The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 153

“I’m serious, Luca!” I say, looping my arms around his neck and forcing myself to pout a little, wanting him to be just a little more serious. “I mean…” I blush lightly, because I know I’m going to sound naïve but…well, I want to know. “You can’t have loved them all. Did you love…any of them?”

“A few,” he says, his face falling into more serious lines as he tightens his arm around my waist, pulling me close. “I’ve had serious relationships, Ariel. But the majority of them…no, I didn’t love them. But sex – it’s not always about love.”

“Then what’s it about?” I ask, dead curious. Because I’ve never had anyone to talk to about this sort of stuff. My mom made sure I know everything I need to know about the mechanics of sex and babies, and I know that I could always go to her to ask whatever I wanted.

But this sort of thing, the personal side of it? The sort of thing you talk to your friends about?

Well, my friends are just as naïve as me.

Or at least I thought they were – until Jesse blew their cover. I scowl, a little, thinking about it, and Luca grins at me, lifting a hand and brushing his thumb over my frowning lip like he loves the shape of it.

“Sometimes,” he murmurs, “sex is just about two people who are attracted to each other getting naked and doing really weird things to each other’s bodies.”

I burst into laughter then, my head tilting back on my neck. Luca laughs with me, I can feel his body vibrating against mine. “Luca!” I gasp. “That is the least romantic thing I’ve ever heard!”

“Well, sometimes it’s not romantic!” he replies, laughing with me as I raise my head and smile at him. “But it can be. Or it can be really intimate, and bring people closer.” Almost as if to illustrate he tightens his arm again, pulling me flush against his chest and brushing his cheek up the length of my neck before pulling back a little and staring into my face, his brown eyes warm.

“I think I’d prefer the latter,” I say, my voice a little dry.

“With you?” he says, tilting his head to the side. “It will be all of it, Ariel, at different times. But,” he gives me a soft smile now, understanding, that warms me body and soul. “We don’t have to do any of that now – or anytime soon. We’ll go slow. I…want you to like it.”

I take my face in my hands, leaning close so my lips brush his as I speak. “I do like it, Luca,” I murmur. “I just…it’s new.”

He nods, understanding. “Plus,” he says, considering, “you shouldn’t lose your virginity in a dream state.”

“Oh yeah?” I ask, my face bursting into a smile. “Then where should I lose it, the dorm room of an all-boys war academy?”

“Certainly not,” he says, frowning at me like it’s a ridiculous idea. “I was thinking, like, the hallway of that academy, about five minutes from now? We’ll meet halfway, I’ll just like, pin you down in the staircase –“

I burst out laughing, tucking my head against his shoulder and shaking it. “Luca!” I protest.

“I know,” he murmurs, laughing with me, holding me close and rocking me back and forth just a little. “I’m just kidding, gorgeous.”

“Gorgeous,” I say, lifting my head and smiling down at him again. “I like this new nickname. Better than Shrimp.”

“Shrimp is for the rest of the world,” he sighs, grinning at me. “Gorgeous – that’s just for me and you.”

“Good,” I murmur, lowering my face to his again, wanting nothing more than to kiss him and kiss him and kiss him for the rest of the night. “I like this – having a secret with you.”

“First of many,” he murmurs, and then Luca turns me again, laying me flat out on the mattress and proceeding to kiss me senseless for hours on end.