Read Bind Our Loving Souls for Free Online

weakly around the room.
    The man from the painting held his hands
behind his back as he came closer, forcing me and my suitcase to
move forward when he reached behind me to close the door
effortlessly. Then he walked slowly around as he studied me.
    Enock and I stared at each other, but he made
no move to come closer, making me feel even worse.
    The man circling me stopped to stand right in
front of me, his eyes flashing blue for an instant and a hint of
pointed fangs peeking out from behind his lips. “Thank you for
coming on such short notice, Sarafina. I am Paul Halvandor, the
master of this house.” He held out a hand to me, so I gave him
mine, holding his gaze as he kissed it. A familiar tingling
lingered on my skin as it left his, and the way he was watching me
made me extremely nervous.
    “Um, thank you for having me, M-Mister
Halvandor.”
    “Ah, call me Paul, my dear,” he smiled,
stepping closer to me and dropping his voice to an unsettling hissy
whisper. “But never in the presence of Mistress Demora. When she is
present, you must always refer to me as Master Halvandor.”
    Was that his wife? Was this some sort of
inappropriate exchange? He was kind of gawking at me.
    I looked past him to Enock, wanting him to do
something. He was watching us with his lip curled and his eyes
glowing with a faint hint of red in them. I raised my eyebrows in
silent pleading. Most of the other men were already speaking
quietly to one another, not paying us any attention, but Enock
began moving closer to us.
    “Allow me to show her to her room,” he
said.
    “That will not be necessary,” Paul said. “I
was just about to escort her there myself.”
    “No need.” Enock came to take my suitcase,
placing his hand over mine, an indirect but very clear message,
judging by the way Paul raised an eyebrow and looked so intently at
him. “I’m heading toward the kitchen for a bit of something to eat
anyway.”
    Paul took in a deep breath and let a burst of
heat escape as he exhaled. His voice rose and he turned halfway to
the rest of the men. “Very well. Kristoffer, please walk Sarafina
to her room with Enock.”
    “It’s Sara,” I said timidly.
    “I do not need assistance,” Enock said, doing
a poor job of hiding his annoyance.
    “Oh, yes,” Paul said, his eyebrow raised
condescendingly now, “I’m afraid you do.”
    A man with a reddish-brown ponytail and amber
eyes came to stand beside Enock, who turned and began walking
toward the door between the sofas on the right side of the room. I
pulled my hand away from my suitcase and left Enock in charge of
pulling it along, following closely behind him with Kristoffer just
behind me.
    We entered a hallway with four doors on each
side and one facing us at the very end. Every single door was just
as immense as the other ones. Two long candlesticks with burning
candles in them sat on little tables in each corner of the
walkway.
    Enock picked up one of the candlesticks
beside us before he and Kristoffer led me to the last door on the
right, which he opened with ease, even though it looked like it
weighed a ton. “This will be your room while you are staying here,”
he said, standing in the doorway.
    “It’s...huge...and beautiful,” I stammered,
walking in and looking around. A fireplace already filled with
burning wood warmed the room, crowned with a hearth that had dozens
of beautiful little crystal animals on it. A giant vanity covered
with old perfume bottles rested against the peeling blue wall
beside an equally giant bed with way too many pillows on top. The
corner of the room to the left of my bed was built outward instead
of inward—like there might be a bathroom behind it! My own bathroom!
    What about running water?
I was
pretty sure you needed electricity for that. It could wait, though,
because I really wanted to talk to Enock.
    But when I turned back toward the door, now
closed, Kristoffer was standing nearly against me. Gripping my
shoulders, his eyes blazed