“Skye!” he whispered hoarsely, using his legs to pin her down as his hands gripped her face hard. She continued to fight him, her body flushed with a fiery heat, the skin slick with her sweat.
The wind picked up and her hair began to snake out, catching the breeze as it whirled around the two of them. Skye continued to ramble wildly, the words nearly shouted. Her face had become a deep red and he noticed small slashes of blue returning to her eyes.
He lowered his head until he was nearly touching her and held her face between his large hands. “Fight it! Snap out of it!”
What the hell was going on?
His heart nearly stopped as the woman beneath him went rigid, her body arching against his. The veins in her neck stood out in stark relief and when she went limp, fear shot through him.
Jagger began to shake her violently, not thinking that his own strength could be damaging. She felt like a rag doll in his arms and frantically he felt for a pulse, feeling such a rush of relief when he found it that he began to shake as well.
He held her close to his chest, feeling the animal inside relax as the threat disappeared, retreating back to wherever the hell it had come from.
Skye’s teeth began to chatter loudly and big, fat tears fell from her eyes. He looked down at her, surprised to see her focused on him. The blackness that had been there was gone, but was replaced with such pain and terror that it gripped him hard.
What was it about this woman that had him yo-yoing like a wet-behind-the-ears teenager? One minute he wanted nothing more than to kill her and in the next, protect her with his very life.
He rolled over once more, bringing her with him, cradling her against his chest. There was no resistance.
He could hear her whispering and Jagger listened in silence as she repeated a phrase over and over again. It left him cold.
“Azaiel is coming. Azaiel is coming.”
Who the hell was Azaiel?
He lay like that for several long minutes. Skye nestled into the protective shadow of his arms and he rested his chin on the top of her head. He could hear her heartbeat, its erratic pulse slowing until it banged out a slower, calmer rhythm. Her breathing normalized as well, and when she started to squirm, he let her go.
She pulled away, leaning against the tree bark, her shadowed eyes meeting his. She opened her mouth to speak and whispered, “Thirsty.”
He held her gaze for a few moments, fighting the questions inside of him that demanded answers. He quickly stood up, retrieving a water bottle from one of the supply bags. He also grabbed four granola bars. He was hungry, but after an entire day without food, Skye must be damn near starved.
She took the bottle from him, draining it in several long gulps, and then ripped open the granola bars, eating them greedily.
His gaze fell to her fingertips and he noted that the clawlike talons were no more, replaced instead with long, elegant human digits. She caught his stare and sat up a little straighter, pushing her chin forward, her features now shadowed with a hint of insolence.
A spark of admiration glimmered in him; it was fleeting but there nonetheless. The woman was his enemy and involved in some seriously fucked-up shit, but there was something about her that pulled at him.
Hard.
Christ, the sight of her lips as she chewed hit him in the gut.
Jagger wanted to turn away but found that he couldn’t. So he watched, eyes hooded, face a mask.
When she was done, she pulled herself up to her knees and looked at him expectantly. By now the sun was beginning to break through, and streaks of gold, red and orange bled across the morning sky.
The jungle sounds had resumed their loud, robust nature, the air alive with the shrieks of birds, monkeys, and anything else that went bump in the night. Things had pretty much returned to normal in this little corner of the world, but Jagger knew it was all a facade. Window dressing to hide what was really going on.
He looked at Skye in silence, her body barely covered by Declan’s T-shirt, and while the anger was still there, riding just below the surface, there was a glimmer of excitement, too. It was something he’d not felt in years.
He frowned. What the hell did that say about him?
“So what now?” she whispered, her voice still rough.
Jagger rose to his feet, his frown darkening as he stood above her. “What’s your connection to the DaCostas? Why are they after you?” His face was shadowed as he moved closer to her.
Skye’s eyes widened slightly and she looked at the ground. So this is how it’s gonna be, he thought. He bared his teeth and crouched in front of her.
“I have questions and you will answer me, Skye, because if not,” he said softly, dangerous, “the consequences will be very painful.”
Her fragrant scent hung in the air, teasing him. His eyes darkened and he felt the animal inside begin to make noise. Oh, he’d enjoy making her talk.
Her delicate throat moved as she swallowed and he could see the internal struggle that was taking place. Her eyes shifted from his and then moved back again. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it and turned away before inhaling raggedly. She then looked him straight in the eye.
Skye squared her shoulders and seemed to have come to a decision.
“What do you want to know?” she asked softly, though her voice was still rough and dry.
Jagger’s eyes narrowed and his gaze was piercing. Skye didn’t flinch. There was a clarity present that brought a spark of life to the shadows that dulled the blue of her eyes.
“What the hell is your involvement with Cormac O’Hara?”
Revulsion, pain, and anger washed over her face as she bit her lip. She shook her head. “I’m not involved with Cormac, at least not in the way you think.”
“Well, why don’t you enlighten me? If you’re not screwing him, what exactly is your relationship with the bastard? And what the hell is his connection to the DaCostas?”
He watched as Skye bit her lip, felt the snarl that rippled along inside of his mouth.
“Cormac is working with the DaCostas because they’re both looking for something.” She paused for a second, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips. “A valuable Aztec artifact that my people have guarded for eons.”
Jagger looked at her, surprised. “Aztec?”
Skye frowned. “You really have no clue what I am or the history between our people, do you?” she snorted, and muttered, “Why does that not surprise me?”
“I deal in the here and now,” Jagger whispered hoarsely, not liking her condescending attitude at all.
“Really. So that’s why you disappeared for three months? Felt like a break from the here and now, did ya?”
“How the hell would you know any of that?”
“I was there last night for your family reunion, remember?”
Jagger moved so fast she had no time to react and his fingers dug into her arms cruelly. “We are not talking about me,” he hissed. “Understand? My situation or anything about me is no concern of yours.”
The small whimper that fell from her lips alerted him to the fact that he was on the verge of crushing her bones beneath his iron-clad grip.
“Take your hands off me,” she said, her voice low and controlled. Her hand started to shift, and he looked down at the deadly talons that were quickly replacing her fingers. Jagger threw her from him, disgusted in both himself and the anger that she provoked. Mostly because, deep down, he knew she was right.
He took a second, calmed himself and turned back to Skye. Her hand was back to its human form. “What exactly is this Aztec artifact?”
Jagger watched her closely, noticed the stain that crept up over her cheeks. Saw the way her eyes shifted away and then back to his.
“It’s a small round disc,” she said softly before looking away again.
“A small round disc? That’s it? What the hell is so important that both the DaCostas want it, and a scumbag like Cormac?”
“I’m not sure exactly.”<
br />
Liar, Jagger thought. He continued to watch her in silence. He’d bet his last bottle of Canadian whiskey that she knew exactly why they wanted the disc.
“My father hid it here in the jungle,” she continued haltingly. “It was ours to protect. Cormac murdered him because he wanted to get his filthy hands on it.”
Skye looked at him square in the face, her body trembling, but her voice was strong. “I will not let it fall into their hands. I need to find it before they do. Before anyone does.”
Jagger took a few minutes, his mind shrewdly going over what she’d just revealed. The pain on her face was unmistakable, and God help him, he believed her when she said she wasn’t working with Cormac or the DaCostas. But there were still a hell of a lot of loose ends that needed tying.
“Why did the DaCostas have Libby?” he shot at her.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. They had some kind of grudge against your brother, I think.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I wasn’t there nearly as long as Libby, and truthfully, it’s not like bonding was on our minds. We were focused on surviving.”
“Who’s Azaeil?” His eyes narrowed as her face whitened. Skye looked away.
“Where did you hear that name?” she asked finally. The fear in her eyes made Jagger’s stomach muscles clench.
“From your lips. This morning.” He moved closer to her, noting how she was trembling. Her hand rose shakily to push the thick rope of hair behind her ears.
“I … I don’t—”
Jagger exploded, cutting her off. “You’re treading on soft ground here. Don’t play me. I will accept some of your half truths, for now.” He glared at her, totally pissed. “But I want to know who the hell this fucker is. Because he was here, this morning, and if I’m going to have a hope in hell of protecting you from whatever shit you’ve gotten yourself into, I need to know everything.”
Skye swallowed thickly and drew in a shaky breath. “He was here?” She blanched at his curt nod. “Did you see him?”
“There wasn’t much to see, actually, but yeah, there was something here and I’m assuming it’s Azaiel, since you mumbled something about him coming.”
She closed her eyes and shuddered. “He’s real,” she said incredulously, shaking her head.
“What the hell is he?”
Skye opened her eyes and he felt a wave of trepidation run through him. She looked scared shitless. She looked resigned. But to what fate?
“He’s visited me on and off since I was a child. I always thought he was a figment of my imagination. A bad dream that never went away.” Her eyes were luminous, huge in her face as she turned to him. “But things have changed and I can’t be sure, but I think he’s a … demon,” she said softly and then looked away before muttering something under her breath.
Only the keen sense of hearing Jagger possessed enabled him to hear. A few words spoken and the ominous ring to them left a hollow feeling deep in his gut.
“And he’s coming for me.”
Chapter 10
Fear, thick, malicious, and pungent clogged her airways. The taste of it was bitter and Skye turned from Jagger. He’d already seen and heard enough. He didn’t need to know that she was shaking in her boots.
She glanced down at her bare toes and grimaced as her tummy rolled over for the hundredth time. That’s if she actually had boots on. She needed to get dressed and get organized.
Skye focused on her satchel and tried to shake the hopelessness and anxiety that she felt. She would not think of Azaiel. Not now.
The bag hung from a tree not more than a few feet from her. The soft leather was well worn. It had been a gift from her father when she was a teenager.
Slowly she crossed the remaining space, her fingers reaching out to touch it. The feel of its softness tugged at the bittersweet place in her heart and the ache in her chest intensified.
It was snatched from her grasp before she was able to grab hold of it, and she turned around, a snarl erupting from between her clenched teeth.
“This goes with me,” Jagger said, his voice commanding with a take-no-shit kinda attitude. “It’s the only way I can keep you from spreading your wings and flying away.”
The arrogant son-of-a-bitch. Skye wanted nothing more than to slam her fist into his perfectly sculpted nose.
“Fine,” she said. Fuck you, she thought.
Skye whirled around, her eyes searching the immediate area, before turning back to him. “I need my clothes. I’m not trucking through the entire jungle in a T-shirt that barely covers my ass.”
She felt the blush rising in her cheeks again as Jagger’s eyes moved over her slowly. Too slowly. “Where are they?”
She watched in silence as he opened her satchel and withdrew the clothes she’d been wearing the day before. He tossed them over and she clutched them tightly to her chest, waiting for him to either turn around or get the hell off the platform. When he did neither she raised her eyebrows.
“I’d like a little privacy, if you don’t mind.”
Jagger laughed softly, his eyes glinting like emeralds in the early-morning light. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
Skye’s mouth went dry in less time than it took for him to speak. His voice was low, rough, and the expression on his face was dangerous. The air literally crackled with energy. Her heart skipped a beat, several in fact, and she felt light-headed once more.
Angrily she shoved aside all emotion. “Whatever,” she said, and reached for the bottom of the T-shirt, intent on changing regardless of whether she had an audience or not. “It’s not like I expect a jaguar to behave like a gentleman, anyway.”
She turned around and began to lift the shirt from her body, ignoring the heat that scalded her skin as she thought of his sexy eyes devouring her naked flesh. She doffed the top as a mischievous smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
Two could play this game.
Slowly she bent over, knowing that the roundness of her butt was on display at an angle that was both teasing and erotic. She grabbed her shorts and slowly pulled them up over her hips and then she grabbed her tank top, turning around as she pulled it over her head. She knew her breasts were on display, their fullness emphasized as she moved her arms up over her head.
But the smile that still lay on her lips disappeared in an instant as she pulled the top all the way down, and was greeted by nothing more than silence and empty space.
He’d climbed off the platform.
Annoyance shot through her but was quickly pushed away. It was for the best. No need to rile the jaguar. He was one complication she could do without.
Skye quickly lowered herself off the platform and seconds later was standing at the base of the large tree. Jagger’s dark gaze swept over her and he held up one of the supply bags.
Bitterly, she noted her satchel slung across his shoulders.
She crossed over to him and grabbed the supply bag, hefting it onto her shoulders. She turned and looked up past the canopy of trees, closing her eyes as she welcomed the first true rays of sunlight that penetrated the thick jungle ceiling. The warmth awakened the eagle deep inside of her, and she felt the same joy she did every morning as the sunlight caressed her cheeks.
Melancholy grabbed at her hard and she would have given anything to shift and greet the sun’s kiss.
“We need to move out. I can smell the DaCostas. Their stink is riding the wind and we don’t have much time.”
Skye hunched her shoulders at Jagger’s words, feeling the tension cloak her like a blanket. There was no escaping her situation. She couldn’t just fly away and pretend that everything was peachy. In fact it was rotten as all hell.
She shot him a look. “I need to find the disc.”
Jagger nodded. “I’ll help you find this disc, and when we do I expect to hear the truth.” He smiled softly, his teeth a fierce slash of white against his tanned skin. “I will accept nothing less.”
He turned and indicated they head to the rig
ht, back to where they’d come from the night before. “We need to hook up with the others first.”
“No!” Skye uttered the word before she had time to filter her mouth.
Jagger frowned and crossed over until they were merely inches apart. His male scent, a tantalizing musk, tickled her nostrils, awakening something inside of her that was totally inappropriate, considering the circumstances.
She wanted to look away but found that she couldn’t.
And that pissed her off.
“We have a posse of fucking DaCosta warriors on our tail, not to mention the whole Cormac connection. Who knows what the hell he has up his sleeve. Seems to me we need all the help we can get.”
Skye looked away and said nothing. She knew it was a huge waste of time to argue with the man. She’d have to be smart. Bide her time.
Why not let them help her find the portal? Once she had it in her hands she’d escape. It was probably best that no one be around when she sealed it, however.
“Fine. I just don’t trust Declan, is all. He does have Cormac’s blood running through his veins.”
Jagger exhaled before he spoke and when he did, the deadly serious tone indicated just how passionately he felt about the men. “Declan, Cracker, and my brother are honorable men. I don’t give a rat’s ass who Dec’s father is. He’s one of the good guys, and that’s something you shouldn’t forget.”
Skye shrugged her shoulders and remained silent, pushing aside her anger at the impossible situation she’d found herself in. Christ, who would have thought, forty-eight hours ago, that she’d be working with a couple of jaguars, a sorcerer, and some dude named Cracker?
Skye actually giggled, earning a surprised glance from the jaguar. Her smile widened as she headed into the thick, already hot jungle.
Good, she thought. I’ll have to do my best to keep him on his toes.
They hiked through the dense foliage for well over an hour, bypassing the waterfall and pond from the night before. Skye refused to look at it and tried her best to banish the image of their bodies sliding through the cool liquid. Her naked flesh against his hard body.
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