Chapter Five
Lucan splashed water in his eyes over and over. He rubbed in hand soap from a bottle sitting on the edge of the sink. His sight slowly returned, but the spray still burned in his eyes and nose.
Sensitivity to things like pepper spray was one of the few disadvantages that came with having super-senses.
He was only lucky that no one had chosen that time to attack. The way she’d been acting suggested someone had been after Jamie. Probably just some drunk loser, but that didn’t quell the beast that wanted to teach the asshole a lesson.
Lucan toweled off his face and looked around the tiny apartment for the first time.
It was small. No question on that. The living room, dining room, and kitchen all formed a single space, and with him in the room, it felt somehow even smaller.
It made him think about when he lived in the Lodge openly. Despite all the years of the hybrids living in barracks situations, at Luna Lodge, many of them had gotten used to having their own homes. Even he had, at least before he’d been reported as dead, so as to allow the hybrids to have some free agents who wouldn’t be monitored by the government.
Jamie didn’t have much in the way of furniture, but he wouldn’t have guessed she would, considering she’d just moved not all that long ago. A couch, TV, and small two-person folding table pushed back against total emptiness.
His quick survey uncovered no evidence that she had any sort of roommate. Being alone with her made him happier than he had any business being when it came to her.
Just because he’d decided to help her out didn’t change the realities of their situation.
Jamie emerged from her bathroom. “Feeling better?”
She’d scrubbed her face clean. None of the makeup he’d seen her wearing remained, but her hair was still braided. She’d also changed her clothes into something more comfortable: a pair of tight-fitting black yoga pants and a gray tank.
His gaze drifted down her body and then back to her face. Jamie gave him a knowing smile. She knew she looked great like that.
He cursed his body’s reaction. He needed to remember the big picture in all of this.
“I was lucky to be wearing sunglasses,” Lucan said gruffly. “Maybe next time don’t be so trigger happy.”
Jamie surprised him when she stepped over to him and gently guided him over to the couch. He sat when she pushed against his chest.
“Let me see if there’s any damage,” she said.
She placed a soft hand under his chin and stepped in-between his spread legs. He breathed in her sweet lavender fragrance as Jamie leaned over him to stare in his eyes.
Lucan stared back, not really sure what else to do. His inner beast was too transfixed on the woman in front of him.
Blue. He’d never really had a chance to stare at her eyes like this, but now that he could, he could see that they were a beautiful misty blue. As she looked at him, it felt like those eyes could peer right into his very soul.
“Your eyes are still red, but I think you’ll be okay,” she said.
Jamie stayed where she was, just watching him.
A sweet burn started in him. His cock jumped in response.
“Part of the reason I overreacted was because you grabbed me without saying anything first.” A faint frown appeared on her face. “Why were you following me?”
Lucan frowned. “I was at the post office and saw you walking. You looked scared.”
Jamie sat back and frowned. He loved the way her bottom lip popped out when she did. More than anything he wanted to take the offending lip in between his teeth.
“You weren’t following me from work?” she said.
Lucan shook his head. The color drained from Jamie’s face.
“So I was being followed,” she whispered. “Did you see anyone?”
Again, he shook his head. “Maybe I scared them off.”
Jamie moved from between his legs and dropped herself onto the couch.
“I was hoping it wasn’t true,” she said. “I hoped I was just being paranoid.”
Lucan wasn’t really sure what to say. She’d been acting scared, but he’d assumed that she’d actually seen someone. He’d never actually spotted anyone, so there was a good chance that she was worried for no good reason.
Her face as she turned the corner on the street popped into his head. It didn’t look like the face of a person who was spooked by nothing. Genuine fear had marred her features.
“If you’re worried about that kind of thing, why are you walking home to begin with?” Lucan said.
His words came out gruffly, and he cursed himself for making it seem like he was mad. Well, he was mad but not at her. More at whatever had made her feel this way.
Jamie gave a small smile. “No car and a shitty-paying job. I gotta do what I gotta do.”
Lucan frowned. “You should have stayed at the Lodge. I… We would have taken care of you.”
Jamie shook her head. “Leah couldn’t handle what happened. It was all just too much for her. I can’t really tell her not to feel that way.”
“And you? You can handle it?”
She shrugged. “Bad shit happens. You move on.” She gasped and looked over to him. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I know you lost people there, but…”
Lucan shook his head. “It’s fine.” He sighed and leaned back. “It’s pretty much the hybrid motto: shit happens and you move on.”
He sat there thinking over her words. She wasn’t like how he thought she would be. Lucan had always seen most of the women at the Lodge as a liability, just another thing they needed to protect against the Horatius Group because of their weakness.
Jamie wasn’t as strong as him, but she was far from weak. Even now, after leaving so quickly, she’d still found a way to support herself without needing anyone’s help.
A soft hand landed on Lucan’s arm, and he turned to stare at the beautiful woman sitting next to him.
“I never got a chance to thank you,” Jamie said quietly. “You pulled us out. If it hadn’t been for you…” She sighed. “I know how close we came to dying that night.”
Lucan shook his head. “I did my job,” he said. “I only wish I’d been there sooner. Maybe I could have stopped them and saved more lives.”
Jamie leaned in a little. He liked the feel of her soft, warm body pressed against his own.
“Crazy people will always find a way,” she said.
He supposed she was right. The townspeople couldn’t help themselves, but whoever was controlling them, whether the Group or someone else, wanted to see the hybrids hurt one way or another. Badly enough they’d sacrifice innocent people.
It was hard to fight an enemy that was so ruthless.
Lucan turned and stared at Jamie. He liked her clean face. That way he could see every beautiful line in her face, including the lines where she smiled.
The sight only made him see how whatever shit life had tossed at her, she still found a reason to smile.
“What?” Jamie asked, leaning in just a little more so their faces were much closer together.
Lucan swallowed. His eyes shifted down to her lips, and the inner beast in him howled for a taste. Just a small one.
“What is it about you?” Lucan whispered.
Jamie shrugged and leaned in a little more. “I was just thinking the same thing about you.”
For a moment he thought he would close the distance between their mouths. Before he could even finish that thought, she climbed across his lap, and their mouths crashed together.
Lucan pulled his mouth away from hers, trying to fight the beast.
“Don’t think,” she whispered. “Just shut up and kiss me.”
His inner beast roared to life as he pressed his mouth back to hers, taking over the kiss she had started.