Chapter 41 Aria
“You don’t get to decide that for me.” The words barely left my mouth before Luca moved.
“I absolutely do,” he said, voice tight. “When you’re standing out here like nothing could touch you, you don’t get to pretend this is normal.”
“Me?” I scoffed, though my pulse was already giving me away. “You’re the one everyone looks at like you’re trouble, Luca not me.”
“That’s why you should have stayed away,” he shot back. “If they want me hurt, they’ll use you.”
The air between us crackled. I shoved his chest, anger flooding my senses. How dare he?!“So I’m just leverage now?”
His hand caught my wrist instantly and released me the second he realized what he’d done, like the contact burned. “Don’t, you have no idea how close you were to getting hurt tonight.”
“And you think this helps?” I snapped. “Following me, watching me like I’m something fragile?”
“Because you’re my mate, Aria!” He yelled, running his hands with frustration. “And I'd be damned if anyone or anything hurts you. It's ingrained in me, the need to protect you.”
I searched his face and found it there, naked and unguarded. Fear for me. It made my chest ache and my temper flare at the same time.
“You don’t get to scare me into obeying you,” I shot back. “I won’t disappear just to make this easier for you.”
“I’m not asking you to disappear,” he said, stepping closer until I had to tilt my head back. “I’m asking you to stop acting like nothing can touch you.”
“And I’m asking you to stop acting like you own my choices.”
Silence stretched tight between us. His gaze dropped to my mouth and stayed there longer than necessary before lifting back to my eyes.
“If something happened to you,” he said quietly, “I wouldn’t stop till I find who or what is behind it.”
The admission was soft and terrifying. I swallowed. “You'd lose control?”
“Yes.”
The word settled real deep. He leaned in, close enough that I felt the heat of him, the tension rolling off his body like a warning. My heart was racing now, loud in my ears, and I knew he could hear it.
“You’re shaking,” he murmured.
“I’m angry.”
“I know.”
His hand lifted, hesitated, then cupped my jaw. The touch was careful, like he was holding something breakable. His thumb brushed my cheek, soft and possessive all at once.
“Tell me to stop,” he said. “Say it, and I will.”
I didn’t and that was all it took. He crashed into me. His mouth slamming over mine, hard and hungry, teeth clashing for a heartbeat before he tilted his head and took deeper. A low, involuntary growl rumbled in his chest, primal and it lit me up from the inside. I grabbed fistfuls of his hoodie and yanked him closer, kissing him back with everything I’d been holding back for months. My nails scraped his shoulders; his hands clamped around my waist, fingers digging in hard enough to leave marks I’d feel tomorrow.
He hauled me up onto my toes, pressing me flat against the wall until there was nothing but him and the frantic thud of his heart against mine. His tongue swept into my mouth tasting like mint and barely-leashed control. I moaned and he answered with a rough sound that vibrated straight through me. One hand slid up my chest, thumb grazing the curve under my breast, rough enough to make me arch. His hips rocked forward once, grinding against me in a way that stole my breath and made my thighs clench.
My hands moved on instinct, sliding up his chest into his dark hair. I’d always imagined it would be rough like the rest of him but it wasn’t. His hair slipped through my fingers like silk impossibly soft against my palms. The contrast hit me like a shock: this bad boy who could tear the world apart, and yet his hair felt like something made for babies. I threaded my fingers deeper, tugging gently at first, then harder when he groaned into my mouth like the pull was fuel on his fire.
“Fuck, Aria—” He broke away just long enough to drag his open mouth down my jaw, teeth scraping my pulse, sucking hard at the spot. My head fell back against the wall, offering more without a word. He took it, lips closing over my throat, in the oldest way he knew how.
I hooked a leg around his thigh on pure instinct. He shoved forward, thigh pressing right between mine, the sudden friction so perfect I whimpered into his hair. My fingers tightened in those silky strands, pulling him back to my mouth like I could keep him there forever.
Then he froze. I felt his breath against my neck, ragged and uneven. Slowly and agonizingly, he lifted his head. His eyes were amber with pupils blown wide. Every muscle in his arms and shoulders was locked tight, trembling with the effort of holding still.
“Aria.” His voice was shredded. “Step back.”
I blinked, dazed, lips swollen and tingling, fingers still tangled in his hair. “What?”
“Now.” The word came out sharp, almost pained. His hands flexed on my waist then released me completely, falling to his sides like they’d been burned and he took one deliberate step back forcing space between us even though it looked like it physically hurt him to do it. I stayed pressed to the wall, chest heaving, every inch of my skin still screaming for him to come back.
“I’m—” He swallowed hard, jaw clenched so tight a muscle ticked in his cheek. His gaze raked over me hungry and tortured like he was memorizing the flush on my cheeks, the way my lips were red from his mouth and the way my hands still hovered where they’d been in his hair. “If I don’t stop now, I won’t stop.”
He dragged a shaking hand through that same dark hair I’d just touched mussing it in a way that made my stomach flip all over again then turned half away like he couldn’t trust himself to keep looking at me.
“I’ve spent every second since I met you learning how to keep this locked down,” he said hoarsely. “So I don’t hurt you and then you kiss me back like that…”
My voice came out small, wrecked. “You think that’s ruining me?”
His eyes snapped back to mine fierce. “I think if I let go even a little more, I’ll never let go.”
My lips still burned and my body still ached where he’d pressed against me and he stood there two steps away chest rising and falling like he’d run a marathon yet he chose.
Not need but me!
“So that’s it?” I whispered.
“No.” He met my eyes again, the amber fading slowly back to dark brown. “That’s me choosing you over everything else I am.”
“But don’t think this is over,” he continued quietly, voice rough with promise. “I’m just… buying us time.”
My heart kicked hard against my ribs because whatever he was holding back tonight, I knew one thing for certain. When he finally let go, it was going to destroy us both and I wanted it anyway.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
HELLO??? DID WE ALL JUST READ THE SAME CHAPTER??? Because Luca and Aria did NOT kiss —they IGNITED and OBLITERATED every boundary they ever had.
The wall?? The HAIR-PULLING??? I had to sit up straight like a Victorian man seeing ankles.
Yeah. We’re doomed. They’re doomed. Everyone is doomed. See you in the next meltdown, my lovelies💋. Don’t forget to drop your mind-blowing comments🤭.