Chapter 24 #3
As he pulled away, Thallor didn’t glance at the girls or acknowledge their presence as he stroked my cheek with his thumb.
I was breathless, staring up at him and wondering how I’d ever resisted him.
All I wanted was to close the gap between us, pulling his lips to mine and blocking out the outside world.
Because nothing, nothing, would ever compare to the way he made me feel.
His voice broke the silence a moment later, the assuredness in his voice working wonders to soothe my thundering heart.
“I’m guessing the sixth floor was already occupied? ”
Breathless and a little stunned for words, I blinked up at him. For a moment, all I could do was take in the warmth of his touch and the absence of his lips on mine. As I picked up on the implication, I just smiled up at him. “The library has gotten a little busier in the last hour.”
“That’s okay, baby. Quiet places like this don’t suit us anyway, do they?
You know how much I love it when you scream my name.
” Thallor immediately moved to place the rest of the stuff in my backpack, moving with a confidence that so clearly showed how familiar we were with each other.
The whole time, he kept his gaze locked firmly on me, leaving me short of breath and all too happy to have someone like him fighting in my corner.
The girls glanced at each other, trying to make sense of the situation before Thallor turned toward them.
I could see from the clench in his jaw and the reds of his eye that he was battling with the monster within him the moment his eyes met theirs.
He looked down at the notebook that sat askew on the library floor before looking up at Harley Quinn. “Pick. It. Up.”
“Wha…what?”
“I said pick my girlfriend’s notebook up,” Thallor growled. Girlfriend…I know it’s not real, but I could get used to that, I think.
“She’s your girlfriend?” Cannibal mermaid scoffed incredulously. Thallor took one step forward, letting them feel his imposing presence.
“She’s my everything.”
Harley Quinn rolled her eyes but acquiesced and picked up the notebook a moment later, before storming off, Ariel hot on her heels.
Thallor didn’t just dismiss them with his words or his presence; he did it with me.
I could almost feel their jealousy. But I didn’t care, not when Thallor looped one arm of my bag around his shoulder and kissed my cheek.
It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not real.
I tried to still the thrumming in my heart as we walked out of the library, my hand held safely in Thallor’s. He gripped it like it belonged to him. Like I belonged to him.
By the time we rounded the corner and stepped into the colder shadow of the stairwell, he was still clutching my hand like it was the only solid thing left in the world.
My heartbeat felt like it was trying to hammer its way out of my chest. My entire body was flooded with a rush of something hot and reckless—something that I had been desperately trying to ignore.
“You okay?” Thallor asked as we walked toward the exit, his thumb gently brushing against mine like he didn’t even realise he was doing it.
I nodded. Probably too quickly. In fact, definitely too quickly with the way he eyed me and huffed out a laugh. “I’m fine!” The sound of my voice came out high-pitched because that was totally normal.
“Well, I’m glad you’re fine now. I hope that was okay? You looked like you needed a little saving.”
“Is that what you call it?” I said before I could stop myself, letting out a shaky laugh when I caught the blush creeping up Thallor’s cheeks.
“I seem to have the innate ability to attract assholes wherever I go. But thank you…you didn’t have to do that.
But I appreciate it…the chin and the kiss and the baby… ”
“Sterling, I’ve wanted to do that for longer than you know. It was nice to have an excuse to do it,” he said, smiling down at me.
“You don’t need an excuse…” I replied before I realised what I was saying.
His lips twitched, but he didn’t say anything as he continued to lead us down the stairs, hands still firmly wrapped around mine.
I should have let go. Made a joke and played it off.
But I didn’t. Because even though Thallor was playing into some fake boyfriend role, it didn’t feel like acting. It never had.
When we hit the ground floor, he pushed open the side door and stepped out into the sharp afternoon air.
There was little going on besides the hum of traffic and a few groups of people lingering on the steps.
Thallor turned to me, finally letting my hand drop, a concerned look etched across his face.
I fixed my face in a tight smile to avoid the momentary sadness I felt as the cool air whipped at my skin.
“I know you said you needed time, so I’m sorry.
I know you can handle yourself, and I didn’t mean to overstep and probably could have handled it differently.
I just saw them going after you, and I just needed to stop myself getting angry, and you are the only thing that makes me feel controlled…
in this weird, uncontrollable sort of way. I…I am sorry, though…”
And then slowly, tentatively, I laced my fingers with his.
I watched as he looked down at our intertwined hands, brows furrowed in a deep line, and breath caught in his throat.
My mind was a barrage of emotions I wasn’t sure how to deal with.
But the heat of his hand in mine felt like home.
It’s exactly as they say, unforgettable the first time it happens.
The love had seeped in slowly, but I could feel it in the cracks of my heart.
Maybe I wasn’t a cynic, after all. Maybe I’d just never considered myself capable of being loved until I was.
A part of me was still hesitant to let the walls I’d built fall.
But I wanted to trust that this was real.
That whatever this was could work. For a moment, I imagined him.
I imagined him thinking the exact same things that replay in my mind over and over and—
My phone buzzed in my pocket as a bombardment of missed calls and texts finally came through now that I had signal.
Gramps: Quincey, I’ve tried calling.
Gramps: I’m taking Maura to Chesterwood Memorial Hospital.
Gramps: Please come if you can. This is probably it.