The world outside was muted by nightfall, Caldris City glittering through the expansive penthouse windows like a thousand silent witnesses. Midnight was Cassian's hour—the time when power stripped away the day's facades, when masks fell, and raw desire emerged unbound.
Riven stood near the glass, shadows cast across his lean frame, the city lights dancing on his skin. Cassian watched him, the crimson silk robe barely hanging from Riven's shoulders, revealing the dark tattoos etched along his back—ink that whispered of rebellion, survival, and scars.
"You look like sin," Cassian murmured, approaching with slow, predatory grace.
Riven turned, his lips curling. "Then why do you look like temptation come to devour me?"
Their mouths met before either could speak again—violent, consuming, filled with a hunger that had simmered since their first collision. The robe fell in a soft whisper to the floor, joining the silence between gasps.
Cassian's hands explored without restraint—familiar and yet feverish, as though learning every inch of Riven anew. He pressed Riven back against the cool glass, their bodies igniting with the friction of heat and chill.
"I want to see everything," Cassian growled into his skin, teeth grazing his collarbone. "I want to hear how you break."
Riven arched against him, breath ragged. "Then unchain me… or tighten the hold. Just don't stop."
Cassian dragged him to the velvet-draped bed, where crimson sheets awaited them like a throne of flame. Midnight became a storm of tangled limbs, sharp moans, and whispered confessions—wounds laid bare under the weight of obsession.
The way Cassian held Riven—firm yet reverent—wasn't just dominance. It was something more dangerous. Something like devotion.
And Riven gave in. To the ropes. To the rhythm. To the fire that burned beneath Cassian's icy control.
By the time the clock struck one, both were breathless—sweat-drenched, skin flushed, hearts pounding like twin drums in a silent battlefield.
Cassian collapsed beside him, his voice a low rasp. "This isn't just lust anymore."
"No," Riven agreed, turning to face him. "It's a cage… and I never want to be free."