I slipped back into the penthouse just before dawn, the city still wrapped in dark below the windows. My body still hummed from Nikolas. His hands on my hips, his mouth on my neck, the way he’d held me like I was the only thing that mattered. The faint marks on my collarbone throbbed under my shirt. I’d have to hide them.
The bedroom door was cracked. Adrian hadn’t stirred. He lay on his side, arm slung over the pillow I usually used, breathing even and deep. He hadn’t noticed I was gone. Relief washed over me, followed by a wave of shame that made my stomach twist. I peeled off my clothes in the bathroom, showered hot enough to sting, scrubbed until my skin felt raw. When I looked in the mirror, my lips were still swollen, my eyes too bright. I looked like someone who’d been touched unt
