A KISS I NEVER EXPECTED

                          ~HOLLY~

“What did you wish for, Holly?” Damien asks.

My knees shake. My lips tremble.

And I whisper the truth…

“You.”

Something changes in his eyes. Something dark.

Something starving.

He moves before I can breathe….one hand sliding behind my waist, pulling me against his body, the other cupping my jaw. Our chest brushes, and it's electric.

“Holly…” he growls softly, “you have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear you say that.”

I exhale a broken, needy sound.

And then……

He lowers his forehead to mine, his lips brushing the edge of my mouth.

Not a kiss. Not yet. Just the warm, burning promise of one.

“Tell me to stop,” he whispers.

I don’t.

I can’t.

Instead, my fingers clutch his coat, pulling him closer, silently begging for what I’ve dreamed of every night.

He groans….low, deep, barely contained.

Snow falls. Christmas lights glow. And Damien finally gives in to the desire we’ve both been drowning in.

His lips crash onto mine.

Hungry. Hard. Starved. Possessive.

His hand grips my waist, dragging me against him, his mouth claiming mine like a man who’s denied himself too long.

And in that stolen moment under Christmas lights…..

I feel every forbidden fantasy comes to life.

                       ~DAMIEN~

The moment my lips crash onto hers, everything inside me explodes. The moment my lips touched hers, every restraint in me snapped like a broken tree from a branch.

Holly is holding my coat desperately and pulling me deep like she’s afraid of me pulling away.

I should. I should.

But I can't.

Her lips taste like all the sweetness I could ever think of in the world. Warm. Soft. Addictive. The kind of sweetness that makes a man lose his mind.

My hand slides to her waist on instinct, gripping her tiny body and pulling her completely against me. She fits so perfectly against my chest it’s almost painful.

She gasps into my mouth, and the sound shoots straight through me like lightning.

My fingers tangle in her hair as I angle her mouth exactly where I want it. Her tiny hands clutch tighter the front of my coat, pulling me closer like she’s afraid I’ll stop. Like she wants this as badly as I do.

Moon goddess.

I’m gone.

The world disappears. The cold. The snow. The rules I set for myself. The promises I made to keep my distance.

Gone.

All that exists is her.

Her lips are soft—too damn soft—and when she gasps into my mouth, pressing herself closer, something inside me snaps completely. I kiss her deeper, harder, letting years of suppressed desire pour out of me in one reckless, hungry moment.

A groan tears from my chest…..low, primal, uncontrollable. My wolf is howling, clawing at me from the inside, screaming in triumph.

Mate.

Mine.

Mate.

Her lips move with mine like she was made to be kissed by me….slow at first, then eager, breathless, innocent and bold all at once.

 She rises on her toes, trying to reach me better, and I can’t help the low groan that rumbles from my chest as I cup the back of her neck, angling her exactly where I want her.

Her scent floods my senses and my knees nearly buckle from how good she feels in my arms, how perfectly she fits against me. Every soft sound she makes… every tremble… every breath…

It destroys me.

I kiss her like a man starved….like I’ve been dying of thirst and she’s the first drop of water I’ve ever tasted. 

My lips dominate hers, my tongue sliding against hers in slow, deep strokes that make her whimper softly into my mouth.

And moon goddess….that sound almost undoes me.

She’s trembling.

I’m shaking.

My body presses her gently against the cold wall behind her gently but firmly, not breaking the kiss, protecting her from everything except me. 

My mouth slides over hers again and again, deepening the kiss, devouring her soft little whimpers.

I’m losing control. Completely. Dangerously.

I’ve wanted her for so long.

Too long.

And now that I’ve tasted her… there’s no going back.

And for one minute…one dangerous, perfect minute…

I let myself have her.

But then…..Reality punches me in the chest.

Hard.

Her hand slides up my chest, innocent, trusting….

and suddenly I see Gabriel.

She’s so young.

Too young.

And she’s Gabriel’s best friend.

My son’s best friend.

The boy who would be destroyed if he ever knew this happened.

Holly makes a soft, breathless sound against my lips….one that should pull me deeper. But instead, it rips me back into myself.

“No…” I whisper into her mouth, tearing myself away. “No, no….”

I break the kiss sharply, jerking back like her lips burned me.

 I’m breathing hard, lungs dragging in cold air as if I’ve just been drowning.

Her eyes flutter open slowly, dazed, lips swollen from my kiss.

She looks like something so beautiful, sinful and sweet, like a fantasy…a temptation I was never meant to touch.

And I touched her.

I kissed her like she belonged to me.

And suddenly guilt slams into me so violently I step back again.

“No.” My voice is rough, trembling. “What did I just do?”

She blinks, confused, still breathless.

 “Damien…?”

I look away because I can’t look at her. I can’t look at my mate like that…when I know I shouldn’t touch her.

When I know I’ll ruin everything if I don’t stop.

“Holly….” my voice is raw, almost hoarse, “I… I shouldn’t have done that.”

I shake my head, running a hand through my hair.

“I shouldn’t have touched you… not like that.”

“But…” she tries to speak.

“Holly,” I cut in, voice tight, strained, already cracking under the weight of everything I’m fighting. “I can’t…. I can’t think straight when I’m near you.”

My wolf snarls in protest, hating every word.

But I force myself to step back.

I step back fast, breathing hard. Too hard. My chest feels like it’s caving in.

Her scent is everywhere.

On my coat.

On my skin.

On my fucking lips.

I can’t breathe.

Her lips part, and she looks like she’s about to step toward me.

I recoil another step.

“No. Don’t.” My voice cracks. “If you come closer… I won’t be able to stop again.”

Her brows crease, hurt flickering in her eyes.

It kills me.

I force myself to look away.

“I just… I need space,” I say, swallowing hard. “I need to get away for a bit. I need to clear my head before I make an even bigger mistake.”

Her shoulders drop slightly. She nods slowly, even though I can tell it hurts her.

But I can’t stay.

I can’t.

Not when my wolf is still howling her name.

Not when her scent is still wrapped around me like a curse.

“It’s not you,” I say quietly. “It’s me. It’s…everything.”

The bond.

Her age.

My son.

My responsibilities.

My weakness.

All of it crashing down at once.

I step back again, forcing more space between us even though my entire body screams to pull her close again.

“I’m going to find Ella,” I say, voice low. “I just… I need a minute away from you, Holly.”

Her lips part, but she says nothing.

I can’t look at her. Not now. Not when I can still taste her on my mouth. I can't look at her.

Before I kiss her again.

Before I lose myself completely.

Before I ruin everything.

So I turn and walk away fast ... .boots crunching over snow, heart racing in my chest, wolf clawing at the inside of my skin and leaving her standing there with swollen lips and wide, shaken eyes.

And even as I put distance between us…

I already know…..

I’ll never forget that kiss.

And I’ll never be the same again.