Chapter 41 #3
“Nothing would have happened.” I would have killed him before letting him hurt her. “You’re tougher than you realize. You would’ve kicked his ass if you had to.”
“Maybe.” Her eyes drift towards Shadow and the hybrid asleep in the beds next to the fireplace. “But having more backup than just the wolves helped.”
“I’ll always back you up.” The vow comes from every part of me. Damien and her wolf. She doesn’t understand yet, but she owns me. She has my complete protection. My obsession. My devotion.
“Why me, Damien? You could have any woman in Colorado. In the world, probably. Why ask out a wildlife vet who lives in the middle of nowhere?”
Because you’re mine.
“Because you’re real. In a world of masks and pretense, you’re exactly who you appear to be.”
Once again, something in my tone or expression must betray the intensity of my feelings, because Luna pulls her hand away and rises from the sofa.
“It’s getting late.” A hint of wariness creeps into her voice. “I have early rounds in the morning, and I need to check on the foxes one more time tonight.”
I nod, respecting her boundaries. For now.
In a few hours, I’ll return, and there will be no boundaries between us except the ones I put there. But first, I’ll punish her for making dinner for another man. For entertaining thoughts of anyone other than me.
“Of course. Thank you again for dinner.”
We walk to the door, and Luna pauses at the threshold. Her smile is tentative but genuine.
“Goodnight, Damien.”
The porch creaks under my weight as I turn back.
She stands in the doorway, her blonde hair curling around her face in soft waves, a gentle curve on her lips, and her eyes shimmering and glassy from her wine.
The want that’s been building all night crashes over me like a wave, demanding I stop pretending I can walk away.
“I don’t think I can leave yet.”
I step forward and lean down, capturing her mouth with mine. The kiss is fierce and hungry, nothing like the restrained courtesy I’ve shown her as Damien. This is a predator’s claim, the kiss of her watcher, her dark lover, though she doesn’t know it.
Luna stiffens, her palms coming up to brace against my chest. For a moment she fights it, her body radiating confusion at this shift from the respectful CEO she thinks I am and this sudden display of brutal dominance.
Then she surrenders with a soft sound that vibrates through my body, melting against me as her fingers curl into my sweater.
She kisses me back. Tentative at first, like she’s touching something dangerous and forbidden.
Then hunger takes over. The night air vanishes.
Only heat remains, her lips and her tongue dancing with mine in a rhythm that burns away rational thought.
Her body molds to mine, and emotions tear through my chest in opposite directions.
Triumph that she wants this. Wants me.
Fury that she would give this kiss to anyone but her wolf, even though he can never claim it.
The press of her body against me sets my blood on fire.
Every inch of me comes alive where we touch.
I want to sweep her up and carry her to that bedroom, where moonlight spills across her sheets.
I want to strip away every barrier between us, skin against skin, feeling how perfectly she fits against me as we move together until our bodies drum out a single relentless rhythm.
I want to taste every breath she takes. I want to take my time and make it last until she’s trembling and breathless and mine in every way that exists.
And I want to watch realization dawn in those beautiful hazel eyes. The moment she realizes that I’m her wolf. The man who owns her. Every last inch of her.
The fierce hunger I began with shifts as these emotions war within me. I soften the kiss, my palm cupping her cheek with unexpected gentleness. She trembles in my arms, her breathing stuttering at the shift from demand to devotion.
This is why I’ve avoided her lips, why I’ve never allowed myself this intimacy. Somehow, I knew that kissing her would change everything, would transform obsession into something far more dangerous.
I was right. This kiss is unraveling me, erasing the careful walls I’ve constructed between my public face and private darkness. The line between Damien Wolfe and her dark lover blurs as I taste her surrender.
I force myself to break away, both of us gasping for air, my forehead resting against hers as I close my eyes and try to piece together what’s left of my control.
“I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you.”
Truth I’ve buried under layers of careful planning and justification slips out, though it’s been burning in my chest from that very first moment.
My eyes open to find turmoil in hers. In her mind, she belongs to another man. She has no idea the man she thinks she’s betraying is the same one holding her now.
The situation is so twisted it borders on madness.
Her lips part. “Damien, I—“
I silence her with another kiss, softer this time, my fingertips tracing her jawline as I taste her again. I can’t bear whatever words might come next. I force myself back a step.
“Don’t overthink it.”
Her eyes search mine, wide and uncertain. Want and confusion chase each other across her expression. The conflict playing out on her face satisfies the predator in me. She should feel torn. She’s mine, has been for months, though only half of her understands the truth.
A sudden snap of a twig echoes from the shadows beyond her front yard.
I turn my head toward the dark sweep of the woods, tracing the low ridgeline of the Henderson property.
The night air carries the scent of snow, the faint musk of wet pine, and something wilder.
Bears usually move uphill this time of year, but I trust my instincts more than habits.
I don’t see anything. Still, I don’t like the idea of Luna being outside if there’s a bear around, especially after what happened a few weeks ago.
I turn back to look at her. She’s biting her lip as she looks up at me with concern in her eyes.
“Is everything all right? Do you see something out there?” Her voice betrays a hint of anxiety. She thinks her watcher is watching us.
I give her a reassuring smile and lean down to kiss her again. She sighs into my mouth, warm and sweet, and I have to force myself not to deepen the kiss, not to push her back against the door and take more.
“Probably an animal, but you should get inside.” I step back, even though I want nothing more than to stay. “Goodnight, Luna. Lock your doors.”
Her gaze follows me, thumb dragging across her bottom lip as if trying to hold on to the taste of our kiss. My pulse thuds in my ears. Each step toward my car requires conscious effort, aware of her eyes tracking every movement, hungry for answers I can’t give.
As I drive away, I already know I’ll be back within hours.
But tonight will be different. Something fundamental has changed between us. Between all versions of us. The barrier I built between Damien Wolfe and her dark watcher has crumbled under one kiss.