Alec: #11 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas) Read online

  Pushing those thoughts out of her head, Hope grabbed a fork full of pasta and took a bite. The sauce was nothing short of amazing. It had the perfect amount of sweet and acidic flavor, along with deep notes of garlic. She had no idea who Alec had been watching, but clearly he had learned a thing or two. She wasn’t sure she could have made pasta as good.

  “Are these noodles handmade?” Hope asked.

  Alec looked as if he’d been holding his breath waiting for her to take a bite. He shrugged. “That’s the way the chef showed how to make it. I don’t know enough to do my own thing yet.”

  The man had made her handmade pasta, sauce, and meatballs. She wasn’t going to call it love, but if he made her pasta like this often she could certainly see it turning that way, and that was before she even considered how the kisses made her feel.

  Hope split open a meatball next. It steamed as she brought it to her mouth. It was tender and just as flavorful as the sauce. The night’s menu might have been one of the best meals she’d ever had, and the man who made it seemed too blasé about the whole thing, like it was something anyone could do after a few hours of watching the Cooking Channel.

  “This is amazing.”

  Alec ran a hand through his hair. “Glad you like it.”

  Hope reached out and placed a hand on his bare arm. She noticed for the first time he’d taken off the long sleeve button-up he’d been wearing earlier in the day and was just wearing a black t-shirt. Had he been wearing it when she first came in? Likely she’d been too distracted to notice. She could now see the length of the tattoo there, and for a moment was distracted by it before pulling her attention back to the man.

  “No, really, this is an amazing dinner,” Hope said.

  Alec smiled at her. It wasn’t the playful smile he often shot her from across the room or the one where she was certain his thoughts were less than clean. It was a real, genuine smile that radiated from inside with warmth.

  Hope’s heart fluttered, and she pulled back her hand before she did something really silly like place it in his. She was letting herself get carried away. The real problem was she wasn’t sure that was a bad thing.

  Chapter Six

  Alec leaned back in his chair, his stomach full of pasta, and watched as Hope sipped her wine. Despite complaining about the plate size, she’d still managed to make a decent dent in her meal. Not that he was going to say anything. He had a feeling she wasn’t eating enough and loved knowing that she enjoyed something he made for her. It wasn’t as if he was completely oblivious to the differences in hybrid and human appetites.

  “It was delicious.” Hope sighed and took another sip of her wine.

  Alec wondered how often she drank. She already seemed far less wound up. It warmed him to know he could play some small part in distracting her from all the tension and danger surrounding them.

  “You must have been cooking for quite some time if you can make pasta like that,” Hope said.

  Alec shrugged. He’d never really thought about it much. He’d just done what he’d seen, and didn’t ignore the few other ideas that popped up.

  “Maybe,” he said quietly. “I can’t really remember much before the freeze.”

  “The freeze?” Hope echoed.

  Alec turned to her. His eyes fixed on hers. “That’s what we call the time we were frozen by the Horatius Group.”

  Hope nodded, and he was glad he didn’t have to go into what he had suffered at the hands of his captors.

  “I’m not quite sure just who or what I was before,” Alex continued. “Maybe I did like cooking. It would make sense. I think I must have been a fighter. There are a few scars that tell the story of a fighter.”

  He shrugged. They were guesses really. He could have gotten the scars in a bar fight for all he knew, but somehow that didn’t seem likely.

  “Do you remember anything at all?” Hope asked.

  Alec stared off for a moment, uncertain if he really wanted to answer but decided that with Hope of all people, he wanted to be honest. “A child.”

  He heard her sharp intake of breath but didn’t look her way. The last thing he wanted was to see the look on her face at that moment. He still wasn’t sure what the memory meant himself.

  “Blond hair,” Alec said. “The smell of him fills my nose. It’s overwhelming at times.”

  Alec closed his eyes. If he thought about it long enough, he could smell the fresh scent of the baby as it clung to his nostrils, the scent almost choking him with memories that were still out of reach, perhaps forever.

  “I…” Hope’s voice quivered as she spoke. “I’m sorry.”

  Alec swallowed hard and shook his head, freeing himself from the sad thoughts. When he opened his eyes, he kept his attention fixed on the empty plate in front of him. He wanted to be honest with Hope, but the whole point of the dinner was to have a good time, not wallow in the past.

  “It’s not much. I’m not even sure if the kid is mine, but that’s about all I have. Little flashes of the life I might have lived.” He shrugged. “Or maybe that was what they wanted me to see. They could have planted those memories, and I would be none the wiser. Given everything the Group was able to do, it wouldn’t surprise me.”

  From the corner of his eye, Alec could see Hope as she leaned forward. Her thick brown hair fell in front of her face. Without thought, he leaned over and tucked a strand behind her ear.

  “Or maybe those memories were too strong for them to wipe away completely,” Hope said. “The bond of a parent with a child. I’d think for most that would be pretty hard to shake.”

  She offered a small smile. Hope understood. Knowing the memories where actually his, despite how painful they might be, meant he had something that the Horatius Group hadn’t been able to take from him.

  “What about you?” Alec asked. “What was life like for you before coming here?”

  Hope frowned and sat stone straight in her chair. After a moment, she took a deep breath, stood, and picked up the plates on the table. “Nothing big. I worked at a diner waiting tables. Just trying to make it to the next paycheck. I wasn’t anything special.”

  She stacked the plates in her hand like she’d done it a million times. With her free hand, she set the pasta bowl in the now empty bread bowl and picked them both up.

  “Family?” Alec asked.

  He could tell she didn’t want to talk about it, but he wanted to know everything about her. He needed to know.

  “Not in the picture.” Hope shook her head and started toward the kitchen. “I better wash these.”

  Hope placed the dishes in the sink and turned on the water. She downed the last of her wine as bubbles filled the sink.

  She almost laughed. All the earlier stirrings of her body had been drowned by the intense emotion of their conversation.

  A child. Of all the things for Alec to mention, a child was about the last thing she expected. Not that he wouldn’t have made a great dad. She was sure of that. With his easy-going nature and fun-loving ways, he’d be a hit with just about any kid.

  No, the meaning of what he revealed bothered her. His child was long gone. She knew many of the hybrids had been frozen for quite some time. That meant that the lives they had lived were long since over with no chance of trying to ever recover them.

  Her heart ached for Alec. It was a terrible weight to carry. But still, she couldn’t help but assure him the memories were his. All she could think was that if it were her child, she’d want to remember as well. Of course she would, especially when she’d been so unimportant in her own mother’s life.

  Hope switched off the water and placed her hands in the hot suds. She jumped when two strong arms wrapped around her middle and a warm chest pressed against her back.

  “I didn’t mean to pry,” Alec whispered in her ear.

  She sighed and leaned her head back against his chest. Maybe it was the wine, but he made her feel so relaxed, even when she should be anything but that. It all just felt so perfect.<
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  “I just wanted you to know all there is to know about me,” Alec continued, “and I want to do the same with you. But I won’t press. I’ll wait for you to be ready to tell me.”

  Hope closed her eyes as she continued to lean against him. Her soapy hands rested against the edge of the sink.

  “It’s not you,” she said. “My family just isn’t that compelling a topic. I’d rather mostly just forget about them and move forward.”

  Alec kissed her neck softly. “It’s a part of who you are, and I want to know all of you. I hope that’s clear by now.”

  She opened her eyes and leaned forward. Her hands slipped back into the water. Alec slipped his arms from around her middle, a dejected look in his eyes. She sighed as she turned to look at him fully.

  “I’ll wash,” she said. “You dry.” She waited for him to grab the towel and stand next to her. “My dad split before I was even born. Mom told him she was pregnant, and the next morning he’d cleared out his closet as well as the hidden cash in her sock drawer. Nine months later, I was born. Not exactly the stuff of epic romance.” She washed off a plate and handed it over.

  “Did you ever meet him?” Alec asked.

  Hope shook her head. “I could have, but what’s the point? He didn’t want me, so maybe I don’t want him now. He wasn’t there when I most needed him.”

  Alec placed dishes on the clean rack. “And your mother?”

  Hope snorted and scrubbed the plate in her hand with a little more vigor than necessary. “Oh, Mom was a peach. New guy every couple weeks. Half of them were drunks and the other half were thieves. I started sneaking some of her tip money from the club and hiding it in one of my dolls just so we had groceries. It wasn’t like she could be bothered to keep her daughter fed.”

  Alec reached into the soapy water to pull out the plate she had scrubbed. “Don’t you have any other family?”

  Hope shrugged. There was mention of family from time to time, but none she’d ever met. Her bet was that her mother had been so toxic they had all decided to cut her from their lives. She couldn’t really blame them. Well, maybe a little. It would have been nice if they hadn’t cut her out as well. A lifeline would have changed so much for her. She shouldn’t have had to suffer because of her mother.

  “Mom didn’t really talk about family. I think there was bad blood there.”

  Alec placed the plate on the rack next to the other one. “And where is your mother now?”

  Hope sighed. It was always a hard thing to explain. Most times she just told people her mother was dead. It was easier, and in her mind, the closest explanation to the truth.

  “She left.” Hope didn’t quite know why she was telling Alec. Maybe because he had been so honest earlier. She placed the silverware on the other side of the sink and turned to look at him. “I was sixteen. Came home from school one day, and she was gone.”

  Alec frowned. “Kidnapped?”

  Hope let out a bitter laugh. His first thought made sense given the life the hybrids had lived.

  “I wish,” she mumbled. “No, she packed up all her stuff just like my father had and ghosted me. Left a hundred sitting on the table. As if that made us even.”

  Despite herself, Hope could hear the tremble in her voice and hated herself for it. She didn’t want to cry over that bitch. She’d done more than enough crying over her mother. The woman was supposed to be in the past.

  Alec’s warm hands landed on her shoulders.

  “She was your mother,” Alec murmured. “She should have done better by you.”

  Hope nodded. She could feel the sting of the tears against her eyes and the lump forming in her throat.

  No. She was not going to do this again. Hope shook her head and swallowed down her pain.

  “Since that point it’s just been me,” she said. “Working hard to try and get by. When the Azilians offered a chance at something easier, I thought it had to be better than the direction I was headed.”

  Alec dropped his hands from her shoulders but continued to stare at her. “Maybe not. Fights with a god, mutant hybrids, and now a pending battle. Maybe you were safer in that diner.”

  Hope stepped forward. “I was dying in that diner. A little piece of me every day. For the first time in my miserable life I’m actually living, and if I die in the battle, at least I died having a purpose.”

  She gasped loudly as Alec wrapped her into a crushing hug, his large body enveloping hers.

  “You aren’t going to die!” he rumbled, raw emotion infused into his voice.

  All Hope could do was nod in response. Suddenly, he pulled her back. His glowing blue eyes stared down at her.

  “What if I sent you back to that diner?” Alec said. “What if I found a way to get you there so you could be safe?”

  Hope shook. He wanted her to leave? To get rid of her? How was that any different than what her mother had done?

  “No,” she said, her voice near tears. “Didn’t you hear me? I belong here. I have a purpose here. I’m supposed to be here. Something in me made me go with the Azilians and what if my whole life was leading up to right now? Anassa talks about destiny and fate and all that. Maybe it’s not as crazy as it all sounds.”

  Alec stared at her with a slight frown. Hope’s knees trembled. It was as if her whole body was rejecting his offer to push her away.

  “I’m supposed to be here, Alec. I’m supposed to be here with you.”

  As if it were the permission he was seeking, Alec leaned forward and pulled her into a deep kiss.

  Chapter Seven

  Alec pulled Hope hard against him. His mouth took control as he plunged his tongue into her mouth. The slick heat only pulled him deeper into the kiss.

  He should have stopped, pulled away, but he didn’t. The original plan hadn’t been to go this quickly. He was going to get to know her. To have her know him. To spend time together taking steps toward building a lasting relationship. But time wasn’t on their side. Any day now they would be at war, and there was no telling what would happen. There was one thing Alec knew for certain, and that was that he would lay down his life to protect Hope. No matter what, she would live if he had to tear Erebus apart with his bare hands.

  It had been a plea of desperation when he tried to convince her to leave. Only she had countered with something he couldn’t back away from, the love he’d been seeking all this time, channeled through a deep bond his soul couldn’t deny.

  Alec growled as he ran his hands over Hope’s body. He traced her soft curves on his way to her firm ass. Fuck, how many times had he thought about touching her this way? How many dreams had she starred in?

  He lifted Hope up and set her on the counter. She pulled back from his mouth with a start.

  “What are you…” she began. Her voice trailed off into a groan as he pushed his firm cock against the sweet spot between her legs. Instinctually, she wrapped her legs around him as he pressed her core firmly against his dick. He wasn’t the only one who wanted this.

  Alec’s dick throbbed inside his pants, begging to be buried deep inside her. But he wanted to hold off. To make the moment last as long as he could. Even if he had to go quicker than he planned, Alec still wanted that night to be more than just sex. He wanted her to feel it as much as he did, the longing and need that seemed to consume his whole body.

  Hope had to feel it, the pulsing need that coursed through his very being. That same calling he felt for her when she was near. They were meant for one another in all the ways that entailed. He would prove that to her.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned back as he rubbed himself against her center. A low, deep moan slipped from her lips, and he leaned forward to kiss her bare neck, his cock straining even more against his pants.

  Hope’s V-neck t-shirt gave him all the space he needed to drive her wild. Alec started on the side of her neck, working his way up to just behind her ear. He planted soft open-mouthed kisses the whole way. When he reached her earlobe, he gave
it a gentle nip.

  She dug her nails into his shoulders and thrust her hips roughly against him. This time it was his turn to groan. If she kept on like that, there was a good chance he would spill his seed before he’d even gotten to anything good. This was already turning into everything he ever dreamed.

  Alec shifted his body slightly away and moved one hand down between her legs. He could feel her wet heat there. She was already soaking through her jeans.

  “Shit, baby,” he whispered against her ear. “You’re so wet for me.”

  Alec could feel her start to pull away, but he didn’t let that stop him from pushing the button on her pants and slipping a finger under her panties and between her slick folds. Hope gasped as he slid easily along her sweet bud. She moaned loudly.

  Hope gripped onto him tightly as Alec used his other hand to slide her pants over her ass and to her thighs, granting his hand even more access to her.

  Alec watched her face as he pushed the rest of his hand into her panties and slid his middle finger deep inside of her. She closed her eyes and leaned back with her mouth open in a silent gasp of ecstasy.

  Watching her face as he fucked her with his finger was the most erotic thing he’d ever seen. The only sounds were their breathing and the sweet, wet noises her pussy made as he pushed even deeper inside to pleasure her. The faster he moved, the harder she panted. When he pressed his thumb against her swollen clit, Hope came unraveled in his hand. Her insides gripped him.

  After a few moments, when her breathing had started to return to normal, Alec gently pulled his finger from inside her depths and out of her panties. Hope opened her eyes and watched him as he placed his finger into his mouth to suck off the sweet juices of her pussy.

  She shivered in his arms and Alec couldn’t stop the wicked smile on his face as he leaned forward and kissed her mouth, her own taste swirling between them.