Lost Highway by Bijou Hunter Page A

me
does.
    “Claim me,” I say, staring into
his dark eyes. “Make me forget everyone before you. Demand I only see you.
You’re a man, and you need to make me belong to only you.”
    Quill responds immediately. His
hips drive harder into me, and the head of his cock beats steadily against my
cervix. If he could fuck me harder or deeper, he would, but my body can’t take
more of his flesh.
    A voice in my head says I don’t
deserve this pleasure with Quill. I’ve committed a sin too dark to enjoy even a
moment of happiness. They tell me to deny Quill and pay my debt. As long as I’m
happy, I’ve done wrong by Athena.
    “No,” I tell the voice. “I’ve
paid for my sin, and I won’t give him up.”
    Quill doesn’t react to my
words. His head rests against the wall. His eyes are closed. His hips pump
mercilessly. He’s close to an orgasm. I see the way his gut muscles tense and
feel his cock thicken.
    “Claim me, Quill. I want to be
blind to every man before you. Make me worship you. Make me yours.”
    When he lets loose, the room
shakes with the power of his rage and passion. He howls my name, both exalting
and cursing me with one word. I can’t handle the pressure of his desire and cry
out his name in relief.
    Wrapping my arms around him, I
hold onto his thrashing body. He’s in a state of violent awakening. Much like
how his seed fills me with his ferocious arousal, a warm and welcoming freedom
washes over my heart.
    To make myself worthy of caring
for Quill, I must forgive myself for wronging Athena. All of these years, I’ve
denied the urge to soothe my guilt. Never wanting freedom from the pain until
suffering was all I understood.
    Now, for Quill, I let go of the
shame and grief to make room in my heart for him.

Chapter Twenty-Four
    Odessa
     
     
    Q uill sleeps for what might be
the first time since he arrived in the Lost Highway. I peek into the back room
to find him collapsed on the bed where I left him. He doesn’t stir when I open
the door.
    I wish I could join him. My
fingers ache to touch his hot skin. My lips want to brush against his temple
the way I did the night before when I told him everything would be all right.
    Rather than disturb him, I walk
down to the basement to find cleaning supplies. The voices greet me with
promises of death and misery. I ignore them and return upstairs. Outside the
cabin, a thick fog blocks my view of the woods.
    Quill once told me how I
shouldn’t stare into the fog unless I wanted to see what haunted me. Based on
his wording, he was quoting Tom. I wondered if Quill ever chanced the warning
and looked into the fog. I sensed nothing haunted him before last night. Now
I’m unsure what remains of the man I first met.
    Feeling brazen, I tempt fate
and stare into the fog. Nothing looks back at me at first. Then I notice
movement in the gray mass. Athena’s face appears, missing flesh and revealing
bone.
    “Odessa,” she whispers, calling
out to me. “Why, Odessa?”
    “Because I was young and
stupid,” I tell her. “I would take it back, but I can’t. There’s no way to
return to that moment and save you.”
    “You killed me.”
    “I have to let you go.”
    “You let me go then too. You
let me die.”
    “I’m sorry, Athena. The real
you would know how sorry I feel, and she would forgive me. I know you’re not
her. You’re the evil in the Lost Highway, but I don’t hate you for showing her
to me. I don’t hate me for what happened anymore. You’ll have to torment me
with something else next time.”
    Wiping away my tears, I close
the curtains and walk to the CD player where I turn on Charlie Daniels. Once I
fill a bucket with water and carry it to my old room, I open the door and
adjust to the stench.
    I decide to start cleaning in
the bathroom where I wash away the blood and goo. When the bucket’s water turns
foul, I replace it and continue working. The CD finishes twice before I feel
Quill behind me.
    “What are you doing?” he asks
in a