Riven’s breath caught. His body ached—not from the wound, but from the heat and tension radiating off Thane in waves.
And then Thane smiled, wicked and cruel, and didn’t kiss him.
Riven made a soft, frustrated sound—humiliated by the way it escaped him, by how badly he wanted.
“You want to stay?” Thane murmured, low and dangerous. “Then beg.”
The word slithered down Riven’s spine, electric. Part of him balked. Part of him screamed not to give Thane the satisfaction. But Thane’s breath was on his lips, and his eyes were full of fire, and Riven’s need was a living thing inside him.
“Please,” Riven said, barely more than a whisper. “Let me stay. Keep me. Use me.”
Thane’s smile deepened into something feral and triumphant.
And then he kissed him—deep and searing, teeth and hunger and dominance. Riven clung to him with both hands, drinking him in like air after drowning, like he’d been starving for the taste of him and finally—finally—had been allowed to feast.
He didn’t know what came next.
He just knew he wasn’t ready to let go.
Chapter 49
Thane ended the kiss far too early for Riven’s liking. His lips tingled, still parted in hope, but Thane had already pulled back, his expression cool again, composed in that infuriating way that made Riven want to claw at him. Riven reached for him—desperate, shameless—but Thane caught his wrist and held it still, his gaze burning.
“Needy little thing,” Thane murmured.
The words struck Riven like a slap and a caress at once. He shivered, the truth of it settling deep in his bones, unwanted and undeniable. He was. He was so fucking needy for Thane it made him sick. That kiss had barely scratched the surface, and already his body was aching for more—more contact, more heat, more of Thane’s voice in his ear and his weight on top of him.
But Thane only gave him a small, amused smile. “As much as I want to bend you over this infirmary bed and fuck the fight back into you,” he said softly, “you’re in no condition for what I want to do to you right now.”
Riven’s protest came immediately, a strangled sound in the back of his throat. “I can—”
Thane silenced him with a finger to his lips. “Don’t lie.”
Riven’s heart thundered under the gentle pressure of Thane’s fingertip. His body, traitorous and exhausted, agreed. It was a miracle he’d survived, let alone made it back, and thoughthe pain was muted thanks to Aeris’s work, he was still barely holding himself upright. But the closeness, the taste of Thane—it made him reckless.
“There will be time for that,” Thane said, smooth command like they hadn’t just kissed, like Riven wasn’t still aching. “But first, we need to talk. I need you to tell me everything. From the moment you left the estate to the moment you came back.”
Riven hesitated, but the edge in Thane’s voice was unmistakable. He exhaled slowly and nodded, forcing himself to focus.
“I left the estate just after Caerel briefed me,” Riven said. “He gave me the go-ahead to approach Lareth, said the increased activity might give us a chance to push through. Told me to get creative if I needed to. So I did. I went back to The Ember Gate.”
He kept his eyes on the ceiling as he spoke, unwilling to look at Thane during the worst parts. “I waited. Tried to seem desperate enough to catch their attention. Lareth bought it. Said they needed someone with combat experience, someone willing to get his hands dirty. I didn’t say no.”
The words felt flat in his mouth, but he pushed on.
“They loaded me into a freight truck, said we were going to test my loyalty. I didn’t know where we were going. I tried to track it, but it was no use in the back. I told myself they needed me alive, that they wouldn’t kill me, but I didn’t know.”
Riven finally looked over. Thane was still, jaw tight, but he didn’t interrupt.
“I waited for a chance to fight my way out, and when the door opened, I took it. Took one of them down. But there were too many. I held my own for a bit, but then Kieran shot me in the leg.”
The growl that escaped Thane was low and guttural, barely restrained. Riven flinched despite himself.
“Kieran,” Thane said, voice razor-sharp, “is already dead. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Riven swallowed. “They patched me up, sort of. Kept me locked in a bedroom. And while I was drifting in and out, I overheard something. Someone talking about the Hollow Hand.”
That name turned the air brittle between them. Thane’s expression darkened, and something dangerous flashed in his eyes.
