Nikolett sat up, excited that Nyx understood. “Yes! It’s almost addicting to have someone like him see me as equally powerful. Without that, I don’t think I would be as…bold…as I am.”
“I think you would be, but maybe not this fast. Where would Superman be without Lex Luthor?”
“Which one of us is the evil genius in this analogy?”
Nyx just stared at her.
“Right. It’s me.” Nikolett pondered that. “I’m honestly not mad about that. Luthor had some good points.”
“You have to stop saying stuff like that if you want to be Superman.”
They both snickered for a moment.
“You love Eric because he treats you like you’re powerful and dangerous. Both of which you are, but before him, people, especially men, were dismissive of you because you’re pretty and blonde.”
“Also opinionated and disrespectful.” Those were both terms that had been used to describe and discredit her.
“All this explains why you, the admiral of Hungary, are the one who stands up to the fleet admiral. The fleet admiral saw that you could be a worthy opponent—to use your words—and treated you accordingly. That doesn’t really explain whyNikoletthas no sense of self-preservation when she’s withEric.”
“It sort of explains it. I mean because he makes me feel seen.”
“You and the Ottoman admiral are fighting, but you aren’t currently fucking Hande.”
Nikolett grunted. “I mean…I would. I think we’d have excellent hate sex.”
“True, but don’t change the subject. Is that what you and Eric do? Have hate sex?”
“No.”
Nyx threw several cashews at her in rapid succession. “Give. Me. Details.”
Nikolett picked a cashew out of her hair and ate it. “It’s not hate sex.”
“Sexy battles? Two titans clashing in the bedroom? Or is it quiet, pretending the rest of the world doesn’t exist?”
Nikolett was sick of sitting and got up. Ignoring her crutches, she hopped around the couch until she could perch on the back,head turned so she could stare out the window. Her bad leg was dangling. She couldn’t sit like this for long but it felt good to be up.
Plus, this put her back to Nyx, and that made it easier to speak.
“Neither.” Nikolett hugged herself. “When we’re together, it’s raw, like I said. And I mean truly raw. Yes, Eric is dangerous, we all acknowledge that. We’ve seen it.”
“Like that time he was planning to slowly torture-kill someone downstairs, and once you calmed him down, he instead broke her neck. Demonstrating that in his mind, the alternative to slow, painful death wasn’tnot killingthe person but killing them fast.”
“Yes. That.”
“Or when he ripped Petro’s head off with his bare hands.”
“Another good example. But how is he most of the time?”
Nyx paused for long enough that Nikolett almost turned around.
“Charming,” Nyx said. “Self-deprecating. He will give orders, but he doesn’t expect everyone in the room to treat him like the fleet admiral, even though he is.”
Nikolett waved a hand through the air. “Members respect the office. Respect his authority, and yes, respect him. But he doesn’t try to assert his authority.”
“He doesn’t need to. He has that air of…” Nyx hummed as she decided on the right words. “He’s someone you’d follow into battle. Even if he weren’t the man in charge, in a crisis you’d turn to him.”
“When we’re together, he lets that part of himself out,” Nikolett said softly. “I think, deep down, he wants to give commands. He wants to be a feudal lord, not leader of a republic. But he suppresses it. He’s actively trying not to become a dictator.”
