Page 8

SILENCE. HEAVY and sharp-edged, stretched tight like the air mightsnap.

Maya didn’t know why she’d said it. That last question—half a dare, half something darker she couldn’t name. The second it left her mouth, her whole body reacted: asharp jolt hit her throat, heat unfurling through her chest and tightening low in her stomach like a line pulled too tight.

Across the table, Riv’En didn’t move. His gaze stayed locked on her, focused and unyielding, unreadable.

There was no shift in his posture, no flicker of expression, but the force behind that stare was palpable—like a gravitational pull that kept her pinned in place.

It wasn’t just observation. It was pressure.

As if he were measuring every breath she took and weighing it against some internal threshold only he understood.

Her breath caught. Too late to take back her question. Time to deal withit.

Her fingers tightened around the utensil still in her hand, the cool metal grounding her for a second, sharp against the heat flooding her veins.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough to hold onto when everything else went crazy.

One stupid comment, and now she couldn’t breathe right.

Heat slid down her spine, curling low in her core, sharp and restless.

Something was wrong. Not fear. Not quite. Somethingelse.

Riv’En spoke, finally. Low. Absolute.

“It is not safe.”

Her throat worked. “You mean touching you. Because of your Final Flight.”

“Affirmative.” His voice was iron. “When my heat flash begins, there is no preventing the reaction.”

“But you can tell when it’s coming on, right?” she asked, her voice lower and edged with something she could not quite name. “You’re not just going to explode out of nowhere? You could warn me.”

Another pause. Then, slowly, “That is correct.”

Her breath caught sharp in her chest. Not from relief, but from something denser somehow. Like it wasn’t entirely her own anymore, but an echo, syncing up to something she couldn’t see or name but experienced down to her bones.

It didn’t make sense. The heat in her blood, the low, constant pulsation beneath her skin like her own body was tuning itself to his. It had started the second he released her from those restraints. Or maybe before that. Her gaze flicked to the curve of his mouth, sharp and unforgiving.

“Then maybe it’s not as dangerous as you make it sound,” she said, her voice dipping lower, textured and quieter, silk threaded through with steel. She didn’t mean for it to sound like that—low and sultry, edged with a taunt she couldn’tstop.

A pulse of heat flickered in his eyes. Brief and sharp, as if for just a second, he had let something slip past all that control. Hunger. Want. Recognition. But then it was gone, buried as fast as it appeared.

Riv’En stood. Not rushed. Just enough to put space between them. Or so she thought.

Maya exhaled, shoving aside her plate. Her skin still tingled, like there was a low-voltage current running through her.

She glanced toward the viewscreen occupying one wall of the galley.

Earth filled the window. “Why haven’t we left orbit?

” she asked suddenly, needing anything to cut through the anxiety pressing againsther.

Riv’En’s stance remained locked. “Awaiting orders. From Third. Anya as well.”

“So we’re just parked here? Floating?”

“Until further directive.”

Her breath caught again. Too loud in the quiet.

Her heart still hadn’t settled, each beat dragging heat through her veins like an echo of his touch.

She wasn’t sure what was worse—the idea of him staying close, feeding this aching pull inside her, or the idea of him leaving her alone with it.

This hunger she didn’t ask for. This craving she couldn’t manage.

She pressed her palms flat to the table and stood.

Before she could take a single step, he crossed the space between them in a blur.

Ahard grip closed around her wrist and he pulled her against him with a force that made her gasp.

Her body slammed against his, the air catching in her lungs as one hand locked around her, the other fisting in herhair.

And then his mouth was on hers. No hesitation, no warning.

The kiss was rough and frantic, all heat and hunger, as though he had waited too long to claim her and now couldn’t hold back.

Her breath vanished beneath it, her hands clutching his arms, caught between compulsion and something darker, needier.

Her body arched into him, and she tasted him—hot and sharp and completely alien, and she didn’t care. Not anymore.

“Is this what you wanted,” he asked, voice low against her ear, rough and dangerous. His scent wrapped around her, heat pouring off him like a living thing. Afierce jolt pounded through her, her hands sinking into his top, clinging.

“Yes,” she breathed. “ No . Iwant more.”

In instant response, Riv’En’s mouth crushed down on hers before the words even finished leaving her lips.

The kiss wasn’t careful. It wasn’t slow.

It was pure fire, all sharp edges and need barely held in check.

His lips moved over hers like he owned them, like he had been waiting for this moment longer than she could imagine.

Her body melted against his, helpless under the weight of it. One of his hands slid from her side downward, fingers flexing over the curve of her body like he was memorizing every line. Her knees buckled, and still he held her, relentless.

When he finally tore his mouth from hers, they were both breathing hard. “You are dangerous,” he said against her temple. “And I am losing control.”

His hand slid from her hip, trailing over her lower back in a slow, possessive stroke that left her skin burning through the thin fabric of her blouse.

His mouth found hers again, not as frantic this time, but deeper, more purposeful, each shift of his lips like he meant to leave a mark she would never forget.

Maya shuddered against him, caught between the urge to pull away and the overwhelming need to get closer.

Her fingers dug into his arms, nails scraping across the muscle, and still he held her firm, unyielding.

His other hand traced up her spine, the heat of his touch sparking against her skin in a way that came dangerously close to unbearable.

He broke the kiss long enough to drag in a breath, his voice a low growl against her mouth. “You do not know what you are doing.”

“I know exactly what I’m doing,” she whispered, her own voice wrecked and shaking, but sure. “You’re the one who keeps telling me to stay away.”

His grip tightened, as if that single sentence pushed him to the edge of whatever line he had drawn.

And then his mouth was back on hers, rougher this time, asilent admission of every unspoken thing neither of them dared say.

His hand slipped beneath the edge of her blouse, fingers skating lightly across bare skin, tracing the curve of her breast. Her breath caught, asoft sound escaping her against his lips, equal parts shock andneed.

His hand glided over her, fingers splaying wide, the slow pressure of his touch sending another ripple of heat through her until she shuddered.

Her hands clenched in his shirt, nails scraping over muscle, and still he did not break away.

The heat wound endlessly tighter, breath and touch blurring together, his desire pulling taut like a thread stretched toofar.

Finally, with a growl low in his throat, Riv’En eased back half a step, his hand dropping away as if by force. His breathing was harsh, his expression locked down and unreadable again.

“Enough,” he said roughly. “For now.”

Maya’s breath stuttered, desire rolling through her. She backed up a single step, needing distance, her hands still trembling from where they’d been clutching him. Her skin was too hot, too tight, like every nerve had been strung out of place.

“What the hell was that?” she said finally, her voice husky and uneven, rasping more than she meant itto.

Riv’En didn’t answer right away. His stance had locked again, arms folded across his chest, but his eyes gave him away. Dark. Watching her like she was both threat and temptation. “That,” he said slowly, “was a mistake.”

Maya dragged in a breath, forcing herself to step farther back, giving herself a little space. “It wasn’t a mistake. It was...” She cut herself off, heat crawling up herneck.

God. What was wrong with her? Her entire body still buzzed with the imprint of his hands, his mouth, like every nerve had been rewired to respond to him and only him. It wasn’t just attraction. It was need. Sharp and bone-deep and wrong.

“I can’t...” she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself, barely holding herself together. “I don’t get it. Ishouldn’t want this. Want you.”

Riv’En’s gaze dropped for a fraction of a second, then returned to hers, darker than before. “There are things my people do not discuss. Reactions tied to old urges. Bonds that were supposed to have been bred out generations ago.”

Maya stared at him, every nerve tingling. “You’re saying it’s some kind of... instinct?”

“Not instinct. Directive. Hidden so well it cannot be undone. You feel it. Ifeel it. That does not make it safe.”

Her throat closed for a second, hard and dry. She shook her head, fingers clenching tight against her ribs. “I can’t stay here. Ihave to get out.”

She didn’t wait for him to answer. She just turned, forcing her legs to move even though they were shaky as hell, putting one foot in front of the other until she was out of the galley and out of his sight.