The steam was beginning to fill the bathroom, fogging up the mirror and wrapping us in a warm mist that shut out the outside world. The sound of water cascading gently over the tiles was the only witness to what was about to happen.
Lean opened the shower door and reached out his hand to me. His skin was damp, warm to the touch, and when his fingers intertwined with mine, I felt something inside me dissolve—like the gravity that had kept me grounded was beginning to fail.
I stepped into the shower with him, and the first caress came from the warm water on my back, followed by his gaze, which pierced me with more tenderness than urgency. He made no sudden moves. Everything about him was calm, patient, as if he wanted to give me all the time I needed to shed each lingering layer of fear or
