THEIR CLUELESS LITTLE HUMAN

CHAPTER 5

**MARA'S POV**

The bathroom was where she said it was. I pushed the heavy wooden door open and looked inside before going in. Stone floors, a long row of sinks on one wall, shower stalls with curtains on the other side. It smelled like soap and something faintly like cedar.

It was empty. Thank goodness. The last thing I wanted was to be killed while showering.

I went to the stall furthest from the door and got in.

The hot water took a moment to come and when it did I just stood under it. I hadn't realized how much I needed a shower until that moment. I washed my hair slowly. And for the first time since I arrived, I was actually calm and not struggling to figure something out.

I stood there longer than I needed to.

Eventually I turned the water off, wrapped my towel around myself and walked to the sinks. I looked at my reflection while I brushed my teeth. I looked terrible. My eyes were flat and tired and my hair was dripping onto the stone floor and I had the same expression my mother always pointed out when she said I was carrying too much.

I rinsed and reached into my bag for my change of clothes.

My hand touched my shampoo bottle, my body wash, toothbrush, and deodorant. Everything that lived on my bathroom shelf at home but one item of clothing.

I looked into the bag. Then at my reflection again.

Back home my bathroom was attached to my bedroom. I had never once in my life had to think about packing clothes before walking to a shower. The concept had simply never applied to me. I had grabbed everything I owned except the one thing that mattered right now.

Bloody hell!!

I quickly tucked the towel as tight as it would go around myself, picked up my bag, and walked out.

The corridor was completely dark.

Like every single torch along the wall had gone out and the electric lights beside them were off too. I could not see anything except the faint grey outline of the stone floor directly under my feet.

I stood at the bathroom door and looked both ways down the corridor.

Nothing in either direction.

"Unbelievable. This is exactly the problem with torches. Normal light bulbs don't just go out randomly in the middle of the night. They stay on. That's what they do. They stay on." I pulled my towel tighter.

I put one hand on the wall and started moving.

Left at the first turn then right. That was what Petra had told me. I counted my steps carefully. The stone floor was cold and rough under my bare feet and the corridor was completely silent except for the sound of my own breathing.

First turn.

Left.

I kept my hand on the wall.

Second turn.

Right.

I walked a few more steps and found a door. I stopped and pressed my ear against it. There was complete silence on the other side. I put my hand on the handle and pushed it open.

The light inside hit me hard. Bright and warm after all that darkness and my eyes tried adjusting for a minute.

I heard the bathroom door inside the room open at the same time.

The grey eyed man from earlier in the hallway walked out of it.

His hair was dripping across his face and neck. A towel sitting dangerously low on his hips. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop my eyes from staring.

His shoulders were broad. His chest and stomach were defined in a way that made the towel on his hips look even lower than it already was. I felt heat crawl up my neck.

Reluctantly I looked up and caught him staring straight at me, arms crossed arrogantly. From his expression, he'd clearly caught me staring.

"Well, would you look at this?"

I said nothing.

"You had acted like you were above everything here; slapping my hand away. Shoving me aside and walking off. Even looking at me like I was some small inconvenience you were dealing with." He tilted his head. "And now you show up at my room in a towel."

"I simply took a wrong turn. The corridor is completely dark."

"Perfect excuse but your room is literally on the other side of the building, plus you're in a towel. If you came just to throw yourself at me, then admit it."

"In your f*****g ass dreams, romeo. I wouldn't do that even if you were the last man on earth. Besides, I'm aware that I made a mistake now. I'm leaving."

I turned around to walk but he quickly rushed towards me.

He was so fast that before I could blink, his hand came around my arm and he turned me back around sharply toward him.

I was forced to turn and to my absolute horror, he was standing directly in front of me with his towel bunched on the floor.