“Just prop me against the counter in the bathroom. If you could help me get the water started, I can do the rest.”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer a bath? What if you fall?” he asked.
She smiled a little at the change in him now that she’d been accepted by his alpha. Gone was the hostile, growly wolf, and now he was being considerate. It seemed she’d been right in her assumption his treatment of her had only been due to her status as a dark fae, and one of his enemies. And she couldn’t fault him for that.
“If I take a bath, the water will be filthy the moment I sit down.”
Vaughn sighed but started the shower, testing the water with his hand. He gave her a long look before stepping out of the bathroom and pulling the door shut. Tulip looked at her reflection and winced. Her hair lay in greasy strands, with bits of debris from the dungeons clinging to them. Was that…she reached out and plucked out a mouse bone and shivered.
She removed her dress and let it fall to the floor. It would probably need to be burned it smelled so bad. Then holding tightly on to the wall, she stepped into the shower and sighed as the warm water drenched her. Looking down, she saw the dirt running off her body and swirling down the drain, and she wondered just how much soap she’d have to use before she felt clean again.
A tear slipped down her cheek. She was safe, at least for the moment. Tulip washed her body and scrubbed her hair three times before lying down in the bottom of the shower, just letting the water pelt her. It was soothing and lulled her to sleep, her eyes sliding closed as her body lay cocooned in the warm spray and puffs of steam that rose around her.
