His back was to me. I let out a silent gasp as I took in the muscles brunching around his broad back. Even in my hazy mind, he was still one of the most beautiful men I had ever seen.
He was alone, talking on the phone.
His tone was hostile and mean, and for a brief moment, I felt fear seize my heart—before it quickly melted away and what was left was an emotion so strong, it brought tears to my eyes.
I wiped away the ones that fell with my forearms as my eyes tracked him walking from one end of the room to the next.
He was okay.
He was here and, from the looks of it, uninjured.
I whimpered.
He froze and turned to face me quickly, his green eyes widening in surprise, relief, and something else.
Something like desperation.
I cried.
He hung up the phone without saying anything to the person on the line, and then he came up to me so fast that I didn’t even see him move.
One moment he was across the room from me, and the next, I was tightly engulfed in his strong arms.
I let out a cry of relief when he lifted me off my feet. I wrapped my legs around his trim waist, my arms going around his neck tightly. I didn’t want to let him go.
“Fuck, princess. Fuck. You’re awake. Fuck.”
Nikolay moved us out of the room and back to the one I had woken up in.
I didn’t open my eyes to see. I buried my face in his chest, crying tears of relief as I clung to him.
I was afraid he would disappear on me if I let him go.
Don’t go.
As if he could read my mind, he tightened his grip around me before falling back onto the bed with me on top of him.
He was careful not to touch my wound, holding me close as I cried.
“Hush, now,” he said, his voice soft. I didn’t think I had ever heard him use that tone of voice with me before. “No more crying, or you’ll piss me off, and I’ll walk back down to the basement and kill any of the fuckers I come in contact with.”
I pulled away from his words, taking him in carefully.
I tensed when I realized what he had said. He had someone—people—in the basement?
I blinked, and he cupped the back of my head, moving it down to his chest once more.
“Don’t think about that. That’s not for you to worry about. Forget I said anything. Cry all you want, sweetheart. But once you’re done, then no more crying, you understand me?”
That surprised me enough to stop crying completely.
Then I let out a small chuckle.
Something about the way he said it, or perhaps it was the sound of his voice—how he could say something so sweet yet sound so hard—was funny to me.
My small chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh, as I ignored the slight ache on my side.
Nikolay tensed beneath me for a moment before I felt him relax. He moved his fingers through my hair, and I winced a little when he got a small tangle at the end.