She hooked an arm across her middle and looked up at me, eyes on mine with a vulnerability that was almost fierce. "I need to be stabilized," she said simply. "Can you… help me? Here? Now?"
I looked at her.
She didn't have to need it, I could tell.
Then…
"I see," I said.
"It's better here," she breathed. "Where no one can see or hear us."
Her hands found the towel again and she pressed it to her chest, like a shield. Then she let it drop, just enough for me to see how her shoulders held tension and how her posture loosened in the presence of me. I moved closer.
The moment she leaned into my palm, the wet strands of her hair clinging to my fingers, something inside me cracked wide open. Her lips trembled when I bent to claim them, soft and cool from the water, but she met me without hesitation, dropping the towel like a discarded shield. It hit the tile with a muted sound that vanished under the sudden thrum of blood in my ears.
