It had been days since you last saw him, but the weight of his absence lingered. You were in your room, the moonlight filtering through the curtains, when you heard the sound of a door creaking open. You turned, expecting to see someone else—but it was him. Nikolai. His figure was outlined in the dim light, his sharp eyes focused on you with an intensity that made your heart skip.

“I wasn’t planning on coming,” he said, his voice gruff, as though fighting with himself. “But I couldn’t stay away.”

He stepped closer, his gaze softening, just for a moment, as he looked at you. “I never realized what it would feel like to miss someone,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “Until it was you.”

You couldn’t move, caught in the strange tenderness of his words. For a man like Nikolai, this was almost unheard of. He was always controlled, ruthless. But now, the walls he’d built around himself seemed to crumble at the mere sight of you.

“I never thought I’d say it,” he continued, his voice low but firm, “but I need you. More than you’ll ever know.”