The rain fell in sheets over the city, dimming the lights into a shimmering blur through the penthouse glass. Thunder rumbled low, distant, like a warning crawling just beneath the skin.
Riven stood at the edge of the window, shirt unbuttoned, bare feet cold against marble. He hadn't slept. Not really. The room still smelled like Cassian—dark spice, expensive cologne, something warm and wrong all at once.
Behind him, the door clicked shut.
Cassian's voice, velvet and cracked, cut through the silence.
"You're up early."
Riven didn't turn. "Didn't sleep."
He felt the weight of Cassian's presence as he crossed the room. No footsteps. Just heat. Energy. The storm outside was nothing compared to the one curling between them.
"You're still angry," Cassian said.
"No," Riven said flatly. "I'm exhausted. There's a difference."
Cassian's hand brushed his lower back. A careful touch. Familiar. Dangerous. "Then let me make it right."
Riven finally turned. Eyes like flint met Cassian's.
"You can't fix betrayal with touches and silk promises."
"You think that's all this is?" Cassian's jaw tightened. "I've bled for you."
"And yet you kept secrets that could drown us both."
A heartbeat passed. Then Cassian stepped forward, crowding into Riven's space. His voice dropped.
"I would burn kingdoms for you."
"But would you give up your crown?" Riven challenged, chest rising.
Lightning flared outside, casting both men in stark light and shadow. Cassian's hand slid to Riven's hip. Possessive. Needy.
"I don't know anymore," Cassian whispered. "You've undone me."
For a second, Riven let himself soften into the moment. The pull between them wasn't just lust—it was war. One that neither of them had ever won. One that might break them both.
"I'm not something you conquer, Cassian," Riven said. "I'm someone you stand beside."
Cassian nodded slowly… then leaned in, lips brushing the corner of Riven's mouth.
"Then fight with me," he breathed.
Their mouths met—not gently, not sweet—but like fire meeting gasoline. The kiss was bruising, a clash of desperation and denial. Riven's fingers knotted into Cassian's shirt, dragging him closer, the storm outside forgotten.
Cassian backed them into the wall, breath hot against Riven's neck. Hands explored without apology, reclaiming territory already carved with memory.
But when Cassian tried to push further, Riven grabbed his wrist.
"Not yet," he said, voice raw.
Cassian froze.
"We haven't fixed what's broken. If we keep using heat to cover cracks, one day we'll fall through them."
The silence that followed was heavy. But Cassian nodded.
"I'll earn it back," he promised. "All of it. You. Us."
Riven looked away. "Then start by telling me everything."
And this time… Cassian did.
Secrets spilled like wine—Nyra's blackmail, Valen's threats, the sabotage that had started long before Riven ever knew Cassian's name. The pieces clicked into place, some sharper than others.
By the end of it, Riven wasn't sure whether to scream or collapse.
But he didn't run.
Because storms didn't scare him.
He was one.