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But it was tinged with a darkness that was hard to read.
He headed toward the kitchen area and the fridge door swung open at his command. Jaden could have saved him the bother. She’d already checked it out and no one had been inside the penthouse since Julian Castille had pulled a “Copperfield” and disappeared into thin air. All of the food was either moldy or dried up.
The shrill echo of a cell phone pierced the silence and she bit her tongue as her body jerked. The coppery taste of blood flooded her mouth and she narrowed her eyes as the stranger answered the call.
“Yeah.” His voice was low, husky, with a rasp that sounded rough. He straightened and ran a hand along the back of his neck as he rolled his shoulders and listened. Jaden strained to hear, but even with her enhanced senses she couldn’t pick up anything.
“I just got in.” He sounded weary and she inched forward, trying to get a better look, but paused as he turned once more and headed toward her, stopping a few feet away.
There was something about the man that called to her and Jaden was finding it harder to remain calm and undetected.
She could just make out his profile, and her eyes took in the aristocratic nose, high cheekbones, and a mouth that even from this angle was to die for.
Inside, the cat erupted and she broke out in a sweat as her skin began to burn and itch.
Son-of-a-bitch! It couldn’t be …
“It’s bearable,” he said, and she watched as he ran his hand over his chest. He nodded his head in answer to whatever was being said on the other end before whispering harshly, “Don’t worry, I’m ready. Tomorrow we hunt.”
He threw the cell phone onto the sofa, where it landed with a thud not more than two inches from her head. Jaden’s heart took off like a rocket and was pounding so hard it was a miracle he couldn’t hear it.
Julian Castille back from the twilight zone? Was it possible? Had the bastard managed to survive wherever the hell he’d been sent six months ago?
A fire of emotion erupted inside of her and Jaden had to use every single bit of power she possessed to keep it together. The man who’d haunted her dreams for years—three to be exact—stood not more than a few feet away, very much alive.
As much as Jaden loathed him, deep inside her soul the jaguar was singing, wanting nothing more than to mate. To claim once more the man who’d awakened her spirit and bonded with her jaguar. The man who’d given her one amazing night of pleasure and then had rejected her.
How pathetic.
Jaden felt her cheeks sting with the heat of humiliation as she recalled the look of disgust that had crossed his face when he’d realized what she was.
No one had ever made her feel like that before. Like dirt. Like less than dirt.
So many questions crowded her head, but she pushed them away so she could concentrate. Something was off. This wasn’t the Julian Castille she remembered. Nope. Back in the day he’d been total GQ, hot for sure, but polished and boardroom-ready. This man? He was edgy, dark, and the word sinister came to mind.
She watched as he crossed to his bedroom and paused in the entrance, his head cocked to the side for a moment. He then padded over to the large bed just beyond and stripped the shirt from his body before slipping the jeans from his hips.
Jaden’s mouth went dry. She couldn’t take her eyes from him as he stood there, tall, fierce, buck naked, with nothing but moonbeams from the window caressing his taut, powerful frame. The dude had packed on some serious muscle since she last saw him.
She bit her lips to stifle the groan that now sat inside her mouth. Her jaguar was chomping at the bit, wanting out, and a wave of dizziness rippled through her brain.
Heat erupted between her legs, which only infuriated her more. How the hell could he do that to her? After all this time?
She closed her eyes, wanting nothing more than for him to disappear.
“If you want I can bend over and give you a real treat.”
The words slid out into the space between them and Jaden’s eyes flew open, her hand going for the knife as adrenaline flowed through her veins.
But it was too late. A flash of white teeth and a shimmering blur of air rushed at her. Jaden barely had time to roll to the side, and she jackknifed her body, landing in a crouch with the dagger held in front of her.
Only to feel the heat of him at her back.
Fuck!
She reacted instinctively and swung her hips to the side, hiking her right leg out, intending to drop him hard. But it was she who went flying, as large hands gripped her shoulders and spun her around like a top until she ended up on her back, splayed out like a total loser.
The knife clattered across the tiles and Jaden clenched her teeth and fought the urge to curse a torrent of foulness. She’d just pulled a total newbie boner and had no one but herself to blame.
