Page 34 of Fourth

Her eyes narrowed slightly, aflicker of something warm passing through her gaze. Amusement. Fondness. Something dangerously close to trust.

“That sounds intense,” she murmured. Her voice was softer now, more awake. She shifted again, rolling onto her back, her hair falling loose around her shoulders. One hand lifted to rest on his chest, palm flat over his heart. “Or maybe I should say tense,” she added.

Riv’En captured her wrist gently, turning it so he could press his fingers against her pulse. “Your heart rate is elevated.” It was not just an observation. It was habit. Centuries of monitoringenemy and ally alike, cataloging threat response. But now, with her, it was different. This pulse signified life. Her life. And it mattered more than his own. He did not release her. “That is not necessary.”

Her mouth quirked. “That happens when I wake up to find a two-meter-tall alien warrior watching me sleep.”

“Two point one nine meters,” he corrected automatically. “In Earth terms.”

She laughed, the sound low and warm. The vibration of it against his chest was... distracting.

Maya let her head fall back against the pillow, eyes closing for a moment. Her hand remained against his skin, tracing idle circles now. No fear. No hesitation.

When she opened her eyes again, her expression had shifted. Softer. More serious.

“So this is real,” she said quietly. “Us.”

“Affirmative.” His fingers tightened minutely around her wrist. “You are mine.”

Her breath caught again, but not in fear. In awareness.

Riv’En studied her face carefully, cataloging every micro expression. The way her gaze flicked down to his mouth, then back to his eyes. The faint pulse at the base of her throat.

She did not argue.

Instead, she whispered, “And you’re mine?”

The words struck deeper than they should have. Reason and logic warred in the quiet space between her question and his answer. He was a warrior bred for discipline, for command. Belonging to another was not part of his design.

And yet, hearing her claim him ignited something he could not suppress. Conflict, yes. An ache for the rules he was breaking. But beneath that, peace. Arare, dangerous stillness that settled into his bones.

He inclined his head once, gravely. “I belong to you.” A pause. “Whether I intended to or not.”

Maya’s smile grew then, slow and sure. She leaned in, pressing a kiss to the center of his chest, right over his heart.

And for the first time in centuries, calmness engulfed him. Not the rigid calm of discipline or battle-readiness. Not the sharp-edged focus required for mission parameters. This was quieter. Awholly unfamiliar stillness in his chest. His mind, always analyzing, always alert for threat, found no reason to move. No reason to think. Only her. Only this moment.

As if everything else in the Nine Galaxies could burn, and it would not matter.

Not as long as she remained righthere.

But they could not stay here. Not forever.

With a final brush of his fingers along her spine, Riv’En shifted. “We must prepare,” he said quietly, voice low but resolute.

Maya blinked up at him, the lazy warmth in her eyes giving way to something more alert. “Prepare for what?”

“Dress,” he instructed, already moving toward the panel to initiate the next sequence. “We will enter orbit soon. It is time you understood where we are going.” His voice dropped lower, rougher, laced with something Maya couldn’t quitename.

She wrapped her arms around herself, the sheet slipping down to bare her shoulder. Riv’En’s gaze flicked to the exposed skin, and for a long, taut moment, he did notmove.

Maya swallowed. “You said... orbit soon. How soon?”

“Within the hour,” Riv’En replied. His steps slowed as he turned back to face her, his eyes dragging over her body. “And I would prefer you clothed before then.”

The heat in his gaze belied the discipline in his words. Her skin prickled beneath it. She knew she should move, find clothes, but she remained frozen in place.

His nostrils flared slightly, the barest sign of self-discipline pulling tight. But she was still sitting there in bed, the sheet pooled around her hips, hair tousled from sleep and skin bare where the low ambient glow from the wall panels softened every curve.

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