NIKOLAI
HE WANTED TO to leave.
The thought circled in my head over and f*****g over until it sank into my bones, twisting through me like a sickness, a goddamn obsession. All I could think about was tying him down, chaining him to the f*****g bedpost if that’s what it took to keep him here.
I yanked at my tie, pulling the damn thing loose until it slipped from my fingers, landing somewhere on the floor.
He wasn’t leaving. I wouldn’t f*****g let him. Not when I had finally accepted—finally f*****g accepted—that I wanted him.
My hand twitched at my cheek, my jaw tight, my chest aching with the need to own him, to make him mine, to f*****g possess him. The thought had me exhaling sharply, shaking my head, because for the first time, I wasn’t sure who the real animal was between
