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“Because you keep running away from me.” He advanced toward me, stealthily, and I took a step back. He paused and gave me a look as if to prove his point.
I met Killian three days ago, after he found me hiding behind a stack of hay, spying on him and the black stallion.
I had watched him for two weeks before that. From my window. How fortunate it was that my room overlooked the stables. I waited for him each morning, right at tsunrise. I’d watch as he wrestled with the black stallion while I drank my tea and munched on freshly baked cookies. Sometimes, I expected him to give up on the wild horse, but Killian always came back the next day. More determined than he was the day before.
Before Killian, I never realized the beauty of the sunrise, but now I had a newfound appreciation for it. He would take Coal for a walk as the sun rose over the horizon – the warmest hues of a rainbow turning the sky into a canvas of colors. It was breathtaking.
But what was more exhilarating was watching Killian ride the black stallion, like a dark knight on his horse.
When he wasn’t there in the morning, I waited all day and watched the window until late into the evening. Just to catch a glimpse of him as he worked with Coal. His strength and determination. How controlled he was and how easily he dominated the black stallion. There was something regal about him.
Killian intrigued me.
And that was exactly why I had escaped the confines of my room and found myself in the stables. Not once. But three times now.
If my father found out…
“Do I scare you? I didn’t know I could be so frightening.”
The first day we met, I thought he was a simple stableman – someone without a title, a nobody. But that was a mere fantasy.
Until I found out he was the Killian Spencer.
The former President’s son.
A man with power and exemplary wealth.
A billionaire.
And a man useful to my father – his lucky chess piece, as he’d say.
Killian and I were never supposed to cross paths. But it was my one mistake that led me here. And like an invisible string, something intangible kept pulling me closer to him. Wanting to be in his presence. Needing to talk to him. Craving the sound of his voice.
I should had never come back after the first day. Should have stayed away, but here I was.
“You don’t scare me.” My gaze roved his handsome face and solid build. He was tall – taller than my father and with broader shoulders. “You’re just… intimidating.”
“That’s a compliment, Princess” he drawled, all confident and nonchalant.
I swallowed. “I have to go.”
I spun around, ready to leave and never come back, but his voice stopped me. “You still haven’t told me your name.”
Panic rose in my chest and a familiar, paranoid fear crashed through me. My muscles tensed and my stomach churned with nausea. If my father found out I had been seeing Killian, secretly…
Oh God.
That was the moment that ruined the rest of our story.
My first mistake was coming to the stables.
My second mistake was…
“My name is Gracelynn,” I whispered, before taking off into a sprint.
Away from him.
And my lies.
One week later
Killian removed his black blazer and threw it my way, smacking me right in the face with it. I sputtered and glared, but he only gave me a crooked grin in response. He unbuttoned his cuff links and hiked his sleeves up his muscled forearms.
I practically drooled, but I was a respectable and proper lady, so I didn’t.
I climbed over a stack of hay, perching atop and draping Killian’s blazer over my knees.
“A white dress in the stables? I’m questioning your choices,” Killian said.
I nudged my chin high. “Why? You don’t like it?”
He flashed me a crooked grin. “White is very…pure. It doesn’t suit my liking, although, you look exceptional in white.”
“What is your favorite color then?”
He led Coal by his bridle, pulling the stallion from his stall. “Red,” Killian deadpanned.
“Why red?” I questioned.
“Red is the color of extremes, Princess. It’s many things. Violence. Passion. Wrath.” He paused; his eyes lingered over my lips and his voice softened, to almost a tantalizing low undertone. “Longing. Seduction. Lust.”
My belly pooled with warmth and there was a fluttering in the pit of my stomach. My thighs tightened, involuntarily.
Coal let out a neigh and I exhaled a shuddering breath. I looked away first, but not before I saw the flash of mischief on Killian’s face.
The black stallion strutted toward me with a snort, but it was more playful than grumpy.
“Coal and I are starting to get along,” I observed, swinging my legs back and forth.
Killian brushed the horse’s black coat with exquisite tenderness and I wondered how it’d feel to have his hands on me like that. The moment that thought came to me, I shook my head.
