Lustbound Ascension

She stood just inside the healer's tent, her back lit by the glow of fire outside, the curve of her silhouette framed by the canvas entrance.

Arivelle.

I hadn't spoken her name aloud yet, but it pulsed in my chest the way the Core did when it recognized something it was meant to bind to.

She looked at me, not with challenge or caution like Sylri had. Not even with the restrained defiance that Riven used to shield herself. No, Arivelle looked at me with… understanding.

Her eyes moved slowly over me, and I felt it. Not as scrutiny. Not judgment. Just quiet, unflinching awareness. My breath hitched.

I hadn't meant to stare back, but the moment held me still, like something fragile might break if I looked away too quickly. The silver in her eyes shimmered in the low firelight, catching like wet glass beneath tears that hadn't fallen yet.

Her lips parted slightly, and I saw the tremble there. It was not an invitation, but breathlessness, like she was holding something back. Her fingers hovered at the edge of her robes, twitching once. She was nervous. Or maybe just afraid to cross a line we both knew couldn't be uncrossed.

I took a single step forward. My boots barely made a sound on the woven floor.

"Are you going to run?" I asked, voice raw in my throat. "Or are you going to stay?"

Her throat worked, a swallow thick with something unspoken. She didn't answer.

Instead, she stepped forward and let the robe fall.

My lungs froze.

Her skin was pale in the warm light, dusted with freckles I hadn't noticed before. Her body curved with quiet strength, and the Core inside me stirred as if her presence alone had awakened some ancient need. The mark on my chest pulsed once. The air shifted.

She came closer.

I didn't move. I didn't breathe. My fingers flexed at my sides as every instinct in me screamed to reach for her, to pull her close and bury myself in the fire she held just beneath her skin.

But I waited.

She reached up slowly and brushed her fingers over the edge of my shirt, her touch featherlight. Her nails scraped gently down my chest, and I hissed through my teeth, the contact sending sparks through every inch of me. I closed my eyes for a second, jaw clenched.

"Lucien…" she whispered.

My name wasn't a request. It wasn't permission.

It was a confession.

And I broke.

I crushed my mouth to hers with a low growl torn from my chest. She gasped, her hands flying to my shoulders, gripping tightly.

Her body molded to mine as if she'd been waiting for this, for me, for far too long. My hands slid down her back, palms flat and greedy, tracing the dip of her spine and the arch of her waist.

She whimpered against my mouth.

That sound did something to me. I deepened the kiss, swallowing her cry as my tongue slid against hers. Her hands fisted in my shirt, pulling it upward. I pulled away just long enough to rip the damn thing over my head. She pushed against me, not with force, but with urgency.

The cot behind us creaked as I guided her backward, kissing down her neck, my lips brushing against the soft curve of her collarbone. Her breath hitched. As my teeth scraped her skin, and she trembled beneath me.

"Lucien," she gasped again, but it came out ragged, needy.

I lifted her onto the bedroll, climbing over her slowly, giving her every chance to stop me.

She didn't.

Her legs parted for me like breath to flame, and I groaned as I settled between them, the heat of her searing through the thin linen that still separated us. Her thighs locked around my hips, holding me close. Her back arched, pressing her chest to mine, and I caught one nipple between my lips, sucking hard.

She cried out, her fingers tangling in my hair.

"Please," she whispered, "don't stop."

I didn't.

I moved lower, trailing my tongue down her stomach, kissing the soft skin of her hips. I slid her legs open wider, kissing the inside of her thigh. She writhed beneath me, the scent of her arousal heavy in the air.

My fingers brushed her slit. Wet. Slick. Ready.

I groaned, the sound deep and guttural in my chest.

"Fuck, Arivelle… you're wet"

She whimpered again, cutting me off. I dipped my head and tasted her.

She cried out, hand flying to her mouth to stifle the sound.

I didn't stop. I licked, slow and deep, tongue circling her clit before sucking it between my lips. Her whole body tensed. Her hips bucked, and she moaned, the sound strangled and high.

I slid two fingers inside her and felt her tighten around me.

She was close. So close.

Her legs shook.

"Lucien—oh gods—"

She came with a cry that broke in her throat. Her walls clenched around my fingers, and her thighs quivered against my ears.

I rose, breathing hard, my face slick with her.

I met her eyes.

She reached for me.

I positioned myself at her entrance, my cock aching so hard it hurt. I pushed in slowly, savoring every inch of her tight, wet heat. She gasped, hands flying to my shoulders, nails digging in.

We locked eyes.

Her mouth trembled.

And I began to move.

Slow at first. Deep. Her hands gripped me tighter. I watched every flicker of expression that crossed her face. The way her lashes fluttered. The way her lips parted. The way her eyes rolled back when I hit the right spot.

"Arivelle," I groaned, my voice hoarse. "You feel like fucking heaven."

She moaned my name, loud and broken. Her legs wrapped around my waist tighter, pulling me deeper.

I thrust harder. Deeper. The rhythm built. Our breaths collided.

She kissed me again, messy and desperate.

"Don't stop," she begged against my lips.

"I'm not going anywhere."

I slammed into her, faster now. Her cries filled the tent. Our bodies moved together in frantic rhythm, sweat slicking our skin, the sound of skin meeting skin echoing around us.

The Core pulsed.

I felt her release building again. Her nails dragged down my back. Her walls clenched.

And then she shattered.

She screamed my name as she came, her whole body shaking beneath me.

That did it.

I lost control. I buried myself deep and came with a strangled shout, hips jerking, everything inside me unraveling.

The Core surged.

A new thread was forged.

But in that moment, I didn't care.

I collapsed on top of her, panting, her heartbeat thundering against mine.

She didn't push me away.

And I didn't pull back.

We just stayed like that.

Breathing. Trembling. Changed.

The silence after release wasn't peaceful.

It pressed against my chest like a weight I hadn't earned. My breath came slowly, shallow through parted lips, but not from pleasure. The heat between Arivelle and me still clung to the skin of my thighs, but my mind had already slipped far from her body.

I stared at the ceiling above us, the cracked stone catching light from the faint flicker of fire across the ruined hearth. My hand lay across her hip, but even that felt wrong now, like my fingers didn't belong there anymore.

Arivelle stirred beside me. She didn't speak. Just exhaled slowly and rested her cheek against my shoulder. Her skin was soft, still damp, still flushed. Her mark pulsed faintly beneath my ribs. The tether hummed with warmth, satisfied, steady.

But inside me, the Core moved differently.

Not with hunger. Not with triumph.

It pulsed like it was remembering something it had chosen to forget.

And I did too.

Riven.

Her name struck like a blade drawn too quickly.

I closed my eyes. My stomach clenched.

Arivelle's breath deepened. I didn't know if she had fallen asleep, but I stayed there a moment longer, too cowardly to move, too full of guilt to remain.

I eased myself from beneath her slowly. My limbs ached in places I didn't expect. The absence of her heat against me only made the cold settle faster in my chest.

I dressed quietly. My hands trembled as I tied the last strap on my belt.

When I stepped outside, the air hit me like punishment. The scent of ash still lingered, faint and bitter. The night had swallowed most of the sky, and the clearing was empty.

She was gone.

My heart thudded hard, once. Then again, slower.

I turned toward the woods, not thinking, just moving.

"Riven," I whispered, even though I knew she wouldn't hear it.

The trees said nothing. The Core offered no direction, no pulse. Just silence.

I kept walking. Through scorched trunks and new shoots, past roots curled like fingers out of the soil. I didn't call her name again. Not out loud. But I felt her inside me, faint, hurting.

I found her in a small hollow, curled beneath the twisted remains of an old ash tree.

Her knees were drawn to her chest. Her arms wrapped tightly around them. Her head was bowed.

She didn't look up when I approached.

I stopped a few feet away. My throat tightened.

"Riven," I said, voice low, rough with guilt.

Her head lifted slowly.

Her eyes were swollen. Wet. Her lips parted, but she didn't speak yet. She just looked at me, and in that look was something sharp.

"You found me," she said softly, voice thick.

"I shouldn't have let it happen," I murmured. "I—"

"Don't," she cut in. "Don't pretend it was an accident."

I stepped closer, but she rose quickly, backing up. Her breath hitched, and she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.

"You never thought about me, did you?" she asked.

My chest twisted.

"I—"

"While you were touching her," she said, her voice cracking, "did you think about what it would do to me?"

I didn't answer.

She took a shaky breath, then shouted, "Did you even care?"

I flinched.

"I felt everything, Lucien," she whispered, voice trembling. "Every touch. Every sound. Every time you moaned for her, I felt it like a dagger behind my ribs."

I opened my mouth, but the words failed me.

Her voice broke again, softer this time, more uncertain. "I know I told you to do it. I know I said it was okay."

She looked up, tears on her lashes.

"But I didn't think you'd like it," she said, her voice shaking. "I didn't think you'd completely forget about me."

I took another step forward.

She shook her head violently. "Don't."

I stopped.

"I thought you were mine," she said, voice quieter now. "Even if I didn't say it. Even if I pretended I didn't feel it."

Her lip trembled.

"But now you're hers too."

The Core inside me pulsed again.

I felt her pain ripple through it. Like flame caught in water.

She turned away, shoulders shaking.

And I knew then that this bond wasn't just about magic. It was about consequence.

And I had already broken something I didn't know how to fix.