CLAUDE
He pulled back, and I gasped, a sharp, painful sound as my hands fisted his jacket, refusing to let go.
"Once everything is settled, I'll come back." I forced the words out, clinging to the hope that they could be true.
Nikolai's jaw clenched.
"Don't."
My heart stopped.
And then, for what felt like the hundredth time tonight, it dropped.
His lips crashed against mine, rough, desperate, like he was trying to memorize the shape of me, the taste of me. Like he needed to feel me, needed to have me, even as he was pushing me away.
When we finally broke apart, panting, his brows were drawn, his expression torn between something too sharp and too soft. His thumb brushed my cheek.
"I'll find you."
I shook my head. "But you can't."
A ghost of a smile flicke
