Chapter 71

Chapter 71

“Shit,” Luca whispers, staring down at me as he freezes.

The knock comes again, more insistent this time.

“Ari!”

My eyes flare when I hear Jesse’s voice outside the door. “Oh no!”

“Ari!” Jesse shouts again, pounding on the wood. “Let’s go!”

Luca jumps up, looking frantically around at the floor as I sit up, piling my hair on top of my head as he

bends over and grabs my cap, flinging it at me. Hasty, I shove it onto my head, tucking my hair up

beneath it as Luca moves to the door, his eyes roving over me to make sure that I’m disguised.

“Get up!” he hisses, and I jump to my feet, realizing that I’m still sitting on his bed –

Not at all compromising –

Luca takes a deep breath and then pulls the door open, leaning casually against the wall.

“Hey, Jesse,” he says, doing his best to keep his voice even and failing, just a little bit. “You change

your mind about coming to the party tonight?”

“Nice try, Grant,” Jesse says, his voice dry as he puts a hand on Luca’s shoulder and shoves him

aside, his eyes landing immediately on me as he looks into the room. “Oh hey, cousin,” he says, baring

his teeth. “Whatcha doing here!?”

I scowl at Jesse, crossing my arms and not bothering to pretend that this isn’t precisely what he thinks

it is.

Jesse just laughs at me, shaking his head and glancing over his shoulder, where Ben peers. into the

room.

“I actually am here for the party,” Ben says, his voice light as he comes in and closes the door behind

him. “Though you…

Chapter 71

“Come on, Ari,” Jesse says, holding out a hand to me. “We’ve got to get you back to the room, Rafe’s

on the rampage –

“Wait,” Luca says, frowning at Jesse and looking him up and down. “You’re not….”

“Do you want me to flip out and pretend that I’m mad at you for making out with your mate, Luca?”

Jesse says, his voice dry as he rolls his eyes.

Luca’s eyes go wide. “Wait, you know!?”

“You guys are mates!?” Ben gasps, staring between Luca and me.

“What did you think was happening?” I ask, frowning at Ben as I finish tucking the spare strands of my

hair beneath my cap.

“I just thought you guys were into each other!”

“You knew too?” Luca asks, staring at Ben now.

“Luca,” Ben says, rolling his eyes, “anyone with a pulse knows that you’re deeply into Shrimp Clark.”

“That is not my name,” I growl, stepping forward with my hands on my hips..

“All right, enough of this!” Jesse says, spreading his hands out and silencing us all. “God damn it,

you’re all making me be the voice of reason, and you know I hate that. But Rafe does not know,” he

says, looking significantly at Luca now. “And if you want to keep your head on your shoulders, I would

suggest that you keep this a secret. Yes?”

Luca sighs, looking down at the floor as he runs a hand through his hair, clearly doing the math and

trying to decide if he can take Rafe. But we both know that he can’t, and that even if he could, it

wouldn’t be worth the fight.

My mate looks up and over towards me after a moment, sadness and regret all over his face, and I

can’t help it – I move to his side, slipping my hand into his.

Ben’s face bursts into a smile, but Jesse rolls his eyes. “Look, this is all very sweet, but Shrimp smells

like you now so unless we’re all in for a much larger fight with a much larger Prince tonight, I think we

need to get Ariel back to the room and into the bath. Yes?”

I sigh, looking up at my mate with a shrug. “He’s not wrong. This is…not the time for this. Yeah?”

A low growl rumbles in Luca’s chest but he squeezes my hand and nods, his head hanging. “Yeah, I

guess,” he mutters, clearly displeased. I feel a sudden pang of anxiety now which is…. not mine. And

my eyes go wide as I realize that…that it’s Luca’s anxiety, which I can feel pulsing towards me now

down…

Down a pretty little bond that I suddenly feel between us, shining silver in my soul. A smile bursts onto

my face as I realize that I can feel that Luca is anxious that he doesn’t want to let his mate away from

his side for a second. Even though he knows, obviously, that I’m in good hands with Jesse and Rafe,

I’m his mate

his to protect.

–

He doesn’t want me to leave for many reasons, but a lot of it is that we’ve recognized each other as our

mates now solidified our bond, accepted it, even if we didn’t say formal

–

words doing such. And he doesn’t want me out of his sight.

I experiment a little, sending my own wonder down the bond as well. Luca’s eyes go wide and then he

laughs in delight, realizing what’s happening. We just stare at each other before Jesse groans,

grabbing my arm.

adorable, and I hate to

“Listen, this is very interrupt, but let’s.

1. go.

Ariel!”

I snap my attention back to Jesse, even though I can’t stop grinning. “Fine fine,” I say, but then I stand

on my tiptoes and tilt my head back, looking up at Luca, who obliges me by pressing a kiss to my

mouth.

Ben gives a satisfied little “aww” just as Jesse groans, which makes me burst out laughing as I follow

Jesse to the door. But I pass a feeling along the bond to Luca, urging him to meet me in the dream

state. He just grins and nods to me, letting me know that the message is received.

And then, before I realize it, I’m out the door, being hauled along the corridor by my anxious Alpha

cousin. Ben stays behind with Luca, perhaps indulging in their night of drinking, as he said he would.

Or, maybe just giving Luca someone to talk to after finally connecting with his mate, only to have her

ripped from him so soon.

I barely notice as the hallway passes before us, so lost am I in my haze. Before I know it, though, I’m

back in the room and Jesse is bizarrely tugging at my shirt.

–

Chapter 71

“Get in the bath, Ariel,” he murmurs, frantic.

“Jesse!” I gasp, swatting at his hands. “What are you doing!?”

“Baby cousin,” he says, dropping his hands from my clothes and slapping both hands on my cheeks so

that my face is pressed between his palms – not hard enough to hurt but certainly sharp enough to get

my attention. “You’re killing me here. Your brother is coming back any second now – and you smell

disgustingly of your mate. Okay? So unless you want to break this news to him tonight-

“Okay okay” I say, tearing my face from his hands and striding for the bathroom.

“Leave your clothes just inside the door!” Jesse calls after me. “I’ll send them down in the dumbwaiter,

tell Rafe you….spilled something on them at Daphne’s, or whatever.”

“You’re the best!” I say, grinning at him as I start to close the door.

“You owe me!” he calls after. “One date with Daphne, that’s the price for my secrecy!”

I just laugh, shaking my head as I press the door shut and start to strip down. Even as I do, though, I

can’t help the little squeal of joy that breaks from my lips as I do a little dance. around the marble floor.

Because I have a mate! And he’s really cute! And he knows I exist!

And we have a date tonight in the dream state.

God, I’ve never been so excited to go to bed.