I woke up the next morning on top of Luca, my bare chest pressed against his. Feeling the breeze of the ceiling fan on my back, I shuddered- realizing soon after that the chills I felt came from the long traces up and down the length of my back by Luca's fingers.They ran up to the base of my neck and down the curvature of my spine to the last vertebrae, stopping just above my panties."Good morning," he said, his deep voice still hoarse with sleep.I hummed.After laying there for a few moments, I finally placed my hands next to his body and pushed myself up."Don't move," he told me, putting both hands on my hips. I gave him a hard stare as I felt his boner pressing against my thigh."It's morning," he said defensively, despite the slight smile on his lips.Pushing myself off of him, I rolled over to get out of the bed."You're one sexy ass woman," Luca told me, watching as I walked to the bedroom door.Blushing, I opened the bedroom door quickly to go upstairs and change into cloth
Norah came and picked me up just after I had finished lunch. Luca had wandered over to the apartment above the garage to get some work done after his shower and I hadn't seen him since.I met her at the door, walking with her back out to her car."Oh my God, your neck," she said gasping, stopping in the middle of the driveway to push my hair away from my shoulder so she could see the mark better."It doesn't hurt," I told her quickly, knowing that the bruising made it look pretty gruesome.I knew this because Fallon had a similar reaction that morning when I had gone to the fields to train with my hair in a ponytail; although she had thought I had been attacked by something."Damn," Norah whispered, followed by a laugh."I didn't notice it last night."She wouldn't have, I thought. I had covered the mark with my hair after we had gotten home from the cabin and Bates saw it. I would wear it proudly after it had healed, but for now I didn't want anyone to see it."Wait," Norah said sudd
Although Luca suffered several heart attacks in the passenger seat on the way there, the McLaren and I both made it to the store in one piece.He made me park in the very back of the parking lot, where no one else was parked."It's a bit ridiculous to walk this far," I told him, walking through the parking lot."I'm in heels.""Cushion protection," he explained.When we walked inside, we made our way over to where the party supplies were and we found the plates and napkins with relative ease."I'm going to get a case of beer" he told me."I'm sure Mom didn't get any.""For an eighteenth birthday party? Probably not," I said sarcastically.I followed him over to the aisle where the alcohol was stocked, standing behind him as he looked over his options. I turned to see a group of college-aged girls standing by the spiked seltzer, staring at Luca. They were giggling, holding their hands over their mouths as they gawked.I rolled my eyes.You don't see me standing right here? I thought."
Torrey spun around in her flowy, long-sleeved white lace dress. Her hair was in a coiffed braid, face accented with minimal makeup. Aubree, on the other hand was in a short, simple white halter-neck dress with her hair straightened down her back, wearing bright red lipstick."I've been in this dress for almost an hour and I'm already ready to get out of it," Aubree admitted, laughing."Same here," Torrey agreed."I tried to get mom just to let us wear sweats.""You wear sweats every other day of the week," someone said behind us.I turned to see Norah, walking up with Ben in tow."You look so good," I told her, remembering how I had to convince her to buy the dress she was wearing while we were out shopping."She only changed five times," Ben laughed.Norah turned to scowl at him."And you didn't change your shirt three times?" she asked sarcastically."I didn't want to iron anything," he defended.I just laughed as Norah leaned in to give me a hug.After she pulled away, I turned to
The car started with a roar, Luca's radio coming on as it did. He backed down the driveway, putting a hand on my thigh as we drove off."It was a good party," he said."I think the girls really liked their gifts," I added.He nodded in agreement. I watched his hand as it sat stationary on my thigh, his focus now on the road in front of him.His mom's not fifteen feet away anymore, I thought.A few moments passed before I could gather enough courage to reach out and take his hand in mine, beginning to slide it up my thigh.I watched as his jaw clenched and he shifted in his seat, though his eyes stayed forward.The hem of my dress rode up as our hands movedfarther up my leg. I pressed my hand to the back of his as I spread my legs, exposing myself.God, I'm glad it's dark out, I thought.Luca's hand needed no further encouragement. He knew exactly where I wanted it to be.My hand left his to grip the side edge of the seat as I felt his cool touch at my core, his index finger slipping
Bates was waiting for me when I pulled into the parking lot of the training fields the next morning.Norah pulled into the parking lot soon after with Torrey getting out of the passenger seat."Why do I feel like I'm being ambushed?" Bates asked warily."I need you to take us to the Cellar," I said.He stared at me incredulously."Is this a joke?" He asked.I shook my head."I think my mate is there," Torrey said, wringing her hands nervously.Bates looked at her with pity, briefly, before his attention returned to me."Get Luca involved," he said."We can't," Norah told him."He'd flip his shit and you know it.""You don't think he's going to flip his shit when he finds out I've gone behind his back and broken rules?" He asked her.I stepped in front of him as he tried to leave."If it was your mate, wouldn't you do anything to get to her?"He huffed and leaned in closer to me, lowering his voice."You and I both know what's down there," he whispered."Maybe it's best that she not go
I woke up to a bright light in my eyes.Squinting, I pulled away from the light, pressing my head further back into the pillow."Good morning," a voice said softly.I opened my eyes back up to see Dr. Witt's face hovering above me as she put her flashlight into the pocket of her scrubs.Sitting up, I immediately felt a wave of nausea wash over me before a hand against my shoulder pressed me back down onto the bed."Take it easy," she said."You're going to give yourself a headache.I already had one. It felt like it was splitting my skull in half."Can you remember anything?" She asked.I nodded slowly as the recollection began, playing in my mind like a movie reel. I could remember what had happened, just not why it had happened.Gulping, I winced as the saliva slid down my throat; burning the whole way as if I'd taken a shot of hard liquor."You likely have minor tracheal trauma," she told me, noticing the pain that registered in my expression."It doesn't look like you have a concu
"Don't look at me like that," he pleaded, pulling me into the stream of water.I closed my eyes as the water rolled down my face, opening them again when I felt Luca place the soap into my hand."You can do the rest," he said, backing away.I watched as he left the shower, grabbing another towel that hung on a hook. He wrapped it around his waist and left the bathroom. I looked down at the soap, wishing he hadn't avoided the intimate areas on my body as he had helped me wash off.After a few more minutes in the shower, I got out to dry off and wrap my own towel around me. Reaching out to wipe the steam from the mirror, I gasped as Inoticed the hand-shaped bruise on my neck. Raising my hand to touch it gingerly, I traced its outline.I almost died.I would likely have to stare at the bruise for several days, reminded each time I looked at it what a fool I was. How naive I was. How absolutely idiotic I was.What was I thinking?Why did I do that?For the life of me, I couldn't remember