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“I’m not like my brothers.”
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to …” Skye’s voice trailed off because, truthfully, she didn’t know what the hell she meant.
Silence fell between the two of them, interrupted by the occasional call of a bird or the shriek of a howler monkey. She could still hear the low voices of Jagger and the other two men, but they were too far away for her to make out their words clearly.
“Does he know?” Julian asked, his brow furrowed, his stare intense.
Skye stared up at Jagger’s brother, her eyes large and questioning. “Does he know what?”
“That the only one who can destroy the portal is that which created it.”
She arched an eyebrow. “What were you, the dorky kid who read history books for kicks? You really did your homework didn’t you?”
Her tone was light but the shadows that darkened her eyes with unshed tears was anything but.
Julian ignored her comment and nodded his head toward the group of men conversing several feet away. “Does he know what you’re planning?”
“Why would he?” she retorted, exasperated. “Aside from the fact that all of you seem to think I have this damsel-in-distress thing going on, I don’t need your help to do what it is that I have to do. This is my fight, whether you want to believe it or not, and how I’m going to accomplish my goal is no one’s business but my own.”
“I see the way he looks at you. He won’t like it.”
Skye looked up at Julian, surprised. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
Julian shrugged, but both his face and his tone were dead serious. “He wants you.”
She laughed curtly. “Really … well, a quick fuck is about all Jagger’s interested in, believe me.”
She looked away as pain sliced across her chest, drawing in a quick breath. “I might even take him up on that.” She laughed bitterly. “I mean, my days are numbered, right? Why shouldn’t I be allowed to have a little comfort before …” Her voice drifted off into silence. She couldn’t continue.
“I think you’re very brave.”
Skye made a face and shook her head. Her heart was bittersweet, her mind made up. “I’m not brave,” she whispered.
I’m scared shitless, she thought.
Her cheeks puffed out as she exhaled hard. Angrily she wiped away the moisture from the corners of her eyes.
She turned from Julian. He unnerved her.
Seconds ticked by, and when she raised her head, Skye’s eyes were like glass. She looked over to Jagger.
He glanced up and their eyes connected. It was like a physical blow to her gut and it took everything inside of her to remain calm, focused. Jagger’s face was unreadable. His body language was tense, the energy in the air palpable. Thick.
It fed the hungry raptor deep inside of her soul, and Skye shook out her arms, smiling at the jaguar. Doing something was way better than sitting on your ass doing nothing at all. Even if the end was near.
It was time.
“Are you ready?” she asked, a challenge ringing in her voice.
Jagger nodded to the men and then looked back at Skye. Long wisps of caramel-colored hair clung in tendrils to her neck. The tank top that she wore did pretty much the same, the thin cotton melded to her lush curves.
If he closed his eyes he’d have no problem whatsoever picturing her naked, wet, her eyes full of desire and her mouth swollen from his own.
But there was no time. He needed to focus and find the portal. Only then would he have the answers that he sought, because he sure as hell didn’t believe half the crap she’d told him. Something else was at play here, he could feel it.
And the woman in front of him held all the answers.
“Okay, let’s do this.” He closed the distance between them and indicated the direction he wished to go.
