Maximus: #1 (Luna Lodge: Alpha Squad)

by Madison Stevens

  “This is nice,” Maximus growled. “Good thing I bumped into you at the office.”

  Selena’s stomach tensed. The fire of passion burned through her, but the cold blizzard of reason blasted reality back into her head. Maximus continued nibbling and licking her neck, his hand drifting up her side and heading for one of her clothed breasts.

  She caught his hand with hers. He stopped at her touch, clearly waiting for her permission to continue his wonderful ministrations.

  “I’m… sorry.”

  Selena groaned and pushed at him. She had no chance of moving the hill of a man with her own power, but he rolled away. He hopped off the back of his bed, looking stunned.

  “What?” Maximus managed to get out, a hint of a growl underneath the tone.

  There was no threat in it, only an animal-like desire. Another zip flew to Selena’s center. She swallowed and tried to ignore it. They couldn’t continue.

  “Y-you’re totally hot,” she sputtered, fanning herself and trying not to throw herself on him and kiss him again. “But I barely know you, and I don’t know if we’re doing this for the right reasons.”

  Maximus took a deep breath in through his nose, his mouth twitching like he was trying to calm himself. “Right reasons? We want each other. Isn’t that enough?”

  “I don’t know.” Selena shook her head. “Part of me is half-convinced you’re a hot mobster, and I don’t want this to be some weird thing where I’m sleeping with you because of the shoot.”

  Maximus gritted his teeth. Her gaze dipped to his tented jeans. The dragon inside must have been large indeed.

  He sucked in another long, deep breath and stumbled backward, almost as if drunk before scrubbing a hand down his face. “Damn it.”

  “I’m not trying to be a tease.” Selena sighed. “Really. I do like you, but I think this isn’t a good time.” She closed her eyes and groaned. “Maybe after all of this is over, and we’re both thinking clearly.”

  “You’re right,” Maximus said quietly, frustration tingeing his words. “I let myself get all caught up in my attraction to you. I need to focus on what I’m here for.”

  Selena’s heart kicked up. That sounded ominous. She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stood. If she needed to run or fight, the only way she would have a ghost of a chance was upright. And that was assuming Maximus didn’t pull out a gun and shoot her.

  “What you’re here for?” she repeated, edging toward a lamp. “Other than helping some rich guy buy land?”

  It didn’t matter how hot a mobster he was. If she bashed his head enough times with a metal lamp, he’d go down, and then all she needed to do was run.

  “I shouldn’t be here with you.” Maximus shook his head. “I shouldn’t even be attracted to you.”

  “Because of your job?”

  Maximus let out a dark chuckle. “Something like that. Yes.”

  “You are a mobster, aren’t you?” Selena whispered. “Or something like that.”

  “It’s not that.” Maximus shook his head, but he refused to make eye contact. “It’s not about the job. It’s just... you. It can’t be you.”

  Selena’s heart pounded. “Oh, oh, oh.” She slapped a hand to her forehead. “I should have known. You let your dick get out in front of you before you could think about it.”

  “Something like that.” Maximus shrugged. “If I’m being honest.”

  “And then you realized I’m not some hot plastic model or Botoxed socialite like you normally date?” Selena spat out.

  Maximus blinked. “What? No. That’s not what this is about.”

  “Of course it is!” she shouted.

  “I wanted to sleep with you,” Maximus said, his voice firm, but not loud. “Damn it. If you offered right now, I still would. But you’re right. We both need to be professionals, and we both have an interest in whatever’s going on in the forest because of our jobs.” He squeezed a hand into a fist. “And so we should focus on that.”

  Selena stared at him, her face burning with anger. At herself. At Maximus. At all the dumb men in her life.

  She ran her hands through her hair and groaned. “Fine, fine. You’re right. I’m the one who did push you off, and we should be professional about it.” She lifted her chin and did her best to adopt a professional look despite her tousled hair, rumpled clothes, and hard nipples. “I’m still going to the waterfall and checking out the other areas tomorrow. If this was about sleeping with me to get me to not do it, it’s a failure.”

  Maximus frowned. “You shouldn’t go out there yourself. It might not be safe. I should still come with you.”

  Selena wanted to trust him, but her body wanted him inside her, making it hard to know if she was thinking clearly.

  “Fine, come with me,” she said. “I’ll text you when I’m ready.”

  There was more to Maximus than he was admitting, but that wasn’t anything pepper spray and a Taser couldn’t solve. And if he was on her side, she would be grateful to have the protection tomorrow. Tonight though, she needed to get him out of the room so she could take care of her newfound ache.

  Chapter Eleven

  The next morning in his own hotel room, Maximus stared at a message on his phone from Selena. He had a lot of regrets about the night before, but the mission needed to come first.

  Meet me in an hour.

  He’d called in CJ, Cornelius, and Tiberius. They’d already been briefed the night before, but he wanted them armed up and ready to go for when Selena contacted him.

  She sent a map link that would take him down a dirt road that dead ended long before the waterfall she’d marked on the map and the blank areas, some of them positioned on their path before the waterfall. He didn’t pity the film crew that had planned to hike out there with all that expensive equipment. The fact the director wanted to shoot there at all seemed bizarre in retrospect.

  Cornelius shook his head and frowned. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

  “If it’s a trap,” Maximus said, “it’s too elaborate. And if it was the Corps, why would they try and tempt me with some random woman? It doesn’t make sense.”

  Maximus conveniently excluded from his briefing that he’d almost slept with Selena. All the men were under stress because of the Vestal situation. They didn’t need to know their leader was growing desperate. It might make them more desperate. If they lost hope, they’d all start making stupid mistakes.

  Even now, his cock stirred at the thought of tearing the feisty redhead’s clothes off and burying himself deep inside her. He clenched his jaw and tried to concentrate on the briefing.

  “They’re wounded and desperate,” Cornelius replied with a slight shrug. “We don’t know what they might do. All it takes is one big mistake, and they’ve got themselves a hybrid to torture.”

  “Oh, come on.” CJ looked at Cornelius like the man had lost his mind. “They know we’re here, but instead of attacking us, they send some woman after Maximus?

  Tiberius offered a small grin. “It doesn’t sound like this woman knows anything about the Phoenix Corps, but it does sound like she might have stumbled onto something interesting.”

  “We stick to the plan,” Maximus said, cutting through the air with his hand. “You three will follow us but keep your distance. It’ll allow us to check out the area without raising her suspicions and provides plausible cover if someone shows up. Once we have a better idea of where something important might be, we can sweep the area with drones with a better chance of finding the Corps before they find us.”

  Cornelius folded his arms. “And what if you run into the Corps?”

  “That’s why you three are coming and bringing guns with you. We’ve hit them enough by now that they know we still travel in packs, just like they trained us. Taking a couple of us down wouldn’t make sense. If they’re there, I think they’ll try and keep a low profile and try to figure out where the rest of the hybrids are.”

  “There are a lot of assumptions in that p
lan,” Cornelius said. “Not all of them well supported.”

  “There are a lot of assumptions in everybody’s plans.” Maximus inclined his head toward the door. “Let’s arm up and get going. Remember, keep your distance. I don’t want to see you unless I’m surrounded and have already been shot.”

  Tiberius grinned. “We’ll try and not mess up your date.”

  * * *

  Maximus appreciated Selena’s practicality, including her backpack, boots, khaki pants, shirt, and wide-brimmed hat. There was nothing sexy or stylish about it. She looked like a reject from a jungle-adventure film, but substance over style was attractive in a woman. He’d been half-convinced she would be running around the forest in heels and was pleasantly surprised to find the opposite.

  Their cars receded in the distance at the end of the road. The trees had grown denser, along with the chirp of birds and the rustle of the underbrush. A myriad of scents tickled Maximus’s nose from the sweetness of nearby berries to a faint ammonia scent that might mark something small and furry in need of a bath.

  He continued walking beside Selena, trying to concentrate. All the smells combined with dozens of distinct sounds, quiet and loud, his sensitive ears picking up everything. Life filled the rainforest, but he cared more about the kind of life that carried a gun.

  Selena laughed, earning a look from Maximus. She’d been quiet for the last fifteen minutes, and he couldn’t think of anything to say. After what had happened last night, he needed to keep his mind focused on the hunt for the Phoenix Corps.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  “I concentrated so much on finding the perfect location for the commercial,” Selena said, “but I didn’t put as much thought into getting there. It doesn’t look that bad when you’re looking at it online, but it’s going to be a bear getting the equipment in here without actual roads or decent paths. I wonder if Bill would change his mind if I told him that.”

  “Do you think he would?”

  Selena shook her head with a broad smile. “That auteur asshole? What does he care? He’s not going to be the one carrying the equipment. Everyone must suffer for his art with a capital A.”

  She pulled a water bottle out of a pouch in her backpack and took a drink.

  “If you thought it was going to be so easy,” Maximus began, “why did you bring a backpack?”

  “I wasn’t sure if you’d show up,” Selena said. “And I had this weird fear I’d go walking and end up spraining my ankle in the middle of nowhere. A beautiful place to die, but I’d prefer not to die yet.”

  Maximus reached into his pocket. “We’re not that far. There has to be phone coverage here.” He pulled out his cell phone. Zero bars. “Or maybe not.”

  That might impact any missions, and it was good to know. They had more satellite phones back at their temporary base of operations, and Tiberius was carrying one.

  Selena chuckled. “I used to think I had good instincts.” She tapped her forehead. “That’s why I trusted my instincts to bring the backpack and supplies.”

  “You used to think you had good instincts?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you don’t now?”

  Selena nodded. “I’m alone in the forest with a man I’ve just met who may or may not be a mobster. It’s crazy when you think of it that way.”

  Maximus laughed, the sound easing some residual tension. “I’m not a mobster.”

  “Probably.” Selena winked. “You’ve had plenty of time to whack me. Do mobsters still say that? You know what? Don’t answer that.” She rubbed the back of her neck and gave a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry about last night, by the way. I let things get out of hand, but I shouldn’t have been yelling at you for that. It was my fault.”

  “It’s okay.” Maximus waved a hand. “I think we both let things get out of hand.”

  “I’d tell your boss not to bother building anything out here.” Selena motioned around. “It’s beautiful, but it’s not convenient. Rich people like convenience, right?”

  “Some people like to be away from others. I could see living out in a place like this, miles and miles away from anyone. My own island would be better.” Maximus gave a thoughtful nod.

  “Expensive tastes.”

  “It’s not about wanting to spend money.” Maximus tilted his head slightly. He’d thought he’d heard a squeal in the distance. “I know what it’s like to not want to have to worry about anyone else.”

  Selena gave him a concerned look before shaking her head. “By yourself?”

  “Not necessarily, but at least with people I trust.”

  “It’s hard to find people you trust.”

  “Exactly.”

  The woman continued to puzzle him. There was an ease he felt when talking with her, like he knew what she was going to say. The previous night’s course change shocked him, and their time together in the forest, looking for something suspicious felt far too much like what Tiberius had called it earlier: a date.

  Maximus glanced to his side as a bird flew off a branch. The same ease Selena brought with her was feeding into a growing discomfort over lying to her. Telling her the truth about his identity and the hybrids was insane and dangerous for both of them. He needed to focus on the mission.

  It was frustrating and darkly ironic. When the Horatius Group and Phoenix Corps were hunting hybrids, both the Luna Lodge hybrids and the Alpha Squad hybrids needed to be careful when they were away from their bases. With the destruction of the Group, that should have changed. They shouldn’t have had to hide their eyes and conceal their identities.

  The entire world knew about the hybrids and judged humanity as wrong for the way they’d treated them, but that didn’t change the fact that pockets of so-called normal people remained who would threaten hybrid freedom and lives. It could be years before Maximus could be honest with random feisty redheads he met.

  A snapping branch yanked him out of his thoughts. It’d come from the same direction as the squeal, but it was closer. He didn’t have a good sense of the distance in the unfamiliar terrain, but he’d be a fool to ignore it.

  Selena’s car was miles away at this point, so sending her off to escape a potential ambush wasn’t a good plan. Without his phone working, he couldn’t contact his backup without being too obvious. Whatever was approaching Maximus and Selena was coming from the front, meaning Tiberius and the others were farther away from the potential threat.

  Maximus sniffed at the air. Squeals and quick movement might mark a Glycon, one of the bestial mutants deployed by the Horatius Group against the hybrids. The Phoenix Corps were never fond of them, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t stoop to using them. There were chemicals that could be used to conceal the monsters’ scent as well.

  Taking chances with his own life was one thing. He wouldn’t take chances with hers. Explanations could come later. They needed to prepare.

  He reached over and placed his hand on Selena’s shoulder. She stopped and turned her head toward him, blinking in confusion.

  Maximus pointed to a nearby tree covered in orange-red flowers. “How good are you at climbing? I don’t have time to explain, but you need to get up there fast.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Heart pounding, Selena sprinted toward the tree and leapt onto the nearest branch. She scrambled up the trunk with speed that surprised herself. She wasn’t sure why she was so afraid. Maximus spoke quietly when he asked the question, but there was something in his eyes, concern, fear for her. When a man like that was afraid, there had to be a good reason.

  She sat on a thick branch, swallowing and wondering what the hell was going on. He’d not explained anything before she was running without a thought. It was like she knew he wanted her to be safe more than anything. She appreciated that, but it also terrified her.

  “Wait,” Selena called out, trying to feebly keep her voice down but also make sure he could hear given she was now yards above him in a tree. “What’s going on? Are their mobsters com
ing? Is this the part where you tell them you won’t go through with the plan because of how beautiful I am?”

  Maximus looked up at her with a grin. “I keep telling you…”

  “You’re not a mobster,” Selena finished. Her cheeks heated. “Wait. Did I totally overreact to what you were saying? Was this supposed to be some cutesy game?”

  Her stomach knotted. If she’d humiliated herself, she might have to slink back to the hotel and give up on life.

  Maximus’s smiled faded. “No, I’m glad you didn’t spend time arguing.” He dropped his head and spun to face the forest. “Something’s coming. I don’t think it’s a human.”

  “I can’t hear anything.”

  Selena cupped her hand to her ear and listened. The rainforest wasn’t a quiet place between the background calls of birds and buzz of insects, but she didn’t hear anything that sounded dangerous.

  “From what I’ve read, there’s almost nothing dangerous in Hawaiian forests,” she said. “I thought the only thing to worry about was things like sharks. Huh. Did you see a scorpion?”

  “There’s always something dangerous, no matter where you are, and whatever’s coming is a lot bigger than a scorpion.” Maximus rolled his shoulders and moved his head back and forth to loosen his neck. He raised his arms and took a fighting stance.

  Selena put a hand to her chest, trying to will her heart to calm down. “If it’s that dangerous, shouldn’t you come up here?”

  “If it’s what I think it is, then I’ll have a better shot of taking it out if I start on the ground.”

  “Are you insane? You think some dangerous wild animal is coming, and you’re going to fight it?”

  Selena’s mind reeled as she tried to figure out what it might be. Hawaii wildlife on the land might be less dangerous, but some crazed animal might have escaped from a zoo, but if that was the case, why wasn’t she hearing anything? Maximus couldn’t be that much better at hearing than her.

  As if to answer her, something rustled nearby, followed by a grunting squeal. Something large was coming through the thick undergrowth, but whatever it was wasn’t charging, instead moving slowly as it approached them.