Chapter 104 The Healing

• The water cascaded over them in steady waves, soft yet relentless, steam rising like mist around their bodies. It blurred the edges of the world until there was nothing beyond the tiled walls, nothing but the heartbeat of two broken souls clinging to each other beneath the downpour.
• Darren’s hands trembled where they rested against Nina’s waist, his breath mixing with hers, their kiss deepening not in hunger but in need. There was no urgency, no chaos, only reverence. Each touch was a quiet vow: of comfort, of understanding, of something neither of them had believed they were still capable of feeling under Horace’s shadow.
• When Darren finally pulled back, his forehead rested against hers again. His voice was low, cracked, almost breaking. “I don’t deserve this… I don’t deserve you.”