Infallible

Chapter 4

Rae was sleeping deeply when she felt a large hand grip her shoulder tightly. Startled, she balled her hand into a fist and jerked to a sitting position.
"Shh! Rae, it's me." Eric whispered, trying to not wake any of the other initiates up. He clapped one hand to her mouth, while his other hand closed around her fist and held it tight against his chest. "Rae!" He hisses again, closer to her ear. "You need to be in the training room in thirty minutes. Do not be late. Understand me?"
Rae nodded, relaxing a little and he let her go. He got up and walked up the steps and out of the room, leaving her to shower and get dressed in a new sports bra and a pair of loose capri pants. She grabbed a pair of black shoes and a black zip hoodie before sneaking out of the dorm as well.
Once in the hallway, she put on her shoes and jacket. She jogged first to the cafeteria, hoping to at least grab a cup of coffee before she had to begin....whatever it was that Eric had in store for her. It was deserted, and the doors to the kitchens closed, not yet open.
Damn, She thought to herself. I'll have to remember to grab an extra snack at dinner to have for the morning.
She ran to the training room, hoping to get there a little early. She was both excited and nervous to spend the morning training with Eric. She couldn't stop thinking about last night. Why had he kissed her? He didn't seem like he even liked her...except perhaps the one compliment he'd given her after her fight. If you could even consider that a compliment that is.
Upon entering the training room, on a table next to the office she saw a piece of toast, a banana, and a cup of coffee. She walked hesitantly in that direction, only to stop short when Eric walked out of the office, holding his own cup of coffee. He didn't say anything to her, instead he leaned against the door frame and sipped his coffee.
"That for me?" Rae forced herself to ask, unable to bear the awkward silence and the way he looked at her. He simply nodded. "Thank you."
Rae sat on the edge of the table and ate quickly, while Eric sipped his coffee and shuffled through some papers on the office desk. Once she had finished, Eric cleared his throat.
"Follow me."
He threw his cup into the trash and turned on his heel. As he exited the training room, Rae had to jog to keep up with his long strides. He led her across the pit, and she was too busy trying to tame her waist length black hair back into a messy bun to notice where they were going. After a few minutes she found herself on the rooftop, the screeching of the train growing close. She looked up at a rather mischievous-looking Eric, anxiously following suit as he began to run along side the train. He hopped up and disappeared inside. Running out of rooftop, Rae jumped up and caught the handle successfully. Swinging herself easily in to the car Eric had entered, she felt a smug relief for only a moment before his large hands push her back out.
The world spun as she lost her footing. Before she could register what had happened, Eric grasped one of her wrists. He held her tightly just outside the train car, her legs flying wildly behind her. Rae screamed, but it was lost to the noise of the train bustling down the track.
"Hold still." Eric ordered, still holding tightly to her wrist with one hand as he held fast to the side of the train with the other. Rae finally looked into his eyes, more panicked that she had ever felt in her life.
"Eric, please- don't drop me-"
"I won't if you hold still." He cut her off. He seemed completely relaxed, and Rae forced herself to breathe out, then in, and out again. His grip on her wrist was so tight that it hurt, yet she was terrified he might let go.
"Now that I've got your attention, Auraelia," he said smugly, bringing his face as close to hers as possible. "Let me tell you a few things. First: I don't do well with people who make a fool of me. Your little stunt on the roof, and then again last night, will earn you a one way ticket to my Shit List. Second: I am not a kind person. I'm not like the tree-worshiping Pansycakes that you grew up with. It's just not who I am, and you'd do well do understand that here and now. And third:-" he said through gritted teeth as yanked her upward, letting her toes find the edge of the car's platform. "I've wanted to kiss that smartass fucking mouth of yours since the second you got here. Now that you don't taste like vodka, I'd like to give it another try."
  Lifting her effortlessly back into the car, he pulled her into his arms. She wrapped her legs around him involuntarily, her hands clutching handfuls of his dark shirt. Her eyes squeezed shut, breathing out heavily in relief. Eric didn't hesitate in bringing his left hand to her face, tilting it upward, and kissing her deeply. Rae didn't object. She relaxed as he pressed his other hand firmly into the small of her back, pulling her closer. Her hands slowly released their vice-like grip on his shirt and traveled upward to rest on the back of his heavily tattooed neck.
This isn't happening. She told herself, as his tongue claimed hers and sent an electricity through her core. He kissed her again before biting down on her lip. A moan escaped Rae's mouth and she leaned her head back. Eric took the chance to kiss and bite along her jawline, down her neck, and along her collar bone. He moved his hand from the side of her face and reached under her jacket, stroking the bare skin of her torso. After a moment his fingernails dug lightly into the flesh of her lower back, and she gasped.