The Scattered Bones

by Nicole Scarano

“Open for me, goddess. I want to taste you.”

“I love you so much, Sellah.” He stared into my eyes. “You’ve ruined me. I’ll never be the same.” “Neither will I,”

“I could live forever in your embrace and die an old man between your legs,”

“You’ll stay with me?” I ask as I step to the rising cliffs. “I’m always with you, my child.”

“You know I cannot refuse you anything.”

“I want to belong to you.” “Sellah, stop.” I watched his control snap thread by frayed thread. “I already belong to you.” “Sellah…” “I always have. I always will.”

“But what you want, you can’t steal. A man cannot steal what’s already his.”

“I’ll never love another woman,”

“There’s nothing on this earth or in the heavens as perfect as you. Your beauty is unmatched, and it’s mine. Say it, Sellah. Tell me you’re mine.”

“I always have been,”

“I always wi...

“Are you sure?” he asked. “With every fiber of my being.” “I don’t want to hurt you.” “I don’t care. Hurt me. Love me. Undo me. Take everything because you own me.”

“You own me, and I’ll worship you until your pleasure is so great, you can’t contain it. I want you to scream for me, my goddess. No one can hear you, and I need

to know what you sound like when you come undone wrapped around me.”

“You’re so big.” I tensed as he sank inside me. “You can take it.” He pushed further. “I know you can, goddess. I want nothing to separate us.”

“I don’t love you,” he growled as he angled his hips to hit the spot that unleashed the stars. “This isn’t love. Love is too simple a word for what I feel. The world could end. Ages could pass. The gods could die, and I would still adore you. You’ve been braided so deeply into my heart that I no longer exist without you.”

only say I love you because I don’t know how else to describe this emotion.”

“I will love you until my death,” Kaid promised. “And then I’ll love you from the grave until I’m dust. When your consciousness returns after she abandons your vessel decades from now, I’ll be here waiting for you.”

“Before the birth of mankind, two deities fell so in love they forsook their own names, choosing to be called by one name instead.”

“Elskere, the wed gods, became husband and wife under the moon’s light in that first age. They vowed their undying love with both their words and bodies, with only the heavens as their witnesses. Centuries later, they are still one, still lovers, and all who wish to marry journey to their shrines. But there are those who still wed below the moon and stars with both their words and bodies, praying for Elskere to bless their union.”

“Sellah, my best friend, my entire soul, marry me? When we flee this place, I want it to be as husband and wife. I want to wed you in the name of Elskere and make you mine until death claims me.”

“I’m already yours,” I whispered against his skin. “Of course, I’ll marry you.”

“You helped? Why? You told me you couldn’t?” “I helped because if I had not, you would’ve died.”

“I cannot let you die, my child. You are my only hope, my only way, and I do not suffer what is mine.”

“Do not fear, my child. You must do this alone and have faith in my promise, but there are always loopholes.”

“Do what you will to me, wife. I am yours.”

“I have to survive three more days, then I can have you for the rest of our lives.” “It will be a good life, Sellah.”

“I’ll want you even in death, Sellah. There’s no afterlife, but that doesn’t matter. I’ll love you until I’m dead in the dirt, then I’ll love you until my body is nothing

but bones. And when my bones fade to dust coating the earth, I’ll still want you.”

“Everyone I’ve trusted betrayed me,” I say. “My parents. The priestesses. Hreinasta.”

“But not him. Not me.” “When this is over, will you abandon me?” “You are mine, child. I do not suffer what is mine.” “I want to believe you.” “So, believe.”

“He may not be the man you remember.”

“I don’t care,” I say with conviction. “I’ll love him no matter what.”

“That’s what I needed to hear...

“Do you know who you are?”

“Yes.”

“And…” I falter. “Do you know who I am?” “Yes.”

“You’re my wife.”

told you,” Kaid says against my mouth, his words garbled as he struggles to use muscles that lay dormant for seasons. “I would love you until I was dust.”

“I don’t love you.” I cover his entire face with kisses until he attempts a weak smile. “Because love isn’t enough for what I feel. It is too much. It’s everything.”

“How am I here?”

“Someone special promised that if I found you, he would return you to me.”

“Sellah, my Sellah.” He pulls me into his embrace, hugging me tight. “I will never leave you. I swear it.”

“Death,” I whisper, and he nods. “How? Hreinasta banished you. She eradicated your cult. How are you here?” “Because of you, my child. Because of your faith.”

“You’re safe, my child.” Death tightens his hold on my hand. “You are mine, and I protect what’s mine. She won’t lay a finger on you or the family you two

will build.

“I will see you soon, and I swear to never be far. Merely speak my name, and I’ll answer. Now, go to your husband.”

“If we weren’t already wed, I would marry you again,”

“Marrying you was my greatest joy, so I would do it again in a heartbeat.

“Sellah,” he growls, gripping my hips. “Stop teasing me. I need you.”