A single tear rolled off my left cheek, and I swallowed. "What happens when I want more?"
He met my eyes, then gently cupped the other side of my face, his thumb running smoothly against my cheek. "More?"
I sniffed, my chest heaving. "Yes, Nikolai. More of you. More of us. Dead in the night. This close. More of everything I have dreamt of ever since I was nine."
He let his finger drop to my lips, and he let out a small sigh. "You hardly know what you want when you are that young, Iris."
He slowly let me go, then leaned back, his eyes closing as he wiped blood off his forehead.
"Nikolai..."
"I hardly did too. If I had known better when I was that young..." He trailed off and turned to me. "Maybe I would not have begged that much to be adopted."
My brows furrowed as my lips slowly pa
