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“And the tattoo on your back?” She’s looking up at me, her cute little face upturned, eyes bright. “An ax.”
“Yeah… Had it done last year. It was… from a book I was reading.”
A lie. I can’t quite remember why I had it done. In fact… I keep forgetting I have that ink. I keep forgetting what made me get it.A shivery feeling climbs up my back and I try to ignore it.
“It looks a bit like Mercury’s staff.”
“Hm… Sorry?” I glance down at her, frowning. “Staff?”
“Yeah, you know. It had two wings at the top. Looks a bit like a double ax. Did you know Mercury is also the God of the Dead?”
“Uh. Wasn’t it Hades or something?”
“But Mercury led the souls across the river of Lethe to the Underworld. He guards boundaries between worlds.”
I shiver again. Goddammit. What’s wrong with me?
“Once I thought…”
“You thought what?”
“That I’d study to be a historian. Or archaeologist. Visit Italy, walk in the Coliseum, map the temples and ancient towns.”
“And what happened?” I’m still struggling to get my breathing under control.
She doesn’t reply right away, her eyes back on the screen. “Well,” she finally whispers, “Mom left, Dad had a breakdown, and then Sophie had a huge fight with her boyfriend and left for parts unknown for a while.”
Distracted by her story, I kiss the top of her head and squeeze her. “I’m sorry, Cos.”
“I dropped out of school, followed Lin, got a job, and forgot all about that. It was a stupid dream anyway.”
“It doesn’t sound stupid to me. You said you got your GED. So what stops you from studying history now?”
“My sister needs me. I can’t commit to anything until she’s in a better place.”
Commit to her studies, or to me?
It doesn’t matter. This need to protect her sister, her family, is something I get, one hundred percent. “You know I’m here if you need help with anything, and not just the cat, right?”
She sits up and tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear where a small golden stud glints. “You really mean it, don’t you?”
“I mean everything I say to you, girl. I hope you’ll trust me one day.”
She does that thing where she bites her lower lip, and predictably I start getting hard. My gaze drops to the swell of her tits and I have to take some deep breaths to keep from tackling her to the mattress.
“God, you’re cute,” she breathes.
I bare my teeth. “I’m not cute. Girls are cute.”
“Ruggedly handsome, then.”
“That’ll do.”
“You’re like no one I’ve ever met before,” she whispers.
Let’s hope that’s a good thing.
JC wanders into the kitchen a few days later, looking like something the cat dragged in.
