Twisted Metal Heart - Eve Langlais Page 0,53
be senseless, eyes slitted and once more straying Riella’s way. One last glimpse. For some reason he wanted to engrain her image on his mind.
She stood, one hand to her mouth, the other across her middle.
Then he saw nothing as he was carted from the field of battle, but he couldn’t stop thinking of it. Thinking of how that hand rested on her belly.
Surely it wasn’t possible. Then again, they’d been apart for at least a month.
He knew enough of biology to know how babies were made. Was she taking precautions when they were together? He certainly hadn’t. Careless of him.
Could be nothing. Could be someone else’s. Yet she’d sought him out.
It must mean something. It changed nothing. It…
Titan sat on his cot, feet flat on the floor, his hands on his knees, eyes closed. But he could hear. Heard the tap of heels as a person came down the hall. Knew their identity even before he smelled the perfume. Still the same subtle sweet scent. The effect on him hadn’t diminished.
Riella stopped in front of his cell.
He didn’t look. Wouldn’t. He’d been strong that afternoon. Rejected her, as he should. He didn’t know if he could do it again, not since he’d had a chance to think on it.
She wore not the loose clothes of a city dweller but the tight leggings that could withstand hard travel. His gaze strayed below her flat navel.
It couldn’t be. Surely he imagined it. He shut his eyes.
“Hello, Titan.” She spoke his name softly. A way that curled around him and made him tingle. She always made him tingle.
The voice purred. She came for you.
He didn’t care. He closed his eyes tighter and whispered, “Go away.” Before he said or did something stupid like forgive her.
The voice whispered. Listen to her. Give her a chance.
A chance to what? Betray him again?
“Titan.” She sighed his name. “I can’t leave until—”
“I can’t. I don’t care what the voice says.”
“What voice?” She moved closer and looked between the bars, not touching, but her intent stare pinned him in place. “Let me help you, Titan. Please.”
At her request, something in him snapped, and the ugliness he’d been trying to handle came out.
Thirteen
Riella saw it the moment something in Titan flipped. A shimmer went over his gaze, a metallic sheen, and then his voice when it emerged was silky smooth. Cold.
“We don’t need your help.”
Not I. We.
Combined with the voice he claimed to hear, that could mean only one thing. “Your Deviant gene activated.”
The statement startled Titan. He frowned at her. “What are you talking about? You tested me. I don’t have it.”
“You’re hearing a voice?” she asked, and then continued before he could answer. “It’s passing itself off as your arm and leg, correct? And before you answer, you should know it’s not.”
“Not what?”
“Your limbs aren’t alive. They can’t possess you.”
“Shows how much you know,” he said with a smirk.
“I do know,” she said, crossing her arms. “You’re rejecting the parts by seeing them as separate of you, instead of embracing them.”
“Hardly rejecting. You saw me use them.”
“I did, and the only reason they could move so well is because your gene must have turned on. That’s the only way to achieve such control. It’s probably behind the imaginary voice too.”
“I am not imagining it,” he snapped. He approached the bars, and she held her ground at the intense look on his face.
“I know it might seem real—“
He slammed on the bars, and her hand dropped to her stomach.
His gaze followed. She fought not to tremble as he said in a cold voice, “You’re pregnant.”
She wanted to deny it, but she knew he’d see right through it. “Yes.”
“Whose baby?” he asked.
“Whose do you think?” she snapped. “I haven’t been with anyone other than you in a long time.”
“You don’t need a man to ride. There’s other ways of getting pregnant.”
“You think I’d inseminate myself?” She gaped at him.
“If you’re desperate.”
Her lips pinched. “I’m afraid that it happened in a rather boring, old-fashioned way. With your cock inside of me.”
“So it’s mine for sure?” Was that a hint of triumph in his gaze?
“Yes. Unfortunately,” she grumbled.
He recoiled and then barked, “My regular ol’ human genes not good enough for you?”
“Your genes aren’t all that human anymore, and for your information, we made a Deviant baby.”
That snapped his jaw shut. “You can’t know that.”
“But I do. Congratulations, we managed to make something my mother wants.”
His brow furrowed, and he turned away to pace. “This can’t be happening.”
“I don’t know