Page 142 of Obsession

His boots carry him closer, and before I know it, he frees my wrists and ankles and slides his strong arms underneath me.

I’m floating.

Spindly, webbing branches of naked trees pass by overhead, with limbs resembling gnarly fingers. Robbie ducks beneath branches and climbs over fallen snow-capped logs.

I take him in. The hood that’s pulled over his head, the serious look in his eyes as he focuses on the dark path ahead, the scruff on his jaw, and the dimple in his cheek. He’s so beautiful it hurts my already aching heart.

I open my mouth to tell him I love him despite everything, despite the darkness inside him. Despite the evil acts he has committed. None of it is important anymore. All that matters is that he’s here, carrying my broken body through the dark forest on a freezing cold night after saving me from my past.

I’m always running from my past.

Always scared.

Never brave.

“Robbie,” I croak, my voice getting lost in the rustle as he lifts a branch out of the way.

Snow dusts his arm when he drops it back, and his eyes find mine, soft and vulnerable, yet determined.

I did that.

I hurt him.

“I love you,” I rasp, and those eyes flash with emotion before he grits his jaw and jumps over a frozen beck of water. His boots sink into the deep snow.

My heart frosts over. I’ve lost him. He’s not mine anymore. I’m his, but the gates to his heart are welded shut.

“You’re not a monster,” I try, my throat scratchy. “You’re everything, Robbie.”

My eyes flutter as exhaustion drags me under, but I must get the words out. I need him to hear what’s weighing on my heart. “You’remyeverything. I’m so glad you reached out to me.”

A subtle clench in his jaw lets me know he’s listening, but he keeps those blue eyes averted.

Realization dawns on me, and it grips my heart in an iron fist that hurts more than Elliot’s death grip on my neck. “You’re running away.”

His silence is all the confirmation I need. He walks us deeper into the forest with determined steps. His jacket rustles as he holds me hostage to his chest. I breathe him in, desperate to bottle his scent before it’s lost to me forever.

“I will find you, Robbie.” I fist his lapels, seeing my bloodied fists clutch the dark fabric. I don’t ever want to let him go, and I never want to watch him walk into the night without me. Yet I know he’s leaving.

“It doesn’t matter where you go,” I whisper, my vision blurred with tears. “I will find you, even if I have to hunt you to the ends of the earth.”

I beat his chest once, weakly, pathetically. My heart screams louder than my cracked voice ever can. “I’m yours, and you’re mine. Years can pass by, lifetimes even, but our paths will always cross. Mark my words, Robbie Hammond. You can’t run from me.”

His eyes finally connect with mine. “What about Beatrix?” he asks. “Did you forget about her?”

“I don’t care. I don’t care about anything but you.”

Something I can’t decipher passes through his gaze before the shutters come back down. “Do you think I killed her?”

“You tell me, Robbie.”

I’m tired. So fucking tired.

His eyes flick between mine and his throat jumps, a look of vulnerability dancing over his features. “I want to know what you believe. The truth doesn’t matter. All I care about is how you see me.”

My head thuds with pain. Everything aches. I stare up at his face while he walks, maneuvering through the trees with ease.

In the silence, I search my heart for the truth. Did he kill an innocent young girl while I was at home, praying he would stay away because we both knew the cops were keeping an eye on my house that night? Robbie isn’t stupid. No, he’s intelligent.