The hot water burned my skin. I let it.
Let it wash over the mess between my thighs, the ruined makeup down my face, the trembling that wouldn't stop in my hands. I let the velvet dress slide off me and stay there, crumpled on the tile like a reminder.
Of the chaos.
Of him.
By the time I got out and toweled off, I felt a little less like a walking disaster and more like… a person again. Barely. Still naked, I moved to the closet where one of Kael's pressed shirts hung. I slid it over my body, the fabric swallowing me whole.
I didn't hear him come in.
But I felt it, him, immediately. That drop in pressure. That heat licking up my spine.
"You should've locked the door," he murmured.
I turned slowly, holding the shirt against my chest, tension pulling my shoulders taut. His suit jacket was off. His tie too. But his eyes, those lethal eyes, were still dressed for war.
"Didn't think you'd barge in," I said stiffly.
