by Dawn Doyle
Contents
Title Page
Disclaimer
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
Lucian
By
Dawn Doyle
Copyright © 2018 Dawn Doyle
All rights reserved, worldwide, and on any multiverse that is known or unknown. No part of this publication may be reproduced in, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, including electronically or mechanical, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Published by Dawn Doyle
Edited by Dawn Doyle
Book cover design by Dawn Doyle
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it from Amazon (sole distributor) or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
For My Readers.
Chapter 1
Luca
Warmth covered my mouth and softness surrounded my lips before a burst of air was forced down my throat, followed by another.
I spluttered, salt water splashing over my face as I coughed it up from my lungs. My chest burned as I continued to hack up. I sucked in a huge breath, and my insides rattled with the remnants of ocean that I then brought up.
“Breathe, you’re gonna be okay,” a soft, deep voice said.
“Luca!” my mom yelled, her voice sounding like it was far away. She yelled again, and this time, she sounded closer. “Luca, honey, can you hear me? It’s Mom.”
“Mom,” I croaked, fire still scorching my throat. I attempted to open my eyes, the sun half-blinding me as I did.
“I’m right here.” Her cold hands gripped mine and my hair was brushed from my face by warm fingers. “Oh, god, Luca, what happened?”
I tried to open my lids again, turning my head to avoid the brightness reining down on me. I screwed up my eyes, and then a shadow blocked out the sun.
My jaw slackened when I got a good look at my shield. Black hair dripped wet, tiny droplets falling from the strands, hitting my chest. Big silver-grey eyes stared down at me, framed with thick lashes, matching the hair.
“Are you okay?” the same voice said from earlier, his curved brows dipping in the middle as he searched my face.
I couldn’t speak. I’d never seen anybody so stunning before, and this drop-dead-gorgeous guy was asking me if I was okay. “Ya-huh,” I managed.
“Sit up, honey,” my mom said, slipping her hand underneath me, guiding me up. “We need to get your airways clear from the water you took in.”
The water. I’d been swimming in the ocean, cooling off from the almost one-hundred degree heat, when my ankle had become tangled in something on the bed. I couldn’t get it off, and the last thing I remembered was the water covering my head and my inability to get free.
I quickly scanned down my body and my face flamed. My silver and blue two-piece was covered in muddy sand; my legs too, and they’d managed to pick up some small debris of sticks and broken shells on the way out of the water.
The guy kneeling over me sat back, bringing one foot in front and resting his arms across his knee. His shoulders were rounded, as though he’d come out of his awkward growing phase a long time ago and had filled out in ways that made my mouth water.
He lifted his hand, and I held my breath as he reached toward my straggly blonde hair. His magnificent eyes followed the movement, and when he pulled back, he was holding a long piece of shriveled seaweed.
My already racing heart fluttered when he smiled. It was the kind that made him look like no matter what trouble he would cause, he would get away with it with one flash of those deep dimples.
“Thank you for pulling my daughter out of the water,” my mom said, and my head snapped toward her, then back to the guy. His cheeks darkened, his tan skin looking pale in comparison.
He smiled at my mom, then stared right at me, my damn breath catching again. “You’re welcome,” he said, his dimples popping again. He stood, and the sun created a golden aura around him, making him look like an angel. “I gotta go. My buddies are leaving, and they’re my ride.” He lifted his toned arm and waved to somebody behind my mom and me. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“I have to repay you for saving my daughter’s life,” my mom gushed, placing her hand on his arm when he made a move.
He shook his head and held his palms up. “I was just in the right place, Ma’am. Anybody else would’ve done the same thing.”
“What’s your name?” my mom asked.
He glanced to wherever it was he intended to go, then looked down at me while I still lay unflattering on the sand, propped up on my elbows as I stared up at his tight, rippling stomach. “Lucian,” he replied, then his eyes dropped from my face and ran slowly down my body. As if he’d suddenly remembered my mom was there, his eyes snapped to hers.
“Loosh, we gotta go!” Another male voice came from way behind us, then a car horn blared.
“Uh, I gotta go.”
Lucian cast one last glance in my direction, then headed toward his friends. My mom cleared her throat, and signaled with her eyes for me to say something.
“Um, thank you… Lucian,” I called out, my voice still hoarse.
He looked over his shoulder, his head slightly bowed. His lips stretched into a smile, his eyes catching the sunlight as he did. “You’re welcome… Luca.”
I watched his retreating form and his soaking red board shorts as they clung to his legs until he reached a group of guys all around his age. I couldn’t hear what they were saying to him, but their whistles carried over to me on the cool breeze. After Lucian got to his friends, they talked for a short moment before patting him on the back. He got into the back, and the driver pulled away from their spot.
“Luca, what happened?” my mom asked, and I sat up, hugging my knees.
I coughed a little, the scratching down my wind-pipe irritating me. “I don’t know, Mom,” I whispered to save my voice. “One minute I was swimming, and the next… I couldn’t break the surface.”
My mom wrapped a sun-heated towel around my shivering shoulders and helped me to stand. “That boy is an angel,” she said, shaking her head. “If it weren’t for him being right there when you went under, I could’ve lost you.” She pulled me into her side and kissed the top of my head as we walked back to where we’d set up our things. “I don’t know what I would’ve done.”
I pulled the corners of the green and white towel around me, the stripes making a circle where the ends met. “Yeah, that was a close one,” I mumbled.
I tried to put the pieces of what had happened together, and even though the time I’d gone under to the time I woke up on the sand, there was one thing for certain… Lucian
was nowhere near me when I swam out; I would’ve noticed somebody like him, so where the hell had he come from?
Lucian
“I don’t give a rat’s ass how many times you say it, I’m not going!” I yelled, so fucking sick of Blaine’s whining about Friday night. I was so over with the parties at Grace’s house, and if I never went to another, I’d be totally fine with it. “I have absolutely no interest in going, so shut up.”
Blaine dead-panned. “Seriously, Loosh?” he asked, then folded his arms over his chest. I fucking hated how they called me that. Lu, or just good old fashioned Lucian was just fine. They didn’t have to bastardize my fucking name; it made me sound like an idiot. “Grace has got a huge group of friends, all damn hot, and you’re passing up another opportunity to hook up?”
I rolled my eyes, then flipped him off. I blew out a slow breath. “I couldn’t give a fuck who they are, or what they look like. I’ve got shit to do, so I’m gonna give this one a miss… Jesus.” I shook my head and walked away from him before he could try to persuade me some more.
“Charlie!” Blaine yelled, cupping his mouth and pointing at me. “Loosh’s bailing on us for Friday. The pussy said he’s got better things to do than party!”
“Boo!” Charlie called back. He laughed, then ran his hand through his light-brown hair. He’d just gotten it cut and the fucker though he looked awesome with the sides buzzed and the top flopping about. “Don’t be an asshole, Loosh, come with. You never know who might be there. But then again, Darcy might show up.” He shuddered. “She’s always sniffing around you everywhere you go.”
I cringed. Darcy had been trying to get her hands down my pants since we met—no fucking idea why she wouldn’t give up—but I was so not interested. She’d turned up at Grace’s parties a few times, but it wasn’t because they were friends—far from it. She liked to keep tabs on me, but she got shit.
“Leave him alone, guys,” Nate said, acting the mediator. “He’s not interested in pussy anymore, so watch your assholes!”
I picked up the empty can next to me and launched it at his head, just missing him when he ducked. He had the fucking audacity to laugh. I looked down at the drops that had hit my chest. Flat beer had sprayed over my grey Nike T-shirt, leaving a spatter of dots across the front.
“Look what you caused, prick,” I snapped, gripping the fabric and pulling it away from my chest to show him.
“Oh, look, he’s worried about his clothes now,” Blaine added, trying and failing to imitate a female voice, then batted his eyes while tipping his hand. He looked like a damn teapot. “Quick, get some club soda.”
My eyebrows shot up along with my temper. “Really?”
A hand slapped me on the back, then an arm draped across my shoulder. “Calm the fuck down,” Brady, my twin brother said. “So you don’t go this Friday, big fucking deal, but if you’re bailing on us to hook up elsewhere, we’re gonna have to rethink your membership agreement.”
I shrugged his arm off of me. “Funny, Brady. I’m not going because they bore the shit out of me.” It was half true. The parties were the same every time. The same people, the same place, the same booze, even the same fucked-up crap they did. I’d walked in on too many people screwing, too. Just that would have anybody second-guessing their decision to go. “Go without me. I’m sure you’re more than capable.”
Brady grinned, his expression so similar to mine when I was about to mouth off. “Tell your bro what’s up.” We kinda looked the same, but we weren’t identical. Same hair color, but he had brown eyes, like our dad. “Come on, dimples,” he said close to me so the others couldn’t overhear. If anybody else started calling me that, I’d have to break his legs. “You’ve been a hard fucker to live with since the beach. Are you gonna ‘fess up, or what?”
The beach. Luca.
It hadn’t been too busy that day, but there’d been enough people to make it easier to be less conspicuous. The guys and I had been kicking a soccer ball around for a little while when I’d spotted her. Her mom was sitting further back, reading, and Luca had stood up from her towel and when she’d removed the white stringy cover she had on, I almost swallowed my tongue. Her ass was perfect. Her bikini fitted her like a pair of hands cradling each cheek and lifting each side with every step she took toward the water. When she’d turned to look back at her mom, I’d frozen. Her hair flowed behind her, shiny and wavy, and as I’d stood there, staring like a creeper, Brady called out over the sound of the rushing waves that we didn’t have long before we had to go.
When I’d turned back, Luca had swam out, her arms gliding through the water with ease, her legs lifting out when she turned on her back to float. I’d been facing the ocean during our game, and I’d used the opportunity to watch her every chance I got.
When she’d gone further and disappeared under the surface, I’d thought she was just swimming across the bed. My stomach had churned, my gut telling me that wasn’t the case.
“What’s up?” Brady asked, scanning the horizon to see what I was staring at.
“There was...” I paused, hesitating to tell him why I was barely paying them any attention, but for me to act, I had to say something. “Somebody swimming further out,” I continued, watching for Luca to appear, panic setting in, tightening my chest. “They haven’t come back up.”
“Probably just swimming on the bottom,” he replied, voicing my first thought. He clapped me on the shoulder. “Anyway, we gotta start heading back. The traffic is gonna be hell enough as it is with all these people leaving, and the clock is ticking.” He picked up the soccer ball, and he and the others turned and headed back to the car.
I turned to follow, but I stopped, checking the water one last time. One second I was standing there, the next I was pulling Luca from the water, her slight frame cradled in my arms with her hair across her face. Her lips had turned blue, and the second I lay her down on the hot sand, I pinched her nose shut, covered her lips with mine, and breathed out into her cold mouth.
“Nothing’s wrong,” I said, coming out of the familiar replay.
“Nah, you’ve been a miserable prick lately. Is it something to do with that girl on the beach?”
Fuck.
‘Only identical twins had that bond,’ my ass. I could swear Brady was a fucking psychic sometimes.
“Who?” I lied, then shook my head.
Brady smirked. “The hot one we’d thought you’d gone over to make out with.”
Stupid asses. Why the fuck would I have done that?
“Oh, no, not at all. Why would it have anything to do with her? I don’t even know her.”
Brady’s eyes narrowed, and I shrugged as if saying ‘what?’ He lifted a shoulder. “Okay. I was just asking, jeez. Anyway, you have to get ready. Dad’s got plans with Mom tonight, so it’s go time.”
Luca
Grace was piece of work. She’d gone through almost every item of clothing in my closet, checking for something to wear for her party on Friday.
“Fuck, Luca, don’t you own a single sexy outfit? There’s going to be a ton of guys there, and you have to at least look like you haven’t gone right from school.”
I stood up from my chair and walked over to her, gripping the white door of my closet and opening it wider. “Here.” I reached in, took my skinny jeans, dark red tank, and held them up. “These are fine.” She was the type to have at least five outfits planned for a single event, just in case her mood changed. I, on the other hand, liked to be in the moment. It was chaos most of the time, but how the hell would I know what to wear if plans changed?
Grace rubbed her chin, scrutinizing my choice. “I suppose. You could always accessorize, I guess.” She turned and grabbed a few items from my dresser. “This necklace would look great. It’s long enough to hang between your boobs—you need to show them off more.”
I took the necklace out of her hand. “No, I don’t.” I placed it back on my dresser and threw my clothes on my queen-sized bed. “The tank is low enough,
Grace. I don’t want my chest to be my main feature.”
Grace flopped down on the pink covers. “God, you’re so uptight! Live a little, Lu. And, who knows? You might even get to pop your cherry.”
I deadpanned. Grace wasn’t what many people would consider ‘ladylike.’ Even my mom thought she was a little outspoken and a bad influence, and Grace was her sister’s kid! “I’m seventeen, Grace,” I shot back. “I’m not in any rush to have sex. Anyway, I’d rather it be with somebody I care about than some guy I met at a party who happens to be hot.”
“Yeah, cos losing your virginity to a guy and then living happily ever after is so common.” She stood and looked through my closet again. “No, you meet a guy, he pushes all the right buttons, you think you’re ready and it’s going to be amazing, but it just hurts and it’s not so great…like, at all—" she looked right at me—“trust me. But, you think it’s special and it was worth it because you’re in love. Then, when everything’s great and you’re loving it up every chance you get, he goes and breaks your fucking heart.” She shrugged a shoulder, but I saw the tightness of her mouth and her brows dip in the middle.
I sat down on my chair again and looked at my hands in my lap. I hated seeing her still broken over him. She’d dated that guy for a little over six months. She was so happy, calling me and telling me how in love she was, and then out of the blue, it was like her world was turned upside down. I couldn’t even say his name around her. I’d never met him because I lived across the state, but I’d seen a picture of him, and he was cute. However, during the times my aunt and Grace visited, we would go to the movies or hang out with my friends, so the subject never came up unless we were alone. Even then, Grace would direct the conversation away from it. He must’ve hurt her so bad for her to still be hurting four months after they’d split. I’d kick his ass if I could.