Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
A/N: A collection of Nikolina snippets, because I can't get them out of my head.
Nikolai kisses his way up her bare stomach, her heaving chest, and finally captures her lips.
"We were supposed to stop this," she says breathlessly, tangling her fingers in his disheveled hair.
He places his mouth over the thundering vein in her neck. "It's not my fault you can't keep your hands off me."
She smacks his arm and he laughs against her skin. "I'm serious."
His laughter dies down, and she feels a weight sink into her abdomen. Alina trails her fingers over the taut muscles of his shoulders. Nikolai collapses beside her on her bed. They're silent for a rare moment, and she listens to the sound of his breathing. The place between her thighs still pulsed. She wishes time would freeze here, where the impossible could live.
"There's still time," Nikolai says softly, and Alina is surprised at the yearning in his words. "I can call off the arrangement."
"You can't cancel your own wedding, Nikolai."
"I'm king. I can do whatever the hell I want." He smiles, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.
"Abandoning an alliance with a rival kingdom isn't exactly the best way to keep the peace."
"Then I dare them to start a war. We'll see who outguns whom."
She knows he's only joking and rolls her eyes, but her heart still clenches. "We've been through this. I'm not leaving Keramzin."
"You are a cruel, heartless woman."
"You love it."
She expects a witty comeback, but he just drinks in the sight of her, like it's the last time he'd ever see her.
Maybe it would be. Soon, he would have his queen, his heir, and he would go on to be the best king Ravka has ever seen. He would forget all about the powerless orphan girl who had kissed his scars. They should've known better than to get lost in each other – the only outcome was pain. The thought of losing him choked her.
He sweeps her into his warm, solid embrace. Now that she's hidden from view, a tear slips down her cheek.