Velvet Skin, Hollow Bones

She never used to walk like this.

Not with this kind of poise, not in heels this high, or fabric this thin clinging to every curve like it was poured on.

But Riven does.

She glides past the velvet curtain into the darkened atrium of the House of Ash. The doorman doesn't ask her name. No one does here. Only the role you wear.

Tonight, she's chosen Submissive--a beautiful contradiction. Because Riven doesn't kneel. She performs submission the way a dancer dies onstage: beautifully, convincingly, but never really.

She moves like smoke--blood-red silk around her thighs, a bone-white mask with a slash of gold at the lips. A symbol. A warning. A lie.

The music pulses low, like a heartbeat behind the walls. Doors lead to unnamed rooms. Some open. Some locked. All watching.

She doesn't flinch when a woman in leather brushes her shoulder, or pause for two men behind a beaded curtain. She walks straight to the main floor, where the Orchestrators wait--those who choose, arrange, control.

One steps forward. Black mask. Unreadable.

"Submissive," she says, voice clear. Not breathy. Not shy. Just chosen.

"Limits?"

"I'll tell you when I reach them."

He nods and gestures to a velvet-draped alcove behind frosted glass.

"Room 7. You're being observed."

"By whom?"

He doesn't answer. Just leaves.

She walks alone. Always alone.

The room is dim, a leather bench at its center, mirrored wall to one side.

A man is already there. Masked. Dressed in tailored black. Silent. Present.

Something in the way he straightens when he sees her--how his head tilts just so--makes her pulse kick.

"Riven," he says. Not a question.

It's how he says it that stops her. Like he's said it before.

Her throat tightens.

She enters anyway.

Riven sits with her back straight, legs crossed, blood-red silk pooling at her hips. Every part of her carefully arranged. Controlled. Mask in place. Breath steady.

He's already there, seated across from her. Masked in black. Silent. Watching.

He doesn't speak right away.

When he finally does, it's not a greeting. It's a command.

"Uncross your legs."

She obeys without hesitation, her knees parting, her dress slipping higher. She lets the pose hold--open, deliberate, waiting.

From the shadows, another man appears. Bare-chested. Silver mask. Silent. He kneels beside her without being told. His eyes never meet hers.

"Let him touch you," the man in black says.

No title. No role. Just the words--and the weight they carry.

The submissive man's hand moves to her inner thigh, gliding upward with expert slowness. Riven's breathing deepens, but she doesn't move. Her body absorbs the contact, the warmth, the pressure.

"Two fingers," the masked man says.

The submissive complies, sliding the fabric aside and slipping two fingers inside her with smooth, practiced ease.

Riven doesn't gasp. Doesn't whimper. She lets it happen. Her spine stays long. Her shoulders square.

But her thighs twitch. Just slightly.

The man across from her tilts his head, watching the rhythm.

"Deeper," he instructs. "Curl them up."

The submissive adjusts. Riven exhales through her nose, eyes still on the one giving orders.

He hasn't moved. Hasn't touched her. But she feels the weight of him everywhere.

"Good," he says, voice low. "She's ready now."

The submissive withdraws. Her body clenches at the loss. She doesn't speak. Doesn't break the spell.

The man in black rises slowly. Walks forward. Stops beside the submissive and speaks quietly, but loud enough for her to hear.

"Your mouth. But slow. She comes when I say."

The submissive nods.

His tongue replaces his fingers--wet heat and gentle pressure. Riven's back arches slightly, one hand gripping the edge of the bench. But she doesn't moan. Not yet. She waits.

The masked man moves to the wall, behind her reflection in the mirror. Arms crossed, watching both her body and her face.

"That's it," he murmurs. "Take it all. Show me how obedient you can be."

She doesn't reply.

She only gives in.

Her hips start to roll. Her body answering every unspoken rhythm, her legs spreading wider to welcome the invasion, the ache, the worship.

When he finally says, "Now,"

she breaks.

Her climax rolls through her like a storm--deep, sharp, silent. Her lips part, but no sound escapes.

The submissive stills.

The masked man walks forward again. Places a hand on the back of the submissive's neck. Dismisses him without a word.

The door closes softly behind him.

Now they're alone.

Riven smooths her dress, but doesn't close her legs. Her pulse is thunder in her ears.

The man leans close, one hand gripping the edge of the bench beside her thigh.

"I've seen you before," he says, voice like smoke.

She doesn't answer. Not yet. She's still riding the edge between subspace and memory.

He straightens, heading for the door.

Just before he disappears into the dark, he adds,

"Next time, I'll make you say your name."

And then he's gone.

________________________________________

She doesn't remember the ride taking her back to the club.

Only the feeling of the silk catching at the back of her knees as she stepped out of the cab. Only the way the door to the House of Ash opened for her before she knocked.

They know her.

Tonight, her dress is black--like wet ink, clinging to her skin, backless, sleeveless, unapologetic. Her mask is the same. Bone-white. Lips sealed in gold. But her mouth beneath it? Raw.

Riven doesn't hesitate. She doesn't pause to look. She walks into Room 7 the moment the Orchestrator tells her to.

The door to Room 7 closes behind her like a lock clicking into place.

He's already there. Dressed in black. Gloved. Waiting.

Her breath slows, but her heart is chaos.

She doesn't speak. She doesn't need to.

He steps forward. No hesitation. One hand catches her jaw. The other moves to the back of her head--and just like that, her mask is gone.

His fingers grip her hair at the base of her skull. Not cruel. But claiming.

Then, calmly, he says:

"Micaela."

Her whole body jolts.

The name cuts deeper than anything physical.

She hasn't heard it spoken like that in almost a year.

Not here. Not ever here.

Not in this place where Riven is always in control. Where Micaela doesn't exist.

He lets go.

Her skin is flushed. Her mouth open. Her mask dangling in his hand like a peeled-off lie.

"I didn't give you my name," she breathes.

"No," he replies. "But you left it behind like a scent. It still clings."

Her knees almost buckle. Not from fear.

From recognition.

From heat.

He circles her once--slow and precise--and stops behind her. His fingers hook under the strap of her dress and pull it down without asking.

She doesn't stop him.

She can't.

He exposes her inch by inch--shoulders, spine, thighs--until the silk puddles at her feet.

No commands. No warnings. Just hands that know exactly where to hold her--and when not to.

"You came here to forget," he says. "But you built yourself out of ashes, and the fire's still burning."

He grips her chin, turns her head toward the mirror.

"Look."

She does. Her reflection is raw. Red-cheeked, bare, trembling--not from shame, but from something worse.

Wanting.

"I should stop this," she whispers.

"But you won't."

His hand trails down her throat, her chest, stopping just short of between her legs.

"I want you," she says.

"No," he corrects. "You want to be destroyed."

Her breath hitches.

"You want someone to strip you down until there's nothing left but the girl you were before Daniel."

The name lands like a wound. Her lips part in shock. In memory.

Daniel.

The one who told her love meant sacrifice. That silence was strength. That submission should leave her empty.

And you let him.

You let him erase you.

Until you found this place.

Until you became Riven.

Until this man spoke your real name like it still belonged to you.

She squeezes her thighs together. Her body is burning with need.

He leans in, lips brushing her neck.

"Say it, Micaela. Say you want me to break you open."

She turns toward him.

"I want it," she says. "Please--do it."

________________________________________Then

She was soft back then. No mask. No silk. No safe words. Just Micaela--twenty-four, still believing love meant surrender.

Daniel was older. Confident. Dangerous in the way he knew how to make her feel chosen--right before breaking her.

"You're mine, aren't you?" he whispered against her neck.

"I'm yours," she breathed, wanting it to be true.

His hand pressed hard to her chest, possessive. Not loving.

When he accused her of flirting with Julian, she denied it--nervously, truthfully.

But he didn't listen.

He shoved her against the table, lifted her skirt, yanked down her underwear.

"No--Daniel, wait--"

"You said you were mine."

She froze.

He forced himself inside her. No warning. No care.

And she let it happen, too scared to resist, too broken to fight.

Afterward, he lit a cigarette without a glance back--like she was nothing.

And in that moment, maybe she was.

________________________________________

Now

Back in Room 7, Micaela sways where she stands.

The masked man watches.

He knows.

His voice is quiet when it comes.

"He took things from you you didn't give."

Her breath catches.

She nods.

"So give them to me this time," he says.

And for the first time in years,

Micaela feels the difference.

Daniel forced her open, but never let her breathe.

While this man hasn't even touched her properly, and already her lungs feel fuller than they have in years.

That's when he presses one gloved palm between her shoulder blades.

"Look at yourself," he says, voice close, like a confession she didn't ask for.

She does.

She sees her flushed skin, her parted lips, her bare body trembling with something deeper than want.

She looks like prey--but she isn't.

Not this time.

The fingers from his gloveless hand trail down her back, then lower. He parts her with his hand, and she gasps--not in pain. In recognition. This is what it feels like to be opened without being taken.

He slides two fingers into her--slowly, firmly--until she moans, forehead pressed to the mirror.

"You're not scared," he says.

"No."

He fucks her with his fingers--deep, rhythm steady, his other hand gripping her hip like he's anchoring her to the now. Not letting her float away like she used to.

And then--he stops.

Just pulls out.

She whimpers at the sudden emptiness.

"Please--"

He doesn't speak.

He just unzips his trousers.

Her body tightens in anticipation. Need pools in her belly like heat pressing against a dam.

He guides the head of his cock to her entrance. Rests it there. Waiting.

"You want to be taken?" he growls, voice low, controlled. "Then ask me."

She closes her eyes. Swallows the last bit of pride.

"Take me," she breathes. "Make me forget"

The words rip from her throat like a vow.

And then--he drives into her.

Hard. Deep. Filling.

Her body slams against the mirror with the force of it, breath knocked out of her, fingers scrambling for purchase on the glass as he fucks her from behind.

It's not careful. It's not polite.

It's claiming.

His thrusts brutal, precise. Each one a purge of something old. Something toxic. Something that once made her feel small.

But now--

She moans. Loud. Wild. Shameless.

His hand tangles in her hair, pulling her head back so she has to look at herself again.

"Who do you see?" he demands.

She doesn't answer.

His pace quickens, slamming into her harder, deeper.

"Say it."

"Micaela," she gasps. "My name is Micaela."

He groans--low, guttural--like he's been waiting to hear that since the night she first walked in.

"That's right. Say it while I come inside you."

And she does.

Her orgasm takes her by the throat. No build-up. No control. Just fire. Just release.

Her body shudders around him as he follows--grinding deep, pulsing inside her with a growl like possession.

When it's over, he doesn't let go.

He keeps her pressed to the mirror, breathing hard, one hand still in her hair.

And for the first time since Daniel, she feels reborn.

________________________________________

Then

She stood in the hallway, bruised and blinking back tears. Julian, Daniel's best friend looked up from the kitchen--his face shifting from confusion to something darker.

"Did he hurt you?"

She faltered. He stepped closer.

"You don't have to stay with him."

Her voice cracked, desperate to end it before the truth surfaced.

"This was an accident," she whispered. "He loves me. Just... leave us alone, Julian."

His jaw clenched. He didn't argue.

He just watched her walk back into the bedroom like she was choosing a cage.

And maybe she was.

By the time she looked back, he was gone.

________________________________________

Now

She's still trembling when he buttons her dress from behind.

Each click of fabric like stitching something back together--but not the same shape it was before.

He fastens the final button at the base of her neck and leaves his fingers there. Resting. Possessive. Not like Daniel, who clutched.

This man just held.

"Micaela?"

She doesn't answer. She doesn't have to.

He walks in front of her, gloved hands at his sides, fully dressed, controlled again.

But his voice isn't.

"I saw you once," he says. "A year ago. Crying in a hallway, trying to pretend you were fine."

Her breath catches.

"You wore a red sweater. Mascara on your cheek. You told me it was nothing."

She looks up slowly. Panic rising.

He takes a step forward. His voice a scalpel now.

"And the second I got too close, you shut down and went back to him."

The room tilts.

It's not just a memory anymore.

It's Julian.

She stumbles back. Her shoulder hits the mirror.

His voice softens. "I came here to forget you."

"Then why did you--why now?"

He shrugs. "You walked in and called yourself Riven. But I watched you come like a woman who still wanted to be saved."

Tears spring uninvited.

"I didn't think you'd remember me," she says, voice shaking.

"I remembered everything."

She wants to run. To hide. To vanish beneath the persona that's kept her safe for years.

But he doesn't let her.

He takes her face in his hand--firm, not cruel.

And slowly--deliberately--he reaches up and removes the mask.

Not with flair. Not with drama.

Just truth.

And there he is.

Julian.

Same man who once stood in her kitchen with a coffee in one hand and a question she couldn't answer.

She doesn't gasp. Doesn't cry. Doesn't look away.

She exhales like it was inevitable.

"I thought it might be you," she says quietly.

He raises a brow. "You didn't seem sure."

"I wasn't. Not until you said my name like you hated it and missed it at the same time."

He studies her for a beat. Then steps closer.

"Why didn't you run when you suspected it was me?"

She lifts her chin, meeting his gaze.

"Because if it was you... I knew you wouldn't hurt me."

Julian's jaw tightens, something flickering in his eyes.

"Where is Daniel?"

The question falls from her lips before she can stop it.

Not because she misses him. Not even because she wants to see him.

Because the idea of seeing him again still lives inside her ribcage like a bruise that forgot how to fade.

Julian's expression hardens.

"Gone. Moved to the coast, we don't talk anymore.

She closes her eyes. Relief floods her chest. Like she'd been holding her breath for years and finally got to exhale.

"He doesn't know I'm here?" she asks.

Julian shakes his head. "No. And he won't."

Silence stretches between them. Full. Unsteady.

Then Julian speaks again.

"Why are you here, Micaela?"

And this time, she doesn't lie.

"Because I wanted to know if I could still be touched without disappearing."

Her voice trembles, but she doesn't look away.

Julian exhales. His voice is softer now. Closer to the one that once offered her help she didn't take.

"You let me inside you, but that wasn't the most vulnerable thing you did tonight."

She tilts her head. "No?"

He leans in. "You looked at me when you came."

Her lips part. No response.

He rests his forehead against hers--not as a lover, but as someone who remembers.

"Do you want to be seen again, Micaela?"

"I don't know."

"Then stay with me. And find out."

Julian is dressed again, mask tucked under his arm. But his eyes haven't left her--not when she broke, not when she let him in.

Her hair messy. Her heels still on. The mask in her hand feels heavier than ever.

She studies it. Bone-white. Lips sealed in gold. The face of the woman who survived by pretending she wanted nothing.

"I became her to protect myself."

"And did she?"

"She kept me from going back."

"Then maybe she did what she had to."

They stand in velvet shadows, surrounded by echoes.

"I came to become someone no one could hurt." she whispers.

"And now?"

"Now I want to be someone who can still be loved without falling apart."

He offers his hand. Open. Steady.

"Then come out as you."

She takes it.

The mask falls to the floor. She doesn't pick it up.

And when they walk out, she does it barefoot and open.

Not looking back.

Only forward.