Titus: Luna Lodge #2 (3 page)

Her attention drifted over to his cabin as she neared her own. It was the furthest out from the rest, and he had a wraparound porch she couldn’t help but love. She had seen him out on it just about every night since she moved into the cabin.

It wasn’t that she was watching for him, but her window faced his place directly, and it was hard not to notice his yellow eyes reflecting the light from the moon. Despite what her mind told her, her body was drawn to him.

Kate sighed and climbed the stairs to her quiet cabin. Jenna was likely with her uncle. It was nice to have the place to herself, but sometimes she found it lonely. She opened the door and tossed her keys in the bowl by the door. It was really out of habit that she even bothered. It was so safe on the grounds that she rarely worried about anything.

She opened several windows to let in the air from outside. It was warm but not enough to make it uncomfortable. Kate passed through the rest of the house and went into her bedroom. Without even thinking, she stripped down to a ratty pair of shorts and tank she loved.

Barefoot, she padded through the house. The wine from earlier had given her a warm buzz. It had been a long time since she had felt so relaxed. She paused when she reached the living room and looked at the couch. Watching TV wasn’t really appealing at that moment.

She glanced out the window toward the forest.

“What the hell,” she whispered. “Only live once.”

Kate raced to the bathroom to grab a towel before she chickened out.

Chapter Three

Titus sat quietly in the dark. Sol had already raced away earlier when Erica phoned that Kate was on her way home. He watched her in the dark as she walked happily to her house. His heart sped up when she looked his way, and he wondered if she could actually see him.

He shook his head. There was no way she could. Normal humans didn’t have the vision of a hybrid.

When she went into her house, he let out a sigh. It was harder when the air was warm like this. It carried the sweet scent of her to him and nearly drove him crazy.

Titus took a long drink from his beer and found his eyes wandering over to her place once again. He nearly choked on his beer as she walked around her room nearly naked. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and glanced away. His swelled with need and finished off the rest of his beer to get his mind off her.

When he looked back, she had moved out of the room. Titus sighed in relief. It was hard enough being around her without knowing how she looked naked.

Despite what Sol might want to think, Titus couldn’t let his desires get in the way of things. Titus had people counting on him, and it would be better to just not get involved with anyone. His life didn’t allow time for things like that, and he certainly couldn’t put someone in danger like that just to be with him.

He nearly groaned when she stepped outside onto her patio. Titus watched as she peeked around and slipped away from the house.

His pulse beat wildly in his neck as he watched her. Anger burned in him. There was no way he was going to allow someone to come in and destroy their way of life. He had never really suspected her of anything, but then again, she had the perfect cover for the Horatius Group to exploit.

Silently, he followed her into the woods, his eyes fixed on her as she made her way through the brush.

Titus stayed just enough away from her to ensure she couldn’t hear him, not that she would have been able to with all the racket she was making. There was no chance she would ever make it as a spy.

He ducked behind a tree when she came to a clearing next to the creek. The water babbled as it flowed over the rocks further down. Titus glanced around, looking to see if anyone was in the area. The woods were silent around them.

When he turned back around, he bit off the growl that wanted to come out. Feeling more like a peeping tom now than even before, he watched as she stripped out of her clothes and slipped into the water.

His dick pressed painfully against his zipper as he tried to control his rising lust. Her scent hung thick in the air, and he swallowed several times.

She was beautiful. Her wet skin glowed in the moonlight. She laughed as she dipped under the water and came back up. Although he knew he should turn around and go home, he watched her play.

It was so innocent and childlike, something he had never seen from her before. Kate was smooth and sleek at the office. For the first time, he wondered what he had been missing by keeping his distance.

He groaned softly when she rose from the water and walked on the stones back to her clothes. Droplets of water cascaded along her breasts down to the juncture of her thighs.

“Wah!” Kate yelled, and he moved without thinking.

She squished her eyes closed for the pain that would soon follow from the fall but opened them when she felt large warm arms instead.

“Oh, thanks.” She paused as she stared up into Titus’s face. His eyes blazed bright yellow. “Hi,” she fumbled.

Her head, still slightly muddled from the wine earlier, swam at the nearness of his body. She could feel her nipples harden against his rippled chest and fought the urge to rid him of the shirt that stood between them.

“Are you okay?” His brow wrinkled with worry, and she sighed when he leaned in a little closer.

“Fine,” she whispered. She pulled herself closer to his body and sighed when she felt his cock press firmly against her belly.

She gasped when he pulled back quickly and set her firmly on her feet.

Kate shook her head to clear her thoughts. A chill ran over her, and she glanced down at her nakedness.

“Shit,” she mumbled and grabbed the towel from the ground near her. She wrapped it around her naked body.

When she looked up, she found his eyes fixed on where the towel was covering her. She shivered. Heat pooled between her legs, and she shifted feet to ease the ache.

“Titus,” she said. More a plea than anything.

His eyes found hers. They glowed even brighter. His nostrils flared, and he closed his eyes. She took a step forward but stopped when his eyes shot back open. They were no longer glowing. Instead, they were furrowed in irritation.

“What the hell were you doing?” he growled at her.

She glanced over at the water and looked back at him.

“Swimming,” she said simply.

“Do you think it’s a good idea to go swimming at night?” He flung his hand in the direction of the water.

She shrugged and grabbed her clothes from the ground. “I was hot, and it sounded nice.”

“What if someone came along?” He glared at her.

She would have laughed if he wasn’t being totally serious.

“Well then I guess he’d save me from cracking my head on the rocks.” She smiled.

The smile slipped from her face when he stormed over to her.

“This is no joke.” He glowered at her. “You came out here and caused issues for people.”

Kate put her hand on her hip and leaned forward, her own temper rising to meet his.

“No one told you to save me,” she nearly shouted at him. “As a matter of fact, what the hell were you doing out here?”

Her eyes dipped to his still visible erection.

“I was following a suspicious person,” he said and shifted so his front was less visible.

Anger bubbled up in her.

“Are you serious?” she yelled. “After everything, I’m a suspicious person? So suspicious that you had to watch me swimming naked? Do you get hard over everyone you follow, or is it just me?”

His eyes flashed for a moment, and she wondered if she had pushed too hard, but he had it coming. She was welcome in the community but still treated like a criminal? What a welcome.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he said through gritted teeth. “It could have been any woman, and I would have had that reaction. You,” he looked her up and down, “are not that special.”

She sucked in a shaky breath. It shouldn’t have hurt. It really shouldn’t have, and yet it did. Her stomach turned, and tears burned her eyes.

Without a word, she turned her back to him and slipped her panties and shorts on under the towel. She pulled her tank over and wrapped her towel around her bra.

“Kate,” Titus said when she turned around. She saw the regret written on his face, but it was too late. His words rattled around in her head. “I’m…”

“Goodnight, Titus,” she said firmly.

Trying not to make any noise, she let the tears roll down her face and drip onto her towel.

Titus scrubbed a hand over his face. The salt from her tears hung in the air and ate at him. He hadn’t intended to be so harsh, but he didn’t have a response to her calling him out. No one called him out, even if he had it coming.

He sighed and watched her walk away. She was in pain, and it was all his fault. There was nothing he could do about it though. What she wanted wasn’t something he could give. Not beyond satisfying their base desires, and although he was all for that, it didn’t seem right to expect that from her.

Titus groaned when he moved. His swollen dick throbbed. Not caring who saw, he quickly pulled off his clothes and jumped in the icy water.

He sighed and relaxed as the cold eased the ache he was experiencing. What would she say if she knew he had to take a swim after dealing with her?

Titus snorted. She’s use it against him, especially after the crap he had just pulled. What had he been thinking? There was no reason to suspect her of anything at all. There was nothing for her to gain and everything for her to lose given that her only real friend, Erica, was now about to give birth to a hybrid’s children.

He rubbed a watery hand across his face. Try as he might, he knew there was only one real reason he followed her. He had to know if she was meeting someone.

It ate at him, the thought that she might meet someone. In the months since her arrival, she hadn’t shown the slightest interest in any of the men other than the idea of teasing them. At first he wondered if the idea of being with a hybrid bothered her, but she didn’t seem to have any real issues with his men. In fact, much to his annoyance, she didn’t have much issue talking with just about any of the men.

What bothered him more was that they seemed to have no issues talking to her. It was obvious she was a Vestal, but none of the men seemed to have quite the reaction he did. Titus was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with his senses. Maybe her Vestal pheromones just called to him more. The whole Bona Dea mating program with the Horatius Group had been under firm wraps, but the geneticist Dr. Fisher had theorized such a possibility.

Titus pulled himself out of the water and sat at the edge, staring up at the stars. Luckily, he had been able to calm himself. He glanced over to the direction of her cabin. All the lights were out, but he could still smell her faintly in the air.

Things couldn’t go on like this. Something had to be done. Titus turned to look back at the moon. Why did the woman have to make things so complicated?

* * *

Kate sat in her room, watching the forest outside her room. The pain from earlier had faded into a dull ache. She sat on the bed, thinking.

There weren’t a lot of options for her. She could leave and get a new job, but that would mean leaving behind Erica. Kate wasn’t so naive to think they would be able to see much of each other if she was outside the walls. Besides, she liked living where she was. It was the first time in, well ever, that she had felt like she belonged, and she’d be damned if she’d let Titus run her off.

She watched his dark shape emerge from the edge of the woods. Despite her best efforts, something ached deep inside at the sight of him. He turned his head her way, and she wondered if he could see her in the window. His eyes flashed in the light, and he quickly turned back toward his cabin.

Kate watched as he climbed the stairs and went inside.

She wondered what he did all those nights he spent alone. Even his men seemed to give him ample room. The only one she ever saw stop by was Sol, and that was only when he wasn’t busy with Erica.

Maybe Titus didn’t know how to handle her because he didn’t know how to handle anyone outside a military context. They kept a tight lid on how they had grown up in the Horatius Group facility, but Erica had once shared that they were split into their specialties.

As the leader, he must have been on his own quite a bit and only brought into the group when he was needed to give orders.

She shivered at the sad realization of his life. Kate had always considered herself a lone wolf, but he was the epitome.

A yawn escaped her, and she settled into the bed. The sadness from earlier drifted away as she closed her eyes.

Chapter Four

She was late. They had been waiting for almost fifteen minutes, and she wasn’t answering her phone.

Titus picked up the phone one last time. The longer it rang, the more irritated he became. It didn’t help that she had been avoiding him since Friday. Once or twice he had seen her on her deck over the weekend, but when he had come to sit outside, she had scrambled to get back inside.

It was pissing him off. He had been a dick, but how was he supposed to apologize if she never gave him the chance?

Titus slammed the phone down. Major Carter and Sol turned from the recording they were viewing.

“Maybe she took an early lunch,” Carter said.

Titus snapped his laptop closed and went to the door. “I’ll be back.”

He breezed past a dazed Jenna and stormed down the hall. Maybe putting her as far away from him as possible wasn’t such great idea, but if he had to sit in his office being tortured by her scent, it was likely he would do something they would both regret.

Titus turned the corner and nodded to a few men who were working on their latest project, housing. As staff in the complex continued to increase, so did the demand for housing.

He stopped outside her door and listened. She hummed to herself, and this only succeeded in annoying him more. He threw open the door.

“Want to tell me why you aren’t answering her phone?” he bellowed.