The tower was quieter than usual—too quiet for Liara's racing heart.
Cassian stood by the window, moonlight pouring over his shoulders, casting soft shadows on his face. The silver-white glow lit his jaw, the tension in it unmistakable. He didn't turn when she entered. Didn't speak at first.
"I shouldn't be here," Liara whispered.
Cassian finally turned, his gaze meeting hers—steady, but full of something deeper. Worry. Want. Restraint barely holding itself together.
"And yet you are," he said quietly.
She stepped closer, and he didn't move away.
For a long moment, the silence between them hummed. Not empty. Not hesitant. But full of everything unsaid. The pull between them had always been quiet, respectful. Controlled.
Until now.
When he touched her face, it was slow, like asking permission without words.
She leaned into his palm. "Why do you always look at me like that?"
"Because I see you," he said. "Not just the mark, not the power. You."
Her breath caught as he traced the side of her cheek, then her jaw, his fingers lingering as though memorizing her shape. Then, without warning, he kissed her.
It was soft at first—uncertain.
Then deeper.
His arms wrapped around her, drawing her against his chest. She melted into him, hands curling in his tunic as their lips found rhythm, hunger, meaning. There was no more fear in her touch—only need. Only clarity.
She let her fingers run through his hair, felt the heat of his skin beneath layers of silk. His breath was ragged against her neck as he trailed kisses there, slow and reverent.
"Tell me to stop," he whispered, voice shaking against her skin.
"I can't," she breathed.
And neither of them tried to speak again.
Clothes fell like fallen leaves, and they found one another beneath the warmth of blankets and bare truth. Cassian touched her like she was a story he'd waited years to read. Gentle, devoted, exploring every part of her with care and reverence.
She gasped when his lips brushed lower, when his hands mapped her like territory long kept hidden. And when they moved together—slowly, meaningfully—it felt like time stopped.
Not lust.
Not just desire.
But the meeting of two souls who had always been just on the edge of something real.
After, they lay tangled in silence.
She rested her head on his chest, feeling his heart steadying again.
Cassian's fingers traced her arm. "What happens now?"
Liara's eyes flickered toward the window, toward the Vault's distant pulse.
"I don't know," she whispered.
"But I wanted to feel something real. Before it all changes."