"Enjoy." She threw a tight smile.
She turned to head back to the bar when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her onto the lap of one of the rowdy men.
"I'll enjoy it much better if you sit with me while I drink," he said.
Stunned, Elle couldn't move; like when Thadren put his hand on her thigh, and her brain froze. All the lessons with Val, teaching her to fight and trying to harness her gift, and there she sat, unable to think straight, with the exception of her magic, which flared inside her in defense.
"I would enjoy that too," said another guy at the table.
"What about me?" said a third male. "I don't mind being third."
Every fiber of Elle's body went rigid. Val finished pouring a beer and spotted her. Her jaw tightened, and she hopped over the bar in one swift movement, but she was too slow.
A blur of black leather appeared in front of Elle, and before she processed what had happened, she stood behind Thor, and he had the man's face smashed into the table-top, arm wrenched behind him.
"Whoa!" The guy's buddies at the table backed up.
Thor turned to Elle. "Did he ask permission to touch you?"
Elle hugged her tray close to her chest and shook her head. Thor's eyes flashed white with lightning, and he turned back to the whimpering man with his cheek jammed into a plate of fries.
"What gives you the right to touch a woman without her permission?"
"I... I... was only playing."
"Playing?" Thor grabbed the back of the man's head and whipped it up so the man looked at Elle. "Does she look like she thought it was funny?"
Elle's gaze dropped at the sight of fries and ketchup stuck to the side of the man's head.
"N...no," the man stammered.
"Apologize," Thor demanded.
"I'm sorry," the man muttered.
Thor wrenched his arm further behind his back, and the man cried out. "I don't think she heard you."
"I'm sorry," the guy said louder.
"He's sorry," said another guy. "We all are."
Elle lifted her eyes. "Thor, it's okay."
He studied her, conflicted for a moment, and then dropped the guy back on the table before going to her and grasping her arm.
Behind him, her table of drunk troublemakers rushed from the bar, leaving a substantial tip behind.
"It's not okay, Elle,” Thor said. “No one should ever touch you without your permission." He searched her face, making sure she understood.
Her fingers twitched, and her gut twisted as the desire to run surfaced quicker than it had in weeks.
"Even you?" she asked, knowing he'd touched her several times already without asking.
He dropped his hand, making her skin cool. "Even me. I apologize."
She wanted to tell him it was okay, but she didn't think he would like that answer.
"Why don't you put your tray up, and we can go?"
