Chapter Nine
The water beat downin steady, rhythmic sheets, steam fogging the glass until the world narrowed to heat, sound, and thought.
Mara braced her hands against the tile, eyes closed, letting the spray hit her shoulders and trail down her spine.She was trying to rinse off the night—the violence, the fear, the moment she’d realized the Covenant wasn’t just something Luca belonged to.
It was something she’d stepped into.
And Luca—
That was the thought that caught her every time.
She was falling for him.Hard.Fast.Past the point of caution.Past the point of pretending she would recover if everything ended.
She barely registered the shift in the air behind her before two hands wrapped around her middle.
She squealed, half-laugh, half-gasp, as she was pulled back into a solid chest, wet skin to wet skin.
“Luca—”
He laughed softly against her ear.“Who else would it be?”
She turned in his arms, water sliding over both of them now, and his expression gentled the moment he saw her face—unguarded, open, still processing everything.
“Can I?”he asked quietly, reaching for the sponge.
The question landed heavier than it should have.
“Yes,” she said.“I want you to.”
He took his time.
The sponge moved slowly over her shoulders, down her arms, across her back.His touch was attentive, deliberate—not rushed, not greedy.Like he was learning her, not washing her.He lingered over her hips, her stomach, the curves of her body that felt suddenly more exposed under his careful hands.
They talked as he worked.
Small things at first—Dominic’s timing, Mateo’s habits, how Elias never said more than he had to, Rafael’s love of cooking, Kol’s talent with technology and the way they all worked together so seamlessly.Then quieter truths.More personal things about each other.It was an intimate moment of discovery.
