BOOK 3: Chapter 9: First Touch
The silence left in his wake clings to the bathroom like steam on glass.
She hasn’t moved from the water, her body trembling beneath the surface. Her skin burns with the ghost of his mouth—those hot, slow kisses along her ankle and thigh—and the impossible restraint he’d shown. She should feel relief that he walked away. That the moment ended. But all she feels is a raw, hollow ache that pulses between her legs.
The air is cooler now. The water's begun to lose its heat.
She exhales, long and slow, chest rising above the waterline. Her n*****s tighten in the open air, and she shuts her eyes, trying to shake the image of him crouched at the edge of the tub, those eyes full of quiet threat and promise.
She reaches for a towel.
Before she can stand, the doo
