When I did open my eyes, it was to a brightly tiled wall. I felt wonderful: weightless with the after-echoes of pleasure. Even the memory of it made me catch my breath. I took a few moments to collect myself, gathering my senses. I was still naked but immersed in warm bathwater in a high-walled, antique bathtub. An old-fashioned light fixture glowed softly on the ceiling, reflected gently in the mirror over the bronze sink, giving the bathroom a clean, golden gleam that made me feel sleepily safe. There was something wrapped around my wrist and around my throat. I lifted my wrist out of the water and looked at it, bemused. A bandage. It was the expensive, blue plasticky kind, waterproof.
I leaned my head back, slipping my hair into the warm water, and felt a stinging ache at my throat. I
