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“Ray,” she said.
He stopped at the top of the stairs. Five feet away, but it felt like a mile. His gaze was stormy, angry.
“Is everything all right?” she asked, referring to why he’d been in his office.
“I saw you kiss T.” His chest was rising and falling quickly, his fist clenched. “I was coming to pummel him.”
Hope filled her chest. She stepped closer. Tristan wanted her with Ray, and this might be her chance. “T kissed me to prove a point.”
“What point is that?” His blue eyes searched her face.
She prayed for help and repeated in her mind,Brave, bold, and beautiful.
“That I feel nothing for him. That you’re the only man I want to kiss, want to be with.”
Ray’s eyes widened. He stepped in closer, so close she could feel his warmth. She wanted to be in his arms, wantedhim, but more than that, she loved him.
He studied her and admitted in a soft, husky voice, “I’ve worked so hard to stay away from you. You have no idea how hard.”
“I have a little idea.” She smiled weakly. “It’s been all I could do to not touch you, stare at you, love you …” She swallowed hard. Was she really admitting to this?Brave, bold, and beautiful. She wasn’t, except with him.
“Macey … I can’t stop myself from falling for you, craving you, being consumed by you.”
He wrapped his hands around her shoulders, pulled her against him, and took her mouth with his.
The kiss was demanding, all-consuming, absolutely beautiful. Macey had never been so happy, never felt so loved. Could they truly be together, or was this only a stolen moment? Right now she didn’t care. She clung to Ray and kissed him with all the love she had stored inside her. He had to hold her up as her body was weak with longing for him.
He didn’t seem to mind. He pulled back slightly and grinned at her.
“Macey,” he groaned against her mouth and then he kissed her again. His strength, honor, and devotion to her filled her with conviction. They could make it all work. Together.
Their lips were definitely working together and Macey gave her heart and future to Ray in that moment.
A loud thump and then a roar sounded. The castle seemed to shake.
Macey and Ray yanked apart and raced toward the source of the sound. Black smoke billowed out from under T’s door.
“T!” Ray flung T’s door open. Fire was consuming the quilt, bed, and mattress, licking up the wood frame.
T was on the floor, lying on his side. Behind him, a shadow darted over the balcony.
“Tristan!” the king’s voice hollered from behind them.
“Get a medic,” Ray yelled at his dad.
The king pulled his phone out.
Ray reached T first. The skin on the left side of his face and neck was bubbling, and his shirt was burning. Ray put the flames out with his hands.
Macey felt for a pulse on the right side of his throat. It was strong, and she could feel his breath on her hand. “He’s breathing and has a pulse. I’m going after the perp.”
Ray’s gaze was frantic, shocked.
Macey didn’t waste any time. She leaped to her feet and ran for the balcony. A man was working his way down the castle wall like Spiderman. He wore a ski mask, so even if it was someone she knew, she didn’t recognize him. How could she intercept him?
She looked to the side and saw one of the copper poles like the one Kiera had slid down. If a child could do it …
Not stopping to think, she climbed onto the balcony ledge, wrapped her hands and legs around the pole, and slid. Fast. Really fast. She clung tighter to slow her descent, thumping onto the grass so hard she thought she’d broken her legs. Standing on wobbly but thankfully unbroken limbs, she saw the man fling himself to the ground ten feet away.
