47
Nikolai
As the last echoes of the ecstasy fade away, I become aware of the hard surface of the desk under my naked back and the slight weight of Chloe’s body draped across my sweat-dampened chest. My brain is overflowing with endorphins, and my heart is thudding in a newly hopeful rhythm in my chest.
I told her everything, and instead of recoiling in revulsion, she embraced me.
I laid bare the worst parts of myself, and instead of running away in terror, she told me that we’re fated.
Which we are. I’ve known it from the beginning, but at some point in the last couple of weeks, I’ve lost sight of it, begun to doubt whether our relationship can survive the poison festering inside me… whether we’re destined to go down my parents’ agonizing path.
“We’re not,” Chloe murmurs, lifting he
