The words drifted into the silence like a prayer—gravel-soft and gut-deep.
A promise not just to the night, but to her.
And on the other side of the wall, Maya felt it. Not in sound, but in instinct. In the quiet press of something unspoken blooming inside her chest.
Inside her room, Maya moved slowly, as if afraid too much motion might break the spell of the night.
She walked to the bathroom, fingers reaching for the delicate tie at the back of her dress—the tie. The one Damien had murmured about undoing with his teeth, voice dark and low against her skin.
Her hands trembled slightly as she loosened it, his touch still echoing along her body like a phantom.
The shower fogged up fast, steam curling around her like memory.
When the hot water hit her skin, she tilted her head back and
