Page 16 of His Fated Luna

A brief silence followed before she spoke up again, a hint of stubbornness in her voice.

“I followed orders,” she insisted. “Jake is a friend from high school. It’s only tonight that I actually went out. You, of all people, should understand that I have a right to a social life.”

I slammed on the brakes outside my house. The three-story mansion was lit up; its white pillars wrapped in fairy lights, welcoming my return.

Rose turned to me, her green eyes filled with emotion.

“You have your life and the girl you love. Please, try to understand,” she pleaded. “Don’t I deserve a chance at happiness too? I haven’t even gone out on any dates since you left. No guy in the pack ever shows any interest in me because they think I’m supposed to be your luna. The adults in my life don’t encourage me to date because they think the same thing. I think I deserve to live a little. The last time I kissed a boy was when I was fourteen, and that doesn’t even count because it was a disaster—”

She turned bright pink, suddenly realizing she was rambling. She looked cute when she blushed. My lips twitched upwards into a fond smile.

“I’d just hoped to get a kiss tonight,” she admitted, her voice small. “I know it sounds silly.”

A deep, possessive growl tore from my chest before I even realized it.

Rose looked up at me, startled.

Before she could react, I reached out, gripping the back of her head, my fingers tangling in her soft curls.

And then my lips crashed over hers.

Chapter 7

"Give in to love, or live in fear." – Rent

Aiden’s POV

She gasped in surprise and I took the opportunity to plunge my tongue into her mouth. She tastedso good.Rose was soft and pliant, moaning into my mouth as my tongue swiped across her bottom lip before biting down slightly. Finally, we pulled away for air and I noticed that my hand clutching the back of her head had completely messed up those deep mahogany curls. Her bejeweled band was now hanging drunkenly midway through the length of her hair, and my fingers itched to clutch fistfuls ofit. Her hair felt so silky, I wanted to run my hands through it, completely undoing it so it fell in wild disarray.

Leaning forward, my eyes darkened with primal desire, my mouth perilously close to her neck where the mate mark would go. I inhaled deeply, my nose brushing against the scent glands behind her ear, breathing her in.

Then, in a hot whisper, I murmured into her ear, “How’s that for a kiss?”

Rose looked up at me, her lips trembling. I could see it in her eyes, her body was aching to lose itself in the moment. My nose twitched as I smelled her arousal. My gaze burned with need, locked onto her lips, ready to claim them again.

Before I could, headlights flashed behind us. Lexia had finally pulled into the driveway in my car. Both of us jolted back, Rose scrambling to fix her hair while I struggled to regain control.

My eyes widened in horror. What had I just done?I had just kissed Rose when I had a girlfriend! I can’t back away from my commitments with Lexia now, I scolded myself.

I hadn’t expected my wolf to take control like that and force me to kiss her. But afterwards, I hadn’t wanted to stop. The mate pull was stronger now due to her impending turn, but I needed to be strong enough to fight it. Shit. I would have to tell Lexia what happened!

“Um…” Rose cleared her throat tentatively, snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned to her sharply, still reeling from the kiss. She fidgeted with a tissue in her hand, one she’d pulled from her purse. “You’ve got some of my lipstick on your…uh…” She trailed off, turning a lovely shade of pink, clearly embarrassed to say it outright.

I grabbed the tissue quickly, rubbing at my mouth. A coral shade smudged onto the tissue.

“Is it off?” I asked, glancing back at her.

She hesitated, reaching slightly before stopping herself. Instead, her slightly trembling fingers motioned toward the corner of my mouth.

“Just a little bit, right there.”

I wiped at the spot and looked at her again in question. A loudbangindicated that Lexia had slammed the car door shut and was now walking toward us.

“I think you should go inside and see your family,” Rose whispered, hastily taking the tissue back from me. Despite whatever was happening between us, she clearly didn’t want to cause problems for my girlfriend. “I can drive myself home. I’m on pack territory now. I’ll be fine,” she assured me.

I looked at her, unable to find words, swallowing hard.

“We need to talk tomorrow,” I finally grunted.