I look into his gray eyes, the rough sound of his voice still echoing in the small space between us.

*Stay with me, in our room.*

I don’t say a word out loud. My throat feels completely locked up, and my heart is beating so hard against my ribs that trying to form a sentence would probably just make my voice shake. And I really don’t want to shake in front of him right now. Instead, I just look straight back into his face. I let the heavy, tiring armor I’ve been wearing for the past month fall away right there, and I tell him yes with my eyes.

Bael catches the change in my expression immediately.

The tiny shift in his eyes says everything—the hard, worried line of his jaw just lets go all at once. He doesn’t say a single word, but his palm slides down from my waist, his fingers slipping between mine until he’s holding my hand in a tight, firm grip.

His hand is so warm. It feels so hot that it almost stings against my cold fingers. He turns around and starts leading me toward the stairs, his steps slow, steady, and regular, pulling me along right beside him.

Walking up the stairs together feels completely strange. The quiet weight of the massive house is all around us, but for the first time in a month, it doesn’t feel lonely or cold. We walk straight down the long hallway, and when we finally stop, we’re standing right in front of the door to the master bedroom.

The moment the door clicks shut behind us, closing us off from the rest of the house, the silence in the room changes completely.

Bael turns around, and before my brain can even take in the familiar layout of the room, his arms are around me again. He pulls me hard against his chest, burying his face deep into my hair with a long, heavy breath that shakes his entire body. He holds me so tightly, his big fingers digging into the fabric of my shirt, as if he’s trying to force himself to believe that I’m actually back in this room with him.

"Bael," I say quietly, my voice coming out muffled against the rough wool of his dark sweater. My hands reach around him, my fingers twisting tightly into the thick fabric at his back, holding him right back as the sheer comfort of his weight washes over me. The feel of his body against mine makes my knees feel a little soft, but the sticky feeling from sitting through a three-hour exam is still clinging to my skin. "I should take a bath."

He doesn’t move for a long second. His arms tighten around me for one last, desperate moment, squeezing the air right out of my lungs, before he slowly, reluctantly lets go. His eyes are incredibly dark, the gray deep and focused entirely on my face as he takes a small step back.

"Okay," he says, his voice low and a little rough.

But he doesn’t actually step away to give me any real space. Instead, his fingers reach out, settling right at the top button of my shirt. His touch is very slow, his knuckles brushing against the skin of my collarbone as he gently pushes the button through the cloth loop.

A sudden rush of heat shoots straight up my neck, making my face burn so hot it stings. My pulse starts racing like crazy. The close, domestic feel of it catches me completely off guard, making me feel exposed in a way I wasn’t ready for at all.

"I can unbutton my own shirt," I say quickly, the words tripping over each other as I step backward on reflex to break his touch.

My face is completely on fire. I turn on my heel and practically run into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me with a little more force than I meant to. I lean my back against the solid wood, my chest moving up and down fast as I press both hands against my burning cheeks. *Calm down,* I tell myself, staring up at the white ceiling. *Just calm down.*

I turn on the tap, letting the warm water fill up the tub.

Stepping into the water feels like the best thing in the world.

The warmth slowly takes away the crushing tiredness from the exam, soaking into the tight, painful cramps in my shoulders and my aching hands. I sit there for a long time, just letting the water soothe me until I feel human again. By the time I finally drain the tub and stand up, the bathroom is thick with white steam and my skin is flushed a warm, clean pink.

I reach out, grabbing the fresh towel off the rack and wrapping it securely around my waist. It’s only then that I look around the foggy room to get dressed that the cold reality hits me.

Shit.

I was in such a desperate rush to get away from Bael’s hands earlier that I didn’t even think to grab a change of clothes from the drawers. My dirty clothes are just sitting crumpled on the bathroom tiles, and there is no way I am putting those back on.

I sigh softly, biting the inside of my lip and feeling incredibly stupid. Walking over to the door, I open it just a tiny bit, letting a cool breeze from the bedroom cut through the thick, hot steam.

"Bael?" I call out, keeping my entire body safely hidden behind the door. "Can you bring me a change of clothes?"

Through the small gap, I can see him clearly. He’s sitting right on the edge of the mattress, and right next to his hand is a fresh, neatly folded stack of my clean loungewear. He clearly knew I forgot. But when he looks up at the sound of my voice, a sharp, teasing spark flashes in his gray eyes.

"Huh?" Bael says, tilting his head slightly, his voice completely serious. "I can’t hear you. Why don’t you come closer?"

I roll my eyes instantly, a deep blush rushing right back into my cheeks. Why is he being like this now? My heart does a stupid little flutter anyway, which only makes me more annoyed with myself.

Knowing he has no intention of making this easy for me or just handing them through the crack, I tighten my grip on the knot of my towel and slowly step out of the bathroom.

The moment my bare feet hit the bedroom floor, the teasing look vanishes from Bael’s face completely.

His eyes go dark. His jaw clenches hard as his gaze slowly moves down my wet shoulders, tracing the damp line of my collarbone and the little water droplets still clinging to my chest. The room goes totally quiet, and the air suddenly feels very heavy and thick.

Bael goes completely silent, his body going rigid as he abruptly stops looking at me, turning his head to the side to fix his eyes strictly on the far wall.

He clears his throat, his shoulders stiff as he stretches out his arm, offering me the clothes without looking.

"Here," he says, his voice rough and strained.

I reach out quickly to take the soft cloth from him, but at that exact split second, a loud, clear rumble echoes right from my stomach. It is incredibly loud in the quiet bedroom.

I freeze. My stomach had decided to choose the absolute worst, most embarrassing moment to announce to the room how hungry I was.

On pure reflex, I spin around immediately, turning my back to him so I don’t have to meet his eyes. I press the fresh clothes hard against my chest, staring down at my bare toes on the floor and wishing the ground would just open up and swallow me whole to save me from the shame.

A low, soft laugh breaks from Bael behind me.

Hearing him laugh makes my face burn even hotter, and a little prickle of irritation goes up my spine. But then I hear the mattress shift as he stands up. His footsteps are silent against the floor as he walks up behind me, not stopping until I can feel the intense, solid heat of his large body radiating directly against my bare, damp back.

"Someone is more hungry than me," he teases softly, his voice full of quiet amusement right behind my shoulder.

I stiffen, my breath catching in my throat, but before I can even turn around to glare at him or tell him to shut up, he leans down slightly. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Although, what I’m hungry for is totally different," he whispers right against my ear.

My heart does a violent, chaotic skip against my ribs. The blush on my face reaches a painful level, and my mind goes entirely blank.

Before I can form a single word to fight back or hide my panic, Bael leans down just a fraction more. His lips brush against my bare, damp shoulder, leaving a quick, warm kiss against my skin that sends a sudden, electric shiver straight down my spine.

"The food will be ready before you come out," he murmurs, his voice low and warm.

He steps back, and the heavy weight of his presence leaves my back as he walks toward the door. His steady footsteps fade out, and the bedroom door gently closes behind him.

Left alone in the middle of the room, I stand there like an idiot, holding my clothes, my shoulder still tingling, my heart completely refusing to behave.