CHAPTER ELEVEN
LUNA
I stared down at the unconscious man. He was breathing, right? I sure hoped so. I couldn’t watch Casper kill someone else. Not like this.
Security quickly intervened. A few of them surrounded us, stopping Casper from any further abuse. Once they got the guy on the floor talking and confirmed that he didn’t want to press charges, they told us to leave.
When one security guard shoved Casper toward the door, Casper shoved him right back. Everyone in the vicinity watched, fully expecting to see Casper get his ass kicked. As tough as he was, I didn’t think he could take on six security guards at once. Not without a weapon.
Not knowing what else to do, I took Casper’s hand, tugging him along with me toward the exit. He resisted at first. With one look at my face, he relented, allowing me to lead him from the building.
“Are you all right?” I asked when we were safely inside his car. “Your hand is bleeding.”
I pressed the interior light above me, turning it on so I could examine his knuckles. Did they even get a chance to heal from the last time?
With a heavy sigh, Casper nodded. He pulled his hand away with a dismissive wave. Making a frustrated huff, he began typing on his phone.
I’m sorry. I ruined our night. I couldn’t let him talk to you that way.
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s go back to my place. We can order food and get your hand cleaned up.” How could I possibly be angry? Of course I didn’t want him to fight. Yet I couldn’t help but feel incredibly special. Casper hadn’t hesitated to defend me. And honestly, the guy kind of deserved it.
He held my gaze for a moment in the dim lighting of the car. Reaching to stroke a finger softly under my chin, Casper leaned in and lightly brushed his lips over mine. The barest trace of a kiss. Somehow, it still managed to set my insides on fire.
The drive back to the dorm was quiet but comfortable. I didn’t feel the need to fill the silence like I had on the way to the show. When I really thought about what had happened back there, I had to laugh. How could anyone possibly fault Casper for being so fiercely protective?
Back in my dorm room we both squeezed into the tiny ass bathroom while I washed his hand. The cuts on his knuckles were minor. He still bore purple and blue bruises from Halloween night. I assumed tonight would darken them.
I dabbed some colloidal silver gel on the cuts. I kept some on hand for minor wounds and burns. One might be surprised how serious a burn from a curling iron or straightener could be.
I found myself chuckling. “You really are crazy, you know that? Do you always react first and consider the consequences later?”
Casper’s lips curved into a grin. He offered me a shrug and an adorable head tilt.
“Come on. Let’s order some food.” I went to the small mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of water for each of us. Then I opened up the food delivery app on my phone. “What are you in the mood for?”
Casper sat beside me on the bed, leaning in to look at my phone screen. He scrolled it down to a local pizza place.
“Sounds good to me. What do you like?” I waited for him to tap his order onto the screen.
When he was finished, I selected a veggie pizza for myself.
Setting my phone down on the mattress, I turned toward him, sitting cross-legged.
“Can you show me some sign language? Maybe some easy phrases you tend to use.”
Casper’s face lit up. He vigorously nodded, turning so we sat facing one another on the bed. He placed his phone between us with the notepad open so he could easily type out messages.
As he walked me through various signs, he typed on the phone to tell me what each one meant. I paid close attention, doing my best to follow along. There was something so light and happy about him as he taught me. I got the feeling it meant a lot to him that I’d asked.
We took a break when the pizza arrived. I’d opened my laptop, pulling up one of those calming ambiance videos to play in the background. A cozy coffee shop displayed on the screen while easy listening music played.
While we ate, Casper led me through a few more signs related to the food and eating. I did my best to remember, even though I knew that I wouldn’t retain all of them without some practice. Seeing how happy it made him inspired me to keep learning.
“Has anyone other than your friends learned to sign for you?” I asked between bites of pizza.
He quickly tapped out a message on his phone. Not really. Auryn and Rebel are pretty half-assed at it anyway. Codie said she wants to learn though, which is really sweet of her.
Knowing Codie, she couldn’t stand the thought of living in the same house with Casper and not being able to properly communicate. She was always willing to go over and above for her friends.
“It must be frustrating. To have to do things like this.” I pointed to his phone between us. “Hopefully it doesn’t take me too long to learn.”
Casper surprised me by gently swiping his finger over the corner of my mouth, wiping away a stray drop of sauce. He licked it from his finger before typing again.
I don’t mind. I’m used to it. It’s not ideal, but it gets the job done. He paused for a moment, staring down at the screen before continuing. I’ve had to write out or type my thoughts for a long time now. Since I was seven.
Even though most of us knew that a car accident had killed his parents, none of us knew the details. It was nobody’s business, of course. Since he’d lightly mentioned it, I wanted to make him feel like I was a safe space if he ever wanted to talk about it.
“I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like for you,” I said, placing a hand on his arm. “You were just a little kid.”
Casper studied me, the moments stretching between us. The light in his eyes faded, momentarily replaced with shadows. Again he typed.
To this day, nothing has ever compared to that night. I’ve never been so scared. It was a drunk driver. It all happened so fast. I’ve never screamed so hard. And I haven’t made a sound since. I don’t even know if I can anymore.
My heart broke into pieces for him. Picturing that little boy all alone and scared in a car with his dead parents. No child should have to suffer that way.
Choking back a swell of emotion, I said, “I’m so sorry, Casper.”
He placed a hand over mine where it rested on his arm. The pizza boxes sat forgotten between us. Moving suddenly, Casper leaned over them to capture my lips in a kiss.
This time his lips lingered on mine. His mouth firm. His tongue slipping alongside mine as he deepened the kiss. The way he felt so close to me, his heady scent all around me, I was ready to plunge headlong into him.
There was something about him that captivated me. A mysterious quality that made me need to know more. I kissed him back, gasping lightly when he bit my bottom lip before sucking it into his mouth. Oh hell. My entire body was drenched in desire.
When he pulled back, I murmured, “Wow. That was… wow.”
I sounded like a moron. Casper grinned, his shoulders shaking with laughter. It was astounding how something as simple as a kiss could be absolutely earth shattering. Mind blowing. I’d never been kissed like that. With such depth. Casper managed to say so much without ever speaking a word.
“Thank you for trusting me,” I added. “I’m sure it’s hard for you to think about the accident.”
His hands moved as he signed his response. Since I didn’t understand yet, he followed up by translating it on the phone screen. You’re easy to talk to. I feel comfortable with you.
Despite watching him recently murder a man and beat the crap out of another, I felt comfortable with him too. I knew that Casper had a dark side. A violent streak he wasn’t afraid to unleash. Yet I didn’t have any reason to believe he would ever turn it on me.
Right as I was starting to truly appreciate my time with Casper, my phone began to ring. A number I didn’t recognize flashed on the screen. A sinking sensation in my gut told me that it was Jace.
I hit the button on the side to silence the call. That didn’t stop him from calling right back. Again I silenced the phone and again he called right back.
Casper raised a brow, curious about my actions and the person I was avoiding.
“It’s nobody I want to talk to right now,” I said, anxiously tracing the letters of my wrist tattoo. “I’ll just turn it off if they don’t stop calling.”
When the phone rang again, Casper grabbed it off the bed, pressing the button to accept the call. I held my breath, not saying a word. After a moment of silence, Jace’s voice came from the device.
“Luna? Are you there, baby? Talk to me.”
In a panic, I snatched the phone, ended the call, and promptly turned off the device. I didn’t need Casper to type out his next question. I knew exactly what he wanted to know.
“He’s my ex,” I explained. “He’s been calling lately. I have nothing to say to him.”
Casper studied me intently, his piercing eyes darkening. I stiffened, suddenly uncertain about the heavy change in his aura. He snapped into action, tossing the pizza boxes onto the floor. Grabbing a hold of me, he flipped me around, pinning me to the bed beneath him.
There was such power in his grip. He held me tight, trapping me in place. When he kissed me this time, there was a raw, animal-like quality to the way he crushed his mouth to mine. Biting at my lips and tongue. Hovering over me, he wedged a knee between my thighs, shoving them apart.
Adrenaline flooded me. Something had shifted in him so fast. It scared me.
Casper wrapped a hand around my throat, choking off my breath as he kissed me. When I thought for sure he would kill me, he loosened his hold, allowing me to breathe without letting go. With his other hand, he reached down to jerk my skirt up.
He rubbed me through my underwear, pressing his palm flat against me. My hips jerked in response. Casper’s touch was primal. Possessive. Despite the way he’d taken me by surprise, part of me wanted him to possess me.
Biting down on my lip hard enough to draw blood, Casper dragged his tongue over the wound. I whimpered softly. A sound that only seemed to encourage him. He sucked in a sharp breath, letting it out slowly as he descended between my legs.
Hooking one of my legs over his arm, he tugged my purple panties aside and pressed his tongue against my slit. He licked me with a ravenous fervor. Like he needed to have all of me right then and there.
“Casper?” His name came out breathy, like I could barely form the word.
Of course he didn’t answer. Unless the way he sucked my clit was his response. His mouth moved quickly against me. Licking and sucking at my sensitive flesh. Dipping his tongue inside me, discovering how wet I was for him. Something that surprised me too.
I wasn’t a total prude. Although I didn’t enjoy hook ups on a regular basis like Athena, I’d enjoyed my share of encounters with men. Most of them were basic vanilla experiences. Mutually enjoyable, but nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing as intense as the way Casper consumed me.
When he bit down on my clit, I let out a shriek. The sudden sharp pain mixed with pleasure to leave me confused and shaken. Before I could wrap my brain around what was happening, he shoved two fingers inside me, pressing deep.
He licked my sore clit gently now, circling it with his tongue before sucking it into his mouth.
His fingers pumped into me, my wetness soaking his hand.
Needing something to hold onto as he drove me closer to the edge, I clutched a handful of his hair.
Casper gave a soft groan, barely a sound. Low and guttural, like an angry beast.
Something about that sound sunk deep inside me.
I loved it. I loved being able to elicit such a response from him.
The way he devoured me had my hips jerking, my body writhing.
My moans grew louder. I hoped my neighbors wouldn’t hear me.
This kind of thing was frowned upon in the dorms, even though everyone did it.
Casper’s mouth on me and his fingers inside me suddenly became too much. I came with his name on my lips followed by a series of moans and cries. The sensations that racked me were blinding in intensity. Making my brain misfire.
When Casper pulled back, he paused to study my wet, swollen pussy. The trimmed brown hair that gave away my real hair color. He licked the taste of me from his fingertips, his gaze finding mine.
My chest heaved. I had no words for what just happened. I hadn’t been expecting any of that. It all happened so fast.
I expected him to take it further. Maybe I wanted him to. I barely recognized the person I saw in his eyes. Someone deadly and terrifying. The man he was that night in the haunted house when he killed my attacker. Even as it scared the hell out of me, it also excited me.
Looming over me, Casper’s hands moved slowly as he signed. I didn’t need a lesson to know what he said. He pointed a finger at me before placing his palm against his chest, tapping it twice.
“You are mine.”
Even though it was still Casper, still his beautiful green eyes, I saw something else lurking within their depths. Someone else.
Swallowing hard, I nodded. Unable to speak, I watched as he climbed off the bed, snatched up his phone, and walked out the door.