Spring Tide (Coastal University Book 1)

From a distance, Luca is all hard ridges and lines, a six-foot-two package comprised of rugged, sinewy muscle and worn, calloused hands. He’s aloof and carefully measured, seemingly immune to the pressures the rest of us mere mortals endure.

But up close, underneath these threadbare covers, he’s all sorts of soft. His hands are gentle. His heart is full. And his lips, they move in a perfect, tender rhythm against mine.

He curls his fingers into the hair at my nape, tugging softly, dragging me closer toward his body. I mold myself against him with a breathless sigh. Between our chests, there are only two layers consisting of a thin cotton T-shirt and my silk camisole. The lower half of our bodies remain inches apart.

Too far apart for my liking.

So I push even closer, wriggling and writhing until our bodies are flush. One hand pushes at his shoulder, urging him to turn onto his back.

“Harper?” He rasps the question of my name into my mouth, thumbs caressing both sides of my face as I maneuver on top of him.

My thighs spread apart, straddling him on the mattress, our hips aligned. I can feel . . . everything from this position. My breasts brushing against his chest, nipples tight and pebbled. Breath mingling as our lips come together and fall apart.

The soft, sudden shiver that racks his body as I circle my hips. The rumble of his groan.

His hands drift from my cheeks, fingers cascading down my shoulders in a gentle caress. I disconnect our lips, dip my face into the crook of his neck, and kiss him softly in the tender spot just below his ear.

“Harper,” he sighs my name again. This time, it’s not a question.

His rough, calloused fingers move further down my body, cresting closer to the place I need him most. He traces the curve of my waist—down, down, down—and I can’t mask the sigh of pleasure that escapes my lips.

But then he stops, his thumbs digging into my hips as I press against the hard length of him. His entire body grows stiff. Now, when his lips form my name for the third time, they carry a note of warning.

“Harper, wait.”

I pull back, slightly shaken. My breath is heavy. I can hardly see the outline of his face in the dim light, but I know he’s not smiling.

His hands drop to the mattress beside his thighs. He’s no longer holding me in place, so I push upright and slide myself slightly forward, just enough so that my lower half isn’t perfectly aligned with his erection.

“What’s wrong?” My fingers twitch against my sides, desperate to trace the outline of his facial features.

Following a deep breath, he asks, “Could we . . . could we slow down?”

“Oh.” I shift my body to the side and slide into the empty space beside him. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. It’s just been a while for me. I wasn’t expecting—”

“No, no, I get it.” I shift another inch away from him, embarrassment creeping up my spine. “I asked you for a kiss, but then I took it too far. I mean, I practically mauled you there.”

“You didn’t maul me,” he rasps, appalled. “And I’m sorry I stopped like that when we, well, when you . . . I know this probably isn’t what you’re used to.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rejection,” he murmurs, twisting onto his side. One hand props up his chin while the other palm presses flat against the mattress. “I don’t want you to feel like I’ve rejected you because that’s not what this is.”

My chest deflates. “Luca, it’s okay if you don’t want to have sex with me.”

“That’s not—” He pauses, head shaking, lips pursed as he formulates a coherent response. “I do—I mean, I do want to. With you.”

“You do?” My voice is small, a bare whisper in the three-inch space between our lips.

“Yes.” His chin dips, gaze drifting toward the hidden bulge in his sweatpants. “I thought that . . . was it not obvious?”

A tiny crooked smile twists my lips. “I mean, it sure felt like you did a minute ago.”

“I definitely did a minute ago. And thirty minutes before that.” His voice is reassuring, gruff, with a hint of his normal shyness. I’m sure if I could see them, the tips of his ears would be burning. “Since I saw you come out of the bathroom in that towel, actually.”

I breathe a soft sigh of relief, curling my knees back against him. “But you also want to take it slow?”

“Like I told you, it’s been a while for me. A long while. And I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you even wanted me to kiss you. But I do want you, just maybe not tonight.” His palm presses against my cheek. “Is that okay?”

I lean into him, soaking up the warmth from his fingers. “It’s more than okay, Luca. I had no expectations tonight other than honesty.”

“I can do honesty. And maybe just . . . I’d like to hold you while we fall asleep.” His hand drifts from my cheek to my shoulder, tucking me against his side. “If that’s okay?”

“Please.” I shift on the mattress, pushing back until our bodies are nestled tightly together. His arm bends around my waist, large fingers splayed across my stomach, his nose buried in the crook of my neck. With one last kiss against my pulse point, we both drift off to sleep.

“Shit!” The sound of muffled swearing jolts me awake. My eyes slowly blink open, heavy with sleep as I take in the sight of Eden’s crouched form. “Sorry!”

Luca stirs beside me, grunting softly. The covers are strewn toward the bottom of the bed and tangled between our intertwined thighs. One hand caresses my bare stomach, pajamas askew, while his thumb dips a half inch below the waistband of my shorts.

“I didn’t know you had company,” Eden whispers again, her high-pitched voice carrying across the room.

“Shh!” I whisper-shout in return, an uncontrollable smile creeping onto my face. “You’re gonna wake him up.”

“Sorry, I just forgot my toothbrush,” she says, holding up the slim piece of plastic. “Grant’s taking me out for breakfast before we head back. He ended up riding the bus here, but do you mind if he catches a ride home with us?”

“I can just go with Luca. Give you guys some more alone time.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Of course not.” Luca tightens his hold on me, a barely perceptible twitching of his fingers.

“Okay! I’ll just see you in class tomorrow.”

“Drive safe,” I say with a wave.

“You too. Oh, and Harper, I’m glad your plan worked out.” She smirks, yanking open the door to our hotel room. “Looks like we both got some much-needed action last night.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Luca’s arms grow stiff around me. I shift on the bed, grabbing the nearest soft object to lob at Eden. Unfortunately, the door slams behind her with a violent bang, the cheap throw pillow falling limply to the floor.

Luca flinches in response. He pulls back, twists onto his side, and pushes himself into a seated position. His legs hang off the side of the bed, back facing toward me now.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” I tease, shifting onto my knees behind him. I lean forward to place a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Were you pretending to be asleep that whole time?”

“No.”

I scooch my hips even closer, replacing my hand on his shoulder with a soft kiss.

His spine is stiff, voice stilted. “So I guess I’m giving you a ride home, then.”

“Is-is that okay?”

“Sure.”

I maneuver myself beside him on the edge of the bed, leaving a small half inch of space between our thighs. “Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” His gaze is trained on the window in front of us. There’s a subpar view of the pavement through the crack in the curtains. A tiny gray bird flies by.

“Because you’re acting funny after we spent the night together.” I knock my knee against his, gently jolting him back into the room. “It’s a bit of a red flag.”

He shakes his head. “It’s nothing.”

“You said you were going to be honest with me.”

“What did Eden mean when she said your plan worked? I thought . . . you said you didn’t have expectations last night. Did you come up here with the intention of sharing a room?”

I gnaw on my bottom lip, confused by the frustrated curve in his brow. “Are you asking me if I came to your game because I was trying to seduce you?”

“Did you?” he grinds out, face flushed with heat.

“No, Luca.” I laugh, the sound empty and awkward. “I came up here because you weren’t talking to me, and I wanted to show you that I care about you. That’s it.”

“Okay,” he sighs, seemingly unconvinced.

“Okay? Even if I had wanted to sleep with you, completely premeditated, would that have been so wrong?”

“I told you I want to take things slow.”

“I know.” I shift to face him, waiting patiently until he meets my gaze. When our eyes connect, I feel the hesitation rolling off him in waves. “I’m just wondering . . . this seems like a big hang-up for you. Is there something else going on?”

His jaw is tight. “What?”

“You’re acting like I committed a crime or something.”

He gestures wildly toward the door. “I mean, you let Eden think that we slept together.”

“I’m sorry? I didn’t think it was a big deal since she believes we’re a couple . . . because that’s what you wanted.”

He releases a humorless snort, eyes narrowed at a spot behind my head. “Right, because sex isn’t a big deal. My bad.”

“Luca!” My frustration finally wins out, voice growing weary. “Stop putting words in my mouth, please.”

“Fuck.” He leans forward on the mattress, palms resting against his knees before he runs them up and down his thighs. He jerks into a standing position. His fingers push through his sleep-tousled hair.

“I’m sorry, Harper. I think you’re right. There is . . . something I’m hung up on.”

“What is it?”

He’s quiet while his jaw works back and forth, slowly releasing the tension. “You remember what I said about my ex?” he finally asks. “Why she broke things off?”

“She, um, she said you weren’t providing for her emotionally?”

“Right.” His eyes squeeze shut. “Like I said, I had no fucking clue she felt that way about us. We weren’t together a whole lot after she left for school, but we would talk, often, and when we did see each other, she was . . . all over me.”

I wince, rubbing an open palm against my thigh.

“Shit, I’m sorry. This is too much.” He caresses my bare shoulder. “See, this is why I don’t—”

“No, it’s okay. I want you to tell me.”

“Sof, she was more of the initiator than I was, I guess. That last weekend, when she came to visit, we slept together twice before she dumped me. I asked her why . . . why would she be with me that way if she knew it was over?” He squeezes my shoulder once, ever so gently, before his hand drops back to his side. “You know what she said? ‘Sex was never the problem between us. It was everything else.’”

My gaze is soft as I reach for his hand, his large palm sliding against mine. “Wow.”

“Yeah, wow. And now, I guess I don’t want to be confused again. Blindsided. If you and I are gonna be together physically, I want it to be clear where we both stand. I need to know this isn’t just part of our original agreement. I need to know it’s not fake.”

“I get that.” I grip his hand, using it for leverage as I pull myself to stand.

“So if you’re not sure how you’re feeling, or if you don’t want more for us, then—”

“I do want more.” My other hand comes up, slides into his hair.

“Yeah?”

“I like you. For real.” I press onto my tiptoes, find the pulse in his neck, and press the tiniest whisper of a kiss just there. “Was it not obvious?”

He gulps, chuckling, Adam’s apple bobbing as I kiss along the column of his throat. “And I like you.”

I detach my lips from his neck, tilt my face, and smile up at him. “No more hang-ups?”

His body relaxes, head dips. Our lips meet again, grazing at first and then pushing and bruising as he murmurs his response. “None.”

“Good.”

“Harper, can we . . . will you come over tonight?” One arm wraps around my shoulders, the other hand still clutching mine. “Once we get back? I’d like to take you on a real date.”

I fall back onto the balls of my feet and tuck my head into his chest. “I thought you’d never ask.”