recover. He hoped for Luna’s sake that the blood wasn’t Ronan’s.
Gunner was searching the room while his brothers checked out the rest of the place. This wasn’t someone’s home. There were no personal touches. But it was close to where Azel had lived with Luna in his hidden McMansion.
Gunner moved to the next room. The master bedroom. His gaze moved to the bed. The sheets were rumpled. He moved closer, and there was a little blood smeared on the white sheets as well, only this blood had dried. It was older.
Ronan had fed from someone here. Screwing up his face, he leaned in and sniffed. There was something familiar about it. This scent had been on Luna when he first found her, when she still had Azel in her system.
Gunner straightened. The angel had used her brother here. Had convinced the male he needed to feed from him. Maybe Ronan’s dependency on Azel's blood was as strong as Luna’s had been.
Azel was a fucking monster.
A sick, twisted predator who had preyed on Luna and her brother. Who had taken advantage of them, of what they are.
He strode out and helped search the rest of the apartment, but there was no trace of the angel or Ronan and no clues as to where they would have gone.
“Go to your female,” Chaos said, planting his hands on his hips. “There’s nothing here. Laz and Kryos will stay and watch the place overnight. I’ll let you know if we find anything.”
Gunner didn’t need to be told twice. He’d come to kill Azel, and since the fucking coward had disappeared again, there was no reason for him to stay.
Not when Luna had just told him she loved him, and not when he’d been separated from her for close to a week. A separation that had almost killed him.
Without another word, he walked out and took to the skies.
He needed her.
He needed her now.
Chapter 31
The door banged shut, followed by the thump of heavy boots.
Tightening the towel around her, Luna rushed out of the bathroom.
Oh god, please, let him be okay.
The bedroom door was already open and Gunner was walking through, amber eyes slicing to her. Her knees actually wobbled as his gaze ate her up hungrily, a wildness in his eyes she’d never seen before.
“Are you okay?”
“No,” he said. “No, I’m not okay, Luna. You were gone for days. I had no idea what was happening, if he was hurting you…”
“No one hurt me, no one touched me.”
He let out a ragged breath. “Azel?”
“He wasn’t there, not until the day we escaped. Ronan didn’t want to believe the things Azel had done at first, the lies he’d been told, but he kept me hidden. He saved me in the end.” Pain sliced through her. “Ronan wasn’t there, was he?”
He shook his head.
Somehow, she’d known her brother wouldn’t be coming home with Gunner.
“Is he…dead?”
“I don’t know, love.”
He had to be okay. He had to be. She couldn’t bear to finally find him only to lose him now. He’d shielded himself and her from Azel, he could do it again. He could keep himself safe. As long as he hadn’t believed the fallen angel’s lies all over again.
“Why are you all the way over there?” Gunner said.
She moved, then ran to him, and he caught her up instantly, strong arms banding around her as he lifted her off the ground. His mouth came down on hers a moment later, hungry and hard. He’d kissed her in a way that told her how much he wanted her before, but not like this. He’d never kissed her like this.
The hand at her back moved up, thrusting into her hair, and he tilted her head where he wanted it, his mouth opening over hers, tongue thrusting deep, claiming, so incredibly possessive.
He kissed her until she was squirming, then lifted his head, tugging hers back at the same time. “I need you, Luna. I fucking need you.”
Her skin grew hot, clammy, and she gripped his shoulders. His level of hunger for her was overwhelming. He’d been holding back from her all this time, hadn’t he? Not wanting to scare her. He’d been fighting to control all the wild hunger rolling off him now.
He’d hidden it, trying to protect her. Always protecting her. Always putting her needs first.
If she still needed to breathe, that realization would have knocked the wind right out of her lungs. The male staring down at her so intensely was the best male she had ever met—kind