Alice's throat burned, not just from the steam, but from the sobs she had let fall freely, her voice raw and frayed.
He was still there. Knocking.
She swallowed, the movement sharp and painful, her mouth dry and cracked. "Are… are you going to be there?" she asked, voice barely more than a rasp, scraped raw by tears and steam. "When I step out?"
"Yes." The word landed with weight, solid and without softness, the same absolute certainty Hades gave everything. No hesitation, no doubt.
She pulled the damp towel tighter around her, clutching it to her chest like a shield. Her breath hitched sharply. "Go away."
A pause stretched beyond the door. Not empty, but heavy, thick with the presence of a man weighing the bounds of his own will.
"No."
Her fingers clenched tighter around the towel's edge, knuckles whitening. Her voice dropped low, brittle, a sharp edge beneath the restraint. "Do you really wish to see me unclad?"
