AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Julian kissed her long and hard, brutally invading the softness beneath him with a ferocity that should have surprised him but didn’t. Not anymore.
His body slid against hers, and he felt an edge of darkness begin to circle his brain. It was a seductive, exhilarating feeling that he welcomed wholly. He knew the woman he held had no warm feelings for him whatsoever. He didn’t care.
He’d felt nothing but pain and torment for so long that the sensations sliding over his skin were exquisite torture.
His body hardened even more as she moaned into his mouth, and he turned her until she was flush against his chest. Jaden DaCosta. Jaguar shifter. She’d been the last face he’d seen in the jungle before the lights went out; it couldn’t be a coincidence that she was here. Now.
The same night he blasted back into the human realm.
Pain ripped along his damaged, torn skin, and he hissed as fire lashed across his flesh. It was all good, though. It meant that he was alive.
The cloaking charm melted as her passion rose to the fore, allowing her natural scent to color the air. He took it deep into his lungs, savoring the unique scent.
She ripped her lips from his and gazed up into his eyes. He’d forgotten how velvety hers were, like soft black liquid in huge round pools of glass.
“I hate you,” she whispered hoarsely, her mouth open slightly as her tongue played along the edges of her teeth.
“Yeah,” Julian said softly. “I can see that.” He held her gaze, enjoying the confusion, passion, and yes, anger that lit the dark depths.
Her cheeks flushed a deep color, and she began to struggle in his embrace. She was strong, which wasn’t surprising, and though he could have easily kept her pinned to his body, he let her go.
Maybe a quick fuck wasn’t such a good thing. It wasn’t like he had time for complications. And she’d be a major one. There were other ways to relieve the pressure he felt down below.
He watched her closely, his gaze running along the beautiful lines of her face, the soft golden skin, dark eyes and brows, and the long, thick hair that, when loose, hung to just above her ass. It was a detail he remembered with clarity.
She was magnificent.
But she was a DaCosta nonetheless and not to be trusted, especially now, when the stakes were so freaking high.
His hand went to the damaged skin on his chest, as memories rushed through him in hard flashes, but it was the dark ones he focused on. The black holes full of emptiness and pain. They fed him in a way nothing else could.
Cormac and Azaiel.
They were at the heart of the poison that was slowly seeping into the human realm. They were the enemy. They were also his road to salvation.
If I don’t find them . . . Julian looked away and banished those thoughts.
“What the hell happened to you?” she asked carefully, haltingly, as if she were having trouble forming her words.
He let Jaden back away. It was the smart thing to do. He needed to focus on the task at hand. Sex was something that wasn’t part of the equation.
The air around her shimmered, and small tufts of mist hung lazily in the air. She was close to the change, her jaguar was excited.
It fed the animal inside him, and he clenched his teeth as he considered his options.
He could take her down in less than a second, snap her neck, and toss her body out the window. Call it a night. No one would know.
Or he could play things out. Was she working with her family? Was she rogue?
He sensed no immediate danger. Maybe it was sheer arrogance on his part, but Julian truly felt she meant him no harm. Even though she hates me. He snorted at the thought.
“I’m gonna take a shower.” He turned from her and walked toward his room. “Then we’ll talk.”
Julian felt the weight of her stare at his back, and a ghost of a smile flickered across his face as he stepped into the bathroom. Seconds later, it was filled with steaming-hot water, and he stepped under the spray, letting the heavenly wetness slide across his skin.
It was the simplest of pleasures and one he’d not enjoyed for a very long time. As the warmth spread along his tall frame, caressing the hardness between his legs, he rested his head against the tiles and willed his body to relax.
He couldn’t believe he was out, that he’d been pulled from the bowels of hell.
