Tiger. Stripes

"Don't cry."

Startled, I jump and gawk at Leon, dark monolod eyes stare at me intently. He's never uttered a word to me and quite frankly, I was terrified of him. And it wasn't because he was riddled with an ink sleve running up his right arm or the fact that he has lip, ear, and eyebrow piercings, or was very tall and muscular. It was because his eyes were so intense they made my heart skip a beat, and it genuinely scared me.

He squats down a little to look at me, uses his thumb to swipe a tear from my cheek. I flinched only because it felt wrong to have him do such an intimate thing when I don't even know him like that. I also flinched because his touch lit my skin on fire.

"They shouldn't have said those things." He says slowly. I noted his voice was soft, quite, and deep with his slight accent. "They're not used to a woman's body apparently. They don't know how to approch you. You intimidate them."

"Me?" A frown makes it's way to my face.

"Yes.."

He gently took my small hand into his own and pulled me up to my feet; it was then his eyes wonder down my body, with a look I couldn't quite decipher, but it gave me chills.

"If I were to have you, I'd worship your body and make you realize how beautiful you were until it was branded in your head. Until one day, you look in the mirror and see what I see."

My eyes widened in disbelief.

We started at each other for what seemed like forever until he let go of my hands and walked out of the class.