The bedroom air hung heavy, thick with the cloying scent of musk, spent seed, and the metallic tang of sweat. Sunlight filtered through the heavy velvet curtains in dusty gold slats, illuminating the wreckage of the previous night. Rose lay pinned beneath the suffocating warmth of the duvet, her body a map of beautiful violence. Every muscle thrummed with a dull, pulsing ache. Her thighs felt heavy, trembling with a lingering exhaustion that anchored her to the mattress.