Chapter 13
POV: Amara
Riven carried me straight into his bedroom without slowing once.
The second the door closed behind us, the warmth of his scent wrapped around me again, and my body reacted instantly.
Relief.
Not complete.
Not enough.
But enough that I could finally breathe without pain clawing through my ribs.
Riven laid me carefully onto the bed before stepping back just enough to look at me.
Really look at me.
His expression tightened immediately at whatever he saw in my face.
“Why didn’t you come for me earlier?” he asked quietly.
I swallowed hard.
“Because it was humiliating.”
His brows pulled together.
“No,” he corrected immediately. “It was you being too stubborn.”
I laughed bitterly, exhausted and emotional and hurting in too many ways now.
“You made me feel like shit this morning.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Riven went completely still.
And suddenly all that sharp authority disappeared from his face.
Leaving only regret.
“Amara…”
“You looked at me like I crossed some line.”
His jaw flexed once.
“I’m sorry.”
I blinked at him.
The apology sounded rough.
Honest.
Riven stepped closer again slowly.
“I’m sorry if I made you feel unwanted.” His voice lowered. “I never wanted that.”
The ache in my chest shifted painfully.
Because I believed him.
God help me, I believed him.
Riven reached for me carefully then, like he wasn’t entirely sure I’d let him.
But I did.
The second his hand touched my waist again, warmth spread through me instantly.
Relief melted slowly through my body.
And maybe he felt it too, because his eyes darkened.
Then he kissed me.
Slow this time.
Not desperate like before.
Tender.
His mouth moved against mine with a softness that somehow undid me even faster than hunger had.
I melted immediately, grabbing his shirt and pulling him closer until the full weight of him settled over me.
God.
That felt good too.
The heat.
The size of him.
The way his body completely surrounded mine.
Every aching place inside me eased piece by piece.
Riven exhaled shakily against my lips before resting his forehead against mine.
His nose brushed softly against mine once.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered again.
Then quieter—
“So let me make you feel good.”
Heat flooded through me instantly.
Before I could even answer, he kissed me again while his hands slid beneath the hem of my blouse.
Slow.
Careful.
Giving me every chance to stop him.
One tiny rational part of my brain whispered that I probably should.
But my body—
My wolf—
Every instinct inside me only wanted more of him.
So instead of stopping him, I helped.
Riven swallowed hard the second my shirt disappeared.
His gaze dropped instantly to my bare chest.
And the look on his face nearly ruined me by itself.
Not casual.
Not detached.
Like he genuinely thought I was beautiful.
“Fuck,” he breathed softly.
Heat climbed all the way into my face.
Then his mouth found my neck.
My jaw.
My collarbone.
Every kiss slow enough to make me tremble beneath him.
I buried my fingers into his hair immediately as his mouth moved lower.
And lower.
Then his lips closed softly around one nipple.
Pleasure exploded through me so sharply that my entire back arched off the mattress with a broken moan.
“Oh my God—”
Riven groaned softly against my skin at the sound.
One of his hands slid over my ribs, holding me steady while his tongue brushed slowly again.
The sensation almost hurt.
Too good.
Too much.
My thighs shifted helplessly beneath him while heat spiraled tighter and tighter low in my stomach.
Riven kissed lower again.
Across my stomach this time.
Then his fingers hooked lightly into the waistband of my pants.
He looked up at me once.
Checking.
Always checking.
I nodded immediately.
And he pulled them slowly down my legs.
My panties followed.
The cool air against my overheated skin made me shiver instantly.
Riven’s gaze moved over me slowly after that.
Not rushed.
Not purely hungry.
Like he was trying to memorize me.
“You’re perfect,” he said quietly.
My chest tightened painfully.
“Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Then he kissed the inside of my knee.
And higher.
Another kiss against my thigh.
Higher again.
I was already shaking by the time his mouth finally brushed where I needed him most.
The cry that left me was completely helpless.
Pleasure crashed through my body instantly, hot enough to steal the air from my lungs while my fingers tightened hard in his hair.
Riven held my thighs firmly apart while his mouth moved against me slowly, deliberately, like he was learning exactly how to unravel me.
And God—
Nobody should be allowed to feel this good.
Every movement sent sparks racing through my entire body.
The heat.
The relief.
The overwhelming pleasure of his mouth and his scent and his presence surrounding me completely.
One of his hands slid higher, his thumb brushing lightly across my nipple again at the same time his mouth worked lower—
And that was it.
The pressure inside me snapped violently.
I cried out loudly as pleasure tore through me in hard waves, shaking my entire body while my hips jerked helplessly against him.
Riven held me through all of it.
Steady.
Possessive.
Almost reverent.
And when the last tremor finally eased from my body, I realized two things at once.
The pain was gone again.
And somehow—
I was already terrified of needing him this much.
I didn’t remember falling asleep.
I just remembered him.
His mouth on my skin.
His hands holding me through every shaking breath afterward.
The way the unbearable pressure inside me had finally, finally gone quiet while he touched me.
When I woke up, warmth surrounded me from every side.
Heavy.
Safe.
Male.
My eyes opened slowly.
Riven was still there.
For one disoriented second, I just stayed still beneath the haze of sleep, trying to understand why I felt so good.
Then I realized I was tangled around him.
Completely.
One of his massive arms was trapped beneath my neck, his bicep serving as my pillow. The other rested securely around my waist, holding me against the full length of his body like sometime during the night he’d pulled me impossibly closer.
I was half sprawled over him.
And he was awake.
His fingers moved lazily against my bare arm in slow, absent circles.
My breath caught.
Because this time he hadn’t let go.
No apologies.
No cold distance.
No walls.
Just this.
Morning light spilled through the curtains, soft and gold against the dark wood of his room. His scent surrounded me completely now—cedar, smoke, whiskey, wolf—and my body reacted instantly, not with pain this time, but with warmth.
Comfort.
My cheek rested against his chest, and beneath it, his heartbeat sounded slow and heavy.
Steady.
I tilted my head slightly to look at him.
His blue eyes were already on me.
“Good morning,” he murmured.
God.
That voice.
Rough with sleep and so unfairly gentle it made my chest ache.
“Good morning,” I whispered back.
For a second neither of us moved.
I think we were both pretending the world outside this room didn’t exist.
His hand slid slowly up my back, then down again.
“How are you feeling?”
I knew what he meant.
The heat.
The pain.
I swallowed softly.
“Better.”
His jaw tightened slightly, like hearing that relieved him more than it should.
“When I’m with you…” My voice faded embarrassingly quiet. “It doesn’t hurt.”
Something dangerous flickered across his face at that.
Not pride.
Not satisfaction.
Something deeper.
Something almost tortured.
His thumb brushed my waist once before he exhaled heavily.
“You shouldn’t have gone through that alone yesterday.”