Leonid’s hands still don’t move, so I move mine instead. I stand on my tiptoes and throw my arms around his neck to steady myself.
Gently, as if he fears I’ll break, he lifts a hand to my cheek and drags his thumb across what I think might be another tear.
“I hate it when you cry because of me,” he grumbles.
I drop my gaze to his lips, my heart racing against my chest. “But you go ahead and do stuff that makes me cry.”
His hand on my cheek stills, and I hear his sharp intake of air.
“I’m sorry.”
It’s a gentle whisper, but it’s the most genuine thing I’ve ever heard, with multiple meanings hidden behind those simple words.
The heat radiating off his bloodied frame washes over my skin. For a second, neither of us moves. We just stare at each other, the silence between us stretched so thin it vibrates.
“I know,” I whisper back.
Then, looking at the raw fury and exhaustion etched into his face, the final wall inside me crumbles.
The suffocating tension that’s kept me frozen for hours completely melts away. Fear, adrenaline, and a desperate, agonizing longing blend into a single wave of raw, uncontrollable emotion. I don’t see the captor or the monster anymore. I just seehim.
Before I can even process the movement, Leonid’s big hands grip my hips and he lifts me effortlessly off the floor. My instincts take over and my legs wrap around his waist, my hands tightening around the back of his neck to pull him closer.
He holds me against his chest like I’m the only solid thing left in this ruined world. He buries his face in the crook of my neck before he shifts, pressing his forehead firmly against mine.
We’re both trembling violently from the gravity of what he just survived, the terror of what could have happened, and the overwhelming, crashing relief of this exact moment.
Our hot breath mingles raggedly in the fraction of an inch between our lips.
My heart is hammering so hard I’m certain he can feel it against his ribs. I look into his dark, searching eyes, and the truth finally forces its way out of my throat.
“I just can’t imagine my life without you, Leonid.” My voice shakes uncontrollably. The words are heavy and terrifying to say, but I can’t hold them back anymore. “I...I love you.”
His entire body goes rigid against mine as the words sink in. His gaze darkens instantly, turning incredibly possessive, intense, and burning with a sudden, fierce hunger that threatens to consume us both. He cups the back of my head, his fingers tangling in my hair, anchoring me to him so tightly it hurts.
“Fuck,” he breathes, his voice dropping into a gruff whisper that vibrates right through my chest. “You can’t say shit like that unless you actually mean it.”
I lift a brow. “You think I don’t mean it?”
He caresses my lower lip with his thumb and smiles brighter than I’ve ever seen. “I know you fucking do.”
Honestly, it’s the most I’ve heard him cuss in one night.
That’s a good sign, right? It must mean he’s finally allowing himself to feel.
He proves me right when he pulls my face closer to his and rasps, in a husky voice that causes thrills to shoot down my spine, “Elena. Ptichka. I have never wanted anyone like this before. I’ve never needed anything the way I need you. I love you, too.”
Our lips meet in a slow, fierce kiss.
The world around us fades away as we release our inhibitions.
There’s no hesitation, no holding back, no walls left between us—just two lovers with nothing holding us back.
It’s the violent, beautiful culmination of months of suffocating tension, paralyzing fear, and burning, undeniable desire.
He tastes like rain and the dark, intoxicating heat that belongs only to him.
I deepen the kiss, my fingers running through his damp hair and pulling him against me as if I could press his very soul into mine.
