Lucian

by Dawn Doyle

  “What you do best.”

  He grinned and rubbed his hands. “It’s been too fucking long, man.”

  “It’s been two weeks,” Nate said while typing on his phone.

  “Yeah, but two weeks too long.”

  He had itchy fingers most of the time, but since the buzz had died off from the last hit, he needed to get out there and get his fix. I’d had to give up that part of me a long time ago, but Blaine couldn’t. He’d said he needed the buzz or it’d drive him crazy. He lived for the thrill, the excitement, the danger of getting caught but knowing he was too smart for that. We just went along with him because he was our friend, but the last time I’d been involved, it had taken a turn that could’ve ended up so much fucking worse.

  Chapter 6

  Lucian

  Charlie and Nate had found it hard to dig up anything on Daryl Cane, but once they got their hands on some information, Brady had turned white. I, however, wanted to know what the fuck Larry was up to. The word on the circuit was that he was tough, undefeated, and gave no fucks if his opponents lived or died.

  I put that to the back of my mind when they told me that they’d found the source of the rumors. They told me everything and I knew what I had to tell Luca was going to upset her. It turned even my stomach when Charlie relayed the details back to me. One person I never thought would say the nasty shit that was spread around the school was someone I knew well.

  I hadn’t seen Luca for two days. I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed before I could face her again. Seeing her standing in her room, her tiny pajamas and her messy hair… I wanted to lift her up, slam her down on her bed and tear them from her. Her anger toward me, and the things she’d had to put up with had kept me sane. She’d had it all wrong, and yeah, I had to take some of the blame for her misunderstanding what I did, but what happened after ensured she hated me more than if I had played her.

  Not a chance did I do that. I used whatever tactics I could to feel her lips again. So, when I’d gone to her house to confront her, I couldn’t stop myself. The way she kissed me back, wanting me to, and flicking her tongue with mine, I was in pain. God, she was so fucking beautiful.

  “Hello, Ant,” I said, leaning against the hood of his dark-blue Datsun Go.

  “Hey, Lucian,” he replied, his wide eyes darting around, scanning the area. “What’s up?”

  I had to give it to the guy, he had balls trying to make out like nothing was up and he hadn’t made it to the top of my shit list. “Why don’t you tell me?”

  He got to his car and stared at the hood, but I didn’t move a damn muscle. “Um, I have to go to school.”

  I grinned. “Yeah,” I said, drawing out the word. “Before you go, I wanna know something.”

  He swallowed hard and his shoulders lifted toward his reddening ears.“Uh, okay.”

  “Luca Marsden. You wouldn’t know anything about the rumors about her, would you?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “Rumors? Uh, I don’t know about any rumors, Lu—”

  “Don’t bullshit me, kid.” That was hilarious. I wasn’t much older than him, but he looked like a gangly young teen with his skinny jeans and hipster shirt buttoned all the way to the top. “I already know, but I want you to tell me.” Ant turned so white he looked like an extra for The Walking Dead. “It wasn’t me,” he rushed out, his voice quivering. “I swear, Lucian.”

  “Yeah, that’s what they all say.”

  “I just said that you and her made out at Grace’s party when you won the game.”

  I stifled a fake yawn. “Try again.” I’d barely touched her, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to lick over every single part of her as she lay there.

  Ant’s eyes reddened, tears welled up, and his lip trembled. The kid thought I was going to fuck him up. Shit, I wanted to, but I couldn’t. When I stood from the hood and rounded on him, he spilled. “I just repeated what I was told.”

  “And that was…?” I narrowed my eyes on him, my jaw tight and my lips pursed.

  “You fucked her in one of the rooms, Grace caught you, and she was seriously pissed. Luca wouldn’t believe you’d used her, but after you made out, you told her you had, so she left. That was all she said. It kinda got out of control after that.”

  “Kinda.” I slowly nodded. “Here’s what’s gonna happen.” I waited until Ant nodded like a damn bobblehead. “You’re going to apologize to Luca for lying, and you’re gonna tell people you made that shit up. Nobody laid a finger on Luca, got it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And tell your friends that if I hear another fucking word about this, I’ll be paying them a visit, too.”

  *****

  Luca walked out of the building, her hair tied up on her head, showing her neck. I laughed to myself, remembering how she’d called me a vampire, and here I was imagining just how I’d wanted to sink my teeth into it when she’d let her head fall back. Her denim leggings showed off just how tight her legs were, and I was grateful her pale-blue shirt dropped down at the back, covering most of her ass.

  A group of guys behind her were busy checking her out, and I knew exactly what those pricks were thinking of. Hell, I’d done the same plenty of times—undressing the hot girl with my imagination, dreaming up how her legs would feel wrapped around me while I drove into her, how her fingers would grip tight to my shoulders as she shook beneath me… I grew hard every damn time I thought about Luca like that, and knowing they were doing the same pissed me off. I couldn’t stop them from thinking those things, but I sure as hell could stop them being so fucking obvious about it.

  I waited for her to pass before stepping out from behind a silver truck parked close to the school. When the guys continued in the same direction as Luca, I made damn sure I was going their way.

  “Look at it, though,” one of them said. Short guy, no older than sixteen with a hair cut that made him look like a porcupine. “I just wanna slap that ass.”

  The other three chuckled, keeping quiet so she wouldn’t hear. They didn’t know I was listening to every word.

  Stringy guy was next, stooping down to meet the height of his buddies. “I bet she’s a screamer. With a rack like that, she knows how to use it. Just ask Lucian and Brady.” The others laughed again and he added, “I bet they know exactly how she likes it.”

  “We wouldn’t know,” I said, and the second the cowards heard my voice, they stopped and turned around. “And none of you dickless bastards are ever gonna find out.”

  “Lucian, man, we didn’t—”

  “Cut the shit,” I snapped, and looked over their shoulders to see Luca staring down to the floor. I got up in their faces, their skin draining of color. “If I hear one more word about her, from any of you…” I didn’t need to finish because they all nodded in unison, understanding exactly what I meant. “Now, get the fuck out of here.” They turned and bolted, not looking in Luca’s direction.

  She watched them go, and then looked back to see what they were running from. Her eyes widened, and the mouth I had the pleasure of just nights before dropped open. God, it was as though it was calling to me, and my body tensed just thinking how those lips would look around my dick.

  “Hi,” I greeted her, taking in the pink flush across her cheekbones and the way her plump lower lip moved up and down while she stared.

  “H-hey,” she replied, coming to a stop a few feet in front of me. “What are you doing here? What was that about?”

  I smiled. “What do you want me to answer first?”

  Luca pushed back the loose strands that had blown across her face. “Um, the first one.” Her gaze kept dropping from my eyes to my mouth, and if I was certain, she was recalling our last meeting—I sure as hell were.

  “I’m here because I need to speak to you about something, and the other, those guys were saying some nasty shit and I had to correct them.”

  “Okay. What do you want to talk about?”

  I looked between her and red. “This
is a little private, Luca.”

  She looked between Paige and me. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

  “But I brought you,” Paige countered, and I saw a look cross her freckled features. Little Miss busybody wanted the details.

  “I’ll drop Luca home, red, so don’t worry about that.”

  Luca’s neck darkened from the bottom, and the color slowly rose up toward her face. The corner of my mouth twitched, and I was certain the day was going to get interesting. It sure was tonight. We hadn’t been out for a while, not until the last episode had died down.

  “It’s okay, I’ll be fine,” Luca assured her, but stared right at me.

  I waited for Paige to be out of earshot. The last thing I wanted was for any of this conversation to get back to the source before Luca had even gotten home.

  “How’s school?”

  Her eyebrows dipped. “What? You came here to ask about school?”

  I chuckled. “No, but I thought I’d lead with something other than, hey I found out who started the rumors.”

  “You did?” Her eyes grew large and she stepped closer to me.

  Shit, she smelled like a hot fuck on a summer’s day. And wouldn’t you know it? It was summer, and it was daytime.

  Focus, prick, and stop thinking with your cock for once.

  “Yeah, and you’re not going to like it.”

  She deadpanned and folded her arms over her chest. Her light-grey jacket, no thicker than a shirt, was rolled up at the sleeves, showing her bronzed skin. The way her forearms pressed against her body, it only brought my attention to her tits. It’s not that I was trying to look, okay I would gladly stare at those things, but her tan was eye-catching in the first place. They just happened to be in the area that my eyes naturally fell to.

  “Um, hi?” She held one hand out as though wondering what I was doing, then tucked it back in when I’d woken up. “I said, how would I ever like somebody spreading lies about me?”

  “Yeah, uh, do you want to talk in the car?” I had to sit down, or it was going to become very fucking clear where my mind was. “I’ll tell you on the way, and these assholes“—I thumbed over my shoulder to the audience a little further back—“get to see shit.”

  Luca’s eyes darted about as though trying to hide that she was looking at the crowd. She chewed on her lower lip, and then her eyes shot to me when a rumble sounded from my throat.

  “Don’t.Do.That,” I threatened. “Fuck, Luca, just don’t.”

  “Do what?”

  I narrowed my gaze and let it fall pointedly to her mouth. “That. Not out here. Not unless you want to give them something to talk about.” I watched her pupils dilate. “Damn it, let’s go before I do something stupid.”

  “Sure,” she whispered.

  We walked in silence to my car, and the moment Luca saw it, she let out a low whistle. I pressed the fob to unlock it, and opened the door for her. “Like it?”

  She nodded then slid inside onto the red and black seat. “This is nice,” she said in awe. “I love these cars.”

  I shrugged. To me, it was just a car. But, as I’d never paid for the thing, I couldn’t appreciate its value. I couldn’t appreciate it at all; it would be gone in less than a day and I’d have a different ride. I pushed the fob into my pocket and got in, and when I should’ve been getting ready to tell Luca what I knew, I was assaulted by her, by everything about her; she was intoxicating.

  “So, you had to tell me something,” she said when I’d driven for about five minutes.

  My hands gripped the steering wheel, holding on to stop me from moving my hand over to her and stroking up her thigh. I’d get a busted lip for sure, and knowing that Luca had no idea who I was, only made me appreciate her more. Most girls I knew would take my hand and do it for me, sliding between their legs, showing me exactly what they wanted, but it was bullshit. It wasn’t me they wanted, they wanted the fighter, the bad boy… They wanted the attention my name would bring, and it had gotten so fucking old and boring.

  “Yeah,” I replied finally. “I’ll park up somewhere private.” Luca shifted in her seat and gripped the door handle. “You’re going to be upset about this, Luca, and I’d rather you yelled at me where it wouldn’t draw attention.”

  Her head spun toward me. “I’m going to yell at you?”

  I said no more until I cleared the edge of town and drove down a quiet road that led to the South parking lot of the beach. It was a regular spot for couples at night because of the surrounding dunes, but not so much in the middle of the day.

  I cut the engine and got out, walking to the front and sitting back against the hood. It would take no time for the interior to become an oven, and I needed the fresh air to calm me the fuck down.

  “Why have we stopped here?” Luca asked, following me out. The breeze from the ocean rushed over us, sending the loose strands of her golden hair flying about her face. I patted the space next to me. “I should call my mom.” She pulled her phone from her jacket.

  “Nothing’s going to happen to you,” I said, turning to face her. “Do you seriously think I brought you here to hurt you?”

  “If I thought you were going to hurt me, Lucian, I wouldn’t have gotten into the car.” She shook her head. “I went with Paige, so my mom’s expecting me home.” Her fingers swept quickly across the screen. “There, see?” She held it up, showing me the text that said she got a ride with a friend and is hitting the beach for a while.

  I smirked. “Still told her where you were. Clever.”

  “Oh my god,” she groaned. “They have Find my iPhone. If I don’t turn up, she’ll check where I am and it’ll show me here. Do you think I want her calling my dad, and him finding me here with you?”

  I leaned into her space and I didn’t miss her sharp breath. “Will Daddy be pissed?”

  “Daddy will go ape shit and will probably arrest you. He’ll bring that helicopter you thought you heard, too.”

  I laughed. “I guess I better make this quick, then.” Fuck, all I needed was a cop on my ass. All he had to do was look a little too closely and we’d be fucked ten ways from every day ending with a ‘Y.’ I had no idea I’d taken such a huge risk going to her house until she warned me that night.

  “I already know,” she said, surprising me.

  “You do?”

  “Did you have something to do with it?”

  “Um, I don’t know what it is, so I couldn’t tell you.”

  “Nobody said anything today. In fact, some guy who’d started it, called Ant, came up to me and said he was sorry for spreading gossip about you and me. It was surreal, like nothing had happened. Nobody whispered anything, and I didn’t see anybody staring. Well, those idiots were the exception.”

  I nodded slowly. When I would normally deny any involvement with anything at all, this was something I wanted to take credit for. Those bastards had hurt her, and I wanted to let her know I wouldn’t allow it.

  Jesus fucking Christ.

  “Thank you.” Her voice was so quiet I barely caught the words. “And… Thank you…for before.” She looked down at her feet while she kicked some sand around on the tarmac.

  I used that opportunity to scan down her profile. I took my sweet time, too, making sure I didn’t miss a single millimeter. I’d never regarded any woman so closely as I was doing with Luca. Was it that I’d pulled her from the water? The thought that if I weren’t there that day, she could be gone? No idea, but whatever is was about this girl, she had me hooked.

  I cleared my throat. “No problem.”

  “So, I guess you should take me back now.”

  Did she think that was it? “Luca, why did you get into the car with me if you thought you already knew?”

  She turned her face away from me, but that did nothing to hide the tint to her skin. “I thought you might have wanted to tell me about it.” She paused. “Hang on. Thought I knew?”

  “Luca, I’m going to tell you some shit, and I want you to wait until I’ve
finished to scream at me, okay?”

  “Okay.” She pressed her palms to the hood, her fingers curling over the edge. The way she looked, practically sitting on the car, filthy images ran through my mind. “Lucian.”

  I cleared my throat. “Yeah, so, Ant was told that Grace had caught us in her room and we were…hooking up,” I began, and her jaw dropped. Fuck her lips were calling me. “Anyway…” I told her exactly what Ant told me, word for ugly word.

  “But that’s a lie. We weren’t even in a room, and we certainly weren’t… Why would they think Grace caught us?”

  I raised my eyebrow, hoping to hell I didn’t have to break it to her. Family was supposed to have your back, not tear it from you. “Who was the one who didn’t like us talking?”

  “Well, Grace, but…” Her face drained when I released a slow breath and raised my brows. “No.”

  “I’m sorry she did that to you.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. I wanted to tell her she would only have to say the word and Grace would be publicly torn apart, that she would regret every word that had come out of her mouth. But, in a way, I understood. If it were Brady, and I wanted him to keep away from something I thought was bad, I would pull some stupid shit to keep him safe.

  “Why would she do that?” Luca framed her eyes with her hands, pressing her fingers to her forehead. “Why would she get somebody to do that to me?”

  “Hey.” I rounded on her, standing in front and reaching to pull her hands from her face.

  She looked up at me again. “Take me home, Lucian.”

  I stepped into her space, my legs either side of hers, and she straightened her spine. “Are you sure you want to go right now?” Luca pulled her feet toward the car, and I didn’t move when she stood up. Her chest almost touched me, a sliver of space between us. All I had to do was rock forward.

  “You kissed me,” she whispered. “That’s exactly what she didn’t want to happen, but you did anyway.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, I did—more than once.”

  Her eyes flicked to my mouth then back to me. “Are you going to do it again?”

  I flicked my tongue over my lips. “I want to.”