All Chapters of Feral Desires: Chapter 21 - Chapter 23

NIKOLAICLAUDE WAS SPRAWLED across the bed, limbs slack, lips slightly parted. He’d passed out after three days of pure hedonism, and I couldn’t blame him. Even my stamina had its limits. “Claude,” I murmured, brushing my knuckles over his jaw before giving his shoulder a nudge. He groaned, stirring sluggishly before his eyes cracked open—those haunting eyes, slit and feral before they softened into something resembling humanity. Even now, I hadn’t decided if I hated or loved how those eyes unsettled me. But I had bigger concerns. “Who did this to you?” My voice was low, deceptively calm. He blinked up at me, his lips curving into a faint smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Nikolai,” he rasped, pulling me closer, his arms wrapping around my neck. Instinct took over, my hands finding the heat of his skin, the press of his back beneath my palms as I dragged him against me. I kissed the sharp edge of his jaw, my teeth grazing his skin hard enough to leave a mark—a warning for

CLAUDEOur time was up. It was as simple as that. The words didn’t make it any easier. No. What I wanted, what I had always wanted, was Nikolai. Even though we barely knew each other. Even though we were on opposite sides of the world, with lives that could never truly align.My fingers gripped my bag tighter, my pulse picking up as I felt Nikolai beside me. I didn’t dare look at him—not yet. “The money’s been wired to your account,” he said, his voice low, sending a shiver down my spine. The heat of his breath brushed my neck, even as the sharp sting of the ocean wind battered us both.The account he spoke of wasn’t mine. The money wasn’t even going to me. It was going to the real Tate, but in that moment, it didn’t matter. None of it mattered.The deck was alive with people, eager to get off the ship, to escape to wherever they were going. But me? I wanted more time. A little more of this, whatever it was.Nikolai’s voice cut through the buzz, low and amused. “What’s going through t