This man, with his beautiful smile and eyes that saw into her soul, had rendered them useless.
And her curse…
Gods help her, but her curse was dormant in her veins. Barely there, it was the quietest it had ever been.
Because of him.
“I know that it would be complicated. We’d have to work some things out, and Ryker…” Nikhail blew out a low breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Gods, your brother will be so pissed.”
A half-strangled sound came out of River as she tried to make her mouth form words.
Nikhail must’ve misunderstood what the sound meant, because he looked up at her reassuringly. As if her brother were their biggest problem. As if she couldn’t accidentally kill him with one slip of her control.
“Don’t worry, princess, I’ll deal with him. I don’t mind.” He smiled and took her hands in his. “I want you, River.”
Her insides contorted as she stared at him. Why? Why was he saying all these lovely things? Why couldn’t he just be an asshole and not care about her?
River’s eyes burned, and tears lined the bottom of her eyes. Pushing Nikhail away would be like driving a sword through both their hearts. Her chest ached at the thought of it.
But she had to do it.
“Gods, I’m making a mess of this.” Nikhail laughed softly, unaware of where her mind had gone. “It’s not like me, you know. I’m meticulous. I like to plan things, and I usually don’t have any problem finding the right words to say.”
“Mm-hmm.” She was still trying to figure out how to break his heart as easily as possible. But the words weren’t coming to her.
“What I’m trying to say is this: I want you, River. Whatever being with you looks like, I want that. I want to be more than friends, everything else be damned.”
Those amber eyes lifted, meeting hers once again and stealing what little breath remained in her lungs.
Oh, gods, oh, gods. Vulnerability and hope shone in his eyes, and she couldn’t look away. He really wanted this. Wantedher.
“What do you say?” He swallowed, his knee shifting. “If you don’t… if you don’t want this, I’ll walk away. It’ll hurt, but we can forget this happened. You can keep the necklace, of course.”
Obviously, that was the out she had been looking for. Good. She’d turn him down and return to the party. She’d find Tertia and tell her she was feeling sick. It wasn’t a lie.
Already, her stomach was twisting, and tears were threatening to fall. A breakdown was imminent, and she already knew it would be the worst one she’d ever had. She’d call Ember—her best friend would know how to heal her broken heart.
This would hurt, but Nikhail would still be alive. Her cursewouldn’t kill him, and she wouldn’t shatter into a million pieces.
She needed to leave. Right. Now.
But before River realized what was happening, her mouth was opening. Her fingers pulled out of his grasp and rose, touching the beautiful necklace he’d given her.
She felt like she was having an out-of-body experience as she heard herself say, “I’d like to be more than friends, too.”
CHAPTER 18
She was a Storm
Nikhail was fairly certain his heart had grown wings and was soaring in his chest. He hadn’t realized it was possible to feel so elated. His cheeks hurt as a grin stretched across his face, and he probably looked like a fool, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.
“Thank the Blessed Black Sands,” he murmured, his gaze sweeping over River’s.
Her brown eyes were locked on his, wide and filled with so many emotions, he couldn’t parse through them.
Finally—fucking finally—they were going to do this. It felt like the past four years had been the longest of his life, but that no longer mattered.
He’d wait four hundred years for her if she asked him to.