Page 39 of Wounded Christmas Wolf
“I ... I guess I didn’t look closely when you had them off before,” she said, feeling a little ashamed of her lack of observation.
“It’s not always like ... oh.”
His tone changed to one of surprise. Holly could see why. As she held his hand, the thick hair melted back into it. His fingers straightened out, then curled a little into hers, but only in the normal way of one person’s hand holding another. In a few moments, it was as if she had hallucinated the other thing she had just seen.
Holly looked up at Jace’s face in surprise. He was staring at his hand. His eyes still had the gold rings.
“What just happened?” Holly asked.
“I don’t know.” He flexed his fingers, stretched them. “What you just saw is ... it’s why I keep the gloves on. It’s a shifter thing. I can’t always get my hands completely human. But I’ve never seen that happen before, not quite likethat, anyway.”
“Is your other one the same?”
He slowly took his other glove off. His hand looked normal. He turned it over and flexed it, and Holly remembered how she’d seen him staring at his hands, that first night he took his gloves off around her.
“It’s you,” he said slowly, wonderingly.
He raised a hand, reached it out to touch her hand, ended up running it up her arm. Holly felt captivated; she couldn’t move.
“It’s you. I knew it was you that had brought my wolf out that first day, but ... you calm it down, too. I thought you made my wolf out of control. But actually it’s the opposite. I’m never more in control than when I’m around you.”
He smoothed his hand up her coat sleeve, over the scarf wrapped around her neck, and then he was cupping her face gently in his palm.
His hand was slightly callused, the fingers soft and warm against her winter-chilled skin.
Snow continued to drift down on both of them. When she met his eyes again, they were fully gold.
“It’s you,” he whispered, and leaned forward.
Holly pushed forward as well. His hand was warm and strong against her face. Snowflakes settled on his dark hair and lashes. And then he was too close for her to focus on his face anymore.
His lips touched hers, chilly and slightly parted.
Then it was as if a dam broke. His mouth opened hot and hungry under hers, and they kissed desperately, frantically. His hands were in her hair, tousling it and knocking her hat askew. She felt as if she was drowning in his touch. She pressed closer, hating the layers of winter outwear separating them. She wanted to lose herself forever in the feeling of his mouth on hers. She wanted?—
Jace’s mouth jerked away from hers and he barked out asharp, startled yelp. She only realized what had happened when she became aware they were sliding. The wagon, which was balanced on two large wheels, had tilted under their changing weight. The back end slammed into the ground, and an instant later they both slid out in a heap. She landed on top of Jace, and he made a faint “Oof!”
Luckily there was snow to cushion their fall.
Rocket came running over to nose at them curiously. Beneath her, Holly felt Jace’s chest rise and fall as he wheezed for air. She had to try a couple of times to sit up, fending off Rocket’s cold wet nose as it jammed into her neck.
“I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”
“Fine!” Jace gasped out. Rocket turned her attention to trying to lick his face. “No. Off. Not you,” he added breathlessly, as Holly rolled hastily off him.
The mood had been thoroughly broken, but Holly was laughing ruefully as she helped him up, and Jace grinned as he rubbed the back of his head.
“Is that what they mean by unsafe sex?” he said, and Holly broke down into wild, half-hysterical giggles.
Down the slope at the farmhouse, a small sedan had turned off at the Christmas tree sign and was jolting up the road toward the tree farm. She became aware she was still holding Jace’s hand and quickly jerked her mittened fingers out of his bare ones.
“We shouldn’t do that again,” Holly said.
“No,” Jace agreed, staring at her lips before jerking his eyes away. “Not a good idea.”
“Not right now, anyway.”
Jace put his gloves back on, and they were too busy to deal with it for the next hour or so, as they handled a flood of customers. The snow was coming down in soft, swirling waves, sweeping over them for a few minutes and then settling down to almost nothing. It created lovely conditionsfor the tree-shopping customers, as a light layer of snow piled up on the pine branches, looking like a Christmas card illustration. But it wasn’t heavy enough to make walking difficult or require plowing yet.
