Quintus: #7 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas) Read online

  Quintus groaned as she ran her hand over the head of his cock, a bit of cum now on the surface.

  He needed to be in her. Not later. Now.

  A loud rumble escaped him as he grabbed the thin scrap of lace between them and pulled. Allison let out a small gasp as it snapped with ease.

  “That was my favorite pair,” she said.

  Quintus snorted loudly. “Casualty of war.” He lined himself up with her wet center.

  He watched her face as he slammed himself fully inside of her. Her eyes clouded with lust, and he could feel her muscles moving to accommodate him.

  “Yes,” she whispered quietly. “More.”

  Her hips circled over his, pulling him in even deeper than he had been before. His head pressed against her cervix, and he moaned loudly at the feel.

  Heaven. Pure bliss. Being inside her was the most perfect thing he could have ever imagined. Their bodies were totally in tune with one another.

  Two halves of the same whole. Just as people had always said: hybrid and Vestal.

  Quintus pulled out until just the tip of him was left in. He watched her face once again as he sank deep inside. Her fingers bit into his shoulders, and she arched her back.

  A loud moan burst out of her. He leaned forward and sucked on her hard, pointed peaks, flicking her nipples with his tongue as he did so.

  She rocked hard against him, grinding herself nearly as hard as she had before. He could feel her juices coating him, and her insides twitching.

  Quintus grabbed her hips and started to move inside of her. Each time pressing harder and faster than he had before.

  Allison moaned as they moved together. Her breasts jiggled with each thrust. Her cheeks were flushed from their lovemaking.

  He moved faster into her now, the animal in him taking over as he worked for the release he so desperately wanted.

  The sounds of their hips slapping against one another mingled with his grunts and heavy breathing.

  Quintus roared as the animal in him broke free of the chains. He moved faster and harder now.

  He felt himself grow inside of her within a few moments. She moaned loudly as her insides gripped him, milking his own release from him.

  With one last hard thrust, Quintus came deep inside of her.

  They stayed entwined in one another’s arms as they each came down from their climaxes.

  The muscles in his legs shook as he placed her on the ground. With ease Quintus lifted her into his arms, cradling her body against his chest.

  Allison sighed loudly and smiled against him. She placed a soft kiss against his chest before falling fast asleep.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Allison drove quietly in her banged-up little car on her way home to change and then to work. Quintus had told her the hybrids were out in force patrolling the area, so she wasn’t that worried about another Glycon attack.

  Whatever concerns she had about the monsters were washed out by the warm memories of her lovemaking with Quintus. Although she was a bit tired and sore from the night before, she found herself smiling.

  The whole thing was crazy, but she’d already found that she was starting to accept and surrendering to the idea that they were fated to together.

  A week ago she would have scoffed at the idea as senseless garbage, but now it made perfect sense in a way that nothing else in her life ever had.

  She still wasn’t quite sure where she and Quintus were heading, but she wasn’t so sure she needed a definition or a clear plan at that moment. Maybe it was okay that they just lived in the here and now.

  Pulling into the main street of Eagle Ridge, she chuckled. So much excitement in such a short period of time. As she drove close to town hall, she had to slow down. A small crowd and several cars were clogging the area near the building.

  It was somewhat early in the morning, and she was surprised to find the area bustling with people. She hoped Doris hadn’t started some sort of new and angry anti-mayor crusade.

  Ahead to the right, flashing police lights came into view. She frowned. What the hell was going on?

  “Is that the—?” Allison muttered to herself.

  She turned sharply into the closest parking spot and climbed out of her car.

  Someone broke away from the crowd and headed toward her. It took Allison a few moments to realize it was Celine.

  “Oh, I’m so glad you got here… early. I guess that explains why you weren’t answering your home phone for the alarm company.” Celine stared at her rumpled clothes and then back to the flashing lights. “I swung by your place, but you weren’t there.”

  “Home phone? What about my cell?”

  “You weren’t answering that either.”

  Allison pulled out her phone and winced. At some point the previous night, she’d apparently shut off the ringer. And now it was out of power. She’d never even thought to check.

  She pocketed her phone and looked at Celine. “What the hell is going on?”

  Celine motioned toward town hall. A suited man stood near the door. Allison recognized him as Detective Jones from the Eagle Ridge Police Department. She hurried over toward him.

  “Detective?” Allison asked.

  “I’m glad she called you in,” he said. He glanced over at Celine. “Did you fill her in?”

  Celine shook her head.

  “What’s going on?” Allison asked again, both irritated and concerned.

  The detective made his way through the front door. Allison followed. A large window near the door had been shattered into oblivion. Jagged and irregular shards of glass littered the floor.

  They moved farther into the hallway, and the giant pane of glass that made up her office door had suffered a similar fate.

  The detective motioned to her office. “It seems as if there’s been a break in.”

  Part of her wanted to roll her eyes at his explaining the obvious, but she refrained. Given how little serious crime happened in the town, she didn’t begrudge him wanting to go full cop for a few minutes.

  Allison looked around the hall and frowned at the other pristine doors. “Was anyone else broken into?”

  He shook his head. “Likely got spooked and ran off before they could get the rest.”

  Allison frowned. She didn’t want to tell the cop how to do his job, but it seemed a little strange to her that they would go all the way to the end of the hall to break in to her office when there were plenty of others closer to the front door.

  One of the downsides of there not being much real crime in the town was that their police force wasn’t exactly filled with elite super-cops.

  With everything that had been going on, it might just be better if she handled it herself. There were too many uncomfortable questions any half-decent investigation might raise.

  Allison looked over to Celine. The other woman shrugged, a pained look of helplessness and fear clinging to her face.

  “Did they take anything?” Allison asked.

  Celine shook her head. “I don’t know,” she said. “It’s a mess in there, and if they did find what they are looking for, we might not know for weeks.”

  Allison sighed and rubbed her temples as she tried to think what they should do first to deal with the catastrophe.

  “Are we allowed to go in? Or are you still investigating the scene?”

  The detective shook his head. “You can go in,” he said. “We’re unlikely to get anything else from the mess in there.” He shrugged.

  Allison nodded and stepped through the broken door. Celine hadn’t been lying. Every square inch of the place was wrecked. Cushions torn and pictures slashed. It seemed as if they had gone out of their way to ruin every object in the office.

  She considered that. Really, the level of destruction was unnecessary. This was a small-town mayor’s office, not some secret lair. There was no reason to destroy everything.

  Unless they’d been trying to send her a message. But who? And without even a scrawled threat it was hard to take
it that way. If not a message, then maybe as a means to hide what they were really after.

  Again, the question of who resurfaced. She also had to think of possible suspects.

  For all of the crap that Doris pulled, she’d never be party to something like this. No. It had to be someone who was willing to risk a lot, confident they wouldn’t get caught, and maybe even knew she wouldn’t be able to respond to the alarm company calls.

  The one answer that came back to her was the one she hated to even think about. There was only one group of people that even knew she wasn’t at home or easy to contact the night before. And only one group who might have known she’d be very distracted.

  Allison sighed loudly. “Just let me go home and get some work clothes on. When I get back, we can start to get this cleaned up.”

  Celine nodded. “I’m sorry,” she said softly.

  Allison patted her on the shoulder. “It will be fine.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Quintus paced inside his home. He’d tried calling Allison’s office and cell for most of the day as he helped place a few of the much-needed emitters near where she had seen the Glycons. Each time, he called it kept going to voicemail.

  Worry ate at him. After the attack last night, he didn’t trust the Glycons to not try again. Allison had been lucky, and he really didn’t like depending on luck.

  The only reason he wasn’t ripping out of the compound looking for her was the fact that a good force of the hybrids was patrolling the area she’d been attacked and the path she’d have to drive into town. Quintus didn’t care how tough the creatures were, he doubted they’d show their ugly faces when multiple hybrids were hunting them.

  His ears perked up as a car pulled up the drive. It had to be Allison. Whoever was on duty wouldn’t have just let anyone come in. She probably had a good reason not to answer her phone.

  Quintus grabbed his jacket and made his way outside.

  From his house, he spotted Allison climbing out of the car. Her long brown hair fluttered in the breeze. He waved to her, but she wasn’t looking in his direction. Instead, she was glaring at the large meeting house.

  Quintus furrowed his brow, more than a little confused. He couldn’t figure out why she’d even be interested in the meeting house.

  He started moving toward her now, anxious to make sure everything was okay. After last night, he wasn’t sure he could take it if she decided against being with him.

  Just as he rounded the corner to the meeting house, Allison slipped inside.

  Quintus followed her to the door and had just stepped through the threshold when he heard her loudly speak to Rem.

  “Did you do it?” Allison said, more than a little anger in her voice.

  Rem sat on the couch, his second-in-command Magnus beside him. A few others sat nearby. He raised a brow to her.

  “Do what exactly and when?” Rem asked. “You’re going to have to be more specific.” He grinned. “I do a lot of things.”

  Quintus stepped forward and placed a hand on her arm, but Allison kept her gaze focused on the leader. He was vaguely annoyed that Rem chose that moment for one of his little quips, but he’d never question his leader.

  “My office,” she said. “Did you ransack my office?”

  Rem’s smile disappeared, replaced by a frown. “Someone broke into your office?”

  Allison nodded. “And I need to know if you did or didn’t do it,” she said. “You are the only ones who knew I was here and not at home.”

  Quintus dropped his hand from her arm. The accusation stung. Even if he understood her logic, hearing his Vestal accuse a hybrid of something like that cut to the very soul. Even more, from what she was saying, it sounded like she suspected he might have been in on it.

  “Are you accusing us of breaking into your office?” he asked.

  Allison turned and placed her hand on his arm, but it felt cold with the weight of her words. “Not you,” she said. “Never you.” She turned back to Rem. “But I don’t know him. I don’t know what’s in his heart, and I don’t know if he’s capable of keeping my citizens safe.”

  Quintus sucked in a deep breath. How much could she really trust him if she felt that way about the other hybrids? He turned and headed for the door.

  Allison turned to the door when it shut behind Quintus.

  She knew he had hurt him, but she needed an answer. She needed to know that the hybrids wouldn’t bail when things got tough. That her people would be safe. That wasn’t too much to ask, given that she was willing to keep their secret.

  When she turned around, she was surprised to find Rem standing near her.

  For the first time since storming in the room, she noticed his incredibly green eyes staring back at her. They stood out, especially in a room of hybrids with bright blue eyes.

  “We did not break into your office,” he said calmly. “And we weren’t the only ones to know you were here.”

  Allison scrunched her brow together. She was certain they were the only ones to know. She hadn’t exactly been upfront with her friends about where she was going.

  Sure, Celine knew she was going to drop some stuff off, but she didn’t realize that meant staying overnight.

  Besides, not only did she completely trust Celine, it wouldn’t make any sense for her to be involved, given she already had access to town hall and Allison’s office.

  “How’s the damage on the car?” Rem asked. “Enough that you might not have been able to make it home last night?”

  Allison’s eyes grew round as the pieces started to fall into place. She had felt lucky that it was just body damage to the car, but maybe that wasn’t the intent. Maybe the Glycons were behind the break in. That kind of straight-forward destruction did seem to fit them from what little she knew.

  “What would a Glycon want with my office?” Allison said.

  Rem scratched his chin. “That’s a very good question.”

  Allison ran the thoughts over and over through her head, but nothing made sense. Almost mindless creatures didn’t just break into an office.

  Things made even less sense now than they did before. Quintus had mentioned someone might be controlling them, but he also admitted he didn’t know who. Given all the Glycons had done was kill animals and a man living in a mountain cabin, she wasn’t all that convinced there was some puppet master behind the bestial creatures. If there was a plan in all of this, she couldn’t see it.

  Maybe they knew she’d seen one of the monsters, and this was all part of that. She didn’t know.

  Allison glanced back over to the door Quintus had exited through. She’d hoped he might come back in after a moment.

  “You should go to him,” Rem said. “Tell him how you feel.”

  She looked back to him and frowned. “But I don’t know how I feel.”

  Rem raised a brow. “Don’t you?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  A soft knock came at the door. Quintus stood from his spot on the couch and opened the door for Allison.

  “Can I come in?” she asked, a sad expression on her face.

  Quintus shrugged and stepped away from the door. Try as he might, her words had hurt. More than anything he wanted her trust, and knowing he didn’t have it ate at him inside.

  It wasn’t as simple as saying she didn’t trust the other hybrids but did trust him. They were all in this together. He couldn’t live without his Vestal, but he couldn’t just separate himself from the other hybrids either.

  Fate could be cruel.

  Allison closed the door behind her as she stepped inside. Quintus returned to his position on the couch. Somehow the darkness of the room matched his mood.

  She walked over until she was standing beside him at the couch. He could feel her eyes boring into him.

  “I had to ask,” Allison said softly.

  Quintus frowned and looked away from her. “You didn’t have to do anything.”

  He could hear her soft sigh in the darkness but kept his ey
es away from her. “I’m responsible for the people of this town,” she said softly. “We’ve already had one death. That falls on my shoulders.”

  This time Quintus did turn to stare at her. “I told you,” he said sternly. “I’m here. I’ll protect us.”

  “And this is about more than just us.” She shook her head. “I had to make sure it was more than just you,” she said. “I had to know you wouldn’t be alone fighting those things.” She let out a long sigh. “That’ll just end up with you dead, and the town no safer.”

  Quintus only let out a grunt in response.

  Allison sat down on his lap and curled herself around him. Her arms wrapped around his neck in a hug, and she breathed in deeply against his neck. “I don’t know them like I know you,” she said. “What I do know is that half the time when I’m around you, I’m torn. Torn between my duty to the people of this town and my feelings for you.”

  Quintus looked down at the small woman in his arms and stared at her in the darkness.

  She smiled up at him and placed a hand against his cheek. “I trust you. In fact, you’re about the only thing I trust right now.”

  A warmth spread in his chest as he listened to her.

  “I don’t know what being a Vestal means,” Allison said. “But I do know the idea of spending another day without you in my life terrifies me, which is also why I’m terrified of the idea of you fighting those things without help. I don’t know if I believe in fate, but I know I need you.”

  Quintus closed the distance between them. He kissed her with everything in his heart, their lips melding together and moving as one.

  He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly against him. Her soft body molded to his.

  Quintus ran his hands through her soft hair and pulled out the tight pony tell she’d wound it into. His fingers wrapped into the soft strands.

  Allison shifted in his lap, placing her thighs on either side of him as she deepened the kiss.

  He pulled away from her sweet mouth to pepper kisses down her neck, licking and nipping as he went. When he reached the neckline of her shirt, he yanked it over her head.