Page 16

Riv’En’s face was inches from hers. His eyes burned, not just with heat, but with something sharper, something primal and fixed only on her. Maya couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. Her skin tingled everywhere his gaze touched her, and her mind spun with the impossible, giddy rush ofit.

He was so close she could see every detail: the fine edge of his cheekbones, the faint shimmer along his jawline, the measured drag of his breath as if even that was carefully managed.

Her heart stuttered once, then settled into a low, pounding throb that had nothing to do with fear.

She wanted to touch him. Her hand twitched as if to lift, to close that last inch of space between them, but she held herself still, teeth sinking into her bottom lip.

His eyes dropped to her mouth like he’d sensed it.

Like he’d heard the thought inside herhead.

His hand slid up, fingers closing around the center of her bra.

For a breathless second, Maya’s mind couldn’t catch up with what was happening.

Heat shot through her, tangled up with a rush of disbelief and gut-wrenching awareness.

She knew, the moment his fingers tightened, that she was about to be bare to him.

There would be nothing left between her skin and hiseyes.

The idea sent her pulse skittering. Her body tensed, caught between the urge to pull away and the sharp, electric thrill that made her want to lean into it instead.

She was exposed already, the burden of his gaze stripping away the last of her barriers before he even moved.

His touch wasn’t harsh, but the tension in his grip was unmistakable.

One fluid pull and the fabric parted, tearing with a low rip that sent heat cascading through her veins. The strap brushed her skin as it snapped free, not hard enough to sting, just enough to leave a whisper of sensation. Her breath caught, sharp and uneven, as cool air kissed bareskin.

Maya sucked in a breath, her mind splintering into too many pieces at once.

Part of her wanted to scream, to tell him how good, how right this was.

Demand to know why her skin burned for his touch, even as her mind warned her to pull away.

But the rest of her couldn’t focus on anything except the heat of his body against hers, the steady influence of his gaze, the pressure of his hand where it hadbeen.

Her thoughts scrambled, wild and fractured, caught between compulsion and reason, between running and staying. Between surrender and fight. And all of it, every pulse of sensation, belonged to something older than either of them. Something both ancient and primal. Something destined.

But before she could say a word, he let her go. His hand dropped away from her chest, fingers trailing lightly over her skin as if committing her to memory.

For a beat, she couldn’t move. Her body sagged forward with the loss of contact, skin flushed hot, nerves sizzling with the ghost of his touch.

Her mind reeled, wild and scattered. Part of her wanted to reach for him, to pull him back.

To beg for more. But impulse moved first, taking over before thought could catchup.

And then he steppedback.

His voice broke the silence, asnarl scraping from deep in his throat. “Run.”

The sound hit her harder than his touch ever had. It wasn’t a threat. It wasn’t a taunt. It was a command laced with something deeper. Need. Insistence. Asharp, undeniable push that told her this wasn’t just a chase, it was necessity. For both ofthem.

Her breath caught. Her skin flickered.

For a split second, she hesitated, every part of her screaming to stay, to close the distance between them instead of running again.

Why was all this affecting her so much? Why had her chest gone tight, her legs shaking not from exhaustion, but from something sharper?

She wasn’t afraid. She wasn’t angry. She was wild with need.

Alive with it. Like every cell in her body had been rewired around the impetus to obey that singleword.

Because when Riv’En snarled “Run,” it wasn’t just a command.

It split her right down the middle. One part of her screamed to stay, to press into him, to have his hands on her again, his mouth.

The other part, the wilder part, knew she had to move.

Had to run. Reason and logic tore at each other, heat and clarity colliding, and in that collision, running was the only thing that made sense.

It was an order with teeth, sharp and insistent, something that crawled under her skin, into her blood, deeper than reason.

And so she ran.

The chase started all over, faster now. Wilder.

Each time he caught her, it was the same: ahard grip, fingers skimming down her sides, dragging lightly over her skin as if memorizing the shape of her, then releasing her again.

Her bra was gone, stripped away with one swift pull, leaving her in nothing but her panties.

And each time he touched her now, it wasn’t to tear, but to feel.

To mark each breath, each shiver, until there was nothing left between them butskin.

Her pulse never slowed. Her thoughts never caughtup.

And then his hand slid low again, not stopping this time. Rough fingertips trailing over her hip, down her thigh, then curling around the thin edge of her panties. Her breath caught, body locked between flinch and ache, but she didn’t pullaway.

Riv’En’s hand tightened and with one sharp tug, the last scrap of fabric tore away.