Chapter 13 Did You Like My Solo Performance?

• As my eyelids parted like heavy blocks of iron, the first thing that struck my skin was the familiar, heavy smell of tobacco and forest that permeated the room. The traces of that hell, which had begun in the back seat of that armored car last night and ignited into an unending fire on that wild forest road, remained like seals etched into my soul.
• We had fallen asleep in bed. But I found myself not in the wretched, blood-soaked, and sweat-soaked state I remembered, but with a radiant, cleansed complexion. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up in bed and noticed a slight coolness still emanating from my scalp; I had been bathed. My tattered, torn wedding dress was gone, replaced by a luxurious, soft, sleeveless silk nightgown that clung to my skin like a second.
• I was in Xandros's enormous bed. His scent was so ingrained in the pillowcase that my lungs filled completely with it as I breathed. Although sleepiness enveloped my mind like a misty veil, the deep ache in my body and the sweet, intoxicating residue of yesterday's lovemaking remained.