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Of course not.
“You’re a— you’re a…”
Maddox grinned ruefully, the full length of his canine fangs extending past his bottom lip.
“I’m yours, that’s what I am. And the sooner you remember that, the better off we’ll both be.”
18
He was fast.
Evangeline already knew that. Even with her aching ankle, she’d had enough of a head start that she should’ve been able to put some kind of distance between the two of them. How long had she been running for? Five minutes? Maybe ten?
He must have booked it through the woods to catch her before she found her way to freedom. Then, as soon as she wobbled and fell, he proved that he was even faster than she thought. A blur of black jeans, tan skin, golden eyes… he was in front of her, then he wasn’t.
Before she even
hit the dirt, he scooped her up, cradling her against his brawny chest.
The shock and awe didn’t last. As soon as he started to rise to his full height, Evangeline shifted her weight, shoving against any part of his body she could reach.
“Let me go!”
“First Colt, now you,” Maddox said, as if he hadn’t heard her. He certainly didn’t loosen his hold at all, carrying her as easily as if she was weightless. “Seems busted ankles are catching.”
Evangeline didn’t know what he was talking about. She didn’t care. Still pushing, she snapped up at him, “If you hadn’t been chasing me, I wouldn’t have run on it and my ankle would be fine.”
“If you hadn’t escaped, I wouldn’t have been chasing you.”
She wanted to scream. It would only be a waste of energy; her brief escape proved that he hadn’t been kidding when he said there was no one else around for miles.
She had to do something, though. She had to make her kidnapper realize that what he was doing was wrong.
“You can’t keep me locked in there,” she told him, gentling her voice. She’d resorted to slapping at him before giving up. It was like slapping at an unmovable brick wall anyway. “Come on. Just… just let me go. And I don’t mean right now. Let me go home. This isn’t right and you know it.”
“I can’t do that.” His voice was an apologetic rumble. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t believe me, but I can’t.”
Remembering what he said, she repeated, “Won’t.”
Her body lifted slightly. Fell. He had shrugged. “It’s the same. You know what I am. You know what it means when I tell you that you’re my mate.”
Evangeline went cold.
This was it. Her nightmare come true, her deepest fear brought to life. No control. A shifter could tell their mate from first sniff. Was that what happened? That first day at Mugs—had he gotten a whiff of her and planned this very abduction to force her to mate with him? Forget her parents, forget her boyfriend… Evangeline would have to give up everything that she’d worked so hard to reclaim because some… some animal liked the smell of her?
Not in this lifetime.
“This is crazy!” She jerked in his hold, suddenly furious again. “You’re crazy! You can’t do this. You’re not allowed. I know the laws, I know my rights. You can’t just… just take me from my life and think I’m gonna be a part of yours.” Evangeline threw all of her strength behind the punch she managed to land on his upper arms. She wanted him to hurt, and if he dropped her? At least he wouldn’t be touching her. “Get your damn paws off of me!”
Maddox tried to remain calm, though the way she squirmed in his arms was making it harder and harder for him to hang onto his control.
The pure, rich, honest scent of her—despite the fear and pain that overlaid it and damn near broke him into a million pieces—was a balm to his soul. The way her soft skin brushed against his, even as she hit him, was driving him insane. It was so damn hard to keep his mind out of the gutter when, every time she twisted, her delectable ass brushed up against the bulge in his jeans.
So distracted, so consumed by her presence, it took a second for Evangeline’s words to sink in. When they finally did, it dawned on him that she wasn’t simply squirming in his arms.
She was fighting him.
The realization hit him like a bat to his skull and, for once, his cock decided to behave. He had his mate in his arms and she really, really didn’t want anything to do with him.
