rushed into her mind and pulled bittersweet strings.
She didn’t like this, these feelings the jaguar brought out in her.
Satisfied that he was all right, suffering from nothing more than a bump on the head, she raised herself on her elbows and turned away from him, but not before catching sight of the magnificence of his hard body. Sweet Jesus, but does he have to look so incredible?
She cleared her throat, rolled up onto her knees, and slowly looked around. The chamber that they were in was small, and she could see that part of it had caved in. There was nothing out of the ordinary; no artwork adorned the stone walls, no ceremonial pottery was lying about.
It was just a dull gray chamber that was given a bit of life by the eerie glow that lit it up.
She stilled and concentrated hard, her senses flying from her as she sought any evidence of the enemy . . . or of her men. But there was nothing. Only the heavy weight of a silence that was somehow louder than a stadium full of football fans.
She stood up and nearly fell as another wave of dizziness came over her. She swallowed and winced. Slowly, her hands rubbed the raw flesh of her throat.
She’d nearly met her end, here in this pile of rock. If Nanauatl had had even a few more minutes, she was certain he’d have crushed her neck and taken her life.
Julian saved me.
The thought whispered through her mind as she turned back to the shifter, the intense need and longing that clutched at her heart was painful.
How could she feel this way? For a man who’d rejected her?
He groaned and flung his arm above his head, and her eyes fell to the scars etched into the flesh under his heart. They looked angry and raw.
Jaden knelt beside him and bit her lip as she glanced down his long form. He was completely naked, and as her eyes followed the hard, muscled lines of his body, heat began to build as her heart spiraled out of control.
He moved once more, his leg bending, and when his knee touched her, electric sparks of energy rippled across her flesh. Jaden whimpered as they shot across her body, and her nipples instantly hardened.
What the hell is wrong with me? The world was on the brink of disaster, she’d nearly been killed, she was trapped beneath Templo Mayor with a man she loathed more than anything, yet . . .
And yet her hand moved of its own volition and she found herself hovering over the marred flesh on his chest. The need to touch him burned heavy inside, it was an ache that settled between her legs, and she moaned as her jaguar shifted beneath her skin.
It wasn’t her fault really. She knew she was at a delicate time in her cycle. That as a female jaguar, she was on the cusp, in heat, and the need to mate was strong.
Usually, she tried to sate the desire with whomever the hell she could, but it was never enough.
The only man who could complete her, who could temper the raging desire that simmered beneath her flesh, was Julian Castille.
How unfortunate.
For her.
She panted as images and pictures of their long-ago night flickered in her mind, and whimpered as she tried to force them away. But it was no use—her own erotic memories were burned forever into her brain.
She shook her head in denial, but the memories of Julian’s body taking hers in every way imaginable, of an intense passion that rivaled hers . . . she knew many a night it was the only thing that had gotten her through.
How pathetic. Replayed fantasies and her handy-dandy vibrator.
Her skin itched and burned, and she threw her head back as a wave of heat suffused her entire body. A low, keening sound fell from her lips, and as it sliced through the silence, her hands fell to her chest, her fingers running over the aching nipples that strained against her T-shirt.
A throb pulsated between her legs, slow, heavy, and she ached inside.
She could smell herself, her desire and need, and even though shame scorched along her cheekbones, leaving a flush of red in its wake, she had no control.
“Oh God,” she whispered, her vocal cords painfully bruised by the sun god’s hands.
She moved slightly, but it only served to increase the friction between he
r inner thighs, and a sob escaped her lips as bolts of desire shot up from the hotness between them, to claw at her belly painfully.
Her hips began to move, and as she sat there, her body slowly rocking back and forth, her desire and need to mate killing her, she lost all desire to fight it.
Her hands continued to massage and caress her aching breasts, and she thought she was going to lose her mind when two male hands joined them.
Her eyes flew open, and she stared down into Julian’s face. His eyes were intense, the deep golden depths reflected liquid honey, his long, dark lashes too sinful to belong on a man. She swallowed, and whispered, “I hate you.”
His eyes held hers for several long moments. He moved slightly, positioning his legs so that she was ensconced between them. She was aware of his hardness, the straining length of him, but couldn’t take her eyes from his.
His heart beat in time with her own, and she felt like crying, so high was the anticipation that rode her.
She wanted him. Badly.
He lowered his mouth and paused, only a whisper between their lips. She inhaled the air that fell from his lungs, and the yearning inside was painful. She growled, low and deep from her chest, then opened her mouth.
Screw the consequences.
When his lips met hers, she was ready, and her hands found their way to the thick hair at his nape. She pulled at him, groaning into his mouth as she took a taste and smiling against his flesh at the feeling that shot through her.
His tongue immediately plunged deep inside her mouth, and she suckled from him, the taste and feel of him hitting her hard in the gut. Each time his tongue passed over her lips, she felt the pull of it deep within the folds of her sex.
Sharp pangs of desire that left her damp and aching.
She kissed him long and hard, her jaguar raging with need as the minutes passed. When she broke away, she could barely breathe. Her skin burned, and her hair clung in damp waves to her neck and shoulders.
“I hate you,” she said again, her hands falling to his shoulders and reveling in the strength that burned beneath his skin.
“You already said that,” he answered roughly.
“You don’t understand,” she began, but his finger fell to her mouth, and she was silenced.
“Why don’t you show me.” His voice was barely above a whisper, rough, colored with an edge that screamed at her.
Molten heat rolled over her skin and slipped inside her, leaving her nerves quaking with need. She looked down at the erection between his legs and felt her mouth go dry.
Everything faded into the dull gray stone, leaving nothing behind but desire and painful need. In that moment, nothing else mattered except satisfying the urges that rode beneath her flesh with a ferocity she could barely manage.
She inched closer to him. The longing would never go away until she satisfied the cat.
Jaden rose onto her knees and pushed him so that his mouth was level with her aching breasts. She smiled down at Julian, loving the way the black of his irises bled into the gold of his eyes. The air shimmered around him, lighting up the taut muscles in a halo of energy.
Slowly, she reached for her waist, her fingers curling along the edge of her T-shirt, and she heard the breath hitch at the back of his throat as she carefully pulled it up and over her head.
His hands reached up once more, but she slapped them away, reaching around for the clasp of her bra and drawing out the moment into long seconds as she carefully let the slip of black fall from her skin.
She reveled in the cool air that swept across her breasts and felt her nipples harden even more, the peaks turgid as they became engorged with a host of sensations.
His mouth was there before she had time to react, her hands fell to his thick hair as he teased and nipped at her. His tongue swept along the dark pink skin, which was now puckered, raw with desire, and a trail of fire followed in his wake.
She felt his hands creep up along her back, until she was held firm within his grasp and couldn’t have moved if she’d wanted to.
He continued to tease, his tongue caressing her nipples until she thought she’d go mad. His mouth hovered above the soft flesh, and she whimpered once more as he blew over the wet skin.
And when she thought she could take no more, when the need between her legs was painful, his hot mouth enveloped the entire peak, and he pulled hard at her.
She moaned, loudly, as hot bolts of desire shot straight to the center of her core.
“Oh God,” she whispered. “I can’t . . . I’ve never . . .” She stopped abruptly as his teeth closed along the small hard bud, and held fast in anticipation as he continued to tease her mercilessly.
She felt her heat, the wetness that seeped from deep within, and she slowly gyrated her hips as he held her there.
“You taste like candy,” he said, his voice vibrating against her skin in delicious waves that shot energy along her nerve endings.
Christ, what the man could do by only speaking.
“I like candy.” The timbre of his voice changed, and she held her breath as he pulled away from her breasts and looked up at her. “It’s been forever since I’ve had something sweet.”
Jaden stared down at him, small pants of air escaping from between her teeth as she tried to get hold of her emotions.
The sight of his dark skin against the golden hue of hers was incredibly erotic. She cocked her head to the side and let her hand run along the clan tattoos that burned beneath her flesh.
And she smiled as his eyes followed the motion, the dark depths burning with a need that matched her own as her breasts swung in front of him. But it wasn’t her nipples he was after.
He kept one hand at the small of her back, though he applied just enough pressure that she inched closer still, and when his other hand followed hers, intertwined with hers, she thought she would come apart.
His fingers caressed her clan tattoos gently, his eyes hooded and half-closed.
“They’re beautiful.” His words were simple, yet the emotion behind them was real. She could feel it.
It brought tears to her eyes. Did the man care about what they meant after all?
Did she care?
He continued to stroke them, and the tattoos pulsed beneath his touch, her eyes closing as she drifted off into a haze of sensations.
When his hand left her body abruptly, she couldn’t help herself. “Don’t . . .” she whispered but her voice died in her throat as she gazed upon a deadly, feral beast that both excited and scared the crap out of her.
Julian’s eyes had morphed into large round balls of black. All of the gold vanished, and the vicious nature of his jaguar was reflected in the depths. He snarled softly, hissing as her hands fell to the scarred flesh of his chest.
He flinched, the lines of his face shifting like shadows, and she stilled as the energy around him darkened. When he flipped her onto her stomach, she didn’t know if she was surprised or pissed, or just plain confused.
Something had just changed.
The cold earth was now at her breasts, hard against the softness of her flesh, and she began to protest but stopped abruptly when she felt his tongue at the base of her neck.
He kissed her along the ridge of her ear, and her entire body shuddered in reaction. All conscious thought fled. Any warning bells had died abruptly. His hands on her flesh calmed her beast, soothed her soul. And as much as she wished it was anyone other than Julian, she could not deny her animal. She could not deny that Julian Castille was her mate.
Everything melted away, save for his rough hands upon her flesh, and when she felt his fingers at the waistband of her jeans, she lifted her hips, smiled as he pulled them from her roughly.
She lay there beneath him, as naked as he, and groaned when his fingers sought the hot wetness between her legs.
“I see commando is your thing,” he whispered close to her ear. “I’m not surprised at the easy access.”
A twinge rippled through the haze of pleas
ure that she felt. There was something in his voice, but the animal inside her pushed it away, keen only on mating.
She felt his hardness at her ass, the warmth of his large frame as he slid over her. He held himself above her body with one hand, while the other continued to stroke the slick walls of her sex.
His long fingers had no problem finding the treasure he sought, and she spread her legs slightly, angling her hips up until she touched the hardness of his belly.
His breath quickened, short spurts of hot air against the back of her neck, and she groaned loudly as his long fingers plunged deep inside her aching walls.
“Christ but you’re tight.” His words were hoarse, and his teeth scraped along her shoulder as he sought the magic spot so deep inside her.
“Nico know how to do this?” he asked roughly, and the world went dark as he shifted, his thumb rubbing along her clitoris while his fingers applied just the right amount of pressure to kick-start an orgasm.
She felt the walls deep inside her body begin to convulse as a flood of cream fell from within.
“What?” she asked dazedly, not sure if he’d even spoken.
“Or this?” he said sharply, and warning bells clamoured deep within Jaden’s sex-induced fog. He pulled her ass back toward him, spreading her legs wide as the tip of his cock rested against her swollen, exposed center.
“Does Nico satisfy you?” He continued to manipulate his fingers, creating all kinds of magic.
“Nico?” she asked dazedly as she shuddered with the strength of an orgasm that filled her body with liquid heat.
“When he fucks you, does he satisfy the animal like I can?”
Jaden’s mouth fell open, her chest tightened, and she squirmed as anger rushed over her. This was wrong. All of it.
But then he was there, deep inside, and she bit her tongue instead.
He was large and filled her with ease. She heard him breathing behind her, felt the hard length of him swell until she thought she could take no more. And when he slowly began to move, she thought she would die from the sheer pleasure that rolled over her.
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