“Rachel,” Marius called.
She didn’t bother to look at him. He might have stood up for her at the end, but he wasn’t any better than the rest of the damned hybrids. They were all looking for her to be the bad guy just because of Fisher and found what they wanted. Hell, there were things she’d done in the compound that she would have never dreamed of outside the walls, but she'd become so used to doing everything she needed to treat the people that lived here, even if it meant bending her own ethical compass at times.
The sacrifice was worth it, if she could help her patients. At least, she'd thought so before. Now, she wasn't so sure.
Marius neared her and asked, “What are you doing?”
She glanced over at him. He was still wearing the white button-up from before. The blood speckling the front looked so out of place from his normally neat attire.
“I’m pretending the ground is your leader's head, so I can stomp it,” she said and stomped hard.
She stomped a more times just for good measure. When she looked over, she could see him standing there watching her, trying very poorly to hide his amusement, and it only irritated her more.
“What?” she snapped at him.
Marius raised his dark brows. “Just waiting for you to finish.”
Rachel kicked the ground hard with the front of her foot and cursed. “Now I’m finished.”
She could hear the crunch of the gravel as he moved closer to her. As stupid as it might seem, her heart raced at his nearness, and she had to struggle to keep it in check. At the last second, she glanced up at him. He was closer than she had even guessed. The smell of his soap drifted between them, and she breathed in deeply. It was something she had come to like, living with him. It was nice having something masculine be so near. Someone masculine.
“I think...” He sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. “We don’t tend to spend a lot of time thinking about things around here,” he said. “When you’re raised to just react, it becomes more nature than anything.”
Rachel stared at him as he struggled to get this out. The hybrids weren’t great at expressing things, and she was even more amazed to see him even bothering. Up until recently, he hadn’t been much different from the others.
“We're already distrustful of doctors,” he said quietly and looked into her eyes. She was always so shocked to see the pale amber staring back at her. “When Doctor Fisher betrayed us, it was only confirmation that all doctors are bad. We pretty much expected it.”
She turned from him. Knowing how much faith they had in her, it was going to be hard to say what she had to say next.
“I’m not supposed to be a doctor,” she said and stared off into the distance.
The air seemed to still between them as time flew.
“What?” he growled.
Rachel turned back to him and frowned. “I’m not a doctor. Not really. I'm not supposed to be.”
Marius grabbed her roughly by the hand. “What the fuck do you mean you aren’t supposed to be a doctor? You've been treating us! We’ve put our trust in you, and you would betray us like that?”
Lines of rage creased his face, and she frowned. She pulled on her hand. His grip was firm but didn’t hurt.
“I'm a damned MD/PhD,” she yelled. “So, yeah, I'm a doctor, but I’m supposed to be in a lab. Fisher was supposed to be the clinician, and I was supposed to be doing experimentation.”
Marius dropped her hand as if he had been burned. Rachel looked up to him as he stepped away from her. A look of horror was firmly planted on his face.
“Experimentation?” he said.
She could hear the disgust in his voice.
“No,” she held up her hands. “It’s not like—”
“I’ve heard enough,” he said abruptly and turned toward the car.
Rachel stared helplessly at his back.
“But—”
“I’ve heard enough,” he interrupted again, “I just want to get home and get some rest.”
She snapped her mouth shut and moved in behind him on their way to the car. Once again, someone expected the worst from her. Maybe it really was time for her to move on.
* * *
They drove home in almost total silence, the uneven thump of the car as it made its way across the bumpy road the only sound. Construction had begun, and this time they were making sure things were done without issue. As men were necessary to guard the compound, workers had been brought in, and the hybrids who could help were stretched to help with the reconstruction and monitor the workers. They could never be sure how the Horatius Group might strike them.
Marius pushed away the thoughts of work. It had been hell finding the money, but there was no choice. Their own arrogance had left them vulnerable, and there was no way they would let that happen again. Not without a fight.
He looked over to Rachel, who was sitting very quietly, looking out the window. He should have let her finish. There was just something about her that made him act a little crazy. He didn’t know if this was what the other men had experienced when they bonded with their women, but if that was the case, he’d rather not. Being rational was one of his strong points, and he didn’t plan on losing it. The compound already had a surplus of irrational asses.
The car stopped outside a drab brown building, and he sighed. Despite his feelings, this place felt more like home than the one bedroom across the compound. The little bedroom living quarters were plenty for him, and he’d even been able to put his weights and treadmill in one of the unused rooms.
Rachel was out of the car and to the front door before he could even say anything. He sighed and got out of the car. Dealing with women was far more difficult than he ever imagined. If he pissed off one of the men, they would have thrown a few punches, and it would have been over.
She slammed the front door in his face before he could get there.
This was so much more annoying than being punched.
He opened the door and watched from the frame as she stormed into the kitchen. The muscle above his eye twitched as she clattered around, and he knew she was making a mess for him to clean up.
She came out with a soda and bag of chips. Marius frowned. How she was able to stay standing on the crap she tended to eat just blew his mind.
He started to say something but stopped. She wouldn’t even look his way right now. He seriously doubted that she was going to change her eating habits because he said something to her. It's not like she ever listened to what he had to say.
Her footsteps fell heavy on the steps, and he wondered how much sleep she had been getting. These past few days she had been gone before he was even up, despite all the rules still in place. It was just lucky they weren’t far from the clinic, especially if she cut through the nearby wooded area.
Marius shook his head. She was too headstrong, reckless and her motivations unclear. This was what Titus was trying to explain. All the other things could have been dealt with, but her attitude was a problem. It was something none of them had dealt with. Most of the women in the compound were very straightforward with their feelings. Rachel was a mystery. She shrouded her feelings with snarky remarks and humor that, more often than not, left the men feeling defensive and angry.
Not able to take the suspense any longer, Marius moved into the kitchen and found only a leftover cup from this morning. He shook his head and rinsed it out. As he slid out the top rack of the dishwasher, he wondered what was so hard about putting the damn dish in the dishwasher.
The door clicked shut, and he made his way upstairs.
It had been a long day, and yet he felt just as restless as he did when he first got up. Something about being near her made him this way. He clenched his fists. There was no way he would let this take over. He was in control over his body. His mind was strong.
A sliver of light from her room clicked off as if she had been waiting for him to come upstairs, knowing his room was next to hers and he would have to pass her room to get to his.
; Marius glanced across the hall at the treadmill. Maybe he just needed to burn off excess energy.
* * *
The alarm on her phone vibrated next to her face and nearly shot her out of bed. Rachel sat up and stared into the pale darkness. Even with the little light that was in there, she could see her very pink room and smiled. Well, one good thing had come out of all of this. She didn’t have to hide in her room anymore like she was some sort of serial killer.
Trying to hide her decorating tastes had been so difficult, and yet creating the enhancement formula hadn’t been a big deal at all. Maybe it was all a matter of context. She knew she was right about the formula. If they had the chance to use it, they would, without worry for the potential dangers or what long-term effects it might have. For all their blustering about what risks she'd had taken, at least she was trying to consider the risks from all angles.
She hadn’t had much choice concerning the doses she'd already administered. She could only hope that her numbers were right, and Hannah would be fine long term. After all, it really was just enhancing what was already there.
She slowly pulled her tired body out of bed and made her way to the dresser to put on some clothes. After this was all over, she swore to herself she’d sleep for a week, and everyone could screw-off. Not that she really would, but it was nice to pretend that she’d catch up on all this missed sleep at some point.
Her mind drifted to Hannah lying there in bed, and suddenly, she wasn’t so tired. Whatever it took, she’d make sure her friend came out of this. There had to be some explanation she was just missing. Maybe she could suggest talking to Rem about the situation. Rachel frowned. It wasn’t like she was on Titus’s good side, and he didn’t seem too keen on letting the men out to even talk. It was like Titus thought the men would destroy the entire compound by themselves if he didn't keep them under lock and key.
She sighed and leaned against the dresser. All they needed to do was find out if Rem was even a threat, but the whole lot of the Luna Lodge hybrids seemed so bent on keeping the new hybrids shut up that she was starting to doubt if they would ever be released.
A thought started to bubble in her head. The men liked to give her shit, but she doubted they would question her if she was just checking the prisoners’ vitals. Technically, she had done that plenty of times before, but this would be the first time she actually tried to get information on her own.
Rachel nibbled her lip. She was going to get into so much trouble when they found out, but she was running out of options.
She pulled out a sports bra and fresh panties. A quick run to the clinic to check on Hannah and coming back for a shower after her run would help wake her up.
She slipped on her gray running pants with a light pink piping along the side, shoes and a white tank. She grabbed her matching gray jacket and zipped it over the tank. A few strokes of the brush and her thick brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Rachel looked at herself in the mirror. There were dark circles under her eyes and not much she could do about that, but otherwise she looked fine.
When she opened the door, Rachel could hear the steady beat of feet as Marius worked on the treadmill. Not even meaning to, her gaze went to him and she nearly tripped coming out the door.
Although they had been living together for a few days, she’d still only seen him in his slacks and button-up shirt. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, he looked good that way. His dark hair fell on his tanned face in such a way that she always had the urge to push it just off his brow.
But this. This was not the man she knew. At least physically it wasn’t. Sweat maneuvered its way down his well-sculpted back and slipped into the waist of his jogging shorts. It was hard not to notice the firm muscles there. Her fingers itched to trace the path of the sweat. For him to make more. With her.
His arms moved in time to his rhythmic pace, and she watched in awe as they flexed, a sheen of perspiration only highlighting his muscles. Part of her wanted him to turn around, so she could see his chest, but the rational part knew that when he did, she wouldn’t be able to hide the desire she felt.
His head jerked up, and she wondered if he’d heard her heart, hammering in her chest. Rachel placed one foot in the direction of the stairs, and he spun his head around to her. She jumped and swallowed hard at her unexpected exhilaration.
“Rachel,” he said and turned off the machine.
Panic rose in her. She still didn’t want to talk with him. Things weren’t settled from last night, and she wasn’t in any shape to discuss things, especially after seeing him this way. She couldn’t think straight, let alone have an argument.
Her feet fumbled under her, and she braced herself as she crashed to the floor.
Rachel watched in horror as he raced to her from the other room. It was almost as if she went down in slow motion, but when she sat, slightly bruised on the floor, she couldn’t really remember the exact moment she’d landed.
She pulled up her arm in front of her and stared at the already swelling wrist. Luckily, it seemed to be the only thing hurt.
“Let me see,” Marius said. His brown hair, wet with sweat, hung in his face as he crouched over her sprawled out legs.
Not really thinking, she held out her hand and winced when he tried to manipulate it.
“Okay, that’s enough of that,” she said and pulled her hand back.
Her eyes landed on the wide expansive chest she had so desperately wanted to see before. Rachel licked her lips, and for the first time in her life, she wanted nothing more than to lean forward and lick along the hard lines. He shifted slightly, flexing the muscles in his arms and making his pecs twitch slightly.
She started to sway forward.
“Does it work like normal?” he asked.
Rachel stopped and looked at him. For a few seconds, she had to actually think. None of the other women had talked about their sexcapades, but she only assumed it worked like normal. About the only thing she knew for certain was that most of the hybrids were more endowed than the typical man, mostly due to their relative size.
She flushed at the thought. It was one thing when she was teasing the others, but quite another when she might be the one involved.
“It’s broken, isn’t it?” Marius said, pulling her from her thoughts. “You know, you need to learn to count on other people.”
Something in her sank, and she scooted back. It wasn’t like he had rejected her. Hell, he hadn’t even been offering.
“It’s not broken,” she snapped, maybe with a little more force behind her words than she intended.
Marius sat up straight, as if he had just been slapped.
Embarrassment now colored her body from head to foot. If she didn’t escape, he would notice why she was snapping. It was a miracle he hadn’t already. Given their strong sense of smell, he would likely notice soon just what she was feeling. Maybe his worry over her arm had blocked it.
“You shouldn’t be out without an escort,” he declared.
She stood up and made her way to the stairs.
“I don’t think it makes much of a difference now if I break the rules. I’ll be out of your hair in a few weeks, I’m sure,” she said without looking back. “Your boss has made that perfectly clear.”
He called after her as she raced down the stairs, but she didn’t want to hear it. What she needed to do was stay focused on the job at hand. She didn’t have time to be getting sidetracked, and she certainly didn’t have time for an anal, bossy know-it-all, no matter how lickable his chest was.
She stepped out onto the darkened front porch and smiled. This was a good morning to run. The air was crisp and dry, and she didn’t have some asshat trailing behind her. Rachel plugged her headphones into her ears and clicked on some music. Loud and rhythmic. Best way to run.
Chapter Five
Rachel watched the steady numbers on her computer screen and was thankful for the hybrid-Vestal relationship. Without that bond, Hannah would already have died. The e
nhancement formula helped, but the bond between Lucius and Hannah was the key to her continuing survival. She was lucky. They all were. Rachel could only guess what would happen if she ended up in that situation.
She frowned. Not that anyone at the compound would care. They all seemed to forget that she had always played a major role in maintaining their health. Even if they didn’t care, she did and had risked her own safety to ensure the quality of their medical treatment, and she wasn't even supposed to be a practicing clinician at the compound.
The thoughts were painful, no matter how much she tried to trick herself, and she pushed them down to the deepest parts of her heart. Just another thing to lock away. Another place she didn’t belong. It wasn’t the first time and likely wouldn’t be the last. She thought she had been earning their trust, but their attitude had obviously soured past the point of salvage in recent days. She only hoped they'd let her save Hannah.
Something banged against her door, and she jumped. The movement in the hall likely meant that they were changing the guard back to her least favorite of the men.
It quieted, and she let out a breath. Maybe Titus had talked to them, and they had accidentally brushed the door. She went back to looking at the screen and making note of her observations.
Again, something hit the door, and she was out of her seat before she could stop herself. Rachel tore through her office and ripped open the door. The men stood diagonal to her door, and it was clear who had done it by the smirk on his face.
“Zeno,” she spit out with venom. The smug hybrid had been a dick almost from the moment they had met, and everything about him rubbed her the wrong way. He was a bit younger than many of the senior hybrids, in his mid-twenties, and so maybe that had something to do with it.
Rachel stepped out into the hall.
“Problem?” Zeno said and raised a blond eyebrow.
“Stop,” she ordered. She was tired. It had been a long week, and she didn’t have time for this garbage.
He produced a frown that just barely passed as one. She could see Servius turn in irritation, at least she wasn’t the only one growing tired of this juvenile shit.
Marius (Luna Lodge, #4) Page 4
