The answer is none.
The bathroom is as luxurious as the bedroom.
Marble everywhere—floors, walls, countertops.
A tub that's more like a small pool, easily big enough for two people.
Steam is already rising from the water, fogging the mirror.
Everything is expensive.
Perfect. Controlled.
"Get in," he says.
I hesitate at the edge of the tub.
The water looks too hot.
Steam rising from it in thick clouds.
"Eden. Get in the bath or I'll put you in it myself."
I step out of my underwear, the last barrier between me and complete nudity.
Completely naked now in front of him for the first time.
Completely exposed in a way that makes me want to cover myself with my hands, to hide, to disappear.
But I don't.
Because he told me to put my arms down and I'm too afraid of the consequences to disobey.
I step into the tub.
The water is warm, and it makes my cold skin scream.
I gasp at the sudden sensation, my body not sure whether it's pleasure or pain.
"It's too hot," I say, my teeth chattering.
"Your body temperature is dangerously low. The water isn’t too warm, Eden, I promise you. Sit down before you go into shock."
I lower myself into the water slowly, inch by painful inch.
It feels like fire against my skin.
Like I'm being burned alive from the outside in.
But gradually, so gradually, the pain fades.
Transforms into something that feels almost good.
Almost comforting.
The warmth seeping into my bones, chasing away the cold that's been there since I crossed that creek, since I spent hours running through the woods.
I lean back against the tub and close my eyes.
