Page 165 of Nikolay

She laughed, bright and delighted, and the sound went through me like sunlight through old glass.

“There he is,” she said. “Honesty. I knew you had it in you.”

“I am trying very hard to become a better man.”

“You’re gonna need practice.”

“So I have gathered from recent events.”

She reached over and touched my face, her thumb brushing the line of my beard. The humor in her expression gentled. “You’re doing fine.”

It should not have soothed me as much as it did. Yet there it was. The strange ease of being seen by the right woman and not found lacking.

After a moment, she said, “I’ll move my things into your wing.”

The words landed in me with disproportionate force. Silly, perhaps, after everything the night before had sealed. But cohabitation had its own intimacy. Less mythic. More daily. More dangerous, in some ways, because it implied not only passion but routine. Presence. Shared mornings. Shared irritations. The possibility of joy becoming ordinary and still somehow remaining precious.

“My wing,” I said carefully.

She gave me a wicked little smile. “It’s more apartment than room, and you know it.”

“That is not inaccurate.”

“I’m gonna need the space.”

“For clothing?”

“For books.”

I glanced toward her shelves. “A manageable number, I think.”

She actually scoffed. “Sir, that is only the travel selection.”

I stared at her.

Her grin widened. “And before you ask, yes, the smut is coming too.”

I closed my eyes briefly.

When I opened them again, she was watching me with open glee. “There it is.”

“What is?”

“That face you make when you’re trying real hard to act unbothered by something that is absolutely botherin’ you.”

“I am not bothered.”

“You are a little bothered.”

“I am calculating shelf requirements.”

“For the smut?”

“For all of it,” I said with dignity. “Though one anticipates certain volumes may require discreet placement.”

She laughed so hard she had to roll partly onto her side. “No, sir. If I’m moving into your giant vampire apartment, the dirty books get to live where they please.”

“Do they?”