Here it comes, I thought. I braced myself. Miguel was the suspicious friend alright and I couldn’t blame him at all.
“Can I level with you?” He said. He had a low and raspy voice and he crossed his muscular arms, narrowing his eyes.
I held the cat a little tighter as if it would somehow defend me and nodded curtly. “Of course.”
“Luca Barelli is the kindest person I know,” Miguel said in a grave tone. “That also makes him the best alpha I’ve ever known. He would give a stranger the shirt off his back. He took me in when he didn’t need to. I came from a rough pride and I’ve done some shit I wasn’t proud of. Luca made me feel like I had a second chance.”
That surprised me. I’d assumed all the guys were from St. Dominic.
“What I’m saying is, he’s smart and he’s tough,” Miguel said. “But more than anything, he’s good. That can make him easy to take advantage of. If I find out that’s what you’re doing...I will end you.”
That was fair. I nodded and just said, “I understand.”
It was probably telling that I was trembling and I had tears in my eyes. I thought Miguel was about to bust me right then. Surely, he’d know I had lied to Luca. He’d be able to tell I was just trying to survive even if it meant doing the wrong thing…
Instead Miguel dropped his shoulders and scratched his head. “Hey, don’t flip out, alright? I didn’t mean to scare you.” He glanced up at the stairs, looking a little nervous. “I scare you, Luca’ll kill me.”
“No no,” I said quietly. “I won’t… I won’t tell him you said anything. You’re just being a good friend.”
Miguel seemed to be trying to decide what to think of me and not having come to any decision, he nodded once and marched off to the kitchen. I took a deep breath and just then Luca appeared at the top of stairs and waved at me.
“Come on up!” He said. “Lemme show you your new digs!”
I marched up the stairs and in the hall, I noticed Luca already had a habit of wrapping his arm around my waist a little protectively. It made me feel safe and cared for. It made me want to be held forever. More than anything, it made me feel like his mate and that was a terribly deceptive feeling. He was being responsible, taking me in. He was being a good shifter and a good alpha. We weren’t a couple and I couldn’t lie to myself about that on top of everything else. Luca may have wanted to take me out after we’d hooked up and he might be happy about the baby, but that didn’t mean we were a couple.
The hallway was all green shag carpeting just like the stairs and I got the feeling that it had all been quite cluttered before Luca had swept through it for my benefit. There was a hamper between two bedroom doors and now he left my side, grumbling, as he stuffed its overflowing contents down so the lid would close properly.
“Gotta do laundry,” he said apologetically.
“I can do laundry,” I said quickly.
“No-”
“I’m going to help out around here,” I said firmly. “Just like anyone living here would. Won’t hear otherwise.”
“Alright, alright,” he said with a wave of his hand. He led me to a door with a bunch of sporty stickers on it that said things like “winners don’t always win, they just never give up” and “get back up” and “hang tough.” Luca cleared his throat and opened the door for me, leading me into the guest room.
It was a simple room, with a couple generic prints of woodsy scenes on the walls. I had a feeling somebody’s parent had helped out with some of those more grown-up decorative touches. But the bed looked nice and plush with a thick blue comforter. Honestly, it was nicer than my own bed, which was a bit depressing. I sat down on it and bounced a little and Luca sat down next to me, albeit at a respectful distance as if he didn’t want to imply anything. Though I noticed he’d shut the door.
“I just want to say,” Luca said slowly, “I know this all might feel weird to you. Feels weird to me too. But if you were any girl off the street who needed help I would help you. Not just because...you know.”
That made me want to tell him the truth. Except there was still the factor of being from a rival pride. If everyone knew Blake was the father, I wouldn’t be able to just claim asylum with Luca if Blake wanted “his” mate and his child. So I bit my tongue and kept my secret to myself.
“Ya know,” I said. “Miguel told me you’re the kindest person he knows. Now I get it. You’re the real thing. Aren’t you, Luca?” I looked at him fondly and he smiled as if it was nothing at all and reached over to play with a lock of my hair.
“I’m just doing the best I can,” Luca said.
“That’s more than most people do.”
Luca shrugged at that and just when I wanted him to kiss me, he did. It was a soft, chase little kiss, but I pulled him closer, unwilling to let him go. The door was shut. The guys were downstairs, and Luca was taking me into his arms.
He pulled away and said, “I know we haven’t defined things between us-”
“I don’t care,” I breathed, and he nodded and kissed me deeply, pushing me down on the bed. We kicked off our shoes and for a while we just enjoyed making out and writhing together on the bed. It was a far cry from that all too short hook-up in the cramped space of his car. Now I could luxuriate in the feeling of his muscles flexing and unflexing under my hands and the sensation of his lips sliding against mine and working their way down to my neck. He seemed to know just where to kiss me, or maybe I was leading him with my little gasps and squeals.
I make weird noises when I’m turned on. To the point that I find it embarrassing. Now Luca was licking the little nook under my earlobe and I squeaked like an excited kitten. He chuckled into my neck.
“You’re cute,” he muttered.
I blushed at that, suddenly feeling bashful, and Luca just kept chuckling. But soon enough our writhing and kidding became more heated. I could feel Luca hard in his jeans and just the feeling of him on top of me with my skirt ruched up was satisfying yet making me want more.
I shimmied out of my tights and panties and Luca laughed, sitting up and then kneeling on the bed to help peel them off my legs. I watched him look at my body. He bit his lip as he tossed my tights aside and his palms ran along the backs of my calves and up my thighs as he leaned down to kiss me again.
“I’m gonna make you feel good,” Luca whispered. It was such a simple thing to say but Luca’s strong body coupled with the gentle way he had with his strength was as arousing as his handsome looks. He scooted down the bed and I barely realized what was happening before his mouth was covering my mound. I gasped and tensed a little. I wasn’t used to guys being willing to do this much less volunteering, but Luca seemed as excited as I was.
Luca’s tongue inside me felt better than his cock had the first time if I was honest. He hugged my thighs and licked and sucked at my clit like it was his job and he loved what he did for a living. Every time I made a noise, it seemed to spur him on, and soon enough I was clapping a hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t scream, self-conscious that the other guys would hear me. But Luca seemed devoted to making me cry out my pleasure. He didn’t hold back and eventually I was shaking in the sheets, trembling on the peak of bliss until I whispered for him to take me.
Alright, I begged.
Luca made me wait for it. He did away with my skirt, my sweater, and my bra, and then I was naked before him. He held himself up over me and bit his lip, staring down at me. I was still trembling and it made me blush. I felt like a virgin. It made no sense. We’d had sex already! Yet here I was, feeling so bare and vulnerable beneath him. I felt like he was looking into my soul as he stared down at me and I lost my breath as he kissed me again before working his way back down my body. He was taking his sweet time, tenderly kissing my breasts and caressing the curve of my hips, my stomach, every little bit of me.
I wondered if he did this to every woman he slept with, making her feel like such a precious queen. Or was it me? When he finally slid inside me, I threw my head back and he w
hispered little encouragements into my ear as he filled me and I clenched around him.
“That’s it sweetheart,” Luca whispered. “Yes, sweetheart…”
I wrapped myself around him like an octopus, wanting him deeper, hotter, as much of him as I could take. He rocked into me and we found our rhythm together. I was surprised with the orgasm that flooded through me as he thrust into me. He kissed me, swallowing my cries, my now sweaty body slick against his as he seemed to absorb my pleasure and feed off it. I was tender and sensitive but I held him fast, wanting to feel him more and more until he came.
“Yes,” I whispered, not quite aware I was speaking. “Yes, yes…”
“Chloe,” Luca breathed, and with an anguished kind of growl his eyes blazed as he pulsed within me. “Chloe…”
Maybe I was choosing to believe it, but Luca seemed reluctant to pull out of me. He lay beside me, knowing he was going to return to his bed and dreading it.
“I don’t know you,” I said quietly. I sounded sad when I said it, and in the after-sex haze I wasn’t totally coherent. But I actually didn’t mean it sadly. I meant that I was excited to get to know him. I was forgetting for a moment all the danger and all the risk of my life. Right now there was just Luca and I. I wanted to know him, to see the extent of his kindness and strength and all the funny little things about him just waiting to be discovered.
“I know,” Luca murmured. He kissed my shoulder and said, “But you will.”
I drifted off to sleep, liking the sound of that promise.
Chapter Six: Luca
I dreamed about that lioness again. I liked to think it was Chloe but that seemed crazy. Fated mates were one thing but dreaming about your future mate while you were just a kid seemed like the kind of magic that you weren’t allowed to have in this world.
I didn’t want to crowd Chloe, or make her think that because she was accepting my help (the least I could do as the father anyway) and protection that I assumed we were a couple. But I wanted to ask what she thought about that too. I wanted to give us a real shot. Things seemed to click with her so easily. Just having her in the house had not seemed strange at all. It had seemed like she belonged there with us.
When Chloe fell asleep, I tucked her under the sheets and covers before going back to my room. It was a while before I dropped off myself and saw that majestic lioness hiding by the waterfall under the moonlight. All I could think about was the next day. I had the giddy excitement of wanting to see her again even though she was in the next room. I didn’t know what to call that. But I hoped it would turn into love.
Chloe went to work quite early in the morning, but we were all early risers in the house so I was aiming for her to let me drive her to work. There was a bit of back and forth about it as she mostly stood in the kitchen, nibbling on toast and juice with me. The guys all liked to work out early in the morning or go on runs. Often I did too but I needed to find my routine with Chloe today.
If she’d just listen to me.
“It’s not that far,” she argued. “I can shift and run and-”
“It’s at least twice as far as it was from your house,” I said. “Can’t you humor me? I’ll let you pick the music and everything.” I smiled hopefully, wagging my eyebrows and Chloe got a soft little smile on her face as she stared down at the floor.
“Okay,” she murmured. “Sure.” She twirled a lock of hair around her finger and bounced on her toes. It made her look like a shy little girl when I felt like she sometimes carried herself like she was sixty instead of twenty-six. I leaned in and kissed her cheek.
We still needed to talk. But this was something.
“I want us to try,” I said, once I had Chloe buckled up in the car. She blinked at me as if she didn’t know what I meant and then she got it and seemed to tense up a little.
Everything looked gray outside. I consider St. Dominic a scenic small town but just today the winter light seemed to turn the snowy street outside the woods with its few houses and its barren trees a grim color. The snow had melted a little, though the forecast said more would be coming. It made things seem grimy. Yet when Chloe turned her gaze to me with her mouth slightly parted like she was both afraid and full of hope, I felt as if I were in a Winter Wonderland. The world was made for us. We’d figure it out.
Fated mate, I thought when I looked at her.
I had to force myself to turn my head and look away. If I managed to crash on our little street with it’s almost non-existent traffic, people would be laughing at their alpha around St. Dom’s.
“I don’t want you to feel like you have to,” Chloe said softly. Her voice was fragile. It cracked in the air and she bit her lip. “You’re doing so much for me already,” she said. “You don’t have to love me on top of it. Never pretend you do.”
“I won’t ever pretend with you,” I said. I picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles as I drove.
She just looked sad way too often. It made me want to find her smiles. I knew she must have a thousand different smiles just waiting to see the light and I wanted to see all of them.
“We’ll figure it out,” I said slowly. “It’s just...we have fun together. I feel like I can be myself around you and I like your company and there’s also that um…” I raised an eyebrow and she nodded, seeming to already know what I was talking about.
“That magic feeling,” she whispered. “I feel it whenever you touch me. I want…” She opened and closed her mouth but she wouldn’t finish her sentence.
I want you all the time. I think that’s what she would have said.
It was what I felt too.
“How about, let’s not put pressure on ourselves,” I said, kissing her hand again. “I think that...thing between us is really something, yeah? But we don’t have to force anything. Let’s just…” I shrugged, as if it was all so easy. But in a sense, I thought it really should be easy. “Let’s enjoy each other.”
“I can do that,” Chloe said.
I pulled into the parking lot in front of Tom’s where Chloe spent her days and I didn’t waste any time before I was pulling her into my arms to kiss her. We kissed for a while, wasting too much time probably when she needed to go to work and she giggled when she pulled away. Her cheeks were a sweet shade of rose.
“I gotta go, you cad.” She kissed the tip of my nose. “I’ll be home at five.”
“I got an early game-”
“Do you want me to go?” Chloe said quickly.
“Stay home and relax,” I said, stroking her cheek. “I’ll probably be home around eight. Okay?”
“Okay…” Chloe had turned her head and when I saw her smile fall I followed her gaze. There was a man in the parking lot. A shifter. I could sniff him out from inside the car. That was fine except he was smirking at us. When he saw that we’d noticed him, he turned and ran off. He was just a regular young guy in dirty jeans and denim jacket. But Chloe looked startled. “Oh no…”
“What?” I said. “Do you know him?’
“Um...he’s a friend of Blake’s,” Chloe murmured. “I’m just…”
“You’re afraid of him,” I supplied. “Listen, you’re having my kid. He can’t say shit. If you were just leaving the pride and coming to St. Dom’s he could put up a fuss if he wanted to. But this is different.”
Chloe looked so pained. I wanted to take all that away from her and I kissed her again.
“I’m sorry,” she said tearfully.
“Why, sweetheart?” I said.
“I’m...so much trouble and…” She shook her head then as if shaking it off. “Nevermind. I gotta go. I’m late now.” She gave me a tight smile that was not convincing at all. “I’ll see you later.”
I let her go, not wanting to stress her out anymore, but I sat in the car a minute, frowning as she trudged off to Tom’s, going around to let herself in the back.
She was terrified of Blake. That much was clear. A lot of alphas ruled by fear and domination. It was a philosophy I didn’t hold to. But
this seemed so personal. I tapped my thumb on the steering wheel and that overwhelming sense of possessiveness came over me again.
If he wanted to come near Chloe, he would have to get through me first.
The rest of the day, I kept thinking about that scared expression on Chloe’s face. It was hard not to think about. I’d seen Chloe shy and pleased and sad and melancholy, but I hadn’t seen her afraid before and I hated it. Even when she’d sat me down to tell me she was pregnant, she’d looked nervous, yes, but not afraid.
I suspected there was more to this than just a bad alpha. If there wasn’t, then Blake was a worse alpha than I’d imagined. But either way, it made me hate Blake. I headed straight to the rink for warm up before the game and by the time I was skating laps with the guys, thwacking my stick on the ice, I was good and riled up.
Chloe wasn’t telling me something but I didn’t blame her. She had been scraping by just trying to survive her whole life. That did things to a person. My own life had been pretty solidly middle class. I’d never been rich but I’d never been worried either. I’d tried to make sure to look after my own people the best I could. Not that an alpha could control everything in their town.
I couldn’t think about all that now. There were a lot of factors at play but I was finding myself increasingly curious about this Blake, who I mainly just knew as a competitor on the ice. If he ran his pride anything like he played, he was definitely an asshole. There was always going to be some rough play on the ice. That was the nature of hockey. But The Fangs had always been the most brutal team we played. Couple that with our generations long feud, and you had a recipe for some serious violence every time we had a game. I’d been credited more than once with making sure that didn’t happen. I had my guys play strong but defensively when The Fangs came around. Ignoring a bully did not always work, but The Fangs always got infuriated when we wouldn’t rise to their bate. Not that there weren’t some casualties. Everybody came out of a Fangs game a little beaten up, but it was nothing to what would happen if we fought back in earnest. That’s how I’d kept us playing with integrity. We didn’t just take it. But we played the goddamn game and didn’t let it devolve into a brawl.
Dark and Forbidden Luca's Secret Baby Page 5
