First Kiss, First Fall

It had rained that night.

Not the kind of rain that sent guests scurrying under awnings, but a quiet drizzle that turned the rooftop terrace of the Vance Hotel into something soft and secret.

Celia had slipped away from the charity gala downstairs, her gown trailing over slick tiles. She couldn't breathe in there — too many polite lies, too many eyes that saw nothing real.

Up here, under wet city lights, she could almost pretend to belong to herself.

"Running from the ball, princess?"

She turned, startled. Julian leaned against the stone railing, black tie undone, hair damp from the mist.

She'd only known him a few months then: the Hale heir, untouchable and careless, who looked at her like she was the only secret worth keeping.

"And you?" she challenged, forcing her voice steady. "Hiding from your adoring fans?"

He laughed softly, stepping closer. "Maybe. Or maybe I was looking for you."

It was ridiculous, she thought, how a single step could feel like falling.

Julian stopped just inches away, the rain darkening his shirt at the shoulders. His gaze dipped to her lips, and Celia felt her heart tremble.

"Don't," she whispered. She didn't even know what she meant — don't kiss me, don't stop, don't make me want this.

"Tell me to go," he breathed, voice low and rough. "And I will."

But she couldn't.

Instead, she lifted her hand, brushing rain-slick hair from his forehead. The softness in his eyes destroyed her.

For once, Celia Vance let herself want.

Julian's hand cupped her cheek — warm, careful, almost reverent. And when he kissed her, it wasn't the kind of kiss their world taught: practiced, pretty, cold.

It was slow. Uneven. Real.

She tasted rain and something impossibly sweet — the promise of a thousand could-have-beens.

When they finally pulled apart, breathless and blinking against the drizzle, Julian whispered the words that would ruin them both.

"You terrify me, Celia."

"Why?" she asked, her voice so small it barely reached the night.

"Because for the first time in my life," Julian murmured, thumb tracing her jaw, "I want something more than power. And it's you."

For the first time, she let herself believe him.

For the first time, she let herself fall.

And in that moment, above the city that demanded too much, Celia Vance became his.

Even if neither of them knew how much it would cost.