Slowly her gaze moved up his long frame, skipping over the impressive display of manhood, up his taut belly, rock-hard abs, until she came upon a sight that was sobering, to say the least.
Jaden swallowed heavily and couldn’t rip her eyes away from the macabre display of scars that crisscrossed, in perfect precision, just under his left pectoral, above his heart. It looked both raw and painful.
“Didn’t anyone teach you it’s impolite to stare?”
Jaden’s eyes jerked up, to rest upon a face that was every bit as devastating as she remembered, if not more so.
Even in the dim light she could see the flair that lit up his golden eyes, eerily so, yet the smile that fell over his mouth didn’t reach them. A shiver ran over her body.
Julian Castille was not the person she remembered. At all.
“I’m sorry … I …” she began, and actually blushed as she stammered like an idiot in front of him. “I didn’t expect …”
“To find me in my own home?” Julian took a step back and Jaden carefully got to her feet. She eyed him warily.
“Where have you been?” she asked as she tried to move closer to where the dagger had fallen.
Julian’s eyes narrowed. “I know you,” he said softly.
Jaden’s eyebrows arched and harsh laughter fell from her lips as she snorted. “Ya think?” she said sarcastically. Christ, was he brain damaged?
He regarded her in silence and a sliver of something flickered in the depths of his eyes, but quickly disappeared as his lips thinned.
“You’re a DaCosta jaguar. You were there in Belize, just before …” His voice trailed off and Jaden was surprised at the layers of violence she could sense beneath the surface.
But then his words really sank in and the anger inside of her erupted. He honestly had no clue of their past? Of what they’d shared to
gether?
“You’ve got to be joking,” she whispered harshly, more to herself than anything. “You really don’t remember who I am? Was I that forgettable?”
The air around him shimmered and before she could even blink an eye, Julian was there, at her back, his arm across her chest as he pulled her in tight to his body.
She had no time to react and dazedly wondered what the hell had happened to him. She was the warrior, not him. Yet it seemed he’d ingested a bit of superhero dust, wherever the hell he’d been.
“I know who you are.” His breath was hot against her neck. “Jaden DaCosta.”
She began to struggle, but even with her superior strength, he was just too strong, and several moments later she gave up, panting as she tried to calm herself.
His heartbeat was heavy against her ribs, the rhythm steady and strong, and the heat of him radiated throughout her flesh.
“Why are you here?” he whispered harshly, his breath warm against her neck as he nudged the hair that lay there with his nose. Small bursts of electricity fell across her skin and she shivered, pissed that she had no control over her body.
“Where have you been for the last six months?” she asked instead, spitting the words out from between tight lips.
His hand slid along her jaw and he gripped her, hard, his fingers digging in until he drew a whimper from her.
“Lady, you don’t want to know where I’ve been. Not really. So why don’t we stop playing this game and you tell me why a DaCosta jaguar is holed up in my place.”
She felt his fingers dig in a little more.
“And no lies. I’ve not had the pleasure of kicking anyone’s ass in a long time and really don’t give a shit whether the ass is male or"—he ground his groin against her backside—"nicely rounded.”
Jaden’s mind whirled into a chaotic mess of thoughts. Could she trust him?
“I’m looking for something,” she muttered, as her mind continued to process all of her options.
“Yeah, well aren’t we all.”