The Girl Who Joined the Circus

I held my chin up high, telling myself not to be cowed by the irate expression on his face. “I heard you tell Laurent that you knew it would end badly if he developed feelings for me. You reminded him that he had a duty and I was off-limits.”

Now it was Rex’s turn to flush red. “That was a private conversation.”

I huffed loudly, tightly crossing my arms over my chest which only drew his attention back to my erect nipples which were still visible through the opening of my linen shirt.

“Unless you want me to throw you down and take you right here and now, cover yourself up,” he growled. “A man has his fucking limits.”

I swallowed hard and tried to talk myself out of the bolt of desire that suddenly flowed through me. I didn’t know what to make of Rex—he was power and strength and fury all bottled up inside one man and yet, he could also be so gentle.

Focus, Bindi, I reprimanded myself as I pulled both sides of my shirt back together and tried not to wilt underneath his narrowed gaze. Even though my breasts were now safely behind the fabric, the rosebud points of my nipples pushed against the fabric and I could tell it was taking everything Rex had not to stare at them.

“Not as private as you might think it was,” I managed. “It was hard not to hear everything you were saying, but that’s beside the point.”

“Then what is the point?” he demanded, back to being surly as he forcibly lifted his gaze to my own.

“The point is that you don’t get to sneak behind Laurent’s back, your boss’s back, and do the very same thing you warned him not to do.”

“That conversation wasn’t…” Rex snarled under his breath, “… for your ears to hear.” I flinched away from him as pure anger flooded his eyes. “And what I do isn’t any of your fucking business.”

“And what I do—”

“Is my business,” he interrupted, taking a step closer to me as I swallowed hard. “You are my business, Bindi.”

“We… both know you aren’t acting in accord… with what you said to Laurent,” I managed, completely flustered because he was standing so close to me, only a few inches separated us.

“I’m well aware of that,” he spat the words at me. “I don’t need you pointing it out.”

Needing to retreat from him and the energy that radiated off him, I gathered what energy I still had, which wasn’t much, and walked across the room to snag a nearby coat. Rex’s coat, more than likely, but I didn’t care—I just needed to cover myself fully.

“You just… just keep away from me, Rex!”

I slammed the door shut behind me as I stumbled into the dark.

***

Night drifted into daytime with barely a visit from anyone.

Halfrieda and Valida stopped by our sleeping quarters to eat lunch with me, but for the most part, I was alone for the remainder of the day.

As for the twins and Robb, all I heard was they were being “dealt with.” Halfrieda and Valida speculated they might be suspended from performing, but both of them agreed that the twins’ trapeze act was too important to the circus’ bottom line for Laurent to suspend them for the rest of the tour. It seemed ridiculous to me that they’d get away with such light punishment, but without knowing for sure what was going on, my only concern was resting.

But rest was difficult. Whenever I closed my eyes, all I could see was Rex’s angry expression and the way he kept darting glances at my breasts. And all I could taste was his tongue in my mouth and I kept revisiting the feel of his hands all over me.

When I finally felt better and my chills were gone, I decided to get out and walk around. The Cirque was completely set up, but eerily empty. Halfrieda had mentioned something about the troupe members going into town to drum up business for the night’s performance. Apparently, a small population like this one really didn’t pull in big crowds—so I was left to my own devices, free to explore wherever I wished without any consequences.

And, of course, there was only one place that drew my curiosity.

The ebony caravan!

Gripping Rex’s coat closer around me, I couldn’t help but inhale deeply and grew heady on his scent which was a mixture of hearty spice, dirt of the earth and man. Pushing thoughts of Rex and Laurent from my mind, I started toward the now-familiar black trailer, wondering if it would hold the same, spooky sensation in the daytime.

Night had a way of making ordinary circumstances frightening, so I hoped my exploration in the daylight would prove fruitful and perhaps shed some light on some of the questions I’d had about the place earlier.

With a quick glance around, I picked the lock and made my way past the door and oddities, being careful not to disturb the occupants. The Menagerie was a bit livelier than usual. Animals shuffled around their cages, staring at me when I hurried past. Briefly, I stopped to see the strange, horned rabbits. One in particular came running over, stretching toward me and putting its tiny paws on the side of its enclosure.

I almost reached out to scoop the little rabbit up to show Halfrieda proof that we were here before. But I stopped myself, reminding myself that the reason I was here wasn’t to convince Halfrieda of our previous trip. Pulling my hand back, I proceeded through the labyrinth-like building.

Finally, I stumbled into the door of the room I was most interested in—The Dark Room and strangely, it wasn’t locked, so I cautiously entered. The daylight seemed to shift the nightmare-scape into something far more natural-looking and almost inviting. If not for the creepy dolls and posters, I might have found the place pleasant.