Kaia emerged from the royal bathing chamber looking like a boiled lobster and feeling like a woman who had just survived a very localized, highly targeted earthquake.
She unlocked the heavy oak door and stepped into the suite, her wet hair wrapped in a towel, her skin radiating a heat that had absolutely nothing to do with the temperature of the water.
Victoria was sitting on the velvet settee, tapping a silver teaspoon against a porcelain saucer.
"You were in there for an hour," Victoria noted, her icy blue eyes snapping to Kaia. "And I distinctly heard a splash. Are you bathing, Kaia, or practicing synchronized swimming?"
"I fell asleep," Kaia lied smoothly, clutching her thick terrycloth robe tightly around her chest. "The lavender oil was very... sedative."
