Page 255 of Obsession

“I’m a criminal, Katherine.”

It was no longer a whisper, because his words felt like the cold daggers of death, like the most terrible curse ever uttered.

It was the ultimate confession, the one I had been running from for so many days.

“And I will have to give you the time to figure out if you will accept me, not take you in the throes of arousal. I love you in a way I can’t even explain, and because I love you, I can’t be selfish with you.”

I put my hands on the back of his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. I understood him and loved him even more for it, because he was proving to me in an impressive way that he didn’t just want me for sex, that it wasn’t just “fun”.

And in all of this, he had just admitted in the simplest and deadliest way possible that he was a criminal.

Even though I knew he had killed Marcus, Olsen and that he was going to kill Joshua, I had managed to get him out of the shadow of a criminal and make excuses for him. I didn’t want to ask him how often he killed, if he felt an ounce of guilt for it, or how many people he had killed so far.

I wasn’t ready for those answers.

I wanted to go back to my seat, but he wouldn’t let me.

“Stay here,” he whispered into my hair, and I didn’t disagree, even though the peak of passion was over for both of us.

He put an arm around me, then stepped on the gas.

The car fell silent as he drove us back into town. I looked out the window to see the cars fly past us like lightning in a thunderstorm, or maybe we were the ones flying past them.

“Where do you want me to take you?” he finally asked.

“Anywhere but home,” I whispered.

I didn’t have the strength to have a conversation with my father too, if he was home at all.

Harris looked at his watch and I realized it was close to 9pm. The storm had brought the darkness early. My skin had dried and I no longer felt the cold, but my hair was still a littlewet. I was so lost in my thoughts, in what I’d found out in the last two hours, that I wasn’t even aware of the fact that I was naked in Harris’ arms.

I wrapped my legs around him and rested my head on his chest as he drove like he had the last time, watching the monitor on the dashboard. His lips were on my shoulder and his hand occasionally stroked my back. I didn’t know where he was taking me, and I didn’t care, but I turned my head as the car slowed down.

He stopped in front of the garage, and I got goosebumps at the thought of having to wear those clothes again.

He turned off the engine, and then it was dark again. I could no longer feel his breath on my skin as he leaned back.

“Say something, baby. Your silence is killing me.”

I searched his face and touched his cheeks with my fingertips.

“I have a thousand thoughts, but I have no idea what to say.”

“Tell me your thoughts, no matter how bad they are.”

Were my thoughts bad? I had no idea as it had been a tough day, and I kept caressing his face.

“I have to process all this. Get used to what you told me.”

“Accept?” he added, bitterness coating his tone as the question didn’t feel appropriate.

I shook my head, even if I knew he couldn’t see me.

“No, I have already done that. I accepted what you are the day I found my bed covered in blood. I avoided you in those days to protect my father, I was afraid for him. I only wanted to run into your arms, and now, after what you have told me, that desire is even stronger.”

He was silent for so long that I began to move in his arms. Finally, he pulled me to him and his lips touched mine. As I took his face in my hands, something moistened my fingers.

The shock blocked my heart.

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