“Nikki, did I hurt you?”
He rushed across the room, kneeling in front of her.
It must’ve been when he pulled her by the ankles. She said her leg was healed, but he should have checked. He should have?—
“No, no kneeling.” She snapped the words, but there was a thread of something that was almost desperation in her voice.
Nikolett shoved to her feet and stepped around him, her gate uneven, thanks to the thick sole of the cast, plus a curved walking piece that was strapped to the bottom of it.
“No kneeling?” Slowly, Eric rose to his feet, mind racing as he tried to figure out what was wrong. Had he hurt her when he knelt to lick her pussy?
Maybe she was feeling guilty for kidnapping him. When they brought him in, Grigoris had put him on his knees.
“Nikolett, look at me.”
She hesitated, back to him, shoulders hunched defensively.
When she didn’t turn, he went to her.
And when he wrapped his arms around her from behind, she sagged against him, almost going limp in his arms.
Anxiety spiked through him. He was an asshole for falling asleep when something had clearly gone wrong.
Heart in his throat, Eric started to pick her up, but she panicked, stumbling away from him. She would have fallen if he’d had shorter arms and hadn’t been able to reach out and grab her.
Not releasing her, Eric stretched out one foot, hooked the leg of a dining chair, and pulled it over.
He pushed her down into the chair, then brought the other one over, positioning it to face her.
Nikolett sat tall and stiff in her chair. This time, it didn’t make her seem regal, but fragile. Defensive.
They sat in silence for a moment, but she was looking at his nose rather than meeting his gaze. “What happened?”
Finally, Nikolett’s gaze met his. “I kissed someone else.”
Eric absorbed that. He hadn’t seen it coming, hadn’t been able to brace the way he had for the punch this morning. “When?”
“Last night.”
Eric clenched his hands together, unable to name the emotion, or emotions, currently gripping him.
“One of your potential husbands?”
She shifted. “You remember I said that?”
Eric shot her a look. “Yes, Nikolett, I remember standing in the rain telling you I love you and then you told me you were interviewing people you planned to marry.”
Her gaze narrowed. “I remember things too, like when you fucked me in Italy, then tried to pretend it didn’t count because your cock wasn’t actually inside me. Six months later, you forced me to marry your brother!”
“Are you going to bring that up every time we fight?” he snarled.
“Only until you do something that’s an even better example of what an asshole you are.”
They were both yelling, leaning forward in their chairs.
He wanted to kiss her and then fuck her hard and fast until she forgot other men even existed.
Eric surged to his feet. “Who, Nikolett? Who was it?”
