She gathered her hair up slowly, let it fall in a controlled cascade over one shoulder. The motion exposed the line of her neck, the shadow beneath her collarbone. Her lips curved again as she tilted her head, watching how shadows played across the hollow of her throat.

A shift of weight onto one leg caused the dress’s hidden slit to reveal itself, a glimpse of toned thigh appearing and disappearing like a skilled magician’s illusion. Her reflection moved with liquid grace as she tried different poses - a subtle turn of her hips, an elegant extension of her neck. Each small adjustment built upon the last, compounding in the glass until she went still.

She couldn’t help a little bounce, watching the fabric ripple and settle. A quiet laugh escaped… the kind that required an empty room. Her eyes caught her own in the mirror, held there a moment too long, before she smoothed the silk at her hip and returned to stillness.