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Why does this keep happening with him?
“Tell me, baby girl.”
Fuck.
“Itiscliché.” I see heat fill his eyes and give into his demand. “We came to the city when I was five. My mom had the idea that I would be a good actress, like so many parents of overactive kids do.”
He eyes me. His look is a warning to not continue to minimize my pain.
“I was always pretending,” I explain, “dressing up and stuff. Talking to adults didn’t scare me in the way it did most kids. I did commercials for a while, then got a kids show, then a supporting role on a super popular teen drama. TV movies here and there. I had one starring role as Blaire Starfire on a sci-fi teen soap that got canceled mid-season. My mom was my manager. She did everything for a long time. Eventually she hired someone to manage the money. Richard Perkins.”
His name tastes like dirt in my mouth, and I have the urge to spit.
“He had all my money in a trust held by my mom until my eighteenth birthday.”
Titan’s stone frown deepens, curving sharply down around his fangs.
“When my eighteenth birthday came, the money was supposed to be released to me. I should’ve gotten millions. Richard pushed me to do a lot more work than I was doing before, pushed me to do stuff I would’ve turned down. I should’ve been set for a long time, but my account was empty. I called Richard about it, but he told me to call my mom, so I did.”
Stick to the bullet points.
Secure in Titan’s arms, I feel too safe, like I can let too much of myself leak out into his hands, and he will continue to hold me together. He could carry that weight.
But for how long? And what happens after tomorrow night when he is no longer there and I’m alone again? It’s been too long since I’ve talked about it, and I’m worried once the dam breaks, I won’t be able to stop, not by myself anyways.
“What did she say?” he asks, as if he can’t already guess how my story ends.
“That she decided not to give me my money right away because she had it in investments for me. She would get the money to me eventually, she said, but that I’d have to wait and trust her. I waited a year and found out Richard was the one advising my mother. Their story changed once I got a lawyer. Now they say they’re entitled to my trust. I’m not even sure they ever invested it.”
I feel the growl in Titan’s chest. He doesn’t let it out, but it hums along my skin.
“For a long time, she pretended it was for my benefit, but over the years, she’s made it clear that she thinks it’s her payment for moving here in the first place, driving me to all those auditions, and supporting me before I found work.”
“You were a child.” There is a harsh bite of anger in his voice, like flint being struck against steel to start a flame. I like hearing it because that small flame is just one tiny piece of the fire I feel every day.
“I was the breadwinner,” I correct. “It was my responsibility.”
Titan lets out a loud, disapproving snort through his nostrils, shaking his head as he looks down at me. He moves to say something, then stops himself, pressing together his lips into a hard line around his fangs and turning on his feet away from the building’s ledge.
He carries me to the small dinner set up in the center of the roof I hadn’t been angled to see before. Several ornate rugs are laid out over the ground. A low table with place settings and covered food dishes sit in the middle with colorful flat pillows surrounding it.
Titan lowers himself to the carpeted ground, using his tail and wings for balance to make the transition a smooth one. When he sits down, I land on his thighs and instantly feel this morning’s spanking on my ass. It’s sore, but the ache is good. I move to pull myself off his lap and sit next to him, but his arms don’t budge.
I see what’s going on behind his eyes. I’ve seen it with every action he has taken with me and his brothers: the need to protect, the need to save.
“You can’t fix this.”
“I can, baby girl. They hurt you, and I can make them pay. I’ll have Stiel look—”
“I’ve hired a lawyer, and we are close to winning this thing,” I say quickly, cutting him off. He listens intently, but I don’t trust the sudden darkness that clouds his gaze. “Richard, my mother—they didn’t think I’d survive without them when I left. I need to fix it myself.”
He doesn’t argue, just answers with a kiss so soft and gentle on my forehead, I’m not prepared for the way tears flow right back to my eyes. I squeeze my lids shut and wait for what feels like eons as wetness fills my eyes before his lips finally land on mine.
His mouth is firm but tender, moving over me, tasting every part of me. I part my lips for him and relax in his arms, no longer able to control the tears that slowly roll down my cheeks. His tongue is long and thick and pointed, taking my mouth fully, and I remember how it felt inside my pussy. Even with human glamour, it had been a monster’s tongue inside me last night. Unconsciously, I grind my hips in his lap.
“Let me give you what you need, baby girl,” he murmurs against my lips, the vibrations on the sensitive skin making me gasp.
He moves to kiss my jaw, then neck, then collarbone. His fangs brush my skin. The sharp points drag with a sting only to be replaced with another soothing kiss.
