Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 7

and by extension, Feral, just knew when it was time for a visit.
    Or maybe Feral was only controlling Levi and everyone else simply executed his orders.
    Any and all could be true. It didn't much matter.
    The black car stopped. Out of habit, Levi offered the man a tip and received a sneer for his trouble.
    Levi let himself out of the car and looked up at the old familiar building. In daylight it should've been green and red with strange markings that were Hindi? Kanji? Cyrillic? They could've been in Aramaic for all Levi knew.
    Every night when he was summoned, he tried to catch the address, tried to recall the building. But he could never find it on his own.
    Fat, warm droplets of rain pounded his head and spilled like runny eggs down his face and the back of his neck. He ran forward to the imposing red door. It opened for him as it always did, like it was left unlocked. On a street where even demons feared to tread, leaving an unlocked door was unthinkable. Yet once Levi was inside, he felt no fear.
    There were no other residents in the building other than a few rats that clicked and skittered between the walls. Feral lived on the fifth floor regardless.
    Patchouli wafted down the stairs as Levi walked up to meet the source. The scent reminded him of the first time he'd met Feral.
    Levi was at one of those tiresome clubs that his friends always dragged him to. They well knew that he was gay and yet carried on as if he were supposed find something charming in their misogyny and mistreatment of women. In their minds being gay meant that he should hate women. There was a big difference between a lack of sexual interest and hate, but that was too fine a line for coked-up bond traders to make.
    He went along for the free drinks, free drugs, and free blowjobs they all eventually wound up giving him. All-in-all it had seemed satisfying enough. Until that night.
    In spite of his long, platinum blond hair and almost unnatural thinness and height, Feral somehow managed to occupy the shadows. Such ethereal beauty seemed more likely to be a ghost or a hallucination, but before long Feral focused on him.
    His eyes were black like they were all pupil. He wore long, dark purple robes that night and smiled curiously when Levi sat beside him at the dark corner of the bar.
    Somehow Feral's low, whispery voice penetrated the shouted conversations and booming bass of the club. Smoke wreathed him in a halo. Even now Levi couldn't remember agreeing to leave and yet he'd found himself here in this mysterious building, being led by the hand to the top floor.
    The boards creaked under Levi's feet, bringing him back to the present. All the doors in the building were closed save one. Light flickered, unsteady and warm.
    Before him on the ground were a cushion, a small basket filled with untreated hemp rope, and a single candle.
    Feral never gave orders. He never gave ultimatums. He simply laid a task out for Levi to complete.
    Levi removed his raincoat and a suit that probably could've paid for the entirety of the rundown building. He folded his clothes in a neat pile, leaving him completely naked but for the marks that Feral had left on his skin. Each came with a story, a permanent commemoration of the night that they had spent together. Levi traced the beautiful illustrations, the Sanskrit on his breast, the eagle below it.
    The tiger on his right arm represented Feral. The stripes seemed to waver whenever Levi brooded on him. The eagle was meant to represent Levi. They were both in attack poses, but Feral said that they were not to fight one another, but themselves.
    Taking a length of rope, Levi held it taut and brought it to the flame. Hemp rope naturally came with wisps and prickly pieces of twine that would not remain in place. The flame bit and burned them away. Levi rolled them slowly, running his fingers over the core to stop the burn and to ensure that the rope was smooth.
    When Feral had first tied him, Levi protested that he should have silk ropes. Feral did not flinch or apologize. He simply dug out a length of silk rope. Holding it tight between two hands, he ran it quickly across Levi's bicep. The swift movement of the rope burned enough to make Levi hiss.
    After dropping the silk rope, Feral picked up the rope he'd started with and did the same to Levi's other bicep. That rope felt silky as it brushed over his skin in the way he'd imagined silk would. Feral kissed him, tasting of cloves and red wine. "That is why, my love. I