Chapter 145

Luca, true to his word, showers quickly, continuing to tell me about his morning and how his uncle kicked the crap out of him, not impressed at all by anything that he learned at the Academy and taking the day to drill back into him all of his old techniques.

“I mean,” Luca says, turning off the shower. “He’s not wrong – I’ve got to remember the basics that I’ve had drilled into me for years, or else I’ll get sloppy. But I did learn some stuff at the Academy, and I’m a little frustrated that he won’t even let me think of incorporating it into any of my strategy.”

“Uh-huh,” I say, completely distracted, sitting prim and straight on the little bench before Luca’s small set of lockers, my hands on my knees, staring at the flimsy curtain, thinking hard about what’s behind it.

I remember, suddenly, the first time that I saw Luca naked – in the locker room, while I was waiting to take my own shower, and I had gone completely still, just…staring at him. Watching the water slip down his skin, over his muscles. Watched him tilt his head back and fill his mouth with it, and then let it spill out over his lips…

God, god.

Suddenly all I want to do is leap forward and rip the curtain back, and grab him –

But Luca beats me to it.

I jump as he rips the curtain back, and my eyes go wide because…

God damn it – crap – crap but he’s gorgeous.

Luca – he’s a celebrity heartthrob for a reason, and as I stare at him, a white towel slung low over his hips, running a hand through his hair that’s darker now that it’s all wet…I know precisely why he’s almost always included in the top 10 of any “Most Eligible” list.

He’s just…beautiful.

My eyes drift down his body, flicking over his wide, muscled shoulders, toned from years of determination and training, of hours and hours in the gym, working towards his singular goal of being the best at his art. Over his pecs and his insane abs that ripple like a damn washboard, all the way down to the sharp V of his hips, to where it disappears into his towel.

When my eyes move back up to Luca’s face – his perfect, too-handsome, even pretty face – I see him smirking at me, clearly intuiting my admiration and enjoying the hell out of my shell-shocked expression, probably feeling every inch of my insane desire down our bond.

“Oh whatever,” I huff, crossing my arms as I blush, a little embarrassed to be caught out in my lust while he’s apparently perfectly composed. “You’re into me too!”

“Damn right I am,” he murmurs, taking a step forward towards me that makes something burn low in my stomach, makes me go loose and tense all at once. But to my shock, Luca just continues smirking at me for a moment before he shifts his attention to the lockers behind me, reaching for one and apparently completely ignoring me.

I can’t help the indignant squeak that slips from my lips as Luca opens the locker and starts to rifle inside, pulling out some clothes and stacking them on the bench next to me. I just stare, open-mouthed, at my mate – who is apparently very, very willing to ignore my desire for him right now.

Suddenly very miffed, I snap my mouth shut and glare at him, tightening my arms across my chest and sending every single one of my emotions down the bond so that he knows precisely how offended, and frustrated, and – well, yes, a little hurt – I am, so that there’s no chance he can ignore it anymore.

To my shock, Luca just laughs lightly, a dark and ironic sound, pressing his eyes shut as he turns away from me and pulls on his underwear beneath the towel, and then lets that drop to the ground, and then starts on his pants. I have to admit, I’m a little distracted by the sight, but not enough to overlook the fact that my mate is very able to just ignore me now, when we’re alone in our non-dream bodies for like, the first time ever.

“Ariel,” Luca sighs, shaking his head and smiling as he turns back to me, buttoning his pants. “It’s not going to happen like this.”

“What’s not going to happen!?” I ask, tossing out a hand.

“It’s…” Luca says, his emphasis on the word, and his raised eyebrow making it very clear what he means, “not going to happen like this.”

I jump to my feet in protest, my hands fisted at my side. “Luca!” I hiss, angry. “I mean, you don’t get to decide that for both of us! There are two of us here!”

He sighs a little through his nose, frustrated, and then lightning-fast he reaches for me, grabbing me by the waist and pulling me tight against him, running his fingers through my hair and wrapping them lightly around the back of my neck before I have time to even think, to process what’s going on.

“Do you seriously want to lose your virginity in a locker room, Ariel?” he murmurs, smirking down at me, shaking his head and staring into my eyes with his pretty brown ones. “With my uncle, and your bodyguard, and a passel of teenage boys on the other side of that wall?” He nods slightly to his left, towards the door.

“Um,” I say, my eyes shifting to the side, because I didn’t think about it that way. But even as I know that’s not what I want, my hands move to his waist. And then I watch Luca shudder, and press his eyes shut as I flatten my palms against his ribs and run my hands up over his back, pulling him tighter against me even as I rest my weight against him.

And that’s how I know that Luca isn’t nearly as resistant to me as he was pretending to be just a minute ago. And I smile.

“Come on, Luca,” I whisper, soft and teasing. “Just…kiss me. Just a little kiss.”

He groans, and his hands tighten – just incrementally – before suddenly he twists and spins me, and presses me back against the lockers. I gasp when my shoulders clang against the metal, but it’s not that it hurts – not at all, Luca’s very careful with me – but the sound of it, and the surprise –

I stare up at my mate, wide-eyed.

“Is this what you want, Ariel?” he murmurs, moving the hand curved around the back of my neck up so that he cradles my head, using his half-naked body to press me back against the cold metal of the lockers.

At the same time, he slides his other hand down the length of my body until it rests against my thigh. And then he slowly starts to bunch the fabric of my dress there, so that it raises up my leg, inch by inch.

“Do you want me to take you right here, right now?” He lowers his face a little and my breath hitches as I stare up at him, my heart starting to pound. “Because if that’s what you want…god knows I don’t have enough willpower to resist if you ask me – really ask me.”

I stare up at him, my breath coming in fast little pants now, completely at a loss for what to say.

“Tell me what you want, Ariel,” Luca whispers, his face serious, before he presses a lingering kiss to my lips.

And in that moment I realize that…I have absolutely no idea what I really want.