Titus: Luna Lodge #2 Read Online Free Page B

seemed to have no issues talking to her. It was obvious she was a Vestal, but none of the men seemed to have quite the reaction he did. Titus was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with his senses. Maybe her Vestal pheromones just called to him more. The whole Bona Dea mating program with the Horatius Group had been under firm wraps, but the geneticist Dr. Fisher had theorized such a possibility.
    Titus pulled himself out of the water and sat at the edge, staring up at the stars. Luckily, he had been able to calm himself. He glanced over to the direction of her cabin. All the lights were out, but he could still smell her faintly in the air.
    Things couldn’t go on like this. Something had to be done. Titus turned to look back at the moon. Why did the woman have to make things so complicated?
     
    * * *
     
    Kate sat in her room, watching the forest outside her room. The pain from earlier had faded into a dull ache. She sat on the bed, thinking.
    There weren’t a lot of options for her. She could leave and get a new job, but that would mean leaving behind Erica. Kate wasn’t so naive to think they would be able to see much of each other if she was outside the walls. Besides, she liked living where she was. It was the first time in, well ever, that she had felt like she belonged, and she’d be damned if she’d let Titus run her off.
    She watched his dark shape emerge from the edge of the woods. Despite her best efforts, something ached deep inside at the sight of him. He turned his head her way, and she wondered if he could see her in the window. His eyes flashed in the light, and he quickly turned back toward his cabin.
    Kate watched as he climbed the stairs and went inside.
    She wondered what he did all those nights he spent alone. Even his men seemed to give him ample room. The only one she ever saw stop by was Sol, and that was only when he wasn’t busy with Erica.
    Maybe Titus didn’t know how to handle her because he didn’t know how to handle anyone outside a military context. They kept a tight lid on how they had grown up in the Horatius Group facility, but Erica had once shared that they were split into their specialties.
    As the leader, he must have been on his own quite a bit and only brought into the group when he was needed to give orders.
    She shivered at the sad realization of his life. Kate had always considered herself a lone wolf, but he was the epitome.
    A yawn escaped her, and she settled into the bed. The sadness from earlier drifted away as she closed her eyes.
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    She was late. They had been waiting for almost fifteen minutes, and she wasn’t answering her phone.
    Titus picked up the phone one last time. The longer it rang, the more irritated he became. It didn’t help that she had been avoiding him since Friday. Once or twice he had seen her on her deck over the weekend, but when he had come to sit outside, she had scrambled to get back inside.
    It was pissing him off. He had been a dick, but how was he supposed to apologize if she never gave him the chance?
    Titus slammed the phone down. Major Carter and Sol turned from the recording they were viewing.
    “Maybe she took an early lunch,” Carter said.
    Titus snapped his laptop closed and went to the door. “I’ll be back.”
    He breezed past a dazed Jenna and stormed down the hall. Maybe putting her as far away from him as possible wasn’t such great idea, but if he had to sit in his office being tortured by her scent, it was likely he would do something they would both regret.
    Titus turned the corner and nodded to a few men who were working on their latest project, housing. As staff in the complex continued to increase, so did the demand for housing.
    He stopped outside her door and listened. She hummed to herself, and this only succeeded in annoying him more. He threw open the door.
    “Want to tell me why you aren’t answering her phone?” he bellowed.
    She looked up to him, clearly startled by his