Rayne barely had time to breathe before the air between them shifted—charged, trembling. The warm flicker of torchlight danced across Jace’s face, casting shadows in his dark eyes, and for a moment… something else shimmered there. Not just concern. Not just friendship.
Something deeper.
Something dangerous.
“Jace?” she asked, voice tentative.
He didn’t answer.
Not with words.
In the space of a heartbeat, he stepped forward, his hand rising to cradle the side of her face. His thumb brushed her cheekbone—gentle, reverent—and then his lips were on hers.
Soft. But sure.
It wasn’t a lustful kiss. It wasn’t instinct-driven.
It was something far more terrifying.
It was honest.
Rayne’s eyes flew wide, her breath catching as the world around her blurred and vanished into that single poin
