Steam curled around her like lazy fingers, the candlelight catching on the ripples as she dragged the sponge across her thigh. The water clung to her skin in beads, running between her breasts before dripping back into the tub. She closed her eyes, sinking deeper until her shoulders were under, letting the heat melt away the day.
Then she heard it. A low, rich, humming.
It wasn’t music from outside. It was too close. Too deep.
Her eyes opened, and the surface shifted, slow circles spiraling out from the center of the tub. She leaned forward, thinking maybe she’d imagined it, but something brushed against her foot under the water. Firm. Warm.
She jerked her leg back.
The movement made the water lap against porcelain, and that’s when he broke the surface — tall, broad-shouldered, hair s
