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Whatever it is, it’s giving me goosebumps all down my arms and legs.
Ivan hands me the shirt and smiles warmly. Suddenly, he doesn’t seem so dangerous. His protective nature is showing again, and like a bear that’s decided to cuddle you in his cave rather than tearing you to shreds.
“I’ll show you how the shower works,” he says, nodding his head for me to follow.
I look down at the cotton t-shirt in my hand as I walk behind him to the bathroom. It’s big because it belongs to Ivan and would probably reach my knees. The arm holes are quite large, though, considering his massive biceps, so I don’t feel like I’d be able to lift my arms while wearing it without showing everything inside.
Maybe that was his plan all along.
It’s easy to paint Ivan with bad intentions, but the truth is that he’s acting like a gentleman in light of my aggression toward him. I pushed away a lot of people in my life, but Ivan doesn’t budge. He barely even reacts to the way I try to break his stoic demeanor.
He’s like one of those statues in the cemetery. Unmoving, yet wrought with silent emotion and important words that can never be spoken.
Ivan’s wet dress shirt sticks to his back as he leans over the edge of the shower, messing with one of the several red crystal knobs attached to the smooth black marble. He’s explaining something, but I’m hopelessly lost in the ripple of muscles in his broad back to understand him.
After a few seconds, he looks over his shoulder at me. “You got that?”
I pull my head back, blinking away my starstruck expression. “Um, yeah…”
“The left knob controls the heat, the middle one is the flow, and the right one is the cold water. Too much of any of them is going to be a problem. Just adjust them until you find a comfortable balance.”
I nod, trying to take in the meaning of what he’s saying instead of just the words. “Left, hot. Middle… cold?”
“The middle is the flow. They all turn clockwise.”
“To the right,” I clarify.
“Yes, clockwise,” he says in a condescending tone.
I scoff. “Alright, I got it. Just let me shower in peace and I promise I won’t break anything.”
“Not worried about that,” he mutters as he stands up. “Just don’t burn yourself. The hot water will cook you if you turn it far enough.”
I shrug. “I can imagine worse ways to go.”
He narrows his eyes at me before leaving the bathroom. I close the door behind him, eager to regain my privacy, but that hope evaporates when I realize there’s no lock on the door. I can’t keep him out.
I open the door and poke my head out. Ivan is sitting on the bed, thumbing through a black leather-bound book. He looks up at me like a professor in his office.
“There’s no lock,” I tell him, craning my neck to check the knob from the other side.
“Right. I don’t need one. There’s already one on the bedroom door.”
“Yes, but I need one.”
A smirk plays on his lips. “I won’t peek.”
I sigh, closing the door hard and letting out a deep sigh. I strip out of my heavy wet dress, hanging it on the door to make the handle harder to turn. I know if he wanted to come inside, it wouldn’t stop him, but it makes me feel a little better.
I wish my bra and panties weren’t so wet, but they’re just as soaked as the rest of my clothes, so I remove them and hang them with my dress. I should’ve asked for some shorts to wear under Ivan’s oversized t-shirt, but it’s too late for that now.
The shower door is clear, but I don’t mind being able to see through it. If I can see out, then I’ll know if Ivan decides to open the door and break his promise not to peek.
Would he really do such a thing? I doubt it, but I still don’t know much about him. If he really is a criminal, what’s stopping him from simply committing more crimes? Is my relation to Dimitri enough to protect me?
My safety is flimsy, at best, so I better not get too comfortable here.
I step into the shower, testing a few of the knobs until the water begins to flow. It’s not that difficult to get it to a temperature I like, since it’s very responsive. It’s not like the shower in my apartment that goes from freezing to scalding if you turn the knob more than a centimeter.
