The man closest to her scanned the crowd as if looking for hidden dangers. He stopped when he got to her, and their eyes locked. She felt her breath grow shallow and her heart pick up. Something deep inside fluttered at she continued to stare at him. She watched as his jaw clenched and nostrils flared, almost like he could smell her from where she was. Erica licked her lips at the thought. A low rumble came from the stage.
“I think we must be getting some feedback,” the military man said into the microphone. “Bear with me for a moment.”
Her attention flicked to the stage. When she looked back, the moment had passed. He was now in deep conversation with the other man, who looked over at her several times. Erica blushed.
“I think I need a drink after that eye fuck you just got,” Kate whispered in her ear.
Erica’s face flamed at the accurate depiction and when she looked up, the Viking was looking anywhere but at her. His friend grinned like this was the most amusing thing ever.
“First, I want to thank you all for coming tonight,” the military man said. There was a smattering of applause. “My name is Major Carter, and it is with great pride I introduce my friend, the leader of the Luna tribe, Titus. With his guidance, the Luna tribe will flourish as others have before them.”
Several clapped as Titus took the front. Much like the other man, Titus was nearly a force of nature, though his tanned skin and jet black hair gave him a very distinct look from the other man. She looked between the two, looking for some sort of similarity. The leader looked a little more like she expected a member of the tribe to look. Viking God was hot and all, but definitely not what she’d expect. Aside from looking like gods, they didn’t have a single feature in common.
“Shouldn’t they look alike?” Erica whispered to Kate.
She sighed in annoyance. “That’s so racist. Even I’m like an eighth Cherokee, and you wouldn’t be able to tell by my looks.”
Erica frowned. It wasn’t racist. Noticing differences was what she was trained to do. She looked up to find Titus looking in their direction.
“I’ll keep this short. My adopted brother Sol and I would just like to thank you for such a warm welcome. We’ve been accepted into your community and hearts with so much love. We only hope to return the favor as years go by. Please make yourselves at home. Thank you.”
Kate clapped wildly as he stepped back in line with his brother.
Sol? Adopted brother? Neither his name or birth matched up with what she expected.
“Don’t you think that’s weird?” Erica whispered.
“That you can’t shut off your brain?” Kate rolled her eyes. “Yes. Yes I do.”
“Whatever.” Erica sighed. People around them broke into small groups, and she pulled for Kate to follow. “I’m ready for that drink now.”
Her back burned, as she felt Sol’s eyes creep over her. When she turned to look at him, he seemed deep in thought.
“Drink sounds great,” Kate said from her side.
She turned from his searching stare and made her way to the bar. Erica watched from her seat as Sol turned toward the hall at the back. Titus was circulating throughout the room, glancing their way from time to time. She wondered if it was directed at her or Kate.
"Two house wines please," Kate said at the bar.
The bartender flashed a dazzling smile at her as she leaned over on the bar. She had been doing this trick since they were in college, and it almost never failed to work. Even the gay ones seemed to appreciate her skill at the game. Erica bit back a giggle. This was never her specialty, but she certainly enjoyed watching.
Two laden wine glasses were placed in front of them. She winked and slid the twenty his way. Erica had to take a drink of her wine to keep from laughing at the blush that spread on his face.
Kate turned to her, drink in hand.
“Well.” She grinned. “That was interesting.”
Erica took another drink of the wine. “Not really. You’ve been doing it for years.”
“That’s not what I was talking about,” she said and placed her glass back down. “It was just so…” She paused and looked across the room. Erica followed her gaze until it fell on Titus. “Intense.”
Erica sucked in a breath. It had been intense. And slightly frightening but also very arousing. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt like that from just a look or if she had ever felt like that at all. When Sol looked at her, it was as if she was being drawn into him.
She blinked several times as Titus turned to look at them. As if on instinct, they turned to stare at one another. Erica noticed the bloom of excitement in her friend and grinned.
She leaned in and whispered, “You were right. They are pretty amazing to look at up-close.”
Erica glanced over at Titus and noticed a smug grin on his face. Not for the first time this evening, she felt like he might have heard what she said. It was impossible since he was across the room, and she was whispering, but the feeling was there nonetheless.
She watched as Kate took several big gulps of wine before standing.
“I should really go find Mark.” She sighed as she fixed her dress. When she had finished, she looked up. “Do you mind?”
Erica smiled and turned back to her drink. “I’ll just be here.”
“Maybe you should try mixing a bit.” Kate frowned at her.
This path, Erica knew, lead to concerned friend territory.
“I don’t think this is my crowd.” She surveyed the room once more and went back to her drink.
“It could be.”
Erica smiled and shook her head. “I’m just going to clear my head a bit. I’ll circulate later.”
Kate bit her lip, uncertainty written on her face. “Okay,” she said. “I just want you to be happy.”
Erica reached out and grabbed her hand. “I know.”
Nodding her head, Kate squeezed back. “Be back in a sec.”
* * *
The smell of her still filled Sol’s nostrils.
He ripped off the tie and tossed his jacket down. It hadn’t taken him long to relieve himself of his contacts and a number of other constraints. Being bound up wasn’t exactly his thing.
He flopped into the desk chair and turned on the TV that doubled as a security monitor. It flashed through the different areas until it paused on the bar. He froze the frame and watched her on the screen, sitting alone at the bar. Sol frowned. Why would she be alone? What had happened to her friend?
He watched as she sipped her wine and played with a few wavy locks of hair. A rumble filled the room as he watched her. He nearly shot out of the chair.
It hadn’t been a fluke. On stage before, he was certain it was just some sort of stage fright, or he had worked really hard to convince himself that it was.
There was just something about this woman that drew him to her. Everything in him went on high alert. This sort of physical attraction was new to him. Sure, he had found other woman attractive before, but having her so close was totally different than the others. This was actually something attainable. Or at least somewhat attainable.
He stiffened as a man came and sat next to her. It hadn’t even occurred to him that she might have someone in her life. A woman that attractive wouldn’t be hurting for male companionship. Something twisted inside at the thought.
He watched her closely. He sighed when she shifted away from the man at the bar. At least it seemed like they didn’t know one another. Sol stared hard at the screen as they chatted. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as he looked at the man. Cropped, sandy blond hair and glasses. Somewhere in his early thirties. Aside from that, there wasn’t really anything remarkable about him, and yet all the hairs on the back of Sol’s neck stood up.
Sol watched as the man leaned forward, nearly pinning the woman in her seat. Anger radiated from him. He had to clench his fists to keep from doing something. The man gestured to her glass of wine, and Sol let out a breath when she shook her head.
She slid the glass back and stood. The forced smile on her face indicated her true feelings.
Sol watched as she walked to the door of the balcony and then turned back to the stranger. He walked in the opposite direction, and Sol was torn. Follow the woman or the man?
He groaned as her eyes darted back to the door she had exited.
“Shit.” He grabbed a walky-talky from the wall and flipped it on.
“Apollo, you there?”
“Yeah,” Apollo’s easy-going voice replied. “What’s going on?”
“I’ve got eyes on a suspicious male headed outside. Sandy blond hair, short, with glasses. See if you can put a tale on him.”
“Will do,” Apollo’s voice crackled back at him.
Sol hung the walky-talky back on the wall and grabbed his jacket. By all rights, he should be following that man, but everything in him was drawn to the woman. He had to find out why.
* * *
Erica leaned over the rail and stared out at the darkness surrounding the building. A hush seemed to have moved over the land. Everything just seemed so isolated from out here.
She peeked over her shoulder to make sure the creepy guy hadn’t followed her. At first she was flattered by his attention. Not really a looker, but still, it’s never a bad thing to get some attention. Well, unless that attention gives you the willies.
His questions had been so weird. She knew so very little about the new tribe, and yet the man had been certain she knew more. Specifically, he had pushed her on her connection with Sol.
Her body heated with arousal at just the thought of the man. She shivered.
“A lady shouldn’t be out her alone.”
Erica jumped in surprise when a gravelly voice drifted from the corner. She turned and was surprised to see the very hunky man who had been occupying her thoughts.
Her heart leapt.
“Even if she’s trying to escape?” She leaned her back against the rail and tried to make out Sol’s face. Try as she might, she couldn’t seem to get much more than an outline.
He moved closer, still keeping to the shadows. The outline of his powerful frame blocked out the light from the door as he came near her. She could feel the heat from his body and shuddered.
“You’re cold,” he said gruffly.
She gasped as he took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. The woodsy scent of his soap surrounded her. Erica gripped the edges around her, grateful for the warmth.
“Thanks,” she said softly.
He grunted. “You didn’t say what you were trying to escape.”
Erica sighed and stared off to the side.
“Just not my crowd.” She frowned, thinking of the strange man at the bar. “Running into the occasional creep doesn’t help. I’m just not cut out for this sort of thing.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” His rough whisper made her clench with desire.
She looked up and stared at the exposed skin near where the collar should be buttoned. Erica licked her lips and tried to focus on the something other than the intense urge to suck on that exposed section.
A low rumble drew her eyes up until she was staring at his face. Slight stubble coated his face, and she longed to rub her face against it in a passionate embrace, to feel the rough texture against her skin as she nipped and tasted his way. Her heart raced at the thought. She could feel excitement pool between her legs and took a step closer.
She gasped.
“Your eyes,” she whispered.
“Shit.” He stepped back into the shadows.
“Why are they glowing?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Sol looked up. The deep amber pools held her own and pleaded.
Again, she felt the magnetic pull between them.
“You can’t tell any— ” A loud explosion rocked them where they stood.
She felt herself being pushed to the floor, covered completely by Sol’s large frame.
Chapter Three
Sol stood and breathed a sigh of relief that the balcony had held. Looking through the door, he could see people fleeing across the great room to the hall to the entrance. He turned back to the scared woman behind him.
“We’ve got to get out of here.” He reached his hand down to her and was silently grateful she put her hand in his.
Keeping her behind him, he rushed through the door. The room was thick with smoke and fires raged in different parts of the room. Off to one hallway, he could hear the cry of a woman.
“Just crawl out from under him,” a man said.
“I can’t. We need to try to wake him.” Her painful words cut through the smoke.
He followed their conversation as the moved through the haze. The small woman behind him coughed, and he held his jacket over her face to help. The closer they moved, the more heat he felt.
“Mark,” the previous woman called. “Where are you going? You can’t just leave me here!”
Sol’s pulse sped up in anger as they neared the group. The smoke cleared slightly, and for a brief moment, he saw that prick Mark Kincaid. He’d been giving them trouble for months now and wanted nothing more than to shut them down, claiming all sorts of financial irregularities. Sol glared at the retreating figure. Not only was he a prick, he was a gutless bastard.
“Kate!” The woman behind him raced out to grasp her friend’s hand.
As Sol got closer, he could see why Kate had trouble moving. Titus was sprawled across her, a large chunk of wood pushed off to the side.
“Titus.” He raced to his leader and rolled him over.
Titus groaned and coughed loudly.
“Oh thank God,” Kate said and gently placed her hands on Titus’s cheeks. “How do you feel?”
“Like shit,” Titus moaned.
“No time for that.” Sol reached down and pulled Titus to his feet. “This place could come down at any moment.”
He looped his leader’s arm around his neck and made a path to the door. Fires raged all around them. When he glanced back, he could see the small woman helping her friend in much the same fashion. Her watchful eyes constantly scanned the area.
“I’m good,” Titus said after some time and began to walk more freely on his own.
They all reached the hall. Fire lined all sides, creating a narrow path.
“You go first,” he said to Titus. When it looked like he might argue, Sol pushed on. “She’s injured, and you need to clear the path for her. We’ll follow behind.”
Titus paused and then nodded.
Sol watched as Titus made his way through the narrow opening and then reached a hand out to help Kate.
A loud groan filled the room, and the earth seemed to shudder from the sound. He shoved back the small woman. Just in time, Titus yanked Kate forward as the roof fell, blocking their only path out. He could see the pair was safe on the other side.
“Get out,” Sol shouted. “We’ll go another way.”
He turned, scooped up the small woman and charged through the smoke. They needed to get out of there quick, and his options were closing left and right. Without thinking, he raced back to the balcony door they had originally come in from. Fire had yet to reach that side. After he kicked open the door, the pair breathed in gulps of fresh air. He set her down.
Below, people milled about and shouted up at the sound of the door. Sol leaned over to look at them. Some were trying to find something to catch them with, but he knew that by the time they did, the fire would have already reached them. The sound of glass breaking hit his ears, and he looked over to the woman.
“You’re going to have to put a lot of trust in me,” he said to her. Silently, she nodded. “Put your hands around my neck and try not to scream.”
“Why would I—” He lifted her up and held her tightly to his body. Without further warning, he leapt over the railing.
With grace and years of practice, he landed softly on his feet. The woman in his arms leaned back. Her eyes were slightly unfocused as she spoke.
/> “What are you?” she whispered and fainted in his arms. Her limp body draped over him as he looked up at the forming crowd. A mixture of awe and fear reflected in their faces as they stared at his glowing eyes.
He knew at that moment that things would never be the same, and it was all his doing.
* * *
Erica woke up groggy, but cozy and warm, in a bed. As her eyes flickered open, the events from earlier came pouring back. She sat up quickly and ignored the throbbing behind her eyes.
“Oh I’m so glad you’re awake,” Kate said from the other bed.
She looked around and frowned. “Where are we?”
Kate turned down the volume on the news. “Your guest room at the lodge.”
Her frown deepened. “How did I get here?”
“Sol brought you,” Kate said quietly.
His glowing amber eyes floated in Erica’s head, but things still weren’t adding up.
“He brought us here afterward.” Her gaze shifted to the door. “We’ve even got a couple military guards keeping an eye on us.” She returned her attention to Erica. “You do remember what happened. Don’t you?”
She remembered the fire and Sol’s eyes. Erica thought for a moment. Movement on the TV caught her attention, and she looked up to see Titus. His eyes were glowing. Sol stood just off to the side.
The jump. He saved her by jumping. Something he shouldn’t have been able to do, not do and survive anyway.
Her heart raced as she pulled in everything. When she looked back up, Kate was turning up the volume, eyes fixed on Titus.
“We’re called hybrids,” Titus said into the set-up microphones. “Or at least, that’s what the military is saying. We were found about a year ago off the coast of Italy, just south of Rome.” He took a deep breath, like the story he was telling was not one he wanted to share. “The US and Italian governments tracked down the organization that made us, the Horatius Group, in connection with drug smuggling and human trafficking.” Titus gave a hollow chuckle. “I think we were the last thing they expected to find.”
Luna Lodge: Sol Page 2