Binding 13

Shocked, I watched as he tossed my bag on the ground alongside his before lowering the zipper on his designer looking jacket and shrugging it off.

"Wh-what are you doing?" I strangled out, teeth chattering from the cold.

"What do you think I'm doing?" he countered as he reached behind me and placed the hood of his jacket on my head and wrapped it around my shoulders. "You're getting soaked out here."

"But you won't have a jacket," I blurted out.

"But you will," he shot back. "Now, are you going to put your arms in the sleeves, or am I going to have to do it for you?"

When I failed to assist him, quite frankly I was too stu

He pulled the hood forward, covering my hair from the rain, and then reached down and grabbed both of our bags.

"Now," he said, nodding his approval, as he tossed a bag over either shoulder. "Let's go. I'm taking you home. Ma's probably waiting down by the gates."

"Your mother?" I squeezed out.

"Yes," he replied. "My car's in the garage for a service."

"But I don’t know your mother," I blurted out. I tried to flail my arms out for em, but the zipped jacket gave me little room to do so.

"You know me," was his response.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but Joh

"Move your legs, Sha

I was so gobsmacked by his actions that I did exactly what Joh

I moved my legs.

Hurrying after him, I weaved around the rain puddles and cracks in the pavement.

It was hard enough to keep up with him in my two-inch heels, and damn near impossible to keep my balance with my arms trapped to my sides.

"Crap," I squeaked when I miscalculated a jump and landed in the freezing puddle.

It wasn’t a regular puddle either.

No, this was an Irish puddle, consisting of a good five inches of muddy, sludgy, ice-cold rain water.

Immediately, the water began to fill my shoes, making it unbearable to walk.

Hopping on one foot, I wrestled an arm out beneath the jacket and pulled off my shoe.

Tipping it upside down, I watched in dismay as a slosh of water spilled out.

My poor sock was drenched through.

My calves were specked with leaves and brown slush.

I groaned in dismay as I slipped my foot back into my shoe, then proceeded to empty the other shoe.

"What are you doing?" Joh

"There's water in my shoe," I called back, while muttering a string of curse words all directed at the Irish weather. "I can't walk in them like this. Just give me a sec– whoa…"

My shoe slipped from my grasp and I lunged for it.

Bad idea considering I was balancing on one foot and my arms were trapped.

Feeling like a noodle, I managed to snag my shoe mid-air, only to lose it again when I couldn’t find my footing.

My shoe flew out of my hand and I flailed backwards, trying and failing to keep myself upright.

Knowing it was a lost cause, I gave up the battle and braced my body for the impact I was sure to feel.

I fell backwards, my ass grazing the concrete for the briefest moment, before I was heaved back up.

With one hand fisted in the front of the jacket I was wearing, Joh

It wasn’t.

I weighed six stone three pounds, but you wouldn’t have guessed it by the way he dangled me from one arm.

"Nice catch," I finally breathed, looking up at his face with a mixture of shock and admiration, as he held my entire body up with one hand.

His lips twitched. "Thanks."

"Well, you're definitely better at catching than throwing."

Smirking, Joh

"Better?" he asked, his hands settling on the slight curves of my waist.

Not really because I could feel the heat of his hands on my body, and even though a full layer of clothes separated his touch from my flesh, I still felt it all the way down to my toes.

This was bad.

This was so not good.

Red-faced and blushing, I latched onto his forearms, balancing on my one sheathed foot, and blurted out the only thing I could think of in this moment, "I don’t want to get beaten up."

His hands tightened on my waist as he stared down at my face. "Who would beat you up?"

"Your girlfriend."

"I don’t have a girlfriend," he replied slowly, wariness and confusion etched on his face. "You know this."

"Bella."

"Did she say something to you?" Joh

I shook my head.

He cocked a brow. No?"

"No," I confirmed quietly.

"You're sure she hasn’t said anything to you?" he probed.

"I'm sure," I replied. "But I don’t want to give her a reason to."

Joh

"Yeah, well, a couple of the girls in my class were saying that you had a –"

"You were talking about me?" he interrupted, a hard edge to his tone. "With them?"

"No." I shook my head. "They were talking about you. To me."

Joh

"Yes." I nodded. "A big one." I swallowed deeply and shook my head. "Listen, Joh

There was a long pause of silence where neither of us spoke.

"You think I'd let anyone hurt you?" Joh

I stared up at him, unsure of what to say and uncertain of my feelings.

When I didn’t respond, Joh

"Because I won't," he answered his own question by saying. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you," he added, blue eyes dark and locked on mine. "Because I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, okay?"

I nodded uncertainly. "Okay?"

He watched me carefully, eyes heated and locked on mine. "Do you believe me?"

"I want to," I breathed as my fingers dug into the hard plains of his shoulders –my body's helpless reaction to his words.

God, I want to…

"Good," he replied gruffly, stepping closer, hands tightening on my waistline. "I want that, too."

A strange heaviness settled over us then as the never-ending cycle of rain continued to pelt down.

Like a pressured sensation.

Like the air had grown thin around us.

He was staring down at me, looking both a

It was a confusing look.

I didn’t know what to make of it.

A huge, black Range Rover SUV pulled up alongside us then, breaking the weird tension, and saving me from blurting out something dangerous.