Page 30

THE FIRST thing Maya felt was warmth.

The solid, quiet heat of Riv’En’s skin against hers, the faint rise and fall of his chest brushing her back. His scent wrapped around her, clean and sharp like cool metal laced with something older, wilder—soil and living stone.

His arm rested across her like gravity itself, steady and unyielding. Not just from the sheets tangled around her legs, or the sunlight filtering pale and gold through the living vine windows. It came from the quiet power of Riv’En’s body stretched out besideher.

His fingers rested just above her hip like he couldn’t bear to lose contact even in sleep.

For a moment, she didn’t move. She breathed him in, clean and sharp, the faint metallic tang of Vettian skin tempered by something deeper, warmer. Elaroin. The scent of the world outside folded into him. Her heart ached with it, with how quiet he looked here, how utterly still.

Her fingers brushed lightly against his hand, tracing the line of his knuckles. He shifted, aslow inhale brushing her skin as his arm tightened around her. That single motion broke the quiet spell. She turned toward him fully, meeting the open black of hiseyes.

“You are awake,” he said, voice deep and gravelly in a way that pulled at her chest.

“I could say the same,” she answered, smiling a little.

His gaze traced over her face, settling as if memorizing each detail. One hand lifted, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek.

Neither of them said anythingelse.

She leaned in first, closing the small space between them until her mouth brushed against his.

His response was immediate but unhurried, his grip tightening as he drew her closer, the kiss deepening with a slow, consuming intensity.

When she pulled back just slightly, her voice came soft and uneven.

“What happens now?” she whispered. “Now that we’re here. Now that... it’s real.”

Riv’En’s thumb brushed along her cheekbone in answer. “It is quite simple. You will remain. Iwill remain until Final Flight. There is no further path.”

Her heart twisted at the quiet certainty in his voice. Until Final Flight. The words echoed in her mind, more painful than she was ready for. Ahollowness settled in her chest, grief sharp and unwelcome. But threaded through it was something fiercer: determination.

She wasn’t ready to lose him, wasn’t willing to simply accept the inevitability he spoke of.

Asharp ache bloomed low in her stomach, but she pressed her hand against his chest anyway, needing the contact, needing him under her palm to ground her before the ache could pull her under.

Her hand slid over his shoulder, down his chest, tracing the heat beneath hisskin.

How could she touch him like this, knowing what was coming? Asharp breath caught in her throat, but she did not pull away. Instead, she pressed closer.

“None of this is simple,” she said, her lips brushing his as she spoke.

“It is not,” he admitted, voice low. “But it is certain.”

She kissed him again, slower this time, and his hand secured her against him.

Each kiss unfolded between them like breath.

Her fingertips explored the curve of his ribs, the line of muscle beneath smooth skin.

His mouth traced along the edge of her cheek, down to the hollow of her throat, teeth grazing lightly against her pulse.

Their hands moved as if memorizing each other all over again, and for that brief moment, everything else fellaway.

Her fingers slid up his bare chest, feeling the heat beneath his skin. Toohot.

Riv’En shuddered suddenly, his body jerking beneath her touch.

“Riv’En?” she whispered, pullingback.

His eyes were closed now. Heat shimmered off his skin, not gentle warmth now—dangerous. The color of his hair deepened right before her eyes, streaks of black overtaking the remaining silver.

“Heat flash,” he ground out. “You must not—”

But he was already moving. Pushing off the bed with brutal force, crossing the room in three rapid strides. His movements weren’t human—weren’t calm. They were innate, all purpose and power, heading straight for the containment room built into the residence.

Maya scrambled after him. “Riv’En—wait!”

The door sealed shut before she could get there.

Her fists hit the surface. “Riv’En! Open it!”

She pounded harder, panic clawing through her chest. The metal was cold beneath her palms, but already the heat pulsed through it from the other side, hot enough to make her skin ache. Her breath came in ragged bursts, and she pressed her forehead against the sealeddoor.

The memory of his body wrapped around hers was still fresh in her skin, and now he was on the other side of that wall, fighting something she couldn’t reach.

Her heart hammered until she feared her ribs might crack under the force.

Tears stung her eyes, blurring the shimmering lines of the containment seals.

It was too familiar—like losing him in a way she wasn’t ready toface.

“Please,” she whispered, voice cracking. “Please don’t leave me.”

Her hand fell to the place just above her heart. The place where the Mating Flame had pulsed onboard the Veyna. Her fingers trembled as she pressed her palm there, sensing nothing at first—just skin, just frantic heartbeat.

She closed her eyes, forcing her mind to focus, like that first time when the flame had lit between them, without his touch, without any warning.

When she had been restrained and still, the connection had burned to life inside her, probably from tasting his blood after she’d bitten him.

And it had stopped his heat flash then. Somehow, impossibly, her Mating Flame had reached through whatever was happening to him and quieted it.

That was what she clung to now, the memory of that impossibility, the hope that it would work again.

Her breath caught. Slowly, her other hand joined the first, both pressed flat over her Mating Flame as if doubling down on the need to reach him. The silence stretched, thick and suffocating. But she refused to let it pull her under.

“Please,” she whispered again, voice breaking now, as her tears slipped down her cheeks. “Please... let me reach him.”

Maya closed her eyes, every ounce of energy into the strength of their bond.”Please,” she breathed. “Let it work.”

Her pulse stuttered once, hard, as though the flame there caught light. Aflicker ran through her. Not as strong as before, butreal.

The heat against the door faltered. The vibrating hum shifted tone.

Maya froze, her breath catching as sharp relief mingled with visceral fear—afraid to hope, afraid it might surge back again.

Her hands pressed flat to the door, palms tingling as though she could still experience his heat.

For several long seconds, she didn’t move, afraid that any motion would break whatever fragile hold she had on him through the flame.

Moments later, the door hissedopen.

Riv’En stood there, bare-chested, sweat slicking his skin. His eyes were unfocused for half a breath, until they landed onher.

Maya didn’t think. She threw herself into hisarms.

He caught her, arms locking around her waist with so much force she could barely breathe. His skin burned against hers but not enough tohurt.

They didn’t speak.

She kissed him. Hard and desperate, like she couldn’t get enough air unless it came from him. His mouth opened under hers, returning it with just as much force, hands braced against herback.

And yet, even with the heat flaring between them, even knowing how dangerous it was, neither of them moved to pull back.

Maya’s hands slid over the bare planes of his back, holding tight, while Riv’En’s fingers tangled in her hair, pulling her even closer.

Their bodies pressed together with unrelenting force, mouths moving in a raw, vital manner.

His pulse thundered against her hand and heat seared under his skin, but she didn’t let go. Couldn’t.

His breath broke against her mouth. His voice, when it came, was ragged. “I must stop.”

Her hands flattened against his chest, the beat of his heart like a war drum. “No,” she whispered, not pleading but certain. “We need this.”

Riv’En made a sound low in his throat, caught between a growl and a breath. For one endless moment, they hovered there, unwilling to separate, unwilling to letgo.

Before she could speak, apulse shivered through the air around them, low and steady. The entire house responded, walls humming faintly as though bracing for what was coming.

A Council summons came through speakers hidden throughout the house, requiring Riv’en to attend a session at his earliest convenience. Reading between the lines, that meantnow.

He exhaled once, steadying. Pressing a final kiss against her temple he pulled back completely, heading toward the bathing alcove off the main room. The water there wasn’t harsh or mechanical. It streamed down in a warm, steady cascade from living vines above, scentless and clean.

Riv’En pulled her beneath it with him, his hands moving over her skin, slow and efficient but never rushed.

Maya’s breath caught as she let herself lean into him, fingers tracing the planes of his back as the water slid over both of them.

There was no need for words. Each touch was intentional, meant to wash away the lingering heat and tension without breaking the quiet connection still pulsing betweenthem.

When they finished, he dried her with the same quiet skill before they dressed in silence, both pulling on the soft, layered Elaroin robes folded neatly nearby.

Maya’s hands shook as she tied the silver thread around herself, the fabric cool and unfamiliar against her skin.

It seemed heavier than it should have, areminder this wasn’t just about clothing.

It marked her place here, beside Riv’En.

The robes carried a history she didn’t fully understand yet, but she wore them anyway. For him. For whatever camenext.