Page 6 of Between Dusk and Dawn

She clenched my wrist, glaring into my eyes. We stood locked in a frozen moment that seemed to stretch into eternity before she finally pushed me away.

"Why?" she questioned, her voice pulsating with a low, urgent need.

"Why, what?" I probed, craving the taste of the words as they rolled off her tongue.

"Tell me," I demanded.

"Why…me?"

Ah. Maybe she wasn’t as naive as I thought she was. Maybe she was putting the pieces together. The run-ins we’d had. How I liked to be here when Cagen wasn’t home yet.

"You?" I wanted to bait her—see how much she knew.

"Yes. I see you around campus. I know when it’s a coincidence and when you are trying to run into me."

"Oh, really?" I was being a cocky asshole, and a part of me was enjoying it.

"Shut up." She huffed. "You know exactly what I am saying. I know more than you think."

"I know you do, Muse, which is exactly why I am asking why you are going out with those fucking cheerleaders that you know don’t even like you."

"You didn’t answer me. Why me?" Her green doe eyes expressed a need that hung in the air. "You’re with Cagen, yet you come here looking at me like you want me served as dessert on a platter. You always seem to come early. I cannot help but think there is something else here. So…why me?"

"Because the person you project isn't the same as the one inside." I raised a hand to brush a lock off her forehead. "Am I right?"

She nodded. "Then, who are you?"

She wasn't asking for my name, age, or fraternity; she wanted to know who I was beneath the surface.

"I am the one person who will control everyone in this world. I was born for a lifestyle in which others bow down to the power that I will wield. Every single person I meet is in my life because I put them there for a reason, not because I enjoy their company or whatever other trivial thing people have when theymeet others. Every single decision I make is approached with precision."

"Including this one?" she asked, her hand inching closer to my cheek.

"Especially this one."

A lie. I had no idea what I was doing regarding Madison Ryan. I should’ve been with Cagen. Not watching my muse daily as she showered or nightly as she shoved her cunt full of her thick dildo. Even during the most mundane tasks, I shouldn’t have stalked her out, but deep down, I bore the weight of the truth—one day this woman would wear my last name as her collar.

However, I had to maintain the act, at least until I could regain control of my tumultuous emotions. I had to reinstate the icy demeanor in my heart because whatever this was—these feelings that had spontaneously unleashed chaos in my chest, they needed to be suppressed before I could tell her the truth. Before I could let her in.

I intercepted her finger before it brushed against the stubble on my cheek. "And you? You're scared, lonely, and sad. You seek protection here, but you're going about it all wrong. Aligning yourself with the Cagens of the world will only assimilate you into the group. However, you were born for greatness, Muse."

"Then why not be with me?" She knew she needed me and that I could give her the protection she desperately yearned for.

Now wasn’t the time. There was not a plan in place for us to be together yet. By aligning myself with Maddy, I’d be dating the second string, and in order for me to get ahead, I needed to be dating the girl on campus every man wanted.

"Because you won't be able to give me what I need right now."

She balked, throwing herself back, tripping over her heels. "W-wha-what?"

Her breaths quickened, and she clutched her chest. My instinct was to reach out and hold onto her. Her breaths evened as my fingers trailed through her hair, relishing the beautiful crimson before I met her gaze.

"It’s not our time, Muse. One day, I’ll come to collect." I lifted her by the back of her thighs and moved her away from her room as she screeched.

"No," she said, as I placed her back on the floor in the living room, but I kept my one hand wrapped around her waist so she couldn’t move.

"No?" The corners of my lips lifted. "See what happens when you say no to me again."

"I will not be second string to anyone."

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