Page 46 of Fourth

Her hand traced idle patterns along his back, slow and soothing, her breath warm against his shoulder. Each touch sent a quiet pulse through Riv’En’s spine, not as heat or urgency, but as something more crucial. Permanence. The kind of steadycontact he had never let himself imagine. And instead of tightening his hold, he let his hand settle low against her body, memorizing the rise and fall of her breath, the quiet certainty that she was still there. Her voice, when it finally came, was a whisper so soft it barely reachedhim.

“I love you.”

Riv’En went still.

Her fingers kept moving, light and easy, as though she hadn’t just fractured the entire foundation of his world.

By the time he found the strength to look down at her, her eyes were closed, her breathing slow andeven.

She’d already drifted to sleep.

But the words lingered.

I love you.

And Riv’En knew then, without question, that he would never let hergo.

Chapter 11

THE FIRSTthing Maya felt was warmth.

The solid, quiet heat of Riv’En’s skin against hers, the faint rise and fall of his chest brushing her back. His scent wrapped around her, clean and sharp like cool metal laced with something older, wilder—soil and living stone.

His arm rested across her like gravity itself, steady and unyielding. Not just from the sheets tangled around her legs, or the sunlight filtering pale and gold through the living vine windows. It came from the quiet power of Riv’En’s body stretched out besideher.

His fingers rested just above her hip like he couldn’t bear to lose contact even in sleep.

For a moment, she didn’t move. She breathed him in, clean and sharp, the faint metallic tang of Vettian skin tempered by something deeper, warmer. Elaroin. The scent of the worldoutside folded into him. Her heart ached with it, with how quiet he looked here, how utterly still.

Her fingers brushed lightly against his hand, tracing the line of his knuckles. He shifted, aslow inhale brushing her skin as his arm tightened around her. That single motion broke the quiet spell. She turned toward him fully, meeting the open black of hiseyes.

“You are awake,” he said, voice deep and gravelly in a way that pulled at her chest.

“I could say the same,” she answered, smiling a little.

His gaze traced over her face, settling as if memorizing each detail. One hand lifted, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek.

Neither of them said anythingelse.

She leaned in first, closing the small space between them until her mouth brushed against his. His response was immediate but unhurried, his grip tightening as he drew her closer, the kiss deepening with a slow, consuming intensity. When she pulled back just slightly, her voice came soft and uneven.

“What happens now?” she whispered. “Now that we’re here. Now that... it’s real.”

Riv’En’s thumb brushed along her cheekbone in answer. “It is quite simple. You will remain. Iwill remain until Final Flight. There is no further path.”

Her heart twisted at the quiet certainty in his voice.Until Final Flight.The words echoed in her mind, more painful than she was ready for. Ahollowness settled in her chest, grief sharp and unwelcome. But threaded through it was something fiercer: determination.

She wasn’t ready to lose him, wasn’t willing to simply accept the inevitability he spoke of. Asharp ache bloomed low in her stomach, but she pressed her hand against his chest anyway, needing the contact, needing him under her palm to ground her before the ache could pull her under. Her hand slid over his shoulder, down his chest, tracing the heat beneath hisskin.

How could she touch him like this, knowing what was coming? Asharp breath caught in her throat, but she did not pull away. Instead, she pressed closer.

“None of this is simple,” she said, her lips brushing his as she spoke.

“It is not,” he admitted, voice low. “But it is certain.”

She kissed him again, slower this time, and his hand secured her against him. Each kiss unfolded between them like breath. Her fingertips explored the curve of his ribs, the line of muscle beneath smooth skin. His mouth traced along the edge of her cheek, down to the hollow of her throat, teeth grazing lightly against her pulse.

Their hands moved as if memorizing each other all over again, and for that brief moment, everything else fellaway.

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