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“This was my room,” I manage to choke out. I reach out and touch the edge of a changing table I must’ve lain on.
“Why did they take everything away from me?” I sob, wrapping my arms around myself in a vain attempt to hold myself together, but instead, I fall to the floor.
Nikolai drops to his knees beside me, pulling me into a tight embrace. I bury my face in his chest, letting his warmth and strength anchor me.
“I’ll talk to your father,” he whispers. “I’ll reason with him for as long as it takes. I’ll make him understand I’m not his enemy. Both of us have hurt you enough. I promise I’ll end this vendetta for you.”
“You can’t promise that.” My voice muffled against his jacket. “You said so yourself.”
“Eden, look at me.” Nikolai gently lifts my chin, forcing me to meet his concerned gaze. His eyes are filled with a dark determination. “I swear, I will let it go for both of us.”
“No.” I shake my head furiously as the same anger, hatred, and desire for suffering overtake me. “You can’t let it go because I want the brigadiers to pay for what they’ve done to me and my father. I want them to hurt.”
His hand drops to his side as he stares at me, shocked by my words.
“If that is what you want, I will do it.”
Seeingthe old house takes a toll I didn’t anticipate. My emotions are twisted and pulled in every direction until I am a mess, on the verge of tears. Instead of ruminating, I force myself tosleep on the car ride back to Manhattan. And when I wake up, someone has placed me in my bed. We were gone the entire day, and I was not expecting to see Nikolai sitting beside me in the bed. His hair is tousled over his forehead as if he’s been pulling at it. Shirtless, with his tattoos showing, he’s deep in thought as he studies a book. Instead of glossy photos of art, the pages are handwritten.
“What time is it?” I ask, stretching. Then I notice someone removed my dress before putting me in bed.
He looks up abruptly, startled that I’m awake. “It’s almost one in the morning.”
The nap makes me feel restored, and I move a little closer to Nikolai. I stretch again, feeling the silky sheet against my toes. It feels like all the destructive emotions between us were left behind. Our confessions made us vulnerable, but somehow, we connected more than ever before. The weight of our lies could’ve broken us apart, but this time, it led to understanding. I understand Nikolai better now.
“Nikolai?” I whisper, trying to take his attention away from that book.
Silently, he glares at me, and maybe I’m the only one who came back changed.
A lazy grin tilts his lips, and the charm floods into his sexy gaze as his finger grazes my cheek. “I love you, Eden.”
I see the sincerity in his eyes. But there’s also something else, a darkness that lingers below the surface. There will be more bad things before there is anything good. I need to understand the man I’m going to marry and the ghosts that haunt him and me.
I run my hand along his hard thigh and place my hand on the book, trying to tug it out of his grip. His expression darkens as he pulls it away. I sit up, wondering what it is, and I crane my neck to get a better look at the handwriting, but he closes the book quickly.
“Nikolai,” I whisper, my voice trembling. “I need you. Make me forget their hate.”
He hesitates, his gaze searching mine. But all he will find is desire, raw and undeniable, burning through the doubt that has held me back for too long. I’m ready to love him.
Nikolai places the book on the bedside table. His voice is soft, almost reverent, as he moves toward me. “I caused that hate,” he whispers. “So I’m completely forgiven?”
“More than anything,” I breathe, placing my hand on his chest and feeling the warmth of his skin beneath my fingertips. “I need this, Nikolai. I need you.”
Our lips meet in a sizzling kiss that ignites every nerve ending in my body. The taste of him, the feel of his strong hands on me, sweeps the pain away, erasing the past and putting me in the heat of the present.
“We will marry, Eden,” Nikolai murmurs against my mouth, and I nod, surrendering my uncertainties completely.
As he slips my panties off me, each gentle touch feels like a balm to my battered soul. Every caress, every whispered word of love and reassurance, brings back my faith, reminding me that I am courageous.
You have a gift for charming dangerous men.
I hold onto his broad shoulders, my fingers caressing the hard muscle under the skin, and it sends tingles along my thighs. Nikolai covers me with his muscular body, careful not to put his entire weight on him. I wrap my thighs around his slim hips, and each time I kiss him, I press against him, his cock hardening until he moans in my mouth.
“You like to tease me,” he whispers.
I grin like a pleased feline. “I only tease because I know you’ll deliver.”
He nuzzles my neck, grabbing my hips as I part my thighs. The building passion sets me on edge, making me desperate and needier as I arch my body against his.
