Her words were lost as a harsh voice cut through them.
“I’d throw some clothes on if I were you two. We’ve got a situation brewing and you’ve got maybe ten minutes before a nasty group of magicks crash your little love fest.”
Skye stilled. She didn’t recognize the voice but the scent was unmistakable. The man was jaguar and by the reaction in Jagger’s face, she was guessing he was the mysterious Nico.
Jagger’s arms tightened against her, effectively shielding her nakedness from the stranger.
“Turn your back. Give the lady a little privacy.”
She heard Nico laugh softly, dangerously. “Well I’ve been standing here for a few minutes. It’s not like I haven’t seen the goods.”
Jagger’s hands tightened even more.
“You will turn the fuck around and show some respect.” There was no arguing with his tone and the energy in the air tripled. It became dark and threatening.
She heard Nico moving behind her and chanced a quick glance back.
The man that stood staring at the two of them was something else entirely. He looked savage. Lethal. He looked pissed.
“If you want to make it to the Cave of the Sun, I suggest you get your ass in gear.” Nico’s dark eyes glittered through the gloom and Skye swore she could see his jaguar, just beneath the skin. “I’ll get you there as promised, but then I’m done.”
His eyes slid to Skye’s and she swallowed thickly, sensing the danger that lurked just beneath the surface. This jaguar was volatile, unpredictable.
She held her chin up, refusing to look away even though the man unnerved her.
“I don’t trust you,” he said, baring crisp white teeth. Nico then grabbed their water bottles and disappeared.
Skye rested her head against Jagger’s fast-beating heart.
“Don’t mind him,” Jagger murmured against her hair. “He’s always been an asshole.”
Skye didn’t answer. Truthfully, her mind was on other things. There was so much left unsaid. She just didn’t know if she had the balls to put everything out there.
“We need to go.” Jagger kissed her quickly on her forehead and pulled her up, his hands caressing every inch of her along the way. They were gentle, but the light in his eyes was anything but.
“Jagger, I …”
“Sshh.” He shook his head. “There’s a lot that needs to be said, but we don’t have the time.”
He grabbed her clothes from the jungle floor where she’d tossed them earlier and handed them to her.
He flashed a smile that tugged at the very center of her soul. So much that it hurt.
Oh God, how she wanted him.
“When this is all over, I’m bringing you back to my place. We’ll spend an entire week in bed.” He winked. “And then we’ll talk.”
Skye looked down quickly and pulled her shorts up over her body. The bittersweet sadness that she felt was worse than anything she could imagine.
To find someone like Jagger, now, was tragically ironic.
Nico appeared from out of nowhere, it seemed, his presence cutting a sober path through a moment that really could not happen. There wouldn’t be a happy ending for Skye; she might as well accept it and move on.
“We need to get going,” Jagger said, and the urgency in his voice snagged her attention quickly. “They’re not far.”
The silent jungle bled through and Skye paused, her eyes scouring the immediate area that they were in.
Gold and red shot across the sky now and already the humidity clung to her skin, curling her long blond hair into thick waves. Hurriedly she tied it back, nervously aware of Nico’s dark eyes on her.