Chapter 312

I tuck all of my jealousy away as I walk over to Luca’s corner, instead doing my best to transform into another identity – not Ariel, who is angry at her mate and ready to set Luca aflame for letting another girl touch him. Someone else – someone cooler, more confident and assured. Closer to Daphne but…not quite her.

Because Daphne would probably want to kick Luca’s ass too.

“Hey,” I say, tucking my hands behind my back and standing casually outside of Luca’s little group of fangirls. All four turn their eyes to me and Luca grimaces.

Honestly, I think he kind of…forgot where we were for a minute.

“Buy a girl a drink?” I ask, batting my eyes.

The two other girls move away slightly, feeling my predatory confidence, my claim on him. But the blonde flashes her teeth at me, leaning into Luca, bold enough to press her body close to his. Luca goes still, grimacing further, seeing how this looks – and honestly, deep down, I know that he never intended to let it go this far. That he was just flirting, messing around, killing time whie I worked - probably remembering his lifestyle before he came to the Academy and met me. I don’t fault him for that.

But I find that my wolf and I very much do not like the sight of another girl pressed all up on him in this ramshackle little bar. I bare my teeth at her in response, a visceral reaction.

“Whoa, whoa,” Luca says, seeing that this is not going well. He places his hands on the girl’s shoulders, attempting to gently let her know she needs to back off, but she just leans further against him.

“Do you even know who this is?” the girl asks, sneering at me.

I blink innocently at her and then shift my eyes to Luca, anger welling in me. “Why, should I? Is he like, famous or something?”

Luca sighs a bit, meeting my gaze, apology already in his eyes. But I ignore it.

“He’s Luca Grant,” the girl says, laughing at me derisively. “And he’s not going to mess with trash like you.”

“Trash like me?” I ask, turning my eyes back to the girl and beaming. I don’t know what makes me do it, makes me smile at her, showing all my teeth as my wolf climbs slowly to her feet, her hackles rising, eager for the fight. But the way the girl’s eyes widen lets me know that she gets my message, even if I’m not spitting and snarling. “Are you…sure you want to go there?”

“Becca,” Luca murmurs, starting to push her away.

“Becca,” I coo, stepping closer, looking at this girl like she’s adorable. “It was really nice meeting you, but I think it’s time for you to go.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Becca says with a snarl, looking me up and down like I’m nothing. “I found him first.”

“Oh no, Becca,” I say, my voice too cool, too quiet, taking another step closer. “No, you didn’t.”

“All right, I’m going to…end this now,” Luca says, pushing Becca away from him and giving her a sad little grimace. “It was really nice to meet you, but –“

“Oh whatever,” Becca hisses, pissed, glaring at him. “I’ll just go to the tabloids and tell them you were here. I’ll get as much money selling the story that the Champ is cheating on his mate the Princess as I would have from any business tonight.”

My eyebrows go up at her gall.

“Go ahead,” Luca says, leaning close to her face and raising an eyebrow at her. “And as soon as you do, my manager will show up on your doorstep with a libel case. Because I never did anything like that.”

Luca gives the girl his prettiest playboy smile, and then a wink, and then turns to me, giving all three girls a good sight of his back as he walks over and offers me his arm. “Done here, Daph?”

“Yup,” I say, smiling up into his face and slipping my hand demurely around Luca’s elbow. And then, together, Luca and I walk very, very casually from the bar.

We walk in silence for a bit, but when we get far enough away that the lights of town start to fade and we lose ourselves in the hills between Newtown and the Castle, I drop my hand from Luca’s arm and take a step away from him.

“Ari,” Luca sighs, “it was nothing –“

“Was it?” I ask, looking up into his face, curious.

“They were working girls,” he says, holding a hand out to me, pleading. “I was just…talking to them. They were fans –“

“Luca, I don’t care if you were flirting a little with some girls that approached you at the bar,” I say, cutting him off when I realize that he still has no idea what happened. “But I was counting on you tonight – did you know that Tony stepped in? Pretended to be my boyfriend, got that guy to back off when he was holding onto my wrist?”

I hold my wrist up towards Luca like it’s evidence as my mate’s mouth drops open in surprise.

Then he scowls, looking down at the ground, clearly pissed and disappointed in himself. “I’m sorry,” he says after a long moment as we walk, looking down at the ground. “I…I guess I got more distracted than I thought I did.”

I forgive him instantly, hating to see him sad and stepping a little closer to his side. After all, no harm was done – not really. “I guess…I didn’t really think about what it would mean for you to come down to Newtown. That you’d be recognized and that it could cause trouble for you.”

Luca sighs, looking up at the sky and shaking his head. “It’s not a big deal – it’s not like I haven’t dealt with that sort of thing before. Girls just…they have an idea about what you owe them, when you’re a celebrity.” He shrugs. “She won’t do anything. I really am sorry, Ariel – I…should have been concentrating on you more.”

I just shrug, looking up at him, my brows knitting together a bit. “Why weren’t you, though? I mean, when I sat down you were all concern. But then some girls come over to you and you’ve got no more eyes for me?”

He smirks a little but shakes his head. “It’s not like that at all, Ariel. You’re the only one I care about. I just…” he sighs and looks down at his feet. “I guess I liked the attention, is all. I think…I fed on it more than I thought I did, before I came to the Academy. Women liking me, telling me how great I am all the time.”

“Luca,” I gasp, stepping closer and slipping my hand into his. “I tell you how great you are all the time!”

“And it means everything,” he murmurs, lifting my hand in his and pressing a kiss to the back of it. “Again, I’m sorry – I’m really surprised at myself and I feel absolutely awful.”

“It’s okay,” I sigh, taking my hand from his and slipping my arm around his waist, leaning hard against his side. “I forgive. Just…next time please pay attention more.”

“This is just going to be more reason for Tony to not like me, isn’t it?” Luca asks, dry, grimacing a little as he looks ahead onto the path.

“Does Tony not like you?” I ask, peering up at him, confused. “What’s the deal with you two?”

“I’ve got nothing against the guy,” Luca says, shrugging and looking down at me. “There’s a weird vibe between us, but it’s all from him.”

I hum consideringly in the back of my throat, turning that over, wondering if Tony would say the same thing.

“Hey,” Luca says after a few more steps, and I turn my head up towards him in the dark. “It was very sexy,” he says, smirking at me, “when you came up and told those girls off.”

I burst into a grin, shaking my head. “No it wasn’t.”

“It was!” he insists, laughing and tugging me closer to his side. “You should have seen yourself. When she told you to go away and you just…smiled at her? Like you were going to enjoy it when you ripped her throat out?” A palpable shiver runs through Luca, making me laugh.

“Oh please,” I say, ducking my head and blushing a little. “It was nothing like that –“

“No, it was,” he says, stopping in his tracks and turning towards me, using the arm around me to pull my stomach flat against his. “Honestly, Ari, you weren’t playing a role there. That was the vicious little fire goddess coming through. And it was…very badass and very cool.”

I grin up at him, desperately pleased. “Oh yeah? You like my fire goddess side now, do you?”

“I like all sides of you,” he murmurs, quickly bending his knees and dropping his hands to my thighs and pulling me with him as he sharply stands up. I laugh in surprise as Luca pulls my legs up around his waist and then wraps one arm around my back, his other hand drifting lower. “Especially this side.”

“Hmm,” I say, giving him a nudge with my nose. “The red-headed fire goddess side? Honestly, Luca, I thought you liked me innocent and blonde and sweet.”

“Oh, I like that during the day,” he murmurs, and I bite my lip as his hand moves slowly over the curve of my ass. “But at night…”

He doesn’t have a chance to finish his sentence as I quickly lean forward, pressing my mouth to his. Luca groans, holding me tight against him as he stumbles back into a copse of trees where we’re alone in the dark.