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He had changed.
I love you.
The words were a whisper in her mind, slipping from her subconscious like a secret she couldn’t share, and they surprised the crap out of her. She stilled, her breath held at the back of her throat as her mind processed what her heart was saying.
She smiled tremulously and released a long breath as she relaxed and let his warmth melt into her.
She wasn’t giving him up, and she had to believe that one day he’d return her feelings. Whatever tomorrow brought, she’d be there by his side, and damned if she was going to let Cormac and the fallen ruin everything.
They’d save the world, and she’d save his soul, whether Julian wanted her to or not.
There was no other option.
Chapter 24
Hours later they both awoke warm, still tucked into the other’s embrace. A new day dawned, filled with the promise of violence and the possibility of death. Kind of sucked the joy out of fresh beginnings.
They made love one more time. It was a feverish joining, fueled by longing and fear.
Fear of the unknown and of losing everything before it had even been gained. Words were not spoken, feelings were not discussed. It was as if they each needed to connect once more on a level that was primal, real. That by joining their bodies together in the most basic way a man and a woman could, they were grabbing hold of something they could control.
Their passion.
Julian watched Jaden from hooded eyes as she quickly dressed. Her clothes were damp, and he tried not to stare, but the T-shirt clung to her breasts in all the right ways, which for him was all wrong.
He could not afford distraction. Not when there was so much at stake. Saving the world and all that.
He turned from her and grimaced as he scooped up his jeans and slid them over his hips. The energy that burned beneath his flesh was frenetic, and it kept his heart beating fast and hard.
Kept his mind alert. He felt good.
He slipped his feet into his boots. “You ready?”
Jaden was quiet; when she glanced up at him, her eyes shimmered. “Last night . . .” she began, and paused.
“Shh, you don’t have to say anything.”
“I do.” She shuddered and looked at him. “Last night I realized something. I know things aren’t perfect between us, but there is something more than just sex and mating and all that crap.” Her eyes fell from his. “At least for me.”
Julian’s throat tightened, clogged with emotions he wasn’t capable of handling well. “I think you’re an amazing woman, and if things were different . . .” He didn’t know what to say. He had no future.
“But we can try, can’t we?”
Her lip trembled, and he swept his mouth across her softness. His forehead rested against hers, and he murmured, “We can try.” It was an empty lie but one he was willing to believe in.
“Let’s do this.” Jaden pulled away from him, suddenly all business. She cracked a smile. “I want it ended, tonight.”
Her long hair fell in tangles down her back, and he found his hands reaching for bits of debris stuck within the silken waves. “We look like shit,” he murmured.
“Speak for yourself, Castille, I think you look damn hot.” She smiled up at him, and her fingers fell to the scars on his chest. He hissed at her touch, and her eyebrows furled slightly.
She was quiet for several seconds.
“Who did this to you?” Her words were soft, and when she raised her head once more, the tears that glittered deep within the depths of her eyes pulled at him fiercely.
“I don’t remember,” he answered.
“You lie.”
