The light didn't wake me. The silence did.
It was a heavy, suffocating silence, the kind that exists only in the aftermath of a violent storm. I opened my eyes, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling. It was white, stark, and perfectly smooth, lacking even a hairline crack to mar its surface. It was the ceiling of a room that cost more than most people earned in a lifetime.
I shifted.
A sharp, aching tenderness screamed through every muscle in my body. My thighs felt bruised, the muscles quivering with a dull soreness. My hips throbbed with a rhythmic insistence. And there was a heavy, tender ache between my legs that was an undeniable, throbbing reminder of exactly what had happened last night.
I was naked.
The silk duvet was pooled around my waist, exposing my skin to the cool, condition
