Lunar Crest University (Forbidden Fruit)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

FINLEY

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH, 2023

I ’m a horrible, horrible friend.

With everything that has been going on over the last few days, the last few weeks , I completely forgot to respond to Levi. He’d texted a few times since coming back from England, and I kept telling myself I would respond…but I never did. He has been going through so much with his family stuff, and I never texted him back like a complete jerk.

I’ve never done this to him. God , I’m such an ass.

He has been my best friend for four years, and the last thing I want is to lose him on top of everything else. My heart can’t take much more.

On the way to Luca’s place, I send him a panicked text, hoping he’ll respond once he calms down a bit.

Me

Please don’t hate me, Levi. I am so sorry. I never meant to ghost you like that or hurt your feelings. It was never my intention. None of this was. Just…please talk to me.

Clutching my phone tightly, I hold it to my chest and heave a deep sigh. I can feel Luca look over at me from the driver’s seat, but he doesn’t say anything. He just places his large hand on my thigh and gives it a gentle squeeze. I’m trying so hard not to dwell on everything too much, but I can’t help it. It feels like everything's just falling apart on me.

It’s all slipping through my fingers, no matter how hard I try to hold on.

I’m so absorbed with my own thoughts, I don’t even realize we’re parked outside of Luca’s place until he turns the car off. Blinking rapidly as I shake my head, hoping to expel some of the stress in my brain, I look up to see it’s a whole house .

It’s not huge, but it’s beautiful, nonetheless. It’s a little, light-colored brick home with dark roofing and dark accents to match. Dark wooden doors, dark wooden window panes, and a dark wooden garage. Shrouded in green shrubs planted in black mulch and a vast wood of tall trees behind the house, it’s literally perfect—warm, cozy, and all the things I hadn’t expected Luca Serrano to live in at all.

“This is your house?” I ask, stunned.

“It’s small.”

“It’s beautiful .”

He squeezes my thigh one last time before climbing out of the car, rounding the hood, and opening my door for me. I take his hand as he pulls me from the passenger seat, closing the door behind me as he leads me toward the porch and up the steps.

The sun has set, casting Lunar Crest in the dusk and looming shadows as the moon illuminates the sky. The chilly air blows the fallen leaves around, and it’s the only thing I hear as Luca unlocks his front door and pushes inside. One second, I’m following him into the dark house, watching as he flicks on the nearest light, and the next, the door slams shut as someone wraps their arm around my throat from behind.

My hands immediately come up to grasp onto the arm that’s cutting off my airway, but it’s short-lived as they twist at lightning speed to throw my body into the entryway table. A shriek leaves my lips on impact, and my head smacks into the wall as everything goes crashing to the ground along with me. My left temple throbs as I try to look around, but my eyes can’t seem to catch up with my movement as I blink meticulously. There’s a soaring pain that pulses through my head as I groan, weakly pushing myself from the floor.

The glint of the knife in my attacker’s hand catches my attention, my eyes widening at a man I’ve never seen before in my life.

Just as the fear takes root in my veins, Luca’s deep growl rumbles in my ears as he lunges forward, grasping the stranger by the throat and slamming him so hard into the wall, the picture frame hanging there falls and shatters. His other hand blocks the knife swinging in his direction, smashing that into the wall too as he yanks the blade from our attacker’s hand and presses it into his neck.

Leaning toward him, Luca’s face is inches away as he grits out, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

I wince as I manage to stand, clamoring back into the corner as I put my hands over my ears. My heart is trying to escape my body as I watch Luca choke the guy until his face is almost purple. I’ve never seen him this angry—the veins in his neck look like they could burst, and he’s shaking with rage as he positions the knife directly under the guy’s jawline. One small move, and the guy would be dead.

Shivers roll down my spine at the thought.

The guy tries to respond to Luca’s question, but he sputters from the grip Luca has around his throat. Loosening his fingers slightly, he cocks his head as he raises a brow. “I said, what the fuck are you doing here? Hmm? Spit it out.”

“You know,” the guy wheezes, his face red and pricking with sweat.

“I don’t think I do,” Luca says, a humorless laugh leaving him. “Maybe you should enlighten me.”

Something is definitely, definitely wrong with me. Maybe I’ve officially lost my marbles, because watching him like this is lighting a fire in my belly that’s damn near lethal. My nausea and hormones are battling it out inside me, but not for the reasons one would think.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

“You’re dead,” the guy spits, gritting his teeth. “She’s dead too. So kill me, fucker , but you’re both still dead.”

My knees wobble as I process his words.

You’re dead. She’s dead too.

“If he was so confident, he’d be here, not you.”

“He wants her ,” the guy growls, his dark eyes darting toward me.

“Don’t look at her.” Luca twists the knife until the tip is digging into the guy’s neck. “Look at me. Look at her again, and I’ll break your goddamn nose.”

“Why don’t you just fucking kill me alr?—”

Luca shuffles the knife in his hand so quickly, my eyes don’t even see what he’s doing before he plunges it into the guy’s stomach. A shuddery breath leaves my mouth as I shrink further into the corner, my hands still covering my ears as my blood runs cold. His groans of pain are muffled by my palms, but not enough. A tear falls down my cheek as I stare at Luca in utter horror.

“She’s mine ,” Luca growls, taking the knife out and stabbing him again. “He can’t have her. No one can have her.”

My body flinches with every stab, and my stomach twists horridly as I see the blood dripping onto his wooden floor.

Oh, no. No.

“Come into my fucking house. Threatening me .” Stab . “Trying to hurt my girl. Who the fuck do you think you are?”

My entire body trembles as I watch him stab the guy over and over and over again. The sounds are horrid—the squelching of the knife plunging into him, his screams. It’s all haunting, imprinted in my brain forever. I’ll never be able to get those sounds out. And the blood—there’s so much blood. It pours into the floor. It coats Luca’s hands… It’s everywhere. I can smell the iron in the air, and my stomach heaves.

Holy fuck.

He’s dead.

This guy is dead, and Luca just killed him.

I don’t know what horrifies me more: the fact that I just watched him stab a guy to death in a ghastly display of overkill, or the fact that I can feel the slick between my thighs from it. What. The. Fuck . He’s covered in this man’s blood, the blood that tinges the air and makes me feel sick to my stomach, stabbing him so many times that I can’t even imagine what the aftermath looks like. For me . He killed him for me, and instead of running as fast as I can out the front door, I’m aroused .

The guy finally falls to the ground as Luca stares down at him, his chest heaving. Blood soaks him from head to toe practically; it’s even speckled on his glasses as he slowly turns his head to look at me. He blinks slowly, like he’s processing what he just did, what I’ve just witnessed, and then, a look of panic shrouds his features. Dread. Horror. He’s moving through all the stages of grief as he stares at me.

“Finley,” he chokes out, his brows furrowing as he reaches up to scratch the back of his thumb against his forehead. Blood smears across his skin. “I…I-I couldn’t—I don’t?—”

Shushing him gently, I take careful, steady steps toward him. My hands tremble as I hold them out, careful not to freak him out any more as I get closer.

He’s still scratching his forehead in confusion before he stops—like he’s just now registering that he can feel the blood on his fingers. Bringing his hands out in front of him, he stares at them with a horrified expression before he jerks his head up to look at me again.

I take his hands in mine tentatively, but he yanks them away.

“The blood,” he mumbles. “There’s blood. Let me…clean. I need to clean. I don’t want you to see all?—”

My shoes squeak in the blood on the floor as I close the distance between us. This time, when I grab his hands, I don’t allow him to pull away from me, and he gapes down at me in bewilderment. He’s panicking, and I have no idea what the fuck I’m even doing, but I take his hand and place it against my chest. The crimson liquid streaks my sweater as I hold his hand there, but I don’t care. He needs me. I need him.

His full lips part as I slide his hand down the valley of my breasts, the dead guy’s blood marking me in a way that should make me physically ill—but I can’t look away from Luca’s wide, brown eyes.

“I…” I trail off.

I don’t know. I don’t know what the hell is going on anymore.

All I know is he’s looking down at me with those teddy bear eyes, and I don’t have control. Control flies out the window with my sanity as I grip his damp shirt in my fingers and tug him down to me, smashing my lips into his with a whine.

“My hands,” he mumbles against my mouth. “The blood ?—”

“ Touch me,” I plead.

An exasperated groan leaves him and reverberates into my lips as he kisses me deeply, his hands cupping my face for a moment before they travel down my body. His fingers grip my waist and hips, tugging me toward him until we’re pressed against each other. We’re a frantic mess as our tongues collide, fighting for dominance in each other’s mouths. Our feet slip in the dark liquid around us, but he catches his hand on the wall to keep us from falling.

He pulls me away from the body and the blood until we’re bumping into the stairwell, and he falls onto one of the steps, dragging me with him as we devour each other. I only break the kiss to hook my fingers on the hem of my sweater and tug it over my head, crashing into him again and wrapping my arms around his neck. He brushes my hair back over my shoulders before cupping the back of my neck, and I moan into his mouth.

“You’re crazy, baby,” he rasps, breaking the kiss as he looks down at my lips. “You know that? I fucking love it.”

“Off,” I say. “Your clothes. Take them off, Luca. Now . Please.”

He’s ripping them off in an instant as I kick off my boots like I can’t have him fast enough. As his shirt hits the floor, I’m already out of my pants. I’m bare before him, and he halts his movements as he soaks me in with heavy-lidded eyes. His fingers fumble with the button of his slacks, but I’m so impatient, I frantically tug at them until they’re down around his thighs and straddle him like my life depends on it.

His cock is rock hard as he watches me with pinched brows, staccato pants leaving his lips as I position his tip at my entrance with my hand and sink down onto him without hesitation.

“Holy fuck ,” he whines.

I’m bouncing on his dick before he can even take a proper breath, moaning loudly as he matches my pace by thrusting his hips. His hands are in my hair, tugging me down to kiss my lips before he presses his forehead to mine. I brace myself on his chest, riding him as I gape down at him. He looks so fucking hot like this: sweaty and bloody beneath me as his eyes flutter in an attempt to stay open.

His curls recoil with every bounce, and the sound of our skin smacking against each other fills the room.

“You feel so good,” I whimper into his lips. “So big, Luca. I’m so full .”

I push up into a sitting position as I grind myself on him, one hand on his chest and the other cupping my breast. His eyes are a lusty haze as he peers up at me, looking everywhere, as if he can’t get enough of the sight of me. As I start to bounce on him once more, his mouth pops open on the edge of a moan as his forehead crinkles into a look I wish I could frame.

“You’re perfect.”

“Yeah?” I tease, digging my nails into his chest.

“Fuck yes.”

His bloody hands streak my hips as he holds onto me, tugging me down harshly every time I lift off him. He’s fucking me so hard, I can hardly breathe. My strangled moans filter through my lips, and I can feel my cunt clenching around him as my orgasm looms.

“Make me come,” I mewl, leaning over to cradle his head in my hands as I bury his face into my neck. “I’m so close, baby. Please .”

He presses tiny kisses against my neck that turn into an assault with his tongue, lapping and licking all the way up to my ear, where he rasps, “ Te amo .”

My pace falters as I pull away from him, but he doesn’t stop relentlessly fucking me. My thumbs brush against his cheeks as I frown meekly down at him.

Did he just say ? —

“Fuck, Finley,” he groans, and his warm gaze melts over me as he reaches up to caress my parted lips. “I love you. Do you hear me? I love you.”

Stars speckle my vision as my orgasm consumes me, and as I fall into his chest, his hips jerk unsteadily as he comes too. My eyes prick with tears from the overwhelming emotions that threaten to swallow me whole, but he puts both hands on my face, forcing me to look at him as we finish together. I rise and fall on his body as he breathes heavily, watching his long eyelashes swipe at his cheekbone every time he blinks up at me.

I know he’s probably sick of my crying, but I’m a mess.

All the time, I am just a chaotic mess.

Warm, salty tears streak my skin, falling on his chest in pink drops from the blood that resides on my face.

“I love you,” I croak. “So much.”

He’s looking at me like I might crack, like the floodgates might burst any second and the clarity of what has just occurred will wash over me. I think I’m waiting for it myself, but it never comes. Am I just so consumed by him, I’m willing to turn a blind eye to everything else? Or am I just as crazy as he is?

I don’t know how to make sense of this. I don’t think there’s a way I can. He has saved my life once again. He’s always protecting me. He… loves me.

“Tell me again.”

He brushes my hair back. “I love you, Princesa .”

My heart swells so big, I have to fight back a gasp.

Collapsing into him, I’ve never felt safer than I do now, wrapped in his burly arms. His lips pressing kisses into my hair. His fingers tickling my back as he caresses me soothingly. The way he holds me makes me feel like everything will be okay.

I’m crippled without that feeling.

My cheek presses into his warm chest, and I close my eyes.

Everything will be okay.