His Darkest Salvation (22 page)

Nanauatl took another step, but Finn remained silent though Julian observed the clenched hands at his sides. He knew that the eagle knight was no match for any of them, without the strength he drew from the sun—he couldn’t shift, and his power was diminished—but it didn’t keep him from the fight.

Finn had honor.

“Who let you loose?” Finn asked abruptly. “I thought you were cursed to spend eternity etched in stone.”

The sun god roared his displeasure as did his followers. Julian eyed them cautiously and noticed that Nico had been able to move closer to his position. The shadelike warriors were focused on the drama being played out between Finn and Nanauatl.

If the jaguars were going to make some kind of move, it would have to be soon. Jaden’s warm hand dug into him once more as she knelt beside him. He noticed, for the first time, more bruising along her cheek and her neck. Blood ran from both her nose and her mouth, and he fought the urge to rub his head against her.

She looked at him, her large eyes dark as the night sky, and he thought they softened a bit. “Why is it every time we get together, I end up all bloody and shit?”

Julian growled softly and stilled as she grabbed him close, her scent invading his nostrils and pulling such savage need from him, that he barked and tried to back away.

She held fast, ignoring his action, and whispered hoarsely, “We need to get to Declan . . .” She pushed at him hard. “Now!” She glanced at Nico before pushing away and screamed like a banshee as she leapt forward, the dagger raised in front of her as if it were a shield.

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

J
aden 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 her 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.