Page 36 of Bound By Blood

“No,” he said flatly. “No, I’ve answered enough of your goddamn questions. Fuck buddies don’t share shit with each other.”

It was obvious to him that the term had more of an effect on him than he originally thought, and that only pissed him off even more. He had tried to be nice to her, tried to take care of her, and he had done everything right. In return though, she had turned her nose up at him. So, he was done trying. He was done with her, and he needed her to leave so that he could focus on finding a way to get to Kata in order to break this damn bond.

“Believe me, I want nothing more than to be gone. But if you own more, then we might be able to leave without your father knowing. Then we can break this shit, and I can be out of your life for good.”

Landon paused for a moment, processing her words. It was clear that she had an idea, and if that got them to Kata, and if Kata could help them break whatever the hell was going on between them, then he could go back to his normal life. He could be done with Carly, and he could go back to fucking and killing without remorse. The thought was sobering and strangely calming.

“I’m listening,” he stated after a while.

He heard her huff a frustrated breath before she stepped closer to the shower. “If it’s not unusual to take a business trip, perhaps you can tell him that you’re looking at another club and that you’ll be gone for a few days.”

Considering the idea had come from a mere human, it was a pretty good one. Already, a plan was beginning to take form in his head, and he couldn’t believe he didn’t think of it himself. He could easily tell his father that he was going to assess a property out of state with the hopes of expanding past state lines. It was something his father had always wanted to do, so selling him on it wouldn’t be very difficult. Then, when he got back, he could just explain that the deal fell through or that it wasn’t what they were looking for.

“That might actually work,” he commented. “I’ll look into it and get back to you. You don’t want to miss your cab. And before you start to doubt me, I will get back to you. I want to break this shit as much as you do.” It was mostly a lie, but he was ready to be rid of her. They needed to break this thing because it was the only way he was going to survive.

“And if we can’t?” Her voice was so quiet and defeated that he actually looked over at her.

He watched as her eyes searched his face. Her expression was sad, and he didn’t know if that was because she didn’t think they would be able to break it or if it was because he was kicking her out. Either way, it didn’t matter.

Landon swallowed hard and turned away from her, grabbing his shampoo instead. He didn’t want her to see the hurt in his own eyes. He didn’t want her to know that she had that kind of power over him. Not anymore. He had been considering opening up to her earlier that morning, but her shutting him down and closing herself off had killed that desire. Now, he just wanted her gone even if it hurt.

“We have to, one way or another. Obviously, we are toxic to each other,” he continued softly. “Breaking this thing is the only way either of us is going to survive.”

Carly crossed her arms over her middle and glanced away from him. “I don’t know if I could go back to normal life, not after meeting you.”

“It’s what’s best for both of us,” he countered, keeping his voice flat and devoid of emotion.

Vampires weren’t supposed to have emotions, damn it. Nor did he use any of the ‘pet names’ he had for her either, hoping to solidify the fact that he was done. He needed to start building the walls up around himself again, unsure of when they had come crashing down in the first place. However, he knew that it had everything to do with Carly, which made her a danger to him.

After quickly washing and ringing off, Landon climbed out of the shower and stepped around Carly to grab a towel. He tied it around his waist before going back into his room. Even though he hadn’t said anything else to her, she had made no move to leave. This led him to believe that she was having doubts about her actions earlier, but he wasn’t going to entertain that. While she may be having doubts, her actions had only shown him that breaking the bond was the only reasonable outcome.

He plucked his pants up off the floor and pulled out his cell phone from the pocket. He noticed then that he had three messages from Irma, all asking where he had disappeared to. He shot her a quick text apologizing for leaving her like that and told her that he had some business to take care of. It was a lie, but he knew she would buy it. She had worked for him long enough to know that his schedule was ever-changing.

After tossing his phone onto the bed, he glanced up and noticed Carly tracing the muscles in his back through the mirror. “I should go,” she whispered when their eyes met through the reflection.

For several moments, he continued to hold her gaze. A part of him wanted to make her stay. He wanted to make her see how much she wanted him and how stupid she was being. But the thought of forcing anything between them made him feel sick. His jaw clenched as he tore his eyes away from hers. “Yeah. You should.”

Carly turned and began to leave the bedroom. However, she stopped for a moment, hesitated, and then looked back at him. “Just so you know,” she began, her voice still a whisper. “This isn’t what I want.” Then, she left the room entirely.

Landon rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Could have fooled me,” he grumbled to the empty air as he headed into his closet to get dressed for the day.

While her words said one thing, her actions screamed the opposite. If she truly wanted this, she would have tried harder. Just like he had.

Chapter 14

Carly Harris

The blaring of Carly’s phone alarm woke her. She groaned and reached over, blindly tapping her phone’s screen until the offending sound was cut off. Prying open her eyes, she stared blurrily at her shadowed ceiling, her insides twisted just as they had been since . . .

She clenched her jaw.

The morning’s sunbeams peeped through her curtains and stretched thin fingers of light across her comforter. She watched dust motes dance inside them for a moment, swirling and twisting by an invisible gust of wind, like her own thoughts. Despite the sex being several days ago, her senses were still heightened like they had been when he was fucking her. Sometimes, it gave her a headache to smell scents before she could figure out where they were coming from or to have bright reflections that seared into her eyes.

Three days had passed since she had seen or spoken to Landon. Every time she thought about their conversation, shame filled her. She cringed while remembering what she had said to him. Things had been going just fine until she opened her big fat mouth.

She was an idiot.

“Maybe I’ll flirt with him a little. You never know. He might be a better fuck than you are.”