Voiceless - M. Sinclair Page 0,23

wool for my toes if I was actually going to dance past doing a warm-up. Honestly, I probably needed a new set but I didn’t think I’d be able to afford those anytime soon, so I would make what I had work. My eyes flashed to my boot covered toes, half glad I hadn’t moved to Los Angeles where I would have to wear sandals all the time. What? Ballet dancer’s toes were rarely pretty. They weren’t supposed to be! They were a tool used for an art form.

“Angel?” Luca’s soft voice called to me.

I looked at him, feeling a bit embarrassed I had zoned out. “Sorry, I was thinking about dance,” I admitted as his eyes sparked curiously.

“How long have you been dancing for?”

I sighed happily while turning in my seat to face him slightly. “I started dancing when I was three but I didn’t start taking it seriously until I was in seventh grade, that was when I had decided to go to an academy instead of a storefront studio. From that point on, I never really stopped, except for when I started working with a Maine based ballet company in the city. I only decided maybe two weeks ago that I wouldn’t pursue it after I graduated from high school… but then I left on the night of my birthday before I could even graduate--”

Luca came to a stop and put the car in park, turning to face me. “You didn’t graduate high school?”

I eyed him cautiously, realizing he didn’t know my age. “Yeah. I mean, I didn’t want to stay with my parents once I turned eighteen. There were a lot of different reasons but they had started mentioning some weird arrangements for me getting married and other weird bullshit. Why? Is my age an issue?” I suppose he could also have an issue with me not graduating high school but for some reason, I didn’t think that was it.

He shook his head looking confused by my question. “No, angel, I am more concerned that you were forced to stop school just to get away from a shitty situation.”

Oh. Good. I breathed out a bit and tried to explain my thought process on the situation. “I really didn’t like school. I mean, the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do was teach dance. Well, that, and have a family,” I admitted quietly before darting my eyes away. “I’m glad the age thing isn’t an issue. Dylan said he’s twenty-three and Hunter is twenty-six. I’m guessing you are somewhere in between?”

Honestly, I secretly worried that they didn’t think I was old enough or them. Mentally, I felt far older than I was but I would still have understood their hesitancy. It might have broken my heart and stuff but whatever.

He nodded and rubbed his thumb over my bottom lip. “Twenty-five, but you're my mate, Colette. I am just glad this was where you ended up. I would have waited another hundred years to find you. As for school--”

I attacked him with another kiss because of his sweet words and he groaned, pulling me over onto his lap and making me almost moan at how hard he was underneath me. Damn, he felt massive. His soft-sculpted lips pressed against mine in a searing pattern as I rolled my hips slightly, rubbing against him as he nipped at my jawline, trailing kisses down my neck. I felt my eyes flutter shut as he bit my pulse gently, causing me to let out a soft moan. Holy hell.

“Colette, my angel.” His voice whispered through my head as I smiled, pulling away slightly. His eyes widened in realization of what he’d just done.

“I can talk this way?” he asked, his normal curiosity amping up tenfold, and I nodded. “Well, shit!”

His phone rang then, I rolled off of him as he scowled at my escape but I handed the device to him seeing that it was Dylan. The speaker echoed through the space.

“Hey.” Luca cleared his voice, “We are five minutes out.”

“Good, I miss her,” Dylan answered, obviously sleepily as I shook with a small amount of laughter at how cute he sounded.

“She misses you too, bud.” Luca rolled his eyes as Dylan mumbled something incoherent and Luca hung up.

“Hope you’re tired,” he muttered.

I smiled and squeezed his hand. I wasn’t particularly tired but if they wanted to cuddle? I was one hundred percent on board. As you can imagine I didn’t receive a ton of physical affection growing up, so their