Page 26 of Dust to Dust

My hand danced over the muscles on his stomach, which rippled with abs and hints of scars. I had no idea how many marks came to scar him. His most biggest scar was a four-inch raised red mark on his left bicep. I always felt it under my fingertips when I clung to him. "You never answered my question," I pushed up on my elbow so I could steal a hold of those sapphire eyes, "If you want a future, then I have to bury my past."

Chapter 19

Come on, let me out,Ghost pleaded as Titan looked away from me and up to the cream-colored ceiling. When everything settled, I was going to take a tube of Mila's paint and abstract the shit out of the walls. Titan was too mighty of a man to have cream-colored walls.

You need to push him for the answers you seek. I'm better at pushing.Ghost purred.

That's comical. Ichimed back.

Please don't act like you're upset, Nova.Ghost rolled her eyes.You attract Titan, but I draw him in closer. Titan isn't going to agree to this with a simple yes. I know how to bend his will.

You want everything, don't you, greedy little Ghost?I questioned. Titan's forgiveness, control over me…what was the bitch up to?

Why can't I have it all?Ghost asked.

You want your cake and to eat it all, well, remaining sexy as fuck. Too much sugar kills. It didn't work so well for Marie-Antoinette. Learn from history, Ghost.I quipped. I eyed Titan, who was lost in heavy darkness. He continued to run his tongue over his teeth. Was my question the most challenging thing he'd ever encountered? I wanted a kill that he was ordered to take by the brotherhood. If I was adopted into this brotherhood by marriage, I should be able to kill Lucas King just as much as Titan.

True,Ghost agreed,But unlike Marie, we have a much stronger king by our side. He's making you stronger.

When Elsa first met Titan, she dreamed about being married to her prince one day. The dream was simple because she didn't envision what the prince would have to do to claim his crown. Elsa was much more innocent when she thought the world was safe.

Fine Ghost, take over.I submitted.

It's about damn time.

Chapter 20

Ilicked my lips and tasted the remnants of Titan. I could feel his tender touch on my swollen lips. Nova had to understand that we had to answer some of Titan’s questions first. We have to give trust to receive it. “I convinced myself you were going to break up with me. That week before my parents died, you acted strangely. I knew you were too good to be true. The hottest guy in school doesn’t suddenly fall for the new girl with the funny accent.” Back then, I hadn’t perfected my American accent. My voice was a mix of French, English, and Russian. A foreign sound that some kids liked to poke fun at in the prestigious school.

“I did fall for you,” Titan shifted to lean on his elbow as he mirrored my position.

Fuck, you were right. He’s eating this shit up,Nova barked. Deep down, she wished she could pull her mask off and show Titan what she felt. In time, she would. I knew we would eventually merge into yet another new person. Nova and I would become a lethal unit instead of caging me.

Titan’s hand reached out and started to play with my hair. I watched in fixation as his eyes followed the movement of my hair as it wrapped and slipped through his fingers. He’s not here. He’s fallen back to the boy that I knew. Titan used to do the same thing in my treehouse. I’d sit and study for school, but Titan would study me.

“I fell for you as soon as I saw your goodness shine through my thunder clouds. I had never seen anyone so pure. I was scared that I would ruin you. And I did,” Sadness seeped through his confession.

“What about now? There’s no goodness left. I came to kill you, and now we are married.” I snorted. “Did you legally bond us to torture me, punish me? Or was there something deeper? I’m struggling, Titan….” I tapped the side of my head, “Inside me are two very different people. One wants to trust you. She’s the moral ground. The other isn’t sure if she should kill you or stay married and make your life a living hell. I can’t take more lies. If they continue, I’ll become a creature so dark even Satan will try to cast me away.”

His hand stilled in my hair. Everything in him shifted as his muscles flinched at my final words. He opened his mouth only to close it as he considered his following words to me. He licked his lips. “That’s where you’re wrong. Elsa was burnt into ashes, forced to crumble to dust. But from that, dust remained a small ember. I see it flicker now and then, and when it does, I blow on it and coax it back to life.” A tear escaped my eye as he continued, “I know what you’re doing with Mila, and she will need to be stronger to survive Dash and for him to survive her.Thatis you caring in your own twisted way.” His hands moved and searched for my hand. Interlocking our fingers, he brought them to his lips and lightly touched the tattoo that was now my wedding band. “I don’t want a sheep, Nova. Neither does Dash. We need wolves to bring into our pack. You’re my wolf, and Mila is his.” He reached around me with his other hand and stroked the tattoo covering my spine—awolf in sheets clothing.The hidden letters tucked into the pattern revealed my truth, what he wanted all along. “You became part of my pack years ago, and although time separated us, once you’re part of my pack, there is no leaving.”

I understood Nova’s need for revenge. There was no forgiving what happened to our childhood and parents. Titan pushed my shoulder back as he guided me to lay on the bed. His head hovered above mine like a golden light baptizing me into a new religion, “My father will pay for his deeds, Nova. Tomorrow it will all be over.”

Ask him more!Nova screamed.

“How will he pay because the only payment in my book is blood. A life for a life.”

Titan was silent. His blue eyes shifted, and he finally surrendered as his jaw softened. He nodded, and I knew in that moment I had won. Nova could celebrate.

“You will get your blood, babygirl.”

The blue shade of his irises was like the shade of ocean waters with a storm on the horizon. Deep, endless blues with swirls of blackening depths. Nova was going to get what she wanted, but I needed to ensure I got what I wanted.

Titan.

“If you only allow me to kill Lucas for my vengeance, then you’ll end up hating me as much as Nova hates you. They're two of us in here, Titan,” I tapped my temple, “We ebb and flow like a rocky tidal wave crashing onto the shore. I know you have come to accept us both, but can you accept and live with a wife that killed your father?” Nova didn’t understand why Titan hesitated and struggled with the idea of a son killing his father. Was it because, deep down, he loved his father?

Titan caged me between his legs and then cupped my cheeks. His eyes dipped to my bare breasts. We both were completely exposed to each other in more ways than one. Like Adam and Eve, we both sat naked in our garden of pleasure. Like Eve, I was tempting Titan into sin by killing his father. Eve’s actions ended terribly for the world therefore, I needed Titan to make this decision for himself.

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