Amber
Ezra was quiet in the car.
Amber glanced at him, noting the dazed blanked out look in his eyes. He was clearly deep within his head, stewing in his thoughts. Was he thinking about Oliver? She turned to look out from her side of the window, gazing up at the cloudy sky, dark blue and grey.
She was thankful that it had been Oliver instead of any of the younger members of the group. Oliver's reaction to her had still been somewhat oddly docile and calm. It had been nothing like what she had imagined meeting him would be like. Though she didn't know what she was expecting.
The sunny, bubbly boy was usually so loud and vibrant with his emotions on screen. She did not expect him to react like this: calm and so, so controlled. This was a side of him she'd never seen before.
She bit her lip, nibbling the flesh lightly with her teeth. He had clearly heard her rendezvous with Ezra. Judging from his reaction and words, he had assumed that they had been doing something sexual together.
She swallowed thickly at the thought. That wasn't exactly incorrect per se...They had been doing something sinful together. The sexual act was simply masked by the excuse of a 'job'. Maybe, it was mostly her lust for Ezra. She was not too sure.
She pinked, pressing her arms together to her side to huddle into herself.
God, help her. The seriousness of the situation hit her hard on her head and the bubble of fear deep within her chest tinged at the back of her throat.
It was a familiar signal of incoming tears from the stress that her mind had inflicted on her body. She wanted to cry. Her cheeks were turning redder. Oliver had heard her!
He had listened to her moans, enough to assume she had been having sex with Ezra. Enough to look that wound up. Amber licked her drying lips nervously. Her thoughts were flickering to her usually smiley soulmate. His eyes had been dark and hard, dancing with heated emotions that had radiated steadily from his stiffened framed.
He had been there at the end of it, which meant that he had heard her in her throes of pleasure. She tried to think back on what kind of sounds she had made. She tried to remember what she had said when she had been consumed within her own mind.
But her lust addled brain had been pretty uncooperative at that point in time. All she remembered was the sound of Ezra's voice and the blinding pleasure that had consumed her whole. She could not remember what the hell she had said or screamed.
Fuck.
Amber shook her head at herself. Her soulmate had caught her red-handed. Sure, he would hear that track very soon. She was pretty sure Ezra would be sharing it with his friends, but to hear it in person...
At that very moment when he had looked at her with that fierce, dark expression, Amber wanted to just die in a hole and let the floor consume her into its depths. She had wished for an earthquake, for the entire building to collapse and take her under the debris. Hell, she wanted to run and hide from Oliver.
Even Ezra.
She peeked at him from the corner of her eye. Her vision ran across his exposed arms and she took her own sweet time to admire the way his jacket sleeves were pulled up his forearms. The fabric was clinging tightly to his lean upper arm muscles.
The T-shirt he had on seemed to adhere to the curve of his chest, dipping into his muscles like a second skin. She hadn't noticed it then but now with him so close to her, she could really appreciate his physique. She blushed, turning away with a shake of her head, momentarily distracted by her man.
She was no innocent virgin. There was no pure, naive little girl living deep inside well-hidden from the rest of the world. Virgin sure, but she had been ruined by the fantastic world of fanfiction, online porn and erotica.
She was pretty well versed mentally, and probably knew most of the weirdest kinks in the world. But physically? She was new to this. Sieon's kiss had been the most she'd ever done. Ezra would have to top that.
She started to raise her fingers to her teeth, suddenly feeling the old itch to bite into her nails.
"Don't do that," Ezra spoke without looking at her as he turned the wheel. He dropped his left hand from the wheel, the shimmer of an expensive Rolex watch distracting her for a second. He took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers as he continued to drive with his eyes on the road.
This time, Amber was mentally prepared for the warmth that ensued. It was like a spoonful of salted caramel. Warm from the pan, dripping into a mug of frothy milk. It swirled within her chest, sweet and comforting. It embraced her like a warm hug, quelling the fears that spun in her chest like a growing hurricane atop the raging sea.
Ezra didn't react to her touch. He didn't jerk back in shock from the feeling of warmth. He seemed to remain unknowing of his effect on her and Amber's heart dropped a little with disappointment.
With more careful analysis, she was pretty sure that her soul bond to her men was soul melt, in which the touch of a soulmate would feel so good she would become addicted.
During normal circumstances, both soulmates should feel the same effects of this bond. If they could feel her touch, then that meant that the effects of the suppressants were reducing. If he couldn't, then it meant that her soul had yet to fully heal.
A girl could only hope that one day she would see her firefly glow and yearn for her touch because of the warmth that they shared.
He relaxed his fingers, giving her the opportunity to let go if she wanted to. Amber smirked. As if she would let go. Newsflash: She was going to hold his damn hand as long as she was allowed to. She looked away, refusing to let go of his hand, a small smile on her lips.
Even though Ezra acted a little tough and apathetic sometimes, he was secretly one of the kindest and most caring people she knew.
They held hands for the rest of the ride in comfortable silence, his fingers warm against hers as he rubbed circles into her chilled palm. His touch seemed to thaw some part within her and she relaxed into the car seat in a dazed sort of elation.
They reached her home in a matter of minutes, driving right through the cloudy weather and into a rainstorm. Icy beads of rain pelted down onto the roads like tiny crystals, covering the asphalt with a wash of steadily freezing water.
Her sight was shrouded by the heavy cloud of rain. The water obscured their surroundings and made the rays of light from the streetlamps blur into long rivers of silver, gold, and red.
Ezra parked his car, carefully donning his mask and hat. The air outside was freezing cold and Amber rubbed her fingers together as they travelled up to her home in the dingy, old elevator.
She was quick to pack her clothes, dumping in her basic necessities and the like into a small suitcase to prepare for her stay at his home. She didn't have much and her apartment was barely furnished because she didn't spend much time there except to sleep.
When she met him at the door she caught the hint of pity and pain in his eyes. The corner of his mouth was downturned as he looked at her apartment in quiet disapproval. He didn't like where she was staying. Amber knew that.
She expected this reaction, expected some form of disgust from his imagination of having to stay in her home. She didn't expect the pain that she saw in his eyes. Pain that he felt for her.
He schooled his features almost immediately when he caught her looking again, turning his expression into the usual blank neutral look. Without another word, he reached to take her luggage in his hands and stepped out quickly.
The quiet gentleman as always. Her quiet gentleman.
Amber sighed to herself, a small bitter smile on her lips. Sometimes, when she thought she was starting to understand her soulmates, they would show her a side of them that made her feel as if she were starting all over again from step one.