[Isolde]
I felt it the moment I shifted in his lap, his hardness pressed against my thigh and impossible to ignore.
Nikolai tensed immediately, his hands stilling on my waist, and when I glanced back at him, I saw the tight set of his jaw, the way his eyes had darkened with something that looked like pain.
Without thinking, my hand moved to touch him, and he flinched, a sharp intake of breath hissing through his teeth.
"You don't have to," he said quickly, his voice strained. His hand caught my wrist, gentle but firmly, stopping me from moving any further. "I don't want to hurt you."
I turned in his arms, facing him fully now, and saw the genuine concern written across his features. Mainly from guilt and fear.
This wasn't the smirking, arrogant Nikolai I'd come to know. This was him,
