The kiss wasn’t gentle.It was searing, urgent—born of adrenaline and the terrifying knowledge of how close she’d come to losing this moment forever.Her fingers dug into the solid breadth of his shoulders, dragging him closer.His lips claimed hers with a hunger that mirrored her own, his hands sliding up her spine before threading into her hair, anchoring her to him.
When his teeth grazed her lower lip, a soft, helpless sound escaped her, and she pressed into him, heat flooding through her every nerve.The solid weight of him against her was grounding and dizzying all at once, her mind spinning as her body clung to the only thing that felt certain in the aftermath of chaos—him.
Then—screeching tires.
The sound cracked the moment apart.She tore her mouth from his, breath ragged, eyes wide.His gaze locked onto hers, dark and intense, still charged with the kiss they’d shared.
For several beats, neither moved.Their foreheads rested together, their breaths shallow, like they were still caught in the echo of the near-disaster.
She finally stepped back, legs trembling so badly she almost stumbled.“Thank you for saving me,” she whispered, her voice unsteady, the words carrying far more than gratitude.
But then the reality of what had just happened slammed into her.The fear.The relief.The fierce, magnetic pull she’d tried to deny—and failed.Panic flared.She needed space, air, something to clear the haze he left in his wake.
“I have to go,” she murmured, her voice barely above a breath.
His hands closed around her upper arms, steadying her as if he could will her to stay.“Natalie—”
She shook her head sharply, cutting him off.“I have to go.”This time, her voice was firmer, but the tremor beneath it betrayed her.
A man appeared beside her, holding out her heavy tote bag.She muttered a shaky, “Thank you,” taking it with fingers that barely felt steady enough to hold it.Her keys were placed in her palm next, and she clutched them as if they were a lifeline.
Without looking back—because she knew if she did, she might not leave—she stumbled to her SUV.She tossed the bag into the passenger seat, climbed in, and jammed the key into the ignition.Her hands trembled violently as she started the engine, the sound of it roaring to life almost swallowed by the pounding in her ears.
She drove out of the garage too quickly, her mind a storm she couldn’t outrun.
A block away, her control snapped.She pulled over hard, gripping the steering wheel with white-knuckled hands.She leaned forward until her forehead pressed against the leather, breath shuddering in and out, her entire body trembling with leftover adrenaline.
She had been seconds from disaster.
She had been in his arms.
She had kissed him.
And she wasn’t sure she’d ever recover.
Chapter 13
Watching Natalie’s small SUV vanish down the street while trying to wrestle his body and mind into calm was almost unbearable.Every muscle in Rylan’s frame thrummed with unspent energy, a volatile mix of adrenaline and desire that had nowhere to go.
The kiss replayed in a relentless loop—her lips urgent against his, the way she’d clung to him like she might never let go.And then she had let go.Driven away.Left him standing there with his pulse in his ears and an ache in his chest that had no business being there.
He wanted to go after her, to kiss her again, to pull her back into his arms and—
And what?
His scowl deepened.He didn’t have an answer.All he knew was that the raw intensity of his reaction left him unsettled in a way nothing else had for years.
He forced himself to pivot toward his bodyguards, jaw set hard enough to ache.“Did someone actually just try to run her down?”His voice was low but razor-edged, brimming with disbelief and the kind of anger that made men nervous.
The three guards exchanged uneasy glances.“Your Highness, we can’t say for certain.It might have just been reckless driving.We were too far behind to see clearly.”
Rylan’s gaze cut back to the empty parking access road, his voice a notch harsher.“Did anyone get a license plate?”
The guards shook their heads.
“No, Your Highness,” one admitted.“You took off running, and we followed, trying to keep up.”Malik’s glare made it clear he thought Rylan’s impulsive sprint hadn’t helped.“The sedan was gone before we could focus on it.”
Rylan exhaled sharply, the sound heavy with frustration, trying to keep the chaos inside from spilling out.His pulse was still hammering—part from the jolt of seeing a car bear down on her, part from the taste of her kiss still clinging to him.
