Riven didn't sleep.
Not because he couldn't—but because the memory of Cassian's hands still gripped him even in silence. The ropes were gone, but the ache lingered. A delicious reminder of surrender. Of how good it felt to be owned.
Cassian stirred beside him, eyes still dark with possessive hunger. "You're thinking too loud."
Riven turned on his side, eyes glinting. "You planning on gagging my thoughts now too?"
Cassian's smirk was slow, lethal. "Only if it turns you on."
Riven scoffed—but his body reacted. Heat bloomed low in his gut.
Cassian rolled over him, caging him once again. "You liked being tied. Admit it."
"I liked coming," Riven said, biting back a moan as Cassian's thigh pressed between his.
Cassian's voice dropped. "That was only the beginning."
He reached under the bed and pulled out a velvet box.
Riven arched a brow. "What the hell is that?"
Cassian opened it—revealing leather cuffs, cool metal clasps, and a blindfold of silk. "The craving doesn't stop. So why should we?"
Riven's breath hitched.
The blindfold came first. Darkness sharpened every sensation. The cuffs clicked around his wrists, soft yet firm. Each touch after that—Cassian's lips on his collarbone, his tongue on a nipple, fingers ghosting down his thighs—was magnified.
Cassian took his time. He whispered filthy promises as he teased Riven to the brink over and over, using lips and tongue, teeth and toys. Riven trembled, panting, begging.
"Say you need me," Cassian growled, breath hot against his ear.
Riven choked on the words. "I need you—Cassian—please—"
Cassian entered him slow and deep, making every inch feel like worship and torture at once. Riven's cries echoed off the walls as Cassian thrust harder, driving the craving deeper until it was no longer need—it was obsession.
They came in a tangle of limbs and sweat and groans, hearts pounding as one.
Cassian pulled the blindfold away and kissed Riven's swollen lips. "You're not shackled. You're claimed."
Riven stared up at him, raw and ruined. "Then claim me again."
Cassian's eyes flared. "All night."