Page 41 of Fourth

They were alone for the moment. The Council had not yet arrived.

Riv’En’s hand settled at her waist, fingers spreading lightly against her robe. His touch wasn’t rushed, but grounding.

“Is this really happening?” Maya asked quietly, her voice just above a whisper.

“It is,” he said. “And you are not leaving my side.”

Her breath caught, not from nerves this time, but from the quiet pull of him. The heat of his body against hers. The unspoken tension betweenthem.

Her hands rose to his chest, his quiet strength clear beneath the fabric. For a long moment, neither of them moved.

“We should not,” he murmured.

“I know,” she said.

But she didn’t pull back either.

Instead, her fingers slid along the edge of his collar, finding the seam of his robe where fabric met skin. Her pulse had steadied into something deeper now. Like gravity had shifted towardhim.

Riv’En’s hands tightened slightly, pulling her a fraction closer. His voice dropped, raw silk and heat in her ear. “However, we are alone.”

“We are,” Maya agreed. Her voice sounded steadier than it should have, like her body had already made the decision her mind was still catching upto.

Riv’En shifted first. His mouth brushed against hers, not a full kiss, just the barest drag of contact—testing, waiting for her to pull away. She didn’t. When she leaned in, it broke whatever restraint was left betweenthem.

His hands cupped her face, angling her head as his mouth claimed hers completely now. No rush, no hesitation. The kiss deepened until it swept down her spine, to her toes, until there was nothing but the press of him, the low growl in his throat, and the way his robe shifted againsther.

Her fingers slid beneath the fabric, finding bare skin, the smooth line of muscle. His temperature ran hotter than hers, steady and constant, like something elemental. His hands traced down her back, one palm splaying flat between her shoulder blades as he guided her back a step, pressing her lightly against the cool, curvedwall.

Maya’s robe shimmered faintly, gold deepening toward amber, like heat against her skin, areflection of everything betweenthem.

Riv’En broke the kiss for a breath, eyes sharp and black as they searched hers. “Say if you want me to stop,” he murmured.

“No,” she said immediately. Her voice was hoarse, stripped bare. “Do not stop.”

He did not. His mouth found her neck, the line of her jaw, while his hands moved with expert patience—unfastening just enough of her robe to slide his hand beneath the fabric, his palms warm and steady against bare skin. He did not rush. Every motion was intentional, the fabric still in place but parted enough to let him touchher.

Her hands mirrored his, working the fastenings free, fingers tangling briefly before the fabric gave way and she swept her palms across his bareskin.

Their bodies pressed together, the heat of it sharp and blinding. Maya’s breath hitched as Riv’En’s hands slid over her, lifting her slightly so her legs framed his. There was no urgency in it. Only quiet, aching certainty.

Her head fell back against the wall, eyes closing as his mouth followed the curve of her collarbone, down to the center of her chest. Ashudder rolled through him just as it didher.

A sharp chime sounded, cutting through the stillness like a thread pulled taut. Riv’En froze first, his hands steadying her as his head turned toward the sound.

“Council arrival,” he said quietly, already pulling her robe closed. His hands moved calmly, straightening the fabric before adjusting his own. Maya matched his movements in quiet reflex, running her hands down the front of his robe, grounding herself in the simpleact.

By the time the soft hiss of the door opening followed, they were standing side by side again—close, but composed. The onlyevidence of what had passed between them lived in the faint heat still pulsing beneath her skin and the shimmering gold of their robes.

Vaeyra and her attendants entered the room. The formality returned instantly, like a curtain dropping back into place.

Vaeyra’s silver gaze swept over them, noting their closeness with no outward reaction. She moved to her marked position at the central table.

“The Council has reached its preliminary decision,” Vaeyra announced. “Riv’En, you are granted access to family lineage archives for the sole purpose of verifying your maternal line and formal sanctuary rights. Maya Anderson is required to submit to full compatibility and integrity scans as a bonded mate.”

Riv’En tensed subtly beside her, his whole body tightening, though his voice remained level. It wasn’t a visible shift, not something anyone else would notice. But the faint brush of his arm against hers suggested a contained reaction as exacting as everything else hedid.

“The scans must include survivability markers,” he said. “You will test her in relation to Final Flight risk.”

---