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Without warning, the water cut out, and a warm, soft towel wrapped around her. Gentle hands pulled her from the shower.
“You okay, princess?”
She looked up into Mace’s clear blue eyes, taking in his stubble-covered jaw and the crooked nose that had obviously been hit once too often. Such strength in just one man. Reaching up, she gently stroked his cheek.
“No,” she answered honestly. She was tearing apart inside. Ripped to shreds by the loss of her friend and the horrific way it’d happened.
“If there was anything I could do…” He trailed off, no doubt feeling as helpless as she did.
“Just hold me.” Make me feel like I can get through this. Make me feel something, anything other than this agony.
“I can do that.” His big arms wrapped around her, engulfing her in his strength. “You know there was nothing you could have done, right?” His voice was gentle before he pressed a kiss to her hair.
“Maybe if I’d been there, if I’d stayed on the terrace…”
“No.” He squeezed her tight. “It wouldn’t have made a difference. Don’t tell yourself that, baby. It’s a lie. If you’d been on the terrace, all Freedom would have done would be to keep you up there in front of the cameras until they’d played all their other cards. You would have been their final play. Their big finale.” His hand stroked her hair. “They would have killed those people anyway. There’s nothing you could have done to save your friend.”
“You could have grabbed her, too, when we ran.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she hated herself for saying them. Leaning back, she looked up at him, seeing his own regrets painted so clearly on his face.
“I’m sorry, Mace. I shouldn’t have said that. This isn’t your fault. Everything happened so fast, and I know you grabbed me because I was closest. I saw Abigail step back, farther away from the audience, once I’d finished speaking with her. Knowing her, she was probably inching toward the door, hoping to make an escape before anyone noticed. She was nowhere near you when the trouble started. I’m so sorry I laid that on you.”
He cupped her cheek and stared into her eyes. Her heart. Her soul. “If I could have saved her, I would have. I wish I could go back in time and change things for you. I wish I could save her for you.”
She hiccupped a sob and felt the tears roll down her chee
ks again. “I can’t believe she’s gone,” she whispered.
“Fuck.” He grated the word. “You’re killing me here. You’ve got to stop crying. I can’t cope with it.”
She forced the slightest of smiles. “And it’s all about you.”
“Yeah,” he whispered. But even though the joke was a poor one, they both knew he didn’t think that way at all. “What can I do to help? I’ve got to do something.”
The words escaped before she could think about them. “You could kiss me.”
She felt the shock at her request ripple through his body. “Keiko, I’m not sure that’s a good idea, we’re…”
Whatever else he would have said was lost when she pressed her fingertips to his lips to stop him. “I don’t care about good ideas right now. I just want a few seconds’ reprieve from the pain. I’m falling apart, Mace. Please, this once, don’t think about whether it’s a good idea or not. Just help me to forget. For a minute. Before we have to start running and fighting again. Please.”
“Keiko.” He said her name with such feeling it seemed to wrap around her. “You humble me. Everything that’s happened, and you’re still going, still asking for what you need, still putting yourself out there. Never known anybody with the kind of courage you have. Blows my mind.”
Her breath hitched at his words. He meant them with an intensity she’d never before witnessed. His feelings were there on his face for anyone to see. And she saw all of them, clear as day, laid bare before her. Admiration. Protectiveness. Desire. And something more. Something she shouldn’t want with a man who lived so far outside the law. But then, did that really matter? Because everything she’d thought was true and right had turned out to be wrong. Maybe, just maybe, Mace was the only right thing in her world.
“Please,” she whispered and watched his resolve crumble.
His hand clasped her nape, and then he closed the distance between them, never taking his eyes from hers. The world faded to the man in front of her. Then narrowed further to his face. His eyes. His lips. And then, those lips were pressed against hers in a kiss that swept her away with its gentleness and understanding. Her eyes closed of their own volition as she lost herself in the soft, firm touch of his lips against hers.
He mastered her mouth, making her body melt with each languorous touch. His breath feathered over her lips, his tongue teasing at the seam of her mouth, asking for entry. She opened willingly, gasping as their breaths mingled.
There were words in his kiss. Words of caring, of tenderness, of…love? Words he breathed into her with every seductive touch until they filled every part of her, winding around her heart, threading through her soul. She felt the agony ease within her, and the ache and horror of her loss poured down her cheeks in tears of relief. It was the reprieve she’d been asking for. A minute out of time.
As his tongue and lips seduced hers, he cupped her face and brushed away those tears with his thumbs. Gently. Oh, so gently. Taking care of her with his actions. With his touch. Far too soon, he slowed their kiss until they stood facing each other.
With raw emotion in his eyes, he cupped her face. “If I could take it all away and make it easier for you, I would.”
“I know,” she whispered. And in that moment, she had never been more certain of anything.
