Hunting Julian. Jacquelyn Frank
mean to be evasive, but he didn’t want to lie to her, and the bald truth would be like slitting her gut wide open. In the time it took him to struggle for the right words, Ariel’s head tipped to the side and she caught sight of the woman in the bed behind him.
“Julian, who is this?” she asked, her enthusiasm bleeding out of her swiftly and suspicion creeping into her voice—along with an instant emanation of jealousy. She gripped at him a bit more strongly as her eyes narrowed on Asia. “You’ve brought home a guest? A Chosen? Shouldn’t she be with the Ampliphi receiving residence?”
“Ariel, let’s go inside and talk for a moment,” he invited her gently.
“No.” She bit her lip and stubbornly drew back to cross her arms over her body. “Tell me here and now, why is she here?”
“Because this is my home, Ariel,” he reminded her a bit sharply as her petulance boded ill for the coming conversation. “She is my guest because I choose her to be. But also…she is a special woman.” He turned slightly to look at Asia, unable to help reaching out to touch her foot.
“I’ll just bet she is,” Ariel hissed with her entire being, the lash of her fury laced with pain. “The only reason for bringing a Chosen home is so you can bed her, Julian! I can sense the lust on you already! You reek of her!”
“Enough!” he said harshly, turning back to her with a hard motion.
“No! How could you do this?” Ariel’s warm, tragic eyes filled with tears. The energy of her emotions sank into him. Julian found himself already overfilled with Asia’s vitality, so it didn’t affect him as much as it had at other times when Ariel had pulled out cards of guilt and betrayal. It helped him steady himself for her inevitable hurt. “This is my home, too,” she whispered painfully.
“Not any longer,” he told her softly.
Ariel gasped, his information so unexpected that she froze in wide-eyed shock. She stared at him as if she hadn’t heard him right, but she quickly realized that she had.
“No,” she breathed. “No! I-I didn’t mean…t-to make you angry!” She vibrated with clumsy panic, her heart racing wildly in fear.
“Ariel, I am not angry,” he said as gently as he could. “I am not punishing you.”
“Yes! Yes, you are!” she cried, her hands gripping the front of her robe, her body hunching into itself as if seeking protection.
“No, Ari. Ariel, she is kindra to me.” Julian paused only long enough to watch the awful impact that bit of news had on her. He was truly sorry to hurt her, the pain flooding out of her tasting bitter on his tongue and flitting against the walls of mental protection he had to erect against her. However, she had to face the fact that her life was about to change and her plans and fantasies concerning him would never see fruition. “I’m sorry, but this is the way things have been dealt. You have been an excellent Companion for all these years, and I should like you and me to always be close, but the arrival of my kindra means it is time for you to retire. It’s beyond time for you to find companionship for yourself. There are so many out there who would—”
“I don’t want them! I want you!” She flung herself into him, wrapping him in the clutch of her arms like a vise. Her hands gripped his shirt so hard that the fabric popped at its seams. “Please. Oh, please, Julian don’t do this! She’s nothing! An alien! What does she know of you? What can she appreciate of the gift you are? I know! I know everything. What you need. What you like. I even know what you desire!”
“Ariel, stop this,” he commanded her, overpowering her and putting her away from him. “You have always known we are not meant to be committed. You have served your role as Companion with loyalty and devotion. Let’s not end this in a way that will cause us pain and hardship.” He paused, judging the stubbornness and anger radiating off her. “And no, Ari, you do not know what I truly desire. If you did, and if it mattered to you, you wouldn’t be thinking and acting so selfishly. Maybe she doesn’t know anything of me, but she will. Once she does, everything here will change. Don’t you want to see our people healthy and happy?”
“I don’t care about anyone else but you,” she whispered.
“Then I am more convinced than ever that you don’t truly love me, Ariel. If you did, you would never say such a thing. You would never feel such a thing. Now, please…the Ampliphi will give you a beautiful new life where you will be treasured by many just as you deserve.” He reached out and gently brushed back her hair for a moment, trying to ease the rigid betrayal etched into her features. “In three days they will come for you, and you must be ready. Go and begin. I don’t expect you to care for my kindra. I would not be so cruel to you. If it is too hard for you to remain these three days, tell me now and I will see you escorted to Justice Hall as soon as you wish.”
Ariel stood for a moment, her arms wrapped tight and tense around her body, her bitter gaze shifting from him to the woman in the bed behind him.
“I will serve out my time,” she said with wintry emotions oozing off her. “If I am to be banished, I would at least appreciate some time for our good-byes. Will you give me that much?”
“Of course. It is a hard adjustment for us both, Ariel. Don’t mistake my firmness as being uncaring. I simply have no other choice. Not anymore.”
“Yes. So you say.”
With that vague agreement, Ariel turned and walked out of the room, the slump in her defeated posture making Julian’s mouth sour again. He looked back at Asia, more aware than ever of how far he would have to come with her.
Julian turned to sit in the lone chair in the room, the only other piece of furniture there was. He exhaled long and slow, his head bowing so he could rub at the tension in his neck while he waited for Asia to awaken.
Chapter 4
Asia opened her eyes with a slow, sticky flutter, as if she didn’t have the energy to complete the task. It only took an instant for memory to rush in on her, and fury and outrage bolted into her rapidly afterward. She surged upright into a sitting position…
…and promptly flopped over onto her chest and face, her whole body wobbling in on itself like a tragically overcooked noodle. She found her nose buried in a gossamer fabric of white that clung softly to her face even as she tried to get strength under herself to at least roll back and breathe some fresh air.
It was the touch of smooth fingers around her throat and shoulder that finally made the action possible. The stroke of that touch against her skin made it scream with sudden sensitivity, but Asia gritted her teeth against the unwanted sensation as she was turned over. She didn’t need to look up into those jade eyes to know that the hands belonged to her heartless enemy. Julian Sawyer. He pressed a palm to the bedding beside her ear and brushed aside her wild hair as he leaned over her. Darkest brown curls slid into a loose arrangement against his forehead. She wished she had the energy to reach up and snatch the charmingly obnoxious lock right out of his forehead. Even more, she wished she could knee the bastard right in the crotch. He was leaning over her in a vulnerable enough position, but she simply had no strength.
“What did you do to me?” she demanded, surprised to hear the breathy weakness in her own voice. Then, in the very next instant, she began to recall very vivid snatches of exactly what he had done to her.
Well, not exactly.
But enough to know without a doubt that it had been his manipulation that had caused her loss of all control. He had ripped away all of her defenses in a heartbeat, prying her open and gutting her for his own fascination and inspection. She remembered the waves of unbelievable pleasure, the crippling need as he had tormented her. Asia especially remembered the embarrassing way she had writhed beneath him, all but begging him to do what she would never have wanted him to do.
She fought the urge to cry like some kind of weak, whimpering heroine in a movie who waited around for someone else to save her. Asia had always saved herself. No one would take that from her, especially