The ruins of the old palace still smoldered, casting a smoky veil across the blood-soaked horizon. Soldiers limped through the wreckage, banners torn, eyes hollow from days of relentless battle. Cassian stood among the rubble, the once-proud obsidian crown now dangling from his fingers, dented and burned.
He was ash and flame—his fury had kept the empire breathing, but his heart? That had been bartered too many times, and now, as the dust settled, there was only one name left echoing in his mind.
"Riven."
The name tasted like sin and salvation both.
Boots echoed behind him, heavy, deliberate. He turned, and there he was.
Riven.
Soot in his silver hair. Blood at his collar. A tear in his armor, revealing flesh beneath streaked with grime and glory. He hadn't come to report. He hadn't come to kneel.
He came for him.
Cassian's jaw clenched. "You disobeyed me."
Riven didn't flinch. "And if I hadn't, you'd be dead now."
They stood inches apart, blades no longer between them—but something sharper was: betrayal and longing, tangled like a noose around both their throats.
Cassian grabbed Riven by the armor's collar and yanked him forward. Their foreheads crashed together, the heat between them unbearable, electric. "You think that makes it right?"
Riven's hand slid up Cassian's chest slowly, pressing against his heart. "No. But it makes you mine."
Their mouths collided—brutal, wild, and raw. Cassian crushed him against the shattered stone wall, mouth claiming, punishing, needing. Their tongues battled for dominance, moans lost between teeth and grit. Riven tore open the clasps of Cassian's armor with shaking hands, desperate to feel skin—to confirm he was alive.
Cassian's hands fisted in Riven's hair, yanking his head back to expose his throat. "I should have you executed for treason."
"You'd miss me too much," Riven growled back, then gasped as Cassian bit down hard at the base of his neck, marking him.
The flames behind them weren't nearly as hot as the ones sparking between their bodies.
Clothes fell in pieces.
Armor scraped across stone.
Skin met skin—finally, violently.
Cassian's fingers dug into Riven's hips as he lifted him onto the edge of a broken pillar. Their breath came fast, furious, tangled. Riven's legs wrapped around Cassian's waist, pulling him closer.
Closer.
Cassian entered him in one long, punishing thrust—and the world shattered.
Riven arched, eyes squeezed shut, mouth open in a silent cry. Cassian didn't give him time to recover—he pounded into him with a rhythm born from rage and worship, lips dragging along Riven's jaw, whispering words he'd never admit in daylight.
"You're mine."
"You always were."
"You always will be."
Riven clung to him, nails scoring down his back, drawing blood—his crown, his commander, his ruin, his salvation.
Their bodies moved in a frenzy, sweat mingling with blood and ash. The rhythm built—harder, faster, needier—until the world narrowed to only the sound of their gasps, the creak of stone beneath them, and the fire roaring in both their chests.
Cassian groaned deep in his throat. "Say it."
Riven met his eyes, raw and shining. "I'm yours. Even if the whole empire burns."
Their release hit like thunder—Cassian with a growl, Riven with a cry.
The pillar cracked beneath them.
And still, they didn't let go.
The world around them blurred, the aftermath of their reckless passion hanging like smoke in the air. Cassian collapsed beside Riven on the jagged stone, chest heaving, heartbeat thundering in their ears. His fingers traced bruises blooming on Riven's skin, lingering where the fire of their touch had burned the deepest.
Riven's breath was ragged, his body still trembling—not from the fight, but from the vulnerability of surrender. For a fleeting moment, the war outside faded, and all that existed was the man next to him—the man he'd betrayed and desired in equal measure.
Cassian's voice was a low growl, thick with something fierce and fragile all at once. "You never tell me when you're going to disappear."
Riven's lips curved into a half-smile, wicked and tired. "Maybe because I like seeing the look on your face when I come back."
They shared a laugh that was almost a sob, the kind born from knowing how close they'd come to losing everything.
Then, Cassian's hand slid under Riven's jaw, tilting his face up. His thumb traced the sharp line of his cheekbone as he murmured, "You're dangerous."
Riven leaned into the touch. "So are you."
The fire in their eyes mirrored the destruction around them—a kingdom in flames, a love forged through ruin.
"Come," Cassian said, voice rough. "We need to move. The war isn't over, and neither is this fight."
Riven nodded, the flicker of pain and promise in his gaze. They rose together, two shattered souls bound by blood, betrayal, and an unbreakable vow.
The ashes swirled at their feet, but beneath them, something still burned.
The dawn bled crimson over the shattered skyline, the air thick with smoke and the bitter scent of loss. Cassian and Riven moved side by side through the ruins of what had once been a symbol of power and pride. The ground beneath them was cracked, jagged—mirroring the fractures running deep within their own hearts.
Cassian's hand found Riven's in the chaos, fingers intertwining with a grip that spoke louder than any words could. Their eyes met, an unspoken promise searing between them — that no matter the betrayals, no matter the cost, they would face the coming storm together.
A sudden roar shattered the fragile silence—war was calling again, relentless and merciless. But for this moment, amid the ruin and fire, they held each other like the last fragile thread of hope.
The battle ahead would be brutal, but the fiercest war was the one waged within.
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