Vanessa's POV

The steam from her bath curled through the air, faintly scented with chamomile and some cloves. Vanessa rested her head against the porcelain edge, one hand gliding slowly across the swell of her belly. The water was warm, almost too warm, the kind that made her skin flush and her muscles melt. She had read somewhere that it helped the body “prepare,” though she long stopped caring whether the methods she tried were safe or not. Everything she did now was precise, ...