The Binding

Chapter Two

I wrapped my arms around my knees. I shuddered as I remembered a steel-like arm pressing against me, digging into my throat as something cold and hard jabbed into my back. His legs pushing between mine, his erection plowing hard against my thigh, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I could feel the air choking away from me and started shaking deep inside. Who was he? Why?

I don't know how long I sat on the bathroom floor. It must have been a while because my legs were beginning to feel stiff, and I was getting cold. I groaned as I extended my legs. The movement made the gash in my side smart with pain for an instant. I pulled myself up and stood with my hands resting against the stall walls, steeling myself before heading back out.

As I walked back to the table, Leif grinned up at me, "Ah, Her Loveliness returns." Ezra frowned down at the table.

I huffed, annoyed. I didn't quite feel like responding to his remark. I looked at the chair. I didn't want to sit either. All I wanted was to crawl into bed.

"You're exhausted," Ezra said as if he was reading my mind. "Maybe you should go home, sleep for a while."

"God, yes," I replied weakly and sighed.

Leif nodded. "Give me your phone." I blinked at him then pulled out my phone from my pocket. He took it and punched in a number. "Call if you need anything. You're young, and chances are... you will."

"Where's your car?" Ezra asked as he bent to pick up my bag from beneath the table.

"I didn't drive. I took the streetcar." They glanced at each other. "It's fine, it's still running."

Ezra shook his head. "I'll drive you." Leif shot him a quick look but said nothing. "If I don't, you might drop from exhaustion before you get home."

It had been an unusually warm day for early March, but dark clouds began threatening in the sky. It was going to rain soon. I had planned on being home much earlier and foolishly didn't bring my jacket with me. The idea of riding home in a warm car rather than standing on a cold platform was appealing. A warning about getting in a car with a strange man tingled in the back of my mind. I was making all sorts of unsound decisions that would likely lead to my body washing up in a canal somewhere tomorrow.

I nodded in acquiescence, grabbing my keys with the pepper spray keychain and tucking them into my pocket. "Thank you." He hoisted my bag onto his shoulder before walking me outside. Leif sat back in his seat and watched us leave.

Once outside, Ezra led me around the corner to a black Land Rover. After opening the door for me, he tossed my bag onto the back seat. I held my fingers up to the heater as he started the car. The warm air felt delicious against my icy skin.

"Where to?" he asked as he pulled out into the street.

"Northwest. Near Wallace Park." I'd been living in Portland for less than a year and was still getting to know the neighborhoods. I'd moved there nine months before when a friend offered to let me sublet her place for a month. After the month was over, I'd decided to stay.

As my hands slowly warmed, the skin along my arms tingled slightly. Invisible needles traveled up to my shoulders and onto my torso as the hairs along my skin stood up. I could smell the faint odor of ozone in the air. Something about it felt familiar, almost pleasant. I looked over at Ezra. He didn't seem to notice the smell. My eyes caught a sign for a creamery, and I tracked it with my eyes until it disappeared in the distance. Ice cream sounded good. Suddenly I felt embarrassed. My mind was racing from one bizarre topic to the next.

"Where are you from?" I asked him, suddenly realizing in the last couple hours, I'd learned almost nothing about either of them.

"What?" he asked, glancing at me, his expression inscrutable.