“I never said you were going to do the talking,” she laughs, having no intention of them having any kind of conversation. But he doesn’t seem to be resisting her with too much effort. Maybe he’s started to realize they’re free to be whoever they want to be in the Newlands.
It’s a warm night with only the gentlest of breeze and as they step out onto the beach and into the soft moonlight, Mercy’s stomach clenches into a knot. This is the moment she’s been waiting for ever since Luca climbed aboard that boat. That kiss they’d had in the forest during the Proving is not finished yet.
Slipping her hands around his neck, Mercy urges Luca’s face down to hers.
“This isn’t a good idea,” he protests, making no move to remove her hands.
“You’re not my cousin out here,” she says. “You’re just a man. And I’m just a girl desperately in love with that man. I want you, Luca.”
He lets out a sigh and presses his forehead to hers, his hands tentatively resting on her hips as he seems to be deciding what to do. The chemistry between them is undeniable. Surely, she’s not the only one to be feeling these waves of desire pulsing through to her core.
Mercy steps closer to Luca, closing the gap between them as she fits her curves against the firmness of his chest.
“I want you, Luca,” she says again, her voice low and breathy.
His sigh becomes a moan and his lips crash toward hers and now he’s kissing her like their last encounter never finished.
Stepping up on her toes, she slides her fingertips from his neck down his back to that firm butt she’d been eyeing off all day. Who’s she kidding—she’s been eyeing off that butt ever since he returned from the Outlands. This guy is unbelievably hot!
Luca’s palms slip underneath the back of her shirt and now it’s skin on skin. The sensation has Mercy groaning and their kiss ignites, merging into a blur of lips and tongues and warmth and pure bliss as she loses track of everything else around her.
It’s only Mercy and Luca right now in this moment. Nothing else exists.
Dropping to his knees, Luca pulls her down with him until she’s lying on her back, the weight of him pressed against her. She’s never gone this far with a guy before. She’s never wanted to take any of those clumsy kisses in Askala in this direction. But she knows where she wants this to go with Luca.
Further.
Higher.
Faster.
All. The. Damn. Way.
His hands delve underneath the hemp fabric of her shirt once more, only this time it’s to tear it from her body and toss it to the side.
She wants to scream out that she loves him, yet somehow she can’t. As much as she does love him—and she believes he loves her—this has little to do with love. It’s white hot lust. It’s a fire burning deep inside her that only Luca can put out.
Mercy reaches up and tugs on his shirt, wanting to feel more skin.
More Luca.
He obliges and slips it over his head, leaving it tossed on the sand with her own discarded clothing.
“I want you,” she says once more, needing him to be clear that she consents to whatever he wants to do with her. Only this time he replies…
“I want you, too.”
And as he takes things to the next level, as he turns her from the girl he grew up with to the woman who will stay by his side, tears of joy run down Mercy’s face, and she acknowledges that this is an act of love.
She loves this man.
Wholly. Completely. With every ounce of her being.
And when he presses his cheek to hers, rakes his fingers into her hair, holding her still as he lets out a gasp filled with everything that’s good in this world, she honestly believes that he loves her, too.
LUCA
Luca’s never wanted to stay in one place. There always seemed to be something pulling him elsewhere.
But, for the first time in his life, he’s found somewhere he wants to stay.
Mercy’s arms.
She shifts beneath him, stretching languidly. Everywhere their bodies touch, Luca feels the fire ignite all over again. Never before has he experienced something like that.
So fast.
So hot.
So…consuming.
Mercy drifts a finger down his jaw, sending tingles racing over his skin. “Can we do that again?”
Luca’s breath disintegrates. They’ve fed a fire that will be impossible to put out. Gently, he presses his lips against hers, tasting the lingering sweetness of their passion. He should regret this.
He should’ve tried to stop it.
He pulls back. “We can’t. We need to get dressed before someone gets a rude shock.”
Possessiveness flares within Luca. The need to protect Mercy has now become a force to be reckoned with.
Standing up, his skin instantly misses her warmth. He holds out his hand. “Do you want another quick dip in the ocean?”
“One a day is probably all my skin can take.”
And probably all Luca’s heart can take, too. Wet Mercy was a whole new level of distracting. Slick skin. Thick hair darker than night. Clothes clinging to her curves.
Luca turns away before he can pull her back into his arms. This was Mercy’s first time. She needs time to…recover. Grabbing his clothes, he quickly gets dressed, listening to the rustle of material as Mercy does the same.
He holds out his hand only to realize she probably can’t see it. “Shall we get back to the hut?”
But Mercy doesn’t move. “Are you regretting this, Luca? Are you going to say we shouldn’t have done it in the first place?”
From the tone in her voice, Luca can tell her hands are on her hips. There’s frustration, an edge of anger. But also a hint of vulnerability.
Quickly banishing the distance between them, Luca does what he wanted to from the moment he pulled away. He draws Mercy close, pressing all of her against all of him. “I couldn’t have stopped that any more than I can stop the tide, Mercy.”
“Oh.”
He presses his forehead against hers. “And I have no regrets.”
Her breath whooshes out and he’s pretty sure she’s smiling. Her arms wrap around his neck, pulling his mouth down to hers. “Good,” she murmurs against his lips. “Because I have an idea.”
Before Luca can ask what’s leaped into Mercy’s sharp mind, she kisses him. Hard. Not willing to be outdone, Luca tightens his arms, lifting her so only her toes brush the ground. Her body molds to his, the desire igniting as if it was never satiated.
Luca pulls back, already panting. Their breaths mingle, their hearts only inches away from each other.
How ironic it’s the Newlands that Luca can see a future in.
Mercy’s fingers tangle with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Yep. Best idea ever.”
Smiling, Luca loosens his arms so he can study her in the dim light. “I’m curious and terrified all at the same time.”
“Well, I was thinking…”
The fact that Mercy hesitates has Luca on alert. This is a girl who knows what she wants and goes for it. Her hands on his neck withdraw, coming to rest on his chest.
“We could build our own hut,” Mercy says quickly. “And live in it. Together.”
Luca’s arms slacken. “Just the two of us?”