Shadow's Awakening: The Shadow Warder Series, Book One (An Urban Fantasy Romance Series) by Molle McGregor Page B

couldn’t be as good as this shower felt. No one had installed a water-saving showerhead and the pressure was blessedly high. The drops came out like bullets, scouring her tender skin. Exactly what she wanted. Hannah drenched a washcloth in the mango-scented body wash and scrubbed every inch of her body. She tried to be gentle where she was bruised, but the fresh, sweet scent of the soap and the smooth slide of the lather was so good she couldn’t help rubbing it in over and over.
    It took longer than she’d planned, but Hannah finally felt clean. She turned her attention to her hair. Past the middle of her back, it was tangled, filthy, and badly in need of a cut. Hannah couldn’t do anything about the last, but she was as generous with the shampoo as she had been with the body wash and scrubbed away. Wash, rinse, repeat. Three times. Then a healthy dose of conditioner. Working out the tangles was time-consuming. Again, Hannah wished she could cut it. But she hadn’t thought to ask Conner for scissors. It was for the best. No one who cut their own hair ever ended up with a decent haircut.
    A few minutes with the razor and Hannah felt like a human being again. The body lotion and brand new clothes turned her into a princess. It was funny how the simplest things were an almost unbearable luxury when your life had been stripped to nothing. A clean body, new clothes, the promise of a meal and best yet, the possibility that she wasn’t going to be hurt any time in the near future. Behind her eyes, she felt a prickle. She squeezed them shut, refusing to cry again.
    Tears were weakness. Conner had gone to a lot of trouble to get her to a safe place and make her comfortable. Maybe he was truly a good guy. Maybe he’d saved her because it was the right thing to do. Experience had taught her that the truth was probably more complicated. He knew too much about what had happened to her and she knew too little. Until she got a better handle on what was going on, Hannah wasn’t prepared to assume Conner had her best interests at heart. She didn’t know who he really was. According to Conner, she didn’t even know who she was. While she didn’t want to think that was true, that under his sweet protectiveness Conner might be plotting to use and hurt her just as Glenn had, Hannah had to leave the possibility open. She didn’t know anything concrete about her current situation, except that she was free, her mind was clear, and if the smells seeping beneath the door were any sign, she was about to eat something better than peanut butter and jelly for the first time in months. Moisture flooded her mouth. Her earlier objections to soup seemed stupid, especially if it tasted as good as it smelled. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Hannah opened the door and stepped out of the room.

Chapter Six
    A fire crackled in the big stone fireplace, sending light flickering over the warm pine walls. Conner stood facing the stove, a white towel in his hand. The sight of the broad-shouldered man engaged in such a domestic task disarmed her. A timer dinged. Conner opened the stove and used the towel to pull out a pan of golden-topped biscuits. How long had it been since she’d smelled freshly baked biscuits? Hannah swallowed hard and started forward.
    “Anything I can do to help?” she asked.
    Conner turned from the stove and started to smile. His expression froze. Hannah shifted beneath his gaze as he continued to stare. Her face heated. She hadn’t been around normal people for a while. Had she forgotten anything? Missed a button? She hadn’t eaten yet, so there couldn’t be anything stuck in her teeth.
    “Is something wrong?” she asked in a small voice.
    “No,” Conner said, cheeks flushing to match hers. “No, sorry. You just surprised me. A lot of your bruises have already started to fade. You look a lot—” He paused. “Better. You look a lot better.”
    “Oh, okay,” Hannah said. She hadn’t looked in the mirror while