[Alaric]

The shower was scalding, but it couldn't wash away the phantom heat on my palm.

I stared at my hand in the steam, the skin still tingling from the moment I’d caught Reya’s wrist. It hadn't felt like touching a stranger, or even an enemy.

It felt like a homecoming I’d spent over twenty years trying to forget.

“Damn you, woman.” I whispered under breath with a bitter resentment.

I turned off the water, and wrapped a towel around me, desperate to get away from my and ...