Page 114 of Craving Carla

“I know the law,” Amari continues. “King Amir was right—it’s wrong for vampires to intervene in human affairs. It only ended in me suffering with them. I’m not human, and I’m seeing that now.” His voice drops lower. “All I want is to be a good father to these children. To provide for them, protect them, and love them.”

He turns to me, his eyes burning with intensity. “I know I’m not deserving of you or your love, Carla, but I will never give up on you. I’ll keep trying as long as I walk this earth.”

Then Amari speaks in his native Moorish tongue. “Ana uhibbuk min kul qalbi,” he says, the unfamiliar syllables spoken simply meant only for me.

“I don’t need you to translate,” I say, my voice soft and steady. “I know what you just said without even knowing your language. You said you love me.”

Amari stares at me with a somber expression. “I’m being honest and genuine and humble because you and the children are all I want.”

Something shifts inside me, a certainty taking hold where doubt once lived. “I don’t need the mate bond,” I blurt out. “I don’t need to feel it at all.”

Amari’s face falls, panic flashing in his eyes. “I will drop to my knees and grovel if that’s what you want. But please, please don’t reject me. I need you. I love you.”

I approach him slowly, my heart pounding. “I love you,” I say, the words finally breaking free after being trapped inside me for so long. “I’ve known that I’ve loved you since the moment we shared at the border. The way you protected me from Jax, the way you pulled me away from the waters to keep me safe.”

A tear escapes, rolling down my cheek. “I don’t need to feel the mate bond. I know without a doubt that I love you.” I swallow hard, voicing my deepest fear. “And it’s going to destroy me when you break my heart.”

“I will not do anything to hurt you,” Amari assures me, but the intensity of the moment has drained me.

“I’m tired,” I sigh, closing my eyes. “I want to get a shower and go to bed.” I turn to leave, but Amari grabs my arm, pulling me back with a force that makes me gasp.

He cups my face in his hands, his golden eyes blazing with an emotion I can’t name. The way he stares at me—like I’m water after a thousand years of thirst—makes my breath catch.

“Amari,” I whisper, but before I can say anything else, his lips claim mine.

This isn’t like any of our previous kisses. It’s consuming, all-encompassing, like he’s trying to absorb me into his very being.His lips move against mine with an intensity that steals my breath, my thoughts, my very sense of self. One hand slides to the back of my neck, holding me in place as his tongue sweeps into my mouth, tasting, exploring, claiming.

My hand finds its way to him, feeling his heart pounding beneath my palm—the heart that beats for me, that came alive because of me. The steady rhythm grounds me even as the kiss makes me feel like I’m floating, disconnected from the earth and all its sorrows.

Heat spreads through my body, starting where our lips meet and radiating outward until even my fingertips tingle with it. My knees weaken, and I cling to him, afraid I might collapse if he lets go. He tastes like wine and something darker, richer, uniquely him—a flavor I could become addicted to.

Amari angles his head, deepening the kiss impossibly further. His teeth nip gently at my bottom lip, soothing the sting with his tongue before diving back in. I moan into his mouth, completely surrendering to the sensation, to him. The forest, the graves, our watching children—everything fades away until there’s nothing but Amari and this kiss that’s rewriting me from the inside out.

“You have no idea what you’ve just done,” he murmurs against my lips, his voice rough with desire. “How desperate I was for your heart.” He pulls back just enough to look into my eyes, his forehead pressed to mine as we both gasp for breath. “And now I have it.”

The Amari I know seems to have vanished, replaced by someone wild, almost manic in his intensity. His eyes are dark with possession, his face transformed by a hunger that has nothing to do with blood.

“I’m never letting you go,” he says, his voice low and charged with intensity. “Never.”

In this moment, looking into those feral gaze, I believe him completely. And despite everything—the grief of the burial, the depth of his confessions, the uncertainty of our future—I feel a strange peace settle over me.

Because whatever happens next, I’ve made my choice. And so has he.

39

Amari

Ican’t stop stealing glances at Carla as we walk back to the cabin, her hand warm in mine. My heart—my heart that beats only for her—swells with each step. She loves me. Without the mate bond, without Fate’s invisible hand guiding her, shechoseme. The knowledge burns through me like wildfire, consuming everything in its path.

We reach the cabin steps, and I move ahead, opening the door and stepping aside so she can enter. I follow her in, closing the door behind us, and suddenly everything shifts, electric with possibility.

Carla pulls off her coat and steps toward me, reaching for the coat rack beside me. I catch her wrist mid-motion, and the jacket falls from her grasp, pooling on the floor at our feet. Her eyes widen, lips parting in surprise.

I pull her hand to my lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckles, breathing in her peachy scent that’s become as necessary to me as blood.

“It’s been a long night,” she murmurs, her voice soft in the quiet cabin. “We should probably just go to bed.”

I shake my head, feeling my lips curl into a grin. “You’re not going to bed until you come on my tongue.”

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