Page 81 of Titan

“But—”

I knelt on the sofa, covered her body with mine, and kissed her. There was a sound of surprise from behind us, but I ignored Edric. He could leave if he was uncomfortable. I didn’t give a shit any longer. He’d been driving me crazy since the moment he got here.

“Well, I know when I’m not wanted,” he announced a minute later. “I’ll text you later.”

The front door slammed, and I pulled away from Theia. The two of us burst out into a fit of laughter. I’d given Edric a taste of his own medicine. He was clearly very unimpressed with me. No doubt I’d never hear the end of it. It wasn’t like me to be playful, but Theia brought out new sides of me. I couldn’t bring myself to hate any of it. She was the best part of my life. I planned on keeping her in it, no matter what it took.

Twenty Eight

Gilberto

When we both settled down, Theia let out a sigh and looked away. I sat up, knowing we needed to have a discussion, even though I wanted to take her to bed. It could wait until this evening when I was back from headquarters. There were things I needed to deal with outside of me and Theia today, but first, I had to address everything going on with us.

“Are you okay?” I asked, sensing the change in her mood.

She dragged a hand across her face and sat up.

“I am.”

“But?”

“But I’m worried too.” She rubbed her bare arm. “I never thought they’d try to get me back. It’s been four years. I thought I’d escaped them for good.” She looked at me, her eyes full of pain. “I can’t go back, Gil. I can’t ever go back. I’d rather…”

I knew what she was going to say. She’d rather die than go through that again.

“Come here.”

I opened my arms. She crawled into my lap, resting her head on my shoulder, and allowing me to hold her close. Her hand curled around my neck, anchoring her to me. I never thought I would be okay with this type of closeness with another person, but everything inside me wanted to comfort Theia the way she needed.

“I’m scared of everything that’s happening,” she whispered. “Your life is dangerous and… and I don’t know how I fit in it. I’m a sex worker. I don’t want to give it up, but if I’m with you, doesn’t it make everything complicated?”

Did she think I cared about what she did for a living? I wanted her for who she was, not for what she did.

“I don’t have an issue with your job, and if anyone else does, they can go fuck themselves.”

Theia looked up at me.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I have to ask. Are you okay with me doing scenes with other people? If you’re not, we need to talk about it.”

Some men might have an issue with their partner being a sex worker. Theia had been very clear about who she did it with and why. It wasn’t my place to tell her to stop. It was her choice.

“You said it’s just with those three guys you work with, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’m okay with it. If anything changes, we’ll talk about it.”

Her eyes went to my shirt collar. She was quiet for a long time. I didn’t want to push her into speaking her mind, so I waited.

“I never thought I would meet anyone who would accept me for who I am and have no issues with what I do.”

“Your work is your work. Outside of that, if anyone was to touch you, I wouldn’t be so understanding.”

Her eyes flicked up to mine.

“Why? What would you do?”

“They wouldn’t be breathing for much longer.”

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