Lucas: #3 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas) Read online

  And just as quickly as it started, it was at an end.

  Lucas pulled back from her, eyes blazing a bright blue illuminating his face.

  “I think…” he said gruffly and pulled away from her. “I should get you back to the house.”

  She frowned a little as he gathered all the items and placed them back into the basket. She didn’t understand how they could go from that emotional intimacy to him suddenly seeming irritated. Had she done something wrong? Said something wrong?

  The old irritation flared in her. No. Just because he was a hybrid didn’t mean he could yank her around emotionally.

  Taylor slowly made her way down to the back of the truck and slid out, Lucas not far behind her. He made his way over to the passenger side and held the door open for her as she climbed in.

  They sat in silence as he drove back to the front of the house. When he stopped the car, she jumped out, not wanting to wait for him.

  She shouldn’t feel upset, and yet she was. Things had been going so well, and then suddenly they weren’t. Maybe this was just a hybrid thing, but that didn’t excuse his behavior.

  Not wanting to look at him, she hurried to the door, but he rushed in front of her. She almost cursed. Of course a hybrid would be faster than her.

  “Taylor?” he asked.

  She didn’t turn to look at him. How could she?

  “Did I do something wrong?” she asked.

  She turned when Lucas didn’t answer. Confusion was written on his face.

  “You stopped so quickly,” she said. She nodded back to the spot they had been parked.

  His eyes flashed, and this time it was her turn to be confused.

  “I stopped because I didn’t want to pressure you,” he said gruffly. “Because holding you in my arms isn’t near enough.”

  The air in her lungs whooshed out, and for a moment, the only thing she could hear was the hammering of her own heart.

  She swallowed. “Well, maybe it’s not enough for me, either.”

  Chapter Twelve

  His mouth found hers the instant the words left her lips. Lucas had to have her in all the ways he’d only dared to dream about. He’d only been waiting for her to agree.

  Her sweet cherry scent floated around him as he worked his way through the door and past the living room. The bed was his only objective at this point.

  Lucas grunted in annoyance as they tried to walk and kiss. Not going to be hindered by anything, he picked her up and wrapped her small muscular legs around his middle. He hardened even more, happy to have her hot center pressed against his body.

  He walked through the house to the bedroom and closed the door behind them.

  Moonlight and the light from his eyes helped push away some of the darkness, but not completely. Not that it mattered much to him. He could still easily make out all the details of the room around him with ease.

  Not surprisingly, Taylor had simple taste in decorating. He spotted nothing fancy at all. Of course, he wasn’t that interested in much other than the bed at that moment.

  He pulled his mouth off hers to place her on her feet firmly on the floor before he discarded his shirt.

  Lucas heard her gasp and looked down to find her tracing the slightly glowing lines across his body.

  “What are they?” she asked with interest. “These aren’t just tattoos, right?”

  Her soft fingers followed a line that dipped across his shoulder and to his back.

  “Markings,” he said quietly. “They distinguish us from the other hybrids.”

  Taylor looked up and then back to the glowing blue lines. “They are beautiful.”

  He nearly choked when she leaned forward and trailed soft kisses along the lines. Her tongue darted out to taste the flesh.

  “Taylor,” he managed to get out. He groaned and pulled her away from him.

  He wasn’t able to take much more torture.

  In one quick movement, he tore the tank from her body and groaned at the revealed lacy black bra.

  Although her room might be simple, there was nothing simple about this bra. It was the sort of undergarment a man hoped his woman was hiding under her clothes.

  “Fuck,” he grunted and traced the lines of the bra against her peach skin.

  A slight pink tinged her chest and worked its way up to her face. Lucas smiled that he was able to get that reaction out of her.

  He let his hand trail down her soft stomach until he reached her shorts. He shoved them down her legs with her help.

  Matching black panties caught his attention. Lucas plucked the thin lace straps on her hips. He could hear Taylor’s breath hitch in her throat.

  His eyes found her own in the dark. She stared back at him shyly.

  Finding the look irresistible, he leaned down and kissed her again. This time he let all the passion he held back flow through the kiss.

  His hands moved along the soft skin at her sides, and when they reached her back, he pulled her close against his body. Her soft breasts pressed against his hard chest.

  She moaned when his tongue worked inside her mouth, mimicking what he wanted to do to her body.

  He wanted her. No. More than that, he needed her. His cock throbbed with how much he ached to be inside her.

  From the instant he saw her and smelled her, Lucas knew she was his. They still had so much to talk over, but that didn’t matter at this moment. Feeling her and knowing that she wanted him too was all he needed. They would deal with the rest later.

  She timidly ran her hands over his hard chest. She loved the feel of his muscles as her fingers caressed them.

  Powerful. The word dominated her thoughts as she let her hands explore his body.

  His presence wrapped around her, pulling her as if she’d been waiting for him her entire life. All she could think about was Lucas and how he made her feel.

  Instinctively, her hands flew to the button on his pants. She wanted him as naked as she was. Even more than that. She wanted them both down until they were nothing but skin touching skin.

  The button popped under her fingers, and she felt his hard length press against the underwear beneath his pants. Large. Definitely large.

  Lucas gave a guttural growl and tossed her back onto the bed.

  One second he was standing over her, still half-dressed and the next he was naked, pressing himself hard between her open legs. His eager, thick cock pressed against her damp panties.

  “I want you,” he whispered in her ear. “I want to be inside you.”

  She shivered at his honesty. Her hard nipples scraped against the lace pressed against his chest.

  Lucas reached around and unsnapped her bra. He sighed when it fell away, immediately pressing her back against him.

  He buried his head in the crook of her neck and breathed in deeply. His chest rattled. The feel of it vibrated through him, and she moaned softly.

  Taylor moved against him now. His length slid against her wet panties and slippery folds, bumping against her clit as she did so.

  She wrapped her arms around his back and used his body as leverage.

  “Taylor,” he whispered, the same way she had said his name so many times, and she wondered if it made his heart thump like it did her own.

  She reached down between them to feel him and how slick he was from her.

  The growl vibrated once again between them, and she couldn’t take the torture any longer.

  Taylor moved the scrap of lace aside and pressed his head against her opening. She took several deep breaths.

  He looked at her, and for the first time, she could see the uncertainty in his eyes.

  “I want you, too,” she whispered. “I need you, too.”

  In one swift move, Lucas pressed deep inside her. She groaned at the sudden invasion. It had been some time since she had been with a man, and Lucas was way more man than she’d ever been with. Not uncomfortable, but certainly more.

  He stilled inside her, and she shifted her hips a little to ac
commodate his size. She took a few more deep breaths.

  “Did I hurt you?” he asked, worry in his voice as she stared at his glowing blue eyes.

  She shook her head.

  “You’re just larger than I expected.”

  She could see his frown in the blue glow cast by his eyes.

  “Is that bad?” he asked.

  Taylor nearly snorted. Most men would have immediately puffed up at her words, but instead he was worried, concerned for her pleasure and not just his own.

  She pulled him down for a long kiss. Her insides squeezed the new length, and she could feel herself getting slick at the feel of him so deep inside her.

  “Not bad at all,” she let out in a shuddered whisper of pleasure.

  He pulled his hips back slightly and pushed back in, just as deeply as before.

  She groaned as he did so and wrapped her legs around his hips.

  “More,” she cried.

  Lucas pulled out faster this time and plunged back in. This time he moaned.

  A thrust, then another, then another. Over and over. Each time he pulled out a little more and pushed in faster until he pumped into her at a steady, furious pace.

  Taylor ran her nails over his back, enjoying the rhythmic pounding into her aching heat.

  He sat up and placed her legs on his shoulders. His length remained buried inside her.

  This time when he thrust, he reached a new depth. His head bumped her cervix, pushing her closer to her climax.

  “Lucas,” she moaned.

  Her fingers searched for his hands at her hips. He laced their hands together as he held on to her hips. His pace only increased with the new-found position.

  She could feel the waves building. Her muscles tightened inside around him. His eyes flashed even brighter.

  Taylor tossed her head back when her climax overtook her. Her muscles rhythmically pulled on him as he continued to pound into her.

  In one great thrust, Lucas cried out his release. She could feel it as she milked him and let out a little shiver as she did.

  Lucas collapsed on her and then rolled with her still in his arms.

  She laid her head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart.

  He kissed the top of her head as she placed small kisses on his chest.

  “Rest while you can,” he said firmly.

  She looked up at him. His eyes still burned brightly.

  “I’ve been waiting for you for so long,” he said quietly. “I plan on making up for lost time.”

  Heat surged through Taylor at his words.

  He wasn’t the only one who planned on making up for lost time.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Taylor smiled for about the millionth time. She had been doing it all day long and just couldn’t seem to contain her happiness, not that she wanted to.

  Lucas had left early that morning, before anyone might be awake in town and driving by. She didn’t really care if they saw him leave her place, and it was a bit out of the way, but mostly they wanted to avoid any issues with his secret.

  His special contacts had torn when he removed them and revealed his secret to her. He’d not thought to bring another pair. Even if his eyes weren’t glowing, their striking color would still raise a few eyebrows.

  The previous night had been amazing. More than that, it made her happy. He made her happy in a way she hadn’t been sure she’d ever be able to feel again after her divorce.

  It seemed so crazy, yet felt so right. Though she’d been chatting with Lucas for a while, they technically had only had the one date. Still, everything about their night together felt perfect and right, like they were made for each other.

  She’d been so young when she married Dave that she didn’t have a clue about sex or relationships. In truth, she never really knew what she was missing. Sex always felt good, but her ex had never managed to make her climax.

  She’d always wondered if it was just her and that maybe the only way she could get off was in the shower. Dave didn’t seem to even care as long as he got what he wanted.

  Lucas had changed everything and shown her true pleasure, shown her what she should have known all along.

  She snickered. Compared to Lucas, Dave sucked on every level, baseball player or not.

  She took another sip of her coffee and grinned into the cup. There were so many things she was looking forward to that night, even if she was still a little sore from the previous night.

  “Sorry I’ve been so busy,” Courtney said and brushed a brown curly lock out of her face. “I think everyone decided that today was a good day for pie. I’ve nearly sold out of the apple.”

  A bit of relief filled Taylor. She worried that the confrontation with Doris might have ended up affecting Courtney’s business, but apparently people cared more about pie than punishing Taylor’s friends.

  It made sense in a way. It wasn’t like Courtney had been married to Dave.

  A few diners around Taylor cleared out, and Courtney grabbed their plates from the counter. She stopped mid-move and stared at her, her mouth open.

  After a moment, she narrowed her eyes. “You got some,” Courtney said in irritation.

  Several older customers near them scowled and moved further away.

  Taylor frowned. “Wanna say that a little louder? I don’t think the people at the back table heard you. Maybe you could go outside and yell it.”

  Courtney placed the plates in a plastic bin behind the counter and then returned to glare at her.

  “I turn my back on you for five minutes, and you’re getting laid. And then you go and hold out on me. It’s so unfair.”

  Taylor snorted loudly. “It was more than five minutes, and you knew we had a date.”

  Courtney held up her hand. “Beside the point,” she huffed. “I thought we had solidarity in our celibacy. Traitor.”

  Taylor grinned at her friend. “Not something I really want solidarity on. I was just waiting for the right man to come along.”

  Courtney sighed loudly, placed her elbows on the counter and put her chin on her palms. “Me either,” she said. “So get it over with. Tell me how totally amazing he was. I can at least live vicariously through you.”

  Taylor couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face as she remembered the previous night.

  “Of course he was amazing,” she said.

  Courtney leaned back from her hands and frowned at her. “I suppose they all are. I mean look at them. Especially that dark-haired one with all those muscles and stern looks. I bet he’s a beast in bed. I’d let him do all sort of things—”

  A man sitting at a nearby table coughed loudly and signaled for more coffee.

  Courtney rolled her eyes. “All I get is coffee and pie,” she grumbled and snatched the coffee pot off the burner. “It’s so unfair.”

  Taylor laughed at her friend’s antics. She knew they had both been on a dry spell, but Courtney was a romantic, where Taylor was perfectly fine doing without. Or at least she thought she was.

  After the previous night, she honestly wondered where Lucas had been all her life. No matter how silly it seemed to be into a man she’d only just started dating, everything about him just felt so right.

  The sound of her cell phone cut through her thoughts. Taylor pulled it out and was surprised to find it was the bank. She gathered her things and stepped outside before answering the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Ms. Mills.”

  It always irked her that she had known Chet since they were kids, and yet he insisted on using her last name. She figured it was just a way of distancing himself from who he was talking with and making sure they knew he had the power in the conversation. Of course it didn’t help that his mother-in-law and Doris were the best of friends.

  “Oh, Chet, it’s so good to hear from you,” she said, knowing it would piss him off. He wanted her to be annoyed or obsequious, so she’d throw all the friendliness at him she could muster.

&nbs
p; He huffed loudly into the phone. “I’m calling because I can’t seem to make your father understand.”

  The smile on her face slipped. “Understand what?”

  “We’ve tried to be reasonable, but it’s just really not in the bank’s best interest to keep doing business with a failing business. If you can’t raise the money owed by the end of the week, we’ll have no choice but to foreclose on the ranch.”

  She bit back a few curse words. “Last month was the first time we’ve even gotten behind. Isn’t there some sort of leniency on this, or some sort of adjustment of our payment schedule we can do?”

  Chet sighed, as if this were the most irritating phone call of his life, and she wanted nothing more than to reach through the phone to strangle his fat, pompous neck. He was nothing but a vindictive tool of Doris.

  “The bank carefully chooses who it makes allowances for. A failing business, such as yours, isn’t one we’d even consider. I’m sorry, but this is the final word. Unless you have some money hidden somewhere, I’d suggest you start packing.”

  Taylor shook as he hung up. That son of a bitch. Rage filled her.

  Why did her father have to suffer because of her poor choice in men? This was all her fault, and it was all because she wouldn’t stay with that cheating bastard Dave.

  Where would she come up with the money she needed?

  She placed her phone back in her pocket and pulled out a crumpled paper from inside: the pamphlet from the other day.

  She remembered reading about how the Azilians actually paid for people to come to their longer, overnight seminars, similar to some time-share talks.

  If she went to a talk, they’d be more likely to want to use the ranch as a supplier.

  Maybe between a new meat-supplier deal with the Azilians and staying for their talk, she could scrape enough together to get the bank off her back. The ranch just needed one more month, and with both the Azilians and hybrids as customers, their income would be a lot more stable.