The night was thick with storm clouds, thunder grumbling over the skyline as if echoing the turmoil in Riven's chest.
He hadn't seen Cassian in two days.
Two days since their bond shattered under the weight of truths neither of them were ready to carry.
And yet, every breath felt like it belonged to him.
The apartment was too quiet without Cassian's sharp words and softer silences. Riven had tried to distract himself—running, boxing, standing under cold water until his lips turned blue—but nothing burned away the memory of Cassian's voice saying, "I'd burn it all if it meant keeping you."
Tonight, the storm dragged him out.
And it led him straight to Cassian's doorstep.
Riven stood in the rain, soaked to the bone, watching the light flicker behind the tall windows. Part of him wanted to turn away. The other part—the one bound by something deeper than lust—refused to move.
He knocked.
Footsteps.
Then the door opened, and there he was—Cassian, dressed in black joggers, hair tousled, eyes tired but alert. The tension between them was instant and magnetic.
"You look like shit," Cassian muttered.
"You look like someone I shouldn't have walked away from."
A beat.
Then another.
Cassian stepped aside. "Get in before you drown."
Riven stepped past the threshold, dripping onto the hardwood, heart pounding louder than the rain behind him. "I'm sorry."
Cassian didn't speak at first. He just looked at him—really looked. "You weren't wrong to be scared. But you were wrong to think I wouldn't fight for you."
"I know."
Cassian stepped forward, closing the distance with deliberate restraint. "Then stop pushing me away."
Riven reached for him, fingers trembling. "I don't want to fight anymore."
"You don't have to," Cassian whispered, pulling him into a kiss that started slow but ignited like gasoline meeting flame.
Clothes were torn off in the hallway.
Riven gasped as Cassian lifted him against the wall, mouth devouring him like he was a dying man and Riven was the last breath he needed. Their bodies met in desperate rhythm, all teeth and tongue and tangled limbs.
"No more lies," Cassian growled against his throat.
"No more running," Riven breathed.
Cassian turned him toward the wall, dragging fingers down his back before slipping inside him with the kind of hunger that bordered on violence—but grounded in reverence.
Riven moaned, forehead pressed to the cool wall, letting go. Letting Cassian in completely.
"I'm yours," he gasped.
"You always fucking were," Cassian snarled, thrusting deeper.
Their moans echoed through the apartment like thunder.
When release hit, it wasn't just physical—it was emotional, soul-deep. Like they were purging all the pain they'd let fester.
Later, they lay tangled on the floor, a blanket lazily draped over them, Riven's head on Cassian's chest.
"I don't know what tomorrow brings," Riven whispered.
Cassian kissed the top of his head. "I don't care, as long as it brings you back to me."
And in that moment, Riven believed maybe—just maybe—the fire between them could become something that didn't consume them…
But warmed them both.