Page 69 of Craving Carla

“Amari...” she says, her hand pressing against me again. “Whatever this is, it cannot be.”

I narrow my eyes at her. Cannot be? I’ve waited over a thousand years for this woman. I don’t want to hear that shit.She looks up at me with the saddest expression in her eyes that nearly breaks me.

“Maybe that’s why I can’t feel the mate bond. I belong in the shadows.”

“You belong with me!” I hiss at her. And I don’t mean to be so cruel, but this... this is starting to piss me off. She’s my woman, and I’m keeping her. She takes a step back from me, and I grin.

Does she want me to really crack? To see darkness creeping out of me, a beast I’ve been trying to push back? She’s about to get it.

“I want you to leave, Amari. Even if you are my fated mate, I can’t.”

She starts to walk away from me, and I let the roses drop to the forest floor. I look to Tofi with a hard, menacing glare, something dark and depraved creeping out of me. I’m not losing my woman.

“Tofi, lift the fucking veil,” I growl, but she just takes off, crawling up the tree and disappearing out of view.

Fuck!

I turn around and start following Carla, smoothing my hand over my beard, over the short curls on my head, adjusting my suit. Carla looks back at me nervously, picking up her steps.

She can’t outrun me.

This conversation isn’t over.

24

Carla

Ilook back at him, picking up my steps. He matches them step for step, his eyes never leaving mine. I break off into a run, taking off as fast as I can, but it’s useless. I’m trying to run from a vampire of all creatures, and I’m not going to get far with his level of speed. I turn off the trail, hiding behind a large branch, putting a hand over my mouth to quiet my breathing as I try to catch my breath.

Amari is out of his mind right now. I need to think. He’s saying I’m his fated mate. Does he have any idea what that means for him? Being attached to me, the spider queen—the world shuns me, they’ll treat him the same way. And how do I know this is even real? Ackley played with my head for a whole year before I even realized I was being used. Not again, I can’t do it again. Amari will destroy me.

“Ah, my mate is into primal play,” Amari says. A few yards away, I watch him loosen the knot of his tie, his smirk crawling across his face like he’s already won.

Annoying bastard. Worse than Damon with his ridiculous obsession with suits. Why do vampires insist on looking like they just walked out of a catalog, even in the damn woods?

He pauses mid-step and tilts his head, like he’s listening to something just out of reach. Then he sniffs the air. His eyes open, sharp and focused, and when they land in my direction—straight toward the tree I’m hiding behind—his grin deepens.

“Run, angel,” he says, voice calm but holding that edge of danger. “You’re only making this more entertaining. I’ll catch you eventually. And just so you know... I may not be a bear, but I sure as hell fuck like one.”

Heat rises to my face, but before I can think of a response, he’s gone. Not gone like he disappeared into the woods—gone like he was there one second and then just wasn’t. My heart pounds as I whip my head around, trying to track him, but it’s no use.

Then I feel him. He’s right next to me.

“Fuck you!” I snap, spinning to face him, but his grin only widens as he steps closer, close enough that I can feel the space between us shrinking by the second.

His hand brushes my cheek, light and purposeful, like he knows exactly what he’s doing. The touch is almost tender, but it sparks through me like a jolt of electricity.

What the hell was I thinking, getting involved with this vampire? Sleeping with Amari was like opening Pandora’s box. I’ve unleashed something I can’t take back.

“Are you commanding me, love?” he murmurs, his voice low, teasing. He leans closer, his lips hovering just near mine, as if he’s daring me to push him away.

I shove my hand against his face, hard, and back away before he can catch me. “You’re insane!” I shout over my shoulder as I take off through the trees, my pulse pounding louder than my footsteps.

Behind me, his laugh rings out, low and full of menace. “Keep running, angel. You know I’ll find you.”

Why, oh why, aren’t my children helping me deal with this lunatic? I call out to them in my mind, begging for assistance, but they remain hidden. Have they truly chosen him over me? The thought weighs heavily on me as I push myself to run faster.

I finally reach the clearing to my cabin, running as hard and fast as I can, but when I look back, I see a flash, something moving so fast that it’s almost like a blur. I feel his arm wrap tightly around my waist, and my feet dangle from the ground, my back pressing firmly against him.

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