The room was thick with the scent of burning candles and unspoken truths. Cassian's hands gripped Riven's waist like a lifeline, desperate to anchor himself even as doubt slithered through his veins. Their bodies moved with the heat of a storm—wild, reckless, but beneath it all, fragile.
Riven's breath hitched as Cassian's lips traced the curve of his neck, the fire spreading not just across skin but deep into the fissures in their trust. Every touch was a promise and a warning—fragile threads binding them tighter even as they threatened to unravel.
"I shouldn't want you this much," Cassian whispered against Riven's pulse. "After everything… after the lies."
Riven's fingers tangled in Cassian's hair, pulling him closer. "It's never just about the lies. It's about what we choose to do despite them."
Their bodies collided again, desperate and consuming. The world outside ceased to exist—only the heated shudder of skin on skin, the sharp edge of whispered confessions, and the slow burn of a love tested by fire.
As they gave in to the night's fierce embrace, the fractured promises between them seemed to momentarily heal—bound by the raw power of desire, even if only until dawn.