Page 47 of Fourth

Her fingers slid up his bare chest, feeling the heat beneath his skin. Toohot.

Riv’En shuddered suddenly, his body jerking beneath her touch.

“Riv’En?” she whispered, pullingback.

His eyes were closed now. Heat shimmered off his skin, not gentle warmth now—dangerous. The color of his hair deepened right before her eyes, streaks of black overtaking the remaining silver.

“Heat flash,” he ground out. “You must not—”

But he was already moving. Pushing off the bed with brutal force, crossing the room in three rapid strides. His movements weren’t human—weren’t calm. They were innate, all purpose and power, heading straight for the containment room built into the residence.

Maya scrambled after him. “Riv’En—wait!”

The door sealed shut before she could get there.

Her fists hit the surface. “Riv’En! Open it!”

She pounded harder, panic clawing through her chest. The metal was cold beneath her palms, but already the heat pulsed through it from the other side, hot enough to make her skin ache. Her breath came in ragged bursts, and she pressed her forehead against the sealeddoor.

The memory of his body wrapped around hers was still fresh in her skin, and now he was on the other side of that wall, fighting something she couldn’t reach. Her heart hammered until she feared her ribs might crack under the force. Tears stung her eyes, blurring the shimmering lines of the containment seals. It was too familiar—like losing him in a way she wasn’t ready toface.

“Please,” she whispered, voice cracking. “Please don’t leave me.”

Her hand fell to the place just above her heart. The place where the Mating Flame had pulsed onboard the Veyna. Her fingers trembled as she pressed her palm there, sensing nothing at first—just skin, just frantic heartbeat.

She closed her eyes, forcing her mind to focus, like that first time when the flame had lit between them, without his touch,without any warning. When she had been restrained and still, the connection had burned to life inside her, probably from tasting his blood after she’d bitten him. And it had stopped his heat flash then. Somehow, impossibly, her Mating Flame had reached through whatever was happening to him and quieted it. That was what she clung to now, the memory of that impossibility, the hope that it would work again.

Her breath caught. Slowly, her other hand joined the first, both pressed flat over her Mating Flame as if doubling down on the need to reach him. The silence stretched, thick and suffocating. But she refused to let it pull her under.

“Please,” she whispered again, voice breaking now, as her tears slipped down her cheeks. “Please... let me reach him.”

Maya closed her eyes, every ounce of energy into the strength of their bond.”Please,” she breathed. “Let it work.”

Her pulse stuttered once, hard, as though the flame there caught light. Aflicker ran through her. Not as strong as before, butreal.

The heat against the door faltered. The vibrating hum shifted tone. Maya froze, her breath catching as sharp relief mingled with visceral fear—afraid to hope, afraid it might surge back again. Her hands pressed flat to the door, palms tingling as though she could still experience his heat. For several long seconds, she didn’t move, afraid that any motion would break whatever fragile hold she had on him through the flame.

Moments later, the door hissedopen.

Riv’En stood there, bare-chested, sweat slicking his skin. His eyes were unfocused for half a breath, until they landed onher.

Maya didn’t think. She threw herself into hisarms.

He caught her, arms locking around her waist with so much force she could barely breathe. His skin burned against hers but not enough tohurt.

They didn’t speak.

She kissed him. Hard and desperate, like she couldn’t get enough air unless it came from him. His mouth opened under hers, returning it with just as much force, hands braced against herback.

And yet, even with the heat flaring between them, even knowing how dangerous it was, neither of them moved to pull back. Maya’s hands slid over the bare planes of his back, holding tight, while Riv’En’s fingers tangled in her hair, pulling her even closer. Their bodies pressed together with unrelenting force, mouths moving in a raw, vital manner. His pulse thundered against her hand and heat seared under his skin, but she didn’t let go. Couldn’t.

His breath broke against her mouth. His voice, when it came, was ragged. “I must stop.”

Her hands flattened against his chest, the beat of his heart like a war drum. “No,” she whispered, not pleading but certain. “We need this.”

Riv’En made a sound low in his throat, caught between a growl and a breath. For one endless moment, they hovered there, unwilling to separate, unwilling to letgo.

Before she could speak, apulse shivered through the air around them, low and steady. The entire house responded, walls humming faintly as though bracing for what was coming.

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