All Chapters of WHEN ASHES FALL: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

“To take a shower,” she said over her shoulder. “Come with me.”That was all I needed to hear.I followed her upstairs and stripped my clothes off in the closet, meeting her in the bathroom. She was already standing under the spray, water splashing against her face. With her back to me, I circled my hands around her waist.“God, you’re beautiful.” As I kissed her shoulder, my cock pressed into her ass, my fingers slowly sliding up until they were on her tits. “I want you to be my wife already.”She turned around, wrapping her arms around my neck, giving me a kiss. “In my eyes, I already am.”Forty-EightSmithPresent DayRose was standing on the front steps when I arrived at Alix’s townhouse. She was holding an umbrella over her head, shifting her weight between both legs, her arm wrapped around her stomach like it was aching.Her body language told me whatever she was about to say wasn’t going to be good.And that was confirmed when I heard, “Alix isn’t answering.”I held the hood ov

“I know.”“Dylan, I’m so, so tired.”“I can tell.”Dylan blue. That was the color I called his eyes.And that was what was finally staring back at me.For so long, I hadn’t looked.I couldn’t.But, now that I did, it hurt.Oh God, did it hurt.“I can’t keep doing this.” I tucked my knees against my chest and wrapped my arms around them. “I can’t keep fighting for us.”“I know, Alix.”My eyes were so heavy; I could barely keep them open.“I don’t think I’m going to make it up to bed tonight,” I said. “I just don’t have it in me.”His hand lifted to my cheek. “You don’t have to, my love.”I stretched my body across the grass, smelling the wet soil beneath me.My knees moved to my chest again.I used my arm as a pillow.I looked across the grass, like I would when I checked our bed.There was no dented pillow.There was no tousled blanket.“Don’t leave until I fall asleep,” I told him.Rain pounded against my ear.Wet hair stuck to my cheeks.“I’m going to stay with you,” he said.I felt

But I couldn’t stop for them.I needed to find Dylan.So, I dragged my body toward the flags.Most of them were ripped.Many of them were missing.But I saw the broken poles and the tattered fabric, and I crawled toward them.“Dylan!”My fingers stuck together from all the blood.Something new was stabbing the center of my palm.Something hard fell onto my back.It didn’t slow me down.Because, through the tiny cracks I was weaving between, I saw Dylan’s black jacket. The white logo on the breast pocket. Dangling from the sleeves were two familiar hands that I had just been holding a few minutes ago.He was on the ground.“Dylan!”I didn’t know if my feet could hold me, so I stayed on my knees. I kicked, and I pushed.And I crawled.And I only let myself stop when I reached him.My hands slid underneath his shoulders, and I pulled him onto my lap.My fingers then pressed into his neck to find his pulse.I couldn’t breathe.I could only scream.And yell, “Dylan,” over and over.When I

The ground wasn’t flat.We climbed several hills and made a few turns.And, when we reached a spot that was high enough to overlook the rest of the land that was inside the massive gate, Rose’s arm shot into the air, and she said, “She’s there.”I looked at where she was pointing.The fog that had formed over the lower points made it hard to see anything. But, after a few seconds, it lifted, and I was able to make out a body on the ground.I didn’t waste a fucking second.I took off running as fast as I could.As I got closer, I saw the outline of her body. She’d tucked her knees against her chest, and her head was resting on her arm as though it were a pillow.My feet pounded on the pavement, closing the distance between us.Once I reached her, I fell onto my knees and put my hands on her back. “Baby?”She didn’t move, not even when I shook her.And she didn’t say a word.Goddamn it, Alix, come back to me.I put my hands under her arms and pulled her out of the ball. I dragged her ag

She would never make this decision.So, I would.“I want you to smile again. I want you to get back in that ambulance and do what you love because you don’t know when that choice is going to be taken away from you. I want you to live.”“You can’t go.”“If I keep holding on, you’re going to lose everything you have. I won’t let that happen. You’ve already lost enough.”She looked down at my hand, her thumb grazing over the back of my palm. “What if I forget?”“You won’t.”“How do you know that, Dylan? Because, right now, I can close my eyes and I can see the texture of your skin and I can hear the exact pitch of your voice and I can perfectly describe the scent of your cologne. It’s all so fresh in my mind. But what if those memories dull? What if I need your laughter to get me through the saddest day, and I can’t hear it anymore? What if I need you to hold my hand, and I can’t remember what your fingers looked like?”I reached up and touched the side of her head. “All of that is right