Lost Highway(31)

Chapter Thirty-Two


Quill




Having spent a dozen nights outdoors in the Lost Highway, I know survival is tenuous. Losing focus for a moment could lead to my death. This night is worse. Fear would prove a welcomed distraction from the misery I suffer while waiting for the darkness to lift.

Odessa’s laughter haunts me. I thought she was insane to find forgiveness in this place after she’d refused to accept her redemption in her old life. She believed something changed in her here, and I couldn’t deny she smiled more after our first night in the basement.

Finding humor in the small things, Odessa embraced the Lost Highway and claimed to love me.

I hadn’t believed I was capable of loving her in return.

Except no other feeling explains the pain I suffer from now.

Her existence made my life more difficult. I should be relieved to have her dead and gone. Instead, my entire body rages at the thought of a single day without her.

A sliver of light is all I need to jump down and run to where I left Odessa. I don’t care if the wolves remain active. If Odessa is dead, I have no need to take another breath. I’ve had the taste of something powerfully addictive, and I can no longer survive without her.

I run through the still murky woods, barreling through the brush wanting to keep me from learning the truth.

In my mind, I know Odessa is gone, though my heart refuses to give up yet.

Pushing through the trees, I spot tattered clothing near where I left Odessa. I stumble nearly to a stop, unprepared to see the horror even after a night of imagining this exact outcome. I move to where the bloodied white fabric remains. My mind struggles to remember what Odessa wore the day before.

I kneel down and touch the torn shirt. Scanning the ground, I see bone shards left over from the wolves. There is nothing left behind from her massive jacket or the machete. I move around the area, careful of the traps. Two of them were set off by the wolves’ activity, but I notice nothing indicating the beasts were injured. I also discover none of Odessa’s belongings they’d leave behind such as her shoes.

Finally, I think to look up where I nearly miss the sight of Odessa’s feet dangling from a branch twenty feet off of the ground.

“Odessa,” I whisper.

I reach up and begin climbing. Calling out her name louder, I wait for her to show some sign of life. I’m halfway to Odessa when her feet wiggle, and she leans over. Her gaze meets mine, and her expression mimics how I feel.

“Quill,” she says in a rough voice.

The branches groan under my weight, but I don’t give up until I reach her.

“You’re alive,” I murmur, still in disbelief. “You survived.”

“I knew you’d come back.”

My fingers reach out to touch her cheek. I still fear I’ve lost my mind after a night of mourning in the darkness. Odessa doesn’t prove to be a mirage. Her skin feels cold yet as soft as I remember.

I lean forward to kiss her, and Odessa meets me halfway. Her lips tremble against mine, enticing me to warm them by deepening my affection. Wrapping an arm around her waist, I press her closer. Only the whining tree branch below prevents me from never letting her go.

“Can you climb down?” I ask, ready to throw her over my shoulder.

Once a smiling Odessa nods, we descend before the tree tosses us out. Down first, I impatiently wait for Odessa to join me. Her feet barely touch the ground before I lift her into my arms.

“You survived,” I say again, wary of the Lost Highway’s ability to play mind games.

“I waited for you.”

My lips cover hers, and her flavor reassures me that she’s truly safe. I walk with Odessa in my arms, and she doesn’t ask to be set down. Her calm gaze holds mine, soothing me.

I don’t need to see where I’m going now. The traps are of no concern. The long tree branches create no barriers. I am never more fearsome than in this moment with Odessa. The Lost Highway failed to tear us apart. Now I can face anything.

The cabin feels like mine for the first time since I took it from Tom. In the past, I viewed this place as just another part of my territory. Odessa changed everything with her arrival, and there’s no returning to the old ways.

Once in the bedroom, I strip out of my clothes while Odessa watches me and fumbles with her shirt. Even wanting to help her, I hold back. My trembling fingers finally reach out to undo the buttons. Her damp shirt and bra cling to her pale flesh. Exhaling roughly, I rub my fingers together at the thought of exploring her body.

Odessa glances at the chains, but I shake my head. “I need to touch you.”

Even uncertain about my intentions, she sits on the bed and works off her jeans. I notice the healing wound on her wrist. Later, I’ll ask for details. For now, I only want to claim her in a way I haven’t before.

Odessa’s breasts draw my gaze to them. Her chilled skin looks different than I remember from our time together in bed. I’ve never seen her nipples soft the way they are now.

My fingers tremor when they graze her tender flesh. Uncertain, I look to Odessa, who smiles reassuringly.

“They want you to play with them.”

“How?”

“Do you remember how I stroke them with my fingers when we’re together? Or you can tease them the way you do with your tongue.”

Licking my lips, I think of how good her nipples taste in my mouth. I’m desperate to suck them, but first I need to own them with the same hands I’ve used to end so many lives. I want to prove myself to Odessa. I’ve claimed her heart. Now I need to possess every inch of her body.