NIKOLAI
CLAUDE WAS SPRAWLED across the bed, limbs slack, lips slightly parted. He’d passed out after three days of pure hedonism, and I couldn’t blame him. Even my stamina had its limits.
“Claude,” I murmured, brushing my knuckles over his jaw before giving his shoulder a nudge.
He groaned, stirring sluggishly before his eyes cracked open—those haunting eyes, slit and feral before they softened into something resembling humanity. Even now, I hadn’t decided if I hated or loved how those eyes unsettled me.
But I had bigger concerns.
“Who did this to you?” My voice was low, deceptively calm.
He blinked up at me, his lips curving into a faint smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Nikolai,” he rasped, pulling me closer, his arms wrapping around my neck. Instinct took over, my hands
