Page 64 of The Loathing

I reach for her, wrapping my arms around her waist as I lift her up, holding her over the water.

“Titus!” she screams, her fingers clutching at my shirt, “Put me down.” I laugh, my grip tightening on her and ignore the burning that is scalding my fingertips from touching her.

“Please,” she begs but she laughs.

“Okay Twilight, seeing as you asked so nicely,” I step back, her body turns towards me, and my arms wrap tightly around her.

I take a moment, slowly putting her down and steadying her.

“Would you have really dropped me?” she asks all coy.

I shake my head from side to side, “No, darling, I wouldn’t have.”

She nods, bringing her thumb to her mouth as she nibbles on her nail.

“What are you thinking about?”

She inhales deeply, dropping her thumb from her lips.

“I have no idea what my father is planning, I’m worried and the fact that Xander knows something…”

“No one is getting to you,” I pull her into me, holding her tight as her head rests against my chest and I pray she can’t hear how fast my heart is racing. Craning my neck down, I place a kiss on the top of her head and breathe in her heavenly scent. “I’ll get you away from here, your father hired me to protect you, and that’s what I will do.” The thought of being put on a plane in two days is crippling, I can’t leave her. Not after I promised her.

I won’t leave. He can’t make me.

Holding her tighter, I feel her begin to tremble in my arms and I can hear the soft sobs that consume her.

“Hey, hey,” I whisper, gliding my hand up her side and cupping her cheek, lifting her face to look at me. “No tears, there is no reason to cry,” I give her a crooked smile, my thumb pad brushing against her cheek as I catch a rolling tear. Her skin is soft and in that moment all I want to do is let my fingers trace and roam over all of her.

“It’s a lot for a twenty-one-year-old to go through…” I say softly.

I feel her stiffen in my arms, her eyes burning into mine.

“My daughter is twenty-one and I couldn’t imagine…” she presses her finger against my lips to quieten me.

“He told you I was twenty-one?” her brows furrow and my eyes widen; I wrap my fingers round her wrist and pull her finger away from my mouth.

“You’re not?”

“That arsehole,” her head falls forward, so it’s resting and pressing against my chest.

I keep my eyes pinned down on her and I feel anger bubble deep inside of me. Letting my hands trail up her body, I cup my hands round her face and tilt her head back, so she has no choice but to look at me.

“You’re not twenty-one?” I ask again because for some reason, I can’t seem to catch up. She shakes her head, her eyes filling with fresh, unshed tears and I watch as her chin wobbles.

“Why are you sad, Twilight?”

“It’s frustration,” she croaks, the crack in her voice evident.

“Well don’t be frustrated, I will get this sorted,” and before I realize what I am doing, I press my lips to her forehead, letting my eyes close for a moment as I try and calm myself down. “How old are you?” I mutter against her skin.

“Twenty-five.”

I sigh, and I feel a little lighter somehow knowing that she is older than Arizona. The feelings that I was starting to feel towards her not as wrong as they should feel. I am angry at Xavier and feel like he only told me that she was the same age as my daughter so I couldn’t say no. He made it personal. Made me feel more sympathetic towards the situation by making it about something we both have in common.

Daughters the same age.

“Your dad is a total dick isn’t he,” I sigh, and a small but soft chuckle comes out of me as my thumbs brush across her cheek once more before I drop her face from my grasp, and I instantly miss the feeling of her skin under my fingertips.

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