#Chapter 7: Clarity and Chaos

Richard As soon as the door clicked shut behind Amelia, the room felt wrong. Empty. Too quiet. But she hadn’t truly left. Her presence still clung to everything—the dip in the mattress where she’d slept, the pillow her head had rested on, and worst of all, the place on my chest where she’d collapsed against me like it was the most natural thing in the world. Her scent still clung to my skin: lily of the valley and jasmine. Light, but intoxicating. I let out a breath and stripped off my cool silk pajama pants before stepping into the shower. The hot water only made things worse. The scent of her deepened in the heat, saturating the steam until it felt like she was in there with me, naked, slick against my skin. My stomach tightened, lower and lower, blood rushing south until I was painfully hard. I braced both hands on the tile wall, groaning, and turned the water ice-cold in a desperate attempt to get control of myself. Of course, that’s when Storm decided to speak up. So y