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“Come on, Artemis,” Holly hissed, bending over him as though sheer will alone could drag him back from the edge. Her hands hovered uselessly above his chest, trembling, aching to do something, anything more to force life into him. “Wake up.”
For several agonizing seconds, nothing happened. Long enough for dread to crawl beneath her skin like a swarm of insects. He looked disturbingly peaceful, like a beautifully preserved corpse… though, to be fair, Artemis often looked like that even when fully conscious.
Finally, his mismatched eyes fluttered open. The motion was rapid, fragile, like the beat of a hummingbird’s wings as his system fought to reboot. A cough tore through him. His body shuddered, fingers flexing, jaw clenching, and only then did Holly remember how to breathe.
“Holly,” he murmured once the world had sharpened into clarity. He smiled, truly smiled, and there was a softness in his gaze she had never been close enough to see before. “You saved me.”
A strangled sound escaped her, half-laugh, half-sob, tears spilling freely onto his chest.
“Of course I saved you,” she managed, voice tight. “I couldn’t do without you.”
And because she was exhausted, exhilarated, and burning hot with magic, Holly leaned down and kissed him hard, breathless, sparks crackling between them like tiny fireworks where their lips met.
Holly had meant it to be a single kiss, just quick, grateful, delirious with relief. But Artemis’s breath caught against her mouth, and something in the sound undid every shred of restraint she thought she still possessed.
His fingers curled blindly into the fabric of her borrowed suit, more instinct than intention, tugging her closer. The movement was clumsy, shaky, nothing like his usual precision, and it sent a jolt through her chest sharper than any spell. She pressed harder, her lips moving urgently against his, chasing the warmth of him, the reality of his life, the impossible fact that he was alive beneath her.
Artemis made a quiet sound, surprised, almost helpless, and Holly felt him tilt up into her, responding before he could think better of it. His breathing hitched, uneven and warm against her cheek as she deepened the kiss, her magic sparking wildly under her skin. Every point of contact felt too bright, too much, like her body was remembering something long before her mind caught up.
She broke from his mouth only when air became non-negotiable, but she didn’t move far. Their foreheads touched, breaths tangling in the scant space between them.
“Holly,” Artemis whispered, the word more exhale than name.
And it wasn’t a protest.
She froze for half a heartbeat, startled by the sheer want threaded through his voice. It was raw, unguarded, utterly unlike him. Then his eyes lifted to hers, wide and blown-dark, the hazel and blue both swallowed by something fierce and loud.
She didn’t think. She didn’t need to.
Holly kissed him again, harder this time, and Artemis’s hands found her, hesitant at first, then certain, as he pulled her down into him like he’d been holding back for far too long.
Artemis rolled, almost instinctively, until Holly was beneath him, her back pressing into the soft litter of leaves that had fallen in the pen. The scent of earth and damp foliage clung to her, haloing her in nature’s quiet perfume, and for a moment, he forgot everything but the shock of seeing her like this, close, untouchably vivid.
His hands trembled as they traced the curve of her face, memorizing the way the light caught her hair, the slight arch of her neck. He swallowed hard. How had he never noticed this? Truly noticed how impossibly beautiful she was? The thought struck him like a jolt, an unbidden flash that left his chest tight and his mind dangerously empty. Every freckle, every glint in those eyes mirroring his, every stubborn spot of her auburn hair… it all hit him now, raw and sharp.
Holly’s breath hitched beneath him, her lips parted, cheeks flushed pink against the earthy floor. Magic, or something like it, hummed along her skin, vibrating through him, and he caught himself leaning down, eyes flicking between hers and her lips.
“You…” he murmured, voice rough, uncertain, “how have I… never…”
She laughed, a soft, strangled sound that shivered into a sob, pressing a hand to his chest, holding him at bay but not really stopping him. “Artemis,” she breathed, half warning, half surrender.
He didn’t answer. He leaned down, capturing her mouth again, letting his weight press her gently but insistently into the bed of leaves, and for a moment, time blurred. The world narrowed to the spark of skin on skin, the taste of her, the fierce heat of everything they had been holding back, finally spilling into the open.
Her fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer, and Artemis’s heart hammered, not with fear, but with the full, reckless force of wanting.
Artemis’s lips moved against hers with a greed that startled even him. He could taste all of her, sweet and sharp, and the fire of her touch spread through him like wildfire. Her fingers had found their way into his hair, tugging, kneading, and it was driving him wild. Every pull, every brush of her skin against his, burned, leaving him dizzy, reckless, and entirely unmoored.
Holly’s moan slipped between them, a low, quivering sound that made his chest tighten and pulse thunder in his ears. He tilted his head, deepening the kiss, letting the heat of her body press against him, every nerve ending screaming that this was more than desire, it was long-held, reckless, desperate.
Her hands roamed his shoulders, tracing the lines of his muscles with teasing, insistent exploration. Artemis’s own hands were trembling as they cupped her face, sliding down to the curve of her waist, pulling her impossibly close. Time had narrowed to her lips, her scent, the urgent rhythm of her heartbeat under his palm.
And then…
A tiny, incredulous sound broke the spell. Holly pulled back just enough to look at him, eyes sparkling with equal parts exasperation and amusement.
“We have a monkey to catch,” she said, voice teasing, light but utterly impossible to ignore.
Artemis froze mid-motion, forehead pressing against hers, heart hammering in confusion and irritation. “Its not… a monkey” he murmured, breathless, utterly undone.
Holly laughed, and it was ridiculous, perfect, maddening, and entirely infuriating. “If we don’t move, it’s going to escape.”
The tension between them cracked, leaving only heat, panting breaths, and the faint, impossible knowledge that the world outside the gorilla pen still demanded them… for now.