Apollo Read online

  She didn’t even need to check the feelings she got around him. It was more what he did with those feelings. She knew of his attraction to her. It wasn’t her first time dealing with it. And maybe she was slightly attracted to him as well. Or at least she was interested in the object that had started to grow below the waistline.

  Still, she didn’t have time for that. Like earlier, it was best to keep those sort of ideas out of her head.

  Val glanced down at him. He sat off to the side, just out of the direct wind. It was damn cold out. That was likely why she was having so much trouble getting the bolts off. It was either that or some massive man had decided to use super-human strength to put them on. She looked back down at Apollo again and shook her head.

  No, if they had used one of their own to put them on, they would have just used that person again.

  The camera moved forward, and she stared at the wiring on the back of it.

  “Son of a bitch.”

  “You curse a lot,” Apollo said from the ground.

  She glared down at him.

  “Well, you would too if you knew what I was looking at.” She held the camera’s wires out for him to look. “Whatever jackass wired this place did a piss poor job. You see this?” She pointed to the large black wire. “Wrong wire for this system. I’ll have to rewire the whole thing to start with.”

  She shoved the camera hard against the wall and screwed the bolts back into place. Although she was hoping there would be enough that she’d need to work for a few days, this was far more work than she had anticipated. Even if she worked every waking second, it was going to take time. Serious time.

  “So what are you saying?” Apollo cut into her thoughts and voiced the very thing she was thinking.

  “Well…” She turned and made her way down the ladder. It bounced a little against the wall it leaned against, but she wasn’t bothered. Just another day on the job.

  Val gasped just a few rungs from the ground when strong hands wrapped around her waist. She took in deep breaths as she tried to steady herself. Her feet touched the ground, and she quickly turned around. This position was almost worse. Face to face with a wall full of chest.

  Her face was so close to him that she could smell the spicy soap he used, and it nearly intoxicated her. Val followed his hard expanse up. Were they all this large? She hadn’t gone far into the complex, and the only other men she’d seen were one hundred percent human.

  Apollo was easily the biggest man she’d ever met. He was certainly the handsomest.

  Her eyes landed on his tanned neck, and she watched as his throat bobbed while he swallowed. Involuntarily, she swallowed as well. Suddenly, her mouth was far drier than she remembered.

  “I…” She stumbled over her own words. Thanks was at the tip of her tongue, but she froze when her eyes met his. Bright amber, it was hard to see anything else. Something about the look of them froze whatever words she might have inside.

  A noise at the gate broke the moment, and she quickly moved away.

  “What was that?” she asked.

  Apollo looked over his shoulder and down the road.

  “Protesters,” he said and frowned.

  She watched as his jaw twitched and started to worry. If the people in the town were any indication what kind of trouble was outside the gate, then it was no wonder the hybrids wanted to rewire the cameras.

  “Should I be worried?”

  He turned and held her gaze but didn’t say anything. She almost liked it more when he was being a smart ass with her. Tension and concern radiated from him now.

  “We should finish up here,” he said and nodded to the camera.

  Val looked away, grateful for the chance to not have to stare up into those eyes. She wiped her hands on her pants and shook her head.

  “That’s it for the initial inspection,” she said. “Now we talk time and numbers.”

  Apollo frowned. It was clear by the look on his face and the irritation emanating from him that he was expecting it to be easy. Hell, everyone that hired her expected that. She couldn’t help it if her work required more than her clients expected. For some reason, there was this idea that all she needed to do was flip a few switches, and like magic, things would work.

  “What do you mean time?” He stared holes into her as she grabbed her tools from the ground.

  “Likely two weeks,” she said. “I’m about an hour away, but I can make it work.”

  He was shaking his head before the words were even out of her mouth. “That’s not going to work.”

  She shrugged and started to walk to her car. Val’s heart thumped hard in her chest as she made a gamble with her future. Every part of her just hoped he would tell her to wait, but she knew he wouldn’t. She felt so much suspicion and irritation from him, it was amazing they were able to hire anyone here.

  When she made it to her car, she turned to look at him. He stood just a few feet away, looking even more irritated than before.

  “Two weeks and two thousand dollars,” she said and slipped into the car. “You have my number. When you’re ready to talk, you know where to reach me.”

  She started the car and slipped her shades down over her eyes. This could be a major mistake. She could almost feel her only chance to meet Sol slipping between her fingers.

  For a second, she even wondered if she should have tried to flirt with Apollo more or something. She’d felt his strong attraction, but that just really wasn’t the way she wanted to do things.

  The gravel crunched as she pulled away, and Val wondered if she was making the worst mistake of her life. She glanced back in the mirror at Apollo’s lone figure and groaned. Either way she was going to be screwed in all this.

  Stay and never meet him or go and risk the chance of a lifetime.

  Chapter Four

  Val looked up at the ticking clock on the wall and turned back to scrubbing her floor with all her might. She wasn’t even sure why she was doing it. The white tile was already so clean it gleamed. Maybe she just needed something to occupy her time and get her mind off the job, or really, the lack of the job.

  Three fucking days and still no word. Not even a note to say that they were talking about it or would get back with her soon. To say it pissed her off would be putting it mildly. She didn’t have time to sit and wait forever. How was she going to get in to see Sol if they didn’t hire her? If they weren’t interested, they should just let her know.

  She leaned back on her heels and sighed. Getting rejected wasn’t what she wanted though. What she wanted to do was the job. It was her only chance to get in there. All she needed was a few minutes alone with him, and he’d see the truth. Then, she could achieve what she truly wanted.

  A knock at the door cut into her thoughts, and she frowned. She hoped it wasn’t the freak across the hall again. There was always some reason he would find to come bother her, and today she wasn’t in the mood.

  Val stood and stomped to the door, ready to do battle. She pulled it opened hard and glared at a very hard chest.

  She blinked several times, trying to regain her wits.

  “Do you still want the job?” Apollo asked gruffly.

  She stared at the tight black t-shirt that stretched across his chest.

  “Aren’t you cold?” The words were out of her mouth before she could even stop them. Whatever had possessed her to say them, she couldn’t say.

  “What?” Apollo seemed even more put off by her comment. His confusion radiated into her pretty easily.

  She looked up to his eyes, only to find him wearing very dark sunglasses. The frown that formed only seemed to match the one he was wearing.

  “I didn’t come to talk about my clothes,” he said, his voice slightly louder than before.

  The door across the hall popped open, and her neighbor peered out through the crack. Just the sight of him made her shudder, and when it came to people like that, she tended to trust the feelings she got. He hadn’t tried anything, but there was alwa
ys the strong feeling that he might. And Val just wasn’t sure what that would bring. That was the problem with her feelings. They might tell her what a person was feeling, but the intent was sometimes just as important.

  A sudden plan popped into her mind.

  Without bothering to ask, she reached out and pulled a very surprised Apollo through the door.

  She smiled seductively at him.

  “What are you—”

  She quickly cut him off and kept her eyes fixed on his still covered eyes.

  “Let’s get you in and warm you up.” She winked.

  Val hated to use him like that, but he was about the only man she’d had over in ages, and if she didn’t do something, the creep across the hall was going to get ideas. It was better for all involved if the slime ball just kept to himself, and she didn’t have to beat the shit out of him.

  Her neighbor slammed his door loudly, and she sighed. Dropping the smile, she closed her door as well. Given her neighbor’s reaction, her planned seemed to have worked.

  “What the fuck was that?” Apollo stood close behind her. His spicy smell filled the air, and a mixture of his confusion and irritation settled over her. There was something else there, more than a hint of attraction.

  When she turned, she was surprised to find he’d taken off his glasses. The amber eyes she was expecting were glowing a bright yellow.

  She leaned in and openly stared at them.

  “Beautiful,” she whispered.

  Val clamped her mouth shut and leaned back when she realized the word had actually slipped out.

  Apollo leaned toward her, and she stepped away, pressing her back against the cold door.

  “Don’t play games with me,” he said quietly. “You’ll find I don’t play well.”

  She sucked in a shallow breath and tried to regain some control over the situation. This had not at all gone like she would have thought.

  Her eyes wandered to his mouth, and she licked her lips. Looking away, she tried to clear her head, but the smell of him was nearly driving her insane. Mustering up everything she had, Val pushed past him into the apartment.

  The air wasn’t as thick in the room, and she was able to think.

  “My neighbor,” she said and turned away from him. Just the sight of him was doing something that she really didn’t want to think about at the moment.

  She felt more than heard Apollo move nearer to her. It was hard to explain, but everything about him pulled at her. Even with her ability to feel emotions, she’d never encountered anything like it before.

  “What about him?” Apollo asked.

  When she turned, she found him standing on the other side of her chair. She blushed. It had never even occurred to her that she’d effectively just invited him into her bedroom as well.

  Having a studio had always seemed like a good idea, but for the first time, she was regretting the decision. Now her whole world was on display for him. Not that she had much. Bed, chair, TV and then kitchen. Never having anything growing up had only prepared her for what she needed to do.

  She stared at him and realized he was waiting for her to continue.

  “The guy across the hall has been a bit more attentive than I would like,” she said and gave a weak smile. “Maybe he’ll get the hint.”

  “What? That you aren’t interested in him?”

  Apollo moved closer into the room, and she watched him as he wandered around.

  “Yeah,” she said. There really wasn’t much else to say.

  She watched as he turned to look at her again. His eyes were back to normal now, and despite herself, she almost wished they weren’t. The glowing yellow was beautifully alluring in a way.

  “I’ve come to offer you a job,” he said and stared at her expectantly.

  Business. Now that was something she could do.

  “Have you decided to accept the terms of my offer?” she asked, keeping her voice and face neutral.

  Apollo shook his head. She frowned.

  “Then why are you here?”

  She didn’t have time for them to play games with her. If she couldn’t get the job, she’d have to figure out some other way into Luna Lodge, and soon.

  He sighed loudly, and it was clear that he wasn’t thrilled about what he had to say. Oddly enough, less irritation than attraction seem to be floating from him now. She thought about using that angle to try and manipulate him, but she just really wasn’t that type of woman.

  “We have a counter-offer,” he said and looked her in the eye. “One week.” She started to open her mouth but stopped when he held up a hand. “One week, but you stay with us to save time.”

  She thought it over. It was a good deal. Better than she would have gotten on her own.

  “Plus we’ll double the pay.”

  The air whooshed out of her lungs. She had to sit, or she was going to pass out. Her legs bumped her bed, and she sat hard. Double. That was more than she could have ever hoped for: good money and access to her target.

  “Double?” she said, not bothering to hide the incredulity in her voice. She wouldn’t put it pass Apollo to just be screwing with her.

  He looked anywhere but at her while nodding. Something about the way he acted made her feel like she had done something wrong.

  Val looked around and then down at herself. She couldn’t really see that it was her. Tank top and yoga pants were what she usually wore when she was cleaning. It wasn’t really all that revealing.

  That said, the level of arousal she could feel from him only seemed to be growing. She had experience dealing with this sort of thing before. It came with being a woman in a male-dominated area, but the occasional waves she felt from Apollo were intense. She wondered if he just hadn’t been getting any lately.

  Sure, those thick muscles and gorgeous amber eyes made her flutter a bit and might be fun to test out, but this wasn’t about getting laid, even with a ridiculously hunky super-man. She needed to get into the Lodge for other reasons. It had already taken her far too long to get to this point.

  A spicy smell wove through the room and pulled her attention away. Her vision clouded over, and she breathed in deeply. Something smelled good. Very good. She looked around and stopped on Apollo.

  His face was red and looked strained. She pulled in another deep breath, and his eyes whipped to hers. This time she could see the fire burning inside, and it made her shiver. It’d been a long time since she’d gotten any, too, and the bastard had to go and be annoyingly handsome.

  Whatever was going on, she could feel it. Feel him. She couldn’t do this. Whatever it was would come between her and her chances with Sol. She just couldn’t have it. She’d need to keep the situation under control.

  Val stood and bent over to look under the bed.

  “What are you doing?” His words were strained as they came out.

  She yanked hard and placed the suitcase on the bed.

  When she turned, his eyes were firmly fixed on her ass.

  “Packing.” She shrugged.

  She ignored the arousal she felt from him.

  He turned away quickly, and she frowned. It was clear that he wasn’t thrilled with her staying at Luna Lodge. She huffed loudly. What did she care? It wasn’t her concern if he didn’t want her to stay there. She would do what she needed to in order to meet her goal. In this case, everything and everyone was just a means to an end, including Apollo.

  She heard the door open and turned from her position at her closet.

  “Are you leaving?”

  He paused in the door. His back was still to her, and she could see and feel the tension bound up there.

  “I’ll be in the car,” he said gruffly. He glanced over his shoulder. He placed the glasses back over his eyes. “Don’t be long.”

  Before she could even reply, the door was closed, and she was left staring at the white frame.

  “Well, this is going to be fun,” she grumbled.

  Chapter Five

  Apollo tapp
ed his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited in the car. It had been nearly fifteen minutes since he came outside, and she was still packing. He could hear her moving around in the tiny apartment, grumbling curse words every now and again.

  He couldn’t really be annoyed with her. After all, they hadn’t bothered to all ahead with the job offer, but everyone felt this was a more secure way to go about it. For all they knew, the Group had her phone and computer tapped. They didn’t need to hand their enemy any easy openings to use against them.

  She cursed again.

  She certainly wasn’t like the other women he knew. At this point, he couldn’t really say if that was a good or bad thing.

  His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out. Sol.

  He gritted his teeth and hit talk.

  “Yeah,” he said. The hostility was clear, but he couldn’t help himself. This wasn’t what he wanted to be doing, and he was still burned they hadn’t put him back on rotation.

  “Did she take the deal?” Sol asked, either ignoring the hostility or just not hearing it.

  “She’s packing now,” he said and glanced up at the window. “I still think this is a bad idea.”

  Sol sighed on the other end, and he knew they were tired of this discussion. “She’s the best one for the job.”

  Apollo’s mouth formed a hard line, and he tried to keep himself in check. This was what they were waiting for.

  “Something’s not right with her,” he said.

  There was a pause on the other end, and he wondered if Sol was just trying to decide if he wanted to deal with him and his perceived paranoia. Sure, Apollo had been wrong about Rachel, but that didn’t mean there weren’t real threats still out there.

  “What’s not right?” Sol asked.

  Apollo glanced back up at the window. Admitting the truth would signal his interest, but he had to say it. They needed to know the truth.

  “She’s a Vestal,” Apollo said.

  The line went quiet again. He scowled when there was a bark of laughter over the phone. “Well, that’s a good thing, right?”