The water had long since stopped steaming, settling into a gentle warmth that clung to the skin like a second touch. The candles burned lower, their flames steady and unhurried, casting gold and shadow across the marble walls of the bath chamber.
Nulissa remained nestled against Jax's chest, her fingers idly tracing slow, absent-minded patterns along his forearm. The earlier playfulness had settled into something quieter, contentment edged with resolve.
Jax's arms were secure around her waist, his presence a solid grounding force for her, and for the first time in a long while, Nulissa was fully relaxed.
She shifted slightly, turning her head enough to look at him over her shoulder. His golden eyes were half-lidded, relaxed but alert in the way of a predator at rest. Damp curls framed his face, darker now from the bathwater, a few strands clinging to his forehead. There was something almost dangerously domestic about him like this—too powerful to be real, too gentle to be ignored.
