Titus: Luna Lodge #2 (12 page)

“They are ruining my life,” she yelled into the phone. “You bet your ass I would. Now patch me the fuck through.”

The phone went quiet. She could hear him scrambling to send her down the line. Kate strained to make out the conversations, but he must have pressed the phone to his leg.

She turned around and found a stunned Titus behind her. Kate rolled her eyes and turned her back to him. He was so far up shit creek she didn’t think anything could get him out.

The reporter on the television pressed her hand to her ear.

“It seems that we’ve got Kate on the line,” she said. Kate turned the volume down on the TV. “Kate,” she said. “I’m so glad you could join us.”

“I bet you are,” Kate said sarcastically. “I’m going to level with you Jill, I wasn’t too happy to have my friend’s baby shower interrupted by your less-than-impressive investigative reporting.”

The woman didn’t even blink at the digs.

“Would that be the baby shower of Erica, who is the wife of the hybrid Sol?”

“Yes,” Kate snapped. “But let’s get right to the point of the call.” The screen switched to her mother and step-father. “Aw, look, it’s Ma and Pa. Pillars of the community, except for when they are booting out their sixteen-year-old daughter because she’s just too much trouble. So nice that you all were able to come out today as such a caring family. I can’t even think when the last time we spoke was.” She paused for emphasis. “Oh wait, I’m wrong. I believe your last words to me were ‘Get out and don’t come back,’” she said. “Remember that?”

Her step-father’s face went red. “Now you wait a minute,” he shouted.

“No,” she shouted. “You wait a minute. You don’t get to come on national television, make statements and then get to talk down to me when I show up. Now sit down and shut it before I have my lawyer tell you to do it.”

She smiled when he leaned back and closed his mouth. Jill leaned forward and opened her mouth to talk, but Kate hurried on. “A letter? You think that I would send you, of all people, a letter? And by the way, no one sends letters these days. If I was going to write you, I’d send a damn email like the rest of the country.”

Jill gasped into the line.

“As for the content,” she said, pacing the room, “my life here has been nothing short of wonderful. There’s a great community here, a good home and people that are special to me.” She glanced over to her friends and Titus. “For the first time, my life has meaning and that’s no thanks to my so-called parents.”

“So you’re saying that letter is false?” Jill asked her.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. But even more than that, I’m also telling nosy reporters to get their facts straight before they go airing things. Anyone with half a brain would have found out that my relationship with my mother is strained at best, and the last person I would ask help from would be her or the step-father who threw me out.”

Jill shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

“Well, thank you for setting things straight,” Jill said. She cleared her throat. “That’s all the time we have for now.”

Kate listened as the line clicked over, and someone from the studio picked up.

“I’m saying this one time, you all ever try that crap again, and you won’t be getting a call from me. You’ll get a call from my lawyer.” Kate hit end.

When she turned, the group was watching her wordlessly on the couch. Titus stood off to the side, and she glared at him.

“You!” She marched over to Titus. “You march in here like I’m the one who isn’t being honest when it’s really you who’s hiding things.”

Titus frowned. “What am I hiding?”

“Oh, that is rich! Rachel told me,” she said. He glared at Rachel. “Don’t blame her. She only said something because we stayed together last night, and she assumed you’d do the right thing.”

He looked down. “It’s not like that,” he said. “I was going to tell you tonight.”

Kate poked him in the chest. “You didn’t think you should tell me this before we had sex? Or maybe after at any of the points last night?”

“I wasn’t thinking about it,” he said firmly.

She balled her hands into fists at her side. The nails bit into the flash on her palms.

“I think you should leave,” she said quietly. “This is a baby shower, and we’re supposed to be celebrating the babies.”

Titus looked from her to Sol. “Let’s go back to the office,” he said.

She turned her back to him and didn’t turn around again until she heard the door close.

Kate’s shoulders sagged forward, and she let the tears that had been threatening to spill slip out.

“It will be okay,” Hannah said and put her arm around Kate.

“I just don’t know anymore,” she said between sobs.

Erica wrapped her arms around Kate and pulled her into a great hug.

“I know,” she whispered. “He’s an idiot but an idiot in love with you. No question in my mind.”

Kate cried onto her friend for some time until her eyes couldn’t leak anything else.

“Better?” Erica asked.

Kate swallowed and leaned back.

“Is it time for cake or what?” She gave a weak smile.

“I’m pregnant,” Erica laughed. “It’s always time for cake.”

Chapter Thirteen

It had been three days, and he was losing his mind. Titus had tried everything to get her to even look at him, but Kate had continued to avoid him like the plague. All he needed was a few minutes to explain to her that it wasn’t just the pheromones causing all this. It was her. It had always been her.

As it was, he couldn’t even get in the same room as her. It was like she had a sort of sixth sense and was always a few steps ahead. But not this time.

She had to drop off the marketing plan, and he was going to be there. Titus suspected that the women were helping Kate avoid him, so he told Jenna that he was going home for the day. It was easy slipping into his office and waiting for her to come. Everything about it was sneaky and underhanded, but he was desperate. He had to be able to at least explain himself to her.

He could hear to clack of her heels as she came into the front office.

“He’s not in,” said Jenna. “Just set it on his desk.”

The door opened. He waited in anticipation on the couch.

When she reached the desk, he stood up. She was wearing a short skirt and button-up shirt. It made him tighten with need.

“Hello, Kate,” he said.

The look of surprise on her face might have made him laugh at another time but not when he was so twisted up inside.

She glared out the door at Jenna.

“She didn’t know,” he said.

Kate moved around him in the direction of the door. He stepped into her path.

He could hear her breathing increase when he turned around and shut the door. The click of the lock echoed in the room.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

Titus turned to look at her. Her eyes were wide, and she once again had deep circles under them.

“Just giving us time to talk,” he said.

“We have nothing to talk about.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Bullshit,” he said and moved toward her.

Kate backed up with each step he took.

“You don’t have feelings for me,” she said. “It’s all just the pheromones.”

Titus closed on her fast. She pressed herself against the wall.

“Bullshit,” he whispered.

“Would you have wanted me if I didn’t smell good to you?” She looked down.

He slipped a finger under her chin and pulled up. “Yes,” he said quietly. “You smell good, but I’m in charge of what I do and who I’m with.” He smiled at her. “I’m not with you because of the pheromones, I’m with you because of all the other reasons. And did you ever think that some of this pheromone business might just be a reflection of how I feel?”

She looked up to him. Her expression suggested she hadn’t thought of that.

“But how do you know?” She blinked a few times, and he could see she was trying not to cry.

“Because I do,” he said and gently pulled her to him.

He smiled when she sighed into his arms.

“I’ve missed you,” he said near her ear.

She shivered in his arms, and he knew she had missed him as well. The longer they stayed that way, the more her scent intensified in the room.

When she pulled back to look at him, he swooped down and pressed his mouth against hers. Kate groaned and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Tell me you missed me, Kate,” he said as he places soft kisses along her throat.

“I missed you,” she whispered.

He growled when she slipped her hands into his hair.

“I want you,” she groaned. His fingers quickly found her nipples through the thin blouse.

“How do you want me?” He grinned when she huffed in irritation. “Wrap your legs around me,” he said and lifted her ass up to meet him.

They groaned as their bodies met.

Titus swung her around and moved swiftly to the couch. He stooped to set her on the couch and knelt between her open legs. Without stopping he pushed up her skirt and groaned at the flimsy scrap of lace there.

He traced a finger along the seam and grinned when she bucked wildly against him. Not stopping, he ground his thumb against her exposed clit and slipped a finger in her. Her climax built quickly, and she shouted when she came around him. He could feel her walls pull him in.

“Titus.” She blinked her eyes open. “Make love to me.”

His heart raced. She hadn’t said sex or fuck but make love. Titus leaned over and took her mouth in a searing kiss. He fumbled with his pants and groaned when they came down and he was flush with her sex.

“Kate,” he whispered and slid deep within her. Titus pulled back and watched as his cock slip into her. Her juices glistened on him. He groaned at the sight.

He jumped when she reached her hand between them to feel him plunging into her. His slick cocked slipped between her fingers as he moved, and it only intensified the feeling. She curled her fingers to fondle his balls, and he pushed harder into her.

“Yes,” she whispered.

He moved into her. Her hand slipped away and wrapped around his neck as she pulled herself up. The new angle let him push even deeper into her. He groaned as he bumped the end of her.

“Now,” she groaned.

He shook as he came deep inside her. Her walls sucked on him, only prolonging his own climax.

Titus leaned over and settled on top of her. She sighed at the feeling of him and wrapped her arms around him. Kate had missed him. Regardless of if it was real or not, her feelings were certainly real.

He kissed her neck several times, and she smiled. Though so big and intense normally, he was certainly very loving and sweet when they were together.

He pulled back to look at her. “Come to my house tonight,” he whispered.

She gasped when he started grow inside her.

“Okay, but I’ve got a meeting I’m going to be late for.” She smiled.

“So be late.” He pushed forward slightly, and she groaned.

“Titus,” she breathed out his name. “I can’t.”

He sighed and pulled out of her. “Okay,” he said. “But my place later.”

She nodded and cleaned up a little with the tissues from her purse.

“Shouldn’t be more than an hour and a half,” she said.

“Where are you—” He stopped when she pressed her lips firmly to him.

Kate kissed him hard, cutting off any way for him to talk. The faster she could make her escape, the better it would be all around.

“I missed you more than I could ever express,” she whispered. Kate grinned up at him. “I expect a nice long bath when I get home,” she said and quickly moved to the door. “With you.” She winked and slipped out of his office.

It was better if she could avoid answering any questions. He wouldn’t be happy with her, and, to be honest, she really didn’t know if she was all that happy with herself. Meeting with her parents? She really didn’t know what she was thinking.

But her mom had seemed so concerned when she’s talked to her on the phone. As long as she didn’t have to see John, it would all be fine. Kate could show her that she was perfectly fine and get back to Titus’s cabin in time for her totally lusty bath.

Not stopping, she made her way to her car and climbed in. It roared to life and off she went. She really wasn’t certain what would meet her at the gate. After the last time she had gone out, they had put up strict guidelines.

She pulled up to the man at the gate and smiled.

“Hi, Ms. Walker.” He smiled at her. “We got notice from Woods that you’d be meeting with your parents this evening. Hope you can get things worked out.”

Kate frowned slightly. That was weird. She hadn’t known that he was the one behind setting up their meeting.

She gave a smile to the man and nodded. “Thanks.”

The gate swung open into the night. The meeting was feeling more and more like a bad idea, but she just had to get to the bottom of things. It would ruin the hybrids if something happened at the lodge.

She drove on for some time before stopping outside the little café. It hadn’t even occurred to her that she would be meeting in the same spot she had met Woods. He was dirty, and now she knew it for sure. Fear blossomed in her chest. She didn’t think this was going to go as planned.

A car pulled up behind her, and one pulled up in front. She was boxed in. She sighed. There was nothing to do now. Likely they would have guns, and she had nothing. She turned off her phone and slipped it into the pocket of her jacket. If they didn’t know about her phone, she’d still have a chance later.

Kate climbed out of the car and into the night. Several suited men climbed out on both sides. It was clear whatever they had planned wouldn’t happen here. One came up from behind and secured her arms.

“You won’t get away with this,” she said to them. “They will find me.”

She shook as she spoke and hoped her words were true.

“Oh, I’m sure they will,” someone said from the car ahead. “Or should I say, I’m sure he will.”

She cried out as a needle pierced her neck. The world wobbled in front of her as she struggled to stay focused on the pair of legs that had emerged from the care. Her eyes blinked shut a few times, and when they opened, she was faced with the piercing red eyes from the dark.