Chapter 75

Luca pulls me again against his chest and then turns his body so that my back is flat against the mattress, my hair spread out around me.

“Nice addition to the dream forest, Princess,” Luca murmurs, hovering his face over mine and pressing kisses to each of my checks. “What else can you do?”

“Oh, whatever I want,” I sigh, stretching my arms languidly over my head and enjoying the feeling of his weight pressing me down into the mattress, as I did yesterday. It’s my new favorite thing, and honestly I don’t see how I’ll ever get sick of it.

–

“Can you just like, vanish our clothing?” he asks, sending me a cheeky glance before lowering his lips to my neck and dragging kisses there short little ones that send shivers all across my skin and set little flecks of light into the air, as his touch always does. “Just make us immediately naked?”

“I can do that to me,” I say, turning my head and considering the possibility. “Though you’re in charge of your own clothes, sir.”

“I am?” he asks, lifting his head to peer at me curiously. “How do you know that?”

“Because,” I laugh, raising a hand to his head and letting my fingers drift through the dark strands of his hair before they move down his neck and then over his shoulder. “I wouldn’t have known to pick this outfit. I’ve never seen you in anything but candidate or cadet clothes. But I bet it’s something you’re comfortable in, isn’t it?”

Luca takes a second to look down at himself, considering. “What, joggers and a black sweatshirt isn’t your fantasy look for me, Ariel?” he asks, and I burst into laughter. Luca raises his eyes to mine and

grins at me, clearly enjoying making me laugh.

“I actually like you in your cadet uniform,” I confess, which makes his smile broaden. “You look like….sinfully good, Luca. It’s really a shame that the tabloids haven’t gotten a picture of you in it yet – you’d drive all the girls crazy, not to mention really do a lot to boost enrollment at the Academy –

Luca laughs at this and then, like he can’t help it, presses a kiss to my mouth. When he pulls away, I do a bit of a double take, because his clothing has actually changed. I grin

impulsively to see that my Luca is back the version in his high–collared black uniform, his hair swept neatly back from his face.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” I murmur, letting my fingers do as they please and bury themselves in his hair as I raise my lips to his neck now, pressing them to the skin right at the edge of that collar, as I’ve been dying to do for weeks – basically since the moment I saw him wear it.

Luca groans softly as my lips move over his skin, a shudder passing through his shoulders. and then he dips his face, nudging my cheek with his nose so that I lift my mouth to his again. He kisses me, fast and hard, almost desperate to have me, to claim me as his own. And I kiss him right back, matching every inch of him, my lips meeting every fervid stroke of his tongue like they were made for it.

Which, I mean, they probably were.

My heart is racing, my breath coming fast as Luca deepens the kiss, rolling his body over mine so that our stomachs press together, though he takes the majority of his weight on his forearms so that he doesn’t crush me completely beneath him. Following some instinct I didn’t know I had, I angle my head just slightly, opening my mouth further to him as my left knee comes up, brushing against the outside of his thigh before hooking over his hip.

Luca takes full advantage of the new position, dipping his tongue deep into my mouth in a

that makes me moan, running his hand all the way down my side to cup my ass as he settles himself between my legs, as he press his hips forward against me –

way

I gasp, suddenly, my eyes flying open when I feel…him.

Feel it.

Pressed…well. Precisely where it wants to go.

I go very, very still, staring up at my mate, shocked and not knowing at all what to do.

“What?” Luca asks, suddenly wary as his own eyes open and he looks down at me. He pulls his face back a little, searching my expression. “Ariel, what’s wrong?”

“Um,” I say, my face suddenly burning with my blush as I glance downward, not knowing wha

to say –

Or how to feel

Because, I mean, it’s not that I don’t..don’t like it….because I think I do!? I just this is all very new, and very fast….. noveldrama

Luca inhales sharply as he takes in my blush, the direction of my glance, and the position of our bodies that initiated such a reaction in me. And he bursts into a smile.

I groan, whipping my hands up to my face and covering it as my cheeks redden even further.

“No, stop!” he says, laughing lightly and subtly moving his hips away so that he’s not pressed so blatantly against me. “Don’t be embarrassed, Ariel.” He laughs more though, pulling my hands away

and pressing more kisses to my hot cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur, shaking my head.

“Stop,” he commands, lifting his face to look me in the eyes. “Please, Ariel, it’s my fault. got carried away.”

I

“You didn’t!” I protest. “It’s fine – let’s keep going –” I raise my chin then, closing my eyes, fully intending to continue making out with my mate, but to my surprise he just laughs again and shifts his position, rolling onto his side and taking me with him so that we’re face–to–face, instead of with him on top. I open my eyes, curious and a little guilty. wondering if I’ve killed the mood, or –

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, his face still close to should have realized that you’d be surprised

mine, stroking my cheek with his thumb. “I

I frown at him, confused. “Why should you have realized that?”

His smile deepens. “Because you’re a virgin, Ariel.”

My frown develops into a glare. “Why do you think that, Luca!?”

But he just bursts into laughter, shaking his head at me and grinning. I sigh, rolling my eyes and giving it up.

“Oh fine,” I huff, looking away. “I am. But how did you know!?”

He shrugs. “Just a hunch. You’re so sweet and you can be…well, very innocent, Ari.”

I open my mouth to protest but he silences me with a swift kiss.

“It’s not an insult,” he says after a moment when he pulls away, shaking his head. “It’s just the truth, yeah? You’re not very experienced in all of this, which is fine. It makes sense that you wouldn’t have as much experience in these areas. I should have gone slower – eased

you into it. I’m sorry I got swept up in the moment.”

I bite my lip, worried.

–

“What?” he asks, nudging me again with his nose.

you want,”

“I don’t want you to have to go at a glacial pace just for my sake, if that’s not what I sigh, wrapping my hands in the fabric of his uniform and tugging him closer, wanting him to be as happy as I am.

“It’s not for your sake, it’s for our sake,” he whispers, tucking my hair back behind my car. “It’s about us together, not either of us individually. And it’s not easy, learning about…sex, and all this romance stuff.”

I blush again, scowling and looking away.

Luca suddenly laughs again. “What?” he says, squeezing me tighter, insistent. “Talk to me, little mate. What are you thinking?”

“I’m just suddenly wishing I was a lot sluttier,” I mutter, looking away, still a little embarrassed. Luca’s laugh deepens as I continue. “Honestly, then I’d know all of this, and you wouldn’t have to put the breaks on your own instincts just to accommodate me –”

–

“Oh no, Princess,” Luca murmurs, grabbing me again I’m finding that I like this being grabbed and rolled around thing very much, I note and pulling me so that I’m laying on top of him now, my hair falling loose around both of us. “I’ve been slutty enough for both of us in the past ten years – and I’m going to very much enjoy teaching you everything I

know.”

I grin down at my mate, my fingers brushing against his cheek as my eyes dart over his beautiful face, his warm smile. “Everything?”

“Oh,” he murmurs, his hand coming up to knot his fingers in my hair, “absolutely everything.”