Riven stood at the edge of the old industrial pier, the ocean crashing angrily below. The storm had passed, but the wind still howled like a warning. Behind him, Cassian's footsteps approached, sure and steady—like they always were when Riven started to drift toward danger.
"I didn't think you'd let me come alone," Riven said without turning.
Cassian stepped beside him. "I promised I'd be there. Always."
Riven exhaled slowly. "I used to come here with Silas. He said standing here reminded him of how easy it was to fall." His voice cracked, edged with memory. "I didn't realize he meant emotionally, not just physically."
Cassian's jaw tightened. "You're not his anymore."
"No," Riven whispered. "But I'm still unraveling the parts of me he twisted."
Cassian reached out, gently wrapping his fingers around Riven's. "Then let me help untangle you."
Riven turned, their eyes locking in the twilight. "You already have. More than you know."
Cassian leaned in, pressing their foreheads together. "Then let's finish it."
Riven's heart beat faster, not from fear—but from freedom. "I want to."
That night, they returned to Cassian's loft. But this time, there was no desperation. No lingering doubt. Only a fire that burned for rebirth.
Cassian took his time undressing Riven, his hands reverent, worshipful. "You don't need to hide any part of you."
Riven kissed him, slow and deep, murmuring against his lips, "Then take all of me."
And Cassian did.
He laid Riven down and claimed him with a ferocity that was rooted in love, not possession. Riven's moans were raw, guttural, his body arching under each thrust as if trying to merge completely with the man who refused to let him fall.
Flesh met flesh in wet, messy, beautiful rhythm. Their bodies moved like fire licking through velvet—intense, consuming, endless. Cassian whispered affirmations with every roll of his hips, every deep plunge, marking Riven not with bruises, but with belief.
"I see you," Cassian groaned into Riven's neck. "The real you."
Riven clawed at Cassian's back, gasping, "Then don't look away."
"I never will."
Riven came first, back bowing, his entire body trembling under the weight of release and the flood of freedom it brought. Cassian followed, collapsing into him, their bodies slick with sweat and breathless triumph.
They lay tangled in silence, the kind that wasn't empty—but full of everything they'd just shared.
Eventually, Riven whispered, "It feels like I'm breathing for the first time."
Cassian brushed a kiss to his temple. "Because you're no longer chained."
Riven smiled, a little broken, a lot free. "I want to burn all the pieces of who I was with Silas."
Cassian sat up, walked to his desk, and returned with a small box. "Then start here."
Inside was the old pendant Silas had given him—a symbol of control disguised as love.
Riven held it for a moment… then threw it into the fireplace.
As it melted, he leaned into Cassian, eyes fierce. "I'm not his anymore."
"No," Cassian said, cupping his cheek, "you're yours now."
And with that, Riven was no longer just surviving.
He was free.