Chapter 0294

“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.