Chapter 3: The one thing he couldn't resist.

The sky cracked open before Riven could hurry out to go get groceries.

Rain fell like punishment — harsh and unrelenting, loud enough to drown out thought.The truck's light blinked twice and died, and darkness swallowed everything except the sound.

He stood by the window, coffee cooling in his hand, watching headlights bob through the trees. The light cut a jagged path through the fog until it hit the clearing. A truck,old and familiar. Kael’s.

The engine sputtered, died, then turned over again and failed completely. The door opened and Kael climbed out, soaked from hair to boots, moving fast through the storm like he hadn’t meant to stop . Like something had pulled him off course and dropped him here anyway.

Riven cracked the door open and shouted over the rain.

“Truck dead?”

Kael didn’t look up. “Yeah.”

“Well,” Riven called, shrugging, “guess you’re stuck here.”

Kael finally turned. His hair clung to sharp cheekbones, shirt plastered to every muscle, rain rolling off him in sheets. His expression didn’t shift.

“Fucking fantastic.”

He climbed the porch steps, dripping water with every stomp. Riven stepped back and let the door swing shut behind them both.

Kael peeled off his soaked flannel and tossed it onto the rack. Underneath, he wore a white tank top — soaked, clinging, nearly translucent. Scars cut across the skin beneath his ribs, old and quiet.

Riven stared, just a second too long.Kael caught it. “Don’t ask.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“Yes, you were.”

Riven folded his arms. “Are you always this charming when someone offers you shelter?”

Kael stepped in, slow and hot, his eyes unreadable. “I didn’t ask for shelter. Didn’t ask for your curiosity either.”

The air between them pulsed. Tight. Electric.

“I was coming back from a job,” Kael said. “The storm was closing in fast. I took the old ridge road cause I figured I’d shave ten minutes off the drive. The truck died right in front of your place. Guess that’s the universe’s idea of humor.”

Riven didn’t know what to say to that.

Kael didn’t wait for him to figure it out.

“I know who left that napkin,” he said, voice low. “The handwriting — that’s Mason Briggs.”

“Who the hell is Mason?”

Kael’s eyes shifted toward the window. “A man who thinks this town belongs to him. Including me. He doesn’t like strangers, detests memories. And he sure as hell doesn’t like people digging up what should stay buried.”

“Sounds familiar,” Riven muttered.

Kael’s eyes cut back to him. “This place swallows people who forget what it is.”

“I don’t remember anything.”

“Exactly.”

Something inside Riven snapped. Tired, bitter and frustrated.

“I’m so tired of you talking in riddles and scars. If you want me gone, just say it.”

Kael didn’t step back.

“I don’t want you gone.”

Riven’s breath caught.

“I want you quiet. I want you desperate. I want you to remember me with your mouth before your memory ever does.”

And before he could speak — before he could move — Kael shoved him back against the wall and kissed him.

---

Riven’s POV

It wasn’t a kiss. It was heat and rage and everything I hadn’t let myself feel for a very long time now. 

Kael didn’t hold back. He kissed like he was trying to erase something, like he needed to burn down the space between us and leave nothing untouched. His hands grabbed my hips, rough and certain, pulling me in until I couldn’t tell where he ended and I began.

I didn’t stop him.

I pulled his soaked tank off and tossed it to the floor. My hands moved over his chest, over the scars and hard muscle. He wasn’t pretty — he was sharp and damaged and real, and God, I wanted that more than I could handle.

He spun me fast and shoved me against the counter, one hand curling around my throat just tight enough to steal my breath.

“Still don’t remember me?” he growled in my ear.

“No,” I gasped, “but I want to.”

“Good.”

His voice was lower now, rougher.

“Tell me, Hollywood — do you kiss better when you're lying, or when you're scared?”

Then he kissed me again, tongue sliding deep like he was trying to pull the truth out of me, like it was hiding behind my teeth.

His hand moved down, slipping beneath my waistband like it had been there a hundred times before.

I moaned, raw and loud.

He groaned back. “You’re already hard.”

“I’ve been hard since you walked in.”

---

Kael’s POV

He wanted it. All of it. The bruises. The surrender. The way I made him feel small and alive at the same time.

I pushed him onto the couch and dropped to my knees, bit down on the inside of his thigh just to feel him shake.

He arched into me, mouth open, breath shallow.

“You used to beg,” I muttered. “Do you remember that?”

“No,” he panted, “but I fucking will if you keep going.”

That was all I needed.

I stripped his jeans off, and didn't bother being careful. I wasn’t here to be gentle. I wanted him wrecked.

I wrapped my mouth around him, hungry, relentless. He bucked hard, fingers diving into my hair, trying to stay grounded while I pulled him apart.

“Kael—fuck—Kael—”

I pulled off, spit glistening on my lips.

“You say my name like it’s a prayer.”

“I say it like I’m close.”

“Fucking great”.

I climbed up his body and kissed him again. Deeper. Hotter. His legs locked around my waist and dragged me in.

I reached for the bottle of lotion that was on the side table without hesitation. 

I pushed into him, slow and steady, stretching him until he hissed through his teeth — he didn’t break eye contact. Not even for once. 

---

Riven’s POV

Every inch of it hurt with pain and pleasure. I wanted it.

Kael moved like he was trying to fuck the memory back into me. Every thrust was sharp and intentional, one hand gripping my throat, the other anchoring my thigh like he needed to make sure I didn’t run again.

But I wasn’t running.I wanted him to ruin me.

“Say it,” he growled.

“Say what?”

“Say you missed me.”

I almost laughed, cracked and breathless.

“I don’t even remember you.”

He slammed into me hard enough to make me see stars.

“Then lie.”

“I missed you,” I gasped. “Fuck, I missed you—”

He came with a groan that sounded like it was torn out of him. Violent and real. He collapsed against me, still pulsing inside me.

I followed seconds later, a sound I didn’t recognize ripping out of my throat.

Afterward, the silence returned.

No cuddling or softness. Just the heat of our bodies cooling in the storm-damp air and the thunder still curling around the roof.

Kael stood and pulled his jeans back on, his chest still rising and falling,he didn’t look at me.

“This doesn’t change anything,” he said.

Then he left the room. And just like that — the damn rain had somehow subsided..