Page 12 of Knot the Witch Next Door

“Oh God, yes!” Rosemary cheered and nudged Carmilla who was fiddling with her camera. “You know you’re dying for one. You eat like ten of them every year we come here.”

Carmilla stuck her tongue out at my sister, but her smile faded as she glanced my way. She put her lens cap onto her camera and started in the opposite direction of where the food stalls were set up. There was a glint in her pretty eyes like a deer about to run. “I’m going to check out the maze and pick the best spots for pictures. You guys take a break and I’ll be back in a little while.”

“I’ll get cider and a donut for you.” Rosemary waved after her.

I continued to walk with Sam and Rosemary another dozen steps, but my body and soul was being pulled in the direction Carmilla went. “Hey, is something wrong with Carmilla today? She seems… very focused on the job instead of her usual crazy pumpkin patch loving self.”

“She’s just in business mode.” Rosemary leaned her head against Sam’s shoulder. The two of them were off in their own world. It was cute, but they were totally oblivious to everything else going on. “Mom thinks she’ll do a crappy job, and Milla is out to prove her wrong.”

“Wait.” I stopped, back stiffening. “You told Carmilla that Mom doesn’t want her doing this shoot?”

“Yeah, and Mom was wrong. We all know it. It’s been a perfect afternoon so far.” Rosemary smiled at Sam as they carried on.

That’s what had been eating at Carmilla. My sister believed Carmilla was the right one to do this shoot, but she didn’t have to tell her our mom was being a bitch about it. I knewbetter than anyone Mom’s high standards and how sometimes they were impossible to live up to.

“I’m going to go with Carmilla.” I wasn’t even sure that they heard me. I was off with a quick stride to catch up to my Omega.

My Omega. I shouldn’t think about her that way, but I couldn’t help myself. It wasn’t just last night—though that cemented my feelings—yet after Carmilla was sent away to school, I felt her absence so keenly that it was undeniable we had to be together. I tried to reason what I was feeling was based in fantasy since we had no contact or communication for seven years, but every time I saw her in her house from mine, something in me knew.

I chastised myself for those feelings. We’d been childhood friends and did all sorts of stupid stuff together. Several times I told myself I was just missing my friend, and that she wouldn’t be the same girl I remembered. Yet the second she opened the front door of her house to me, every “fantasy” emotion came rushing forth, and there was no doubting they were genuine.

Itwasreal. More than just the fact we were compatible, we were meant to be together.

Dammit. I sounded like some romance obsessed dolt.

Ahead of me, Carmilla’s skirt swished around her legs as made her way to the corn maze entrance. She paused to put her camera away in its bag and three kids ran past her into the field with a hoot. No smile. No holler of joy back. Yeah, she was having a bad time of it.

I’d nearly caught up to her when she took her first step in. “Carmilla, wait up!”

Her head jerked and her eyes widened when she saw me. Then she took off running.

Without hesitation, I darted into the maze after her. She was already out of sight, but I could not only hear her steps,I could smell her. That gorgeous sweet plum scent, thick and musky. Something in me rose up and had me grinning.

If it was a chase she wanted, I was more than happy to play the big bad wolf.

Carmilla’s footsteps were quick at first, nearly getting out of range of my hearing, but she slowed, maybe thinking she had lost me. I didn’t run, but as she would say, I did the horror movie killer fast walk. No matter how fast she ran, I would catch her. Her addictive perfume led me down the right path at every junction.

The dried stalks towered above me. Noise from the rest of the farm was muted and there was only her scrambling steps and the rustling of the corn leaves. A few kids and one family walked by me, but we were winding our way to the far left corner of the field.

I breathed in deeply, her scent getting stronger the closer I got. My heart beat hard and my adrenaline surged. My pretty witch wouldn’t get away. I’d hunt her down to the ends of the world.

Track her, catch her, and never let her go.

Two boys hurried by from the way Carmilla had gone. “It’s a dead end there, man.”

I nodded my thanks and grinned even wider. My stiff cock throbbed in my jeans. I almost had her. She was mine.

After another twist and a turn to the left, I found her. There was a road sign declaring the dead end and a plastic skeleton tied to the stalks with its jaw hanging open as if it couldn’t believe its bad luck. Carmilla stood with a hand on her stomach, panting as she tried to catch her breath. Her cheeks were flushed and her wild hair had fallen from its bun.

She yelped when she saw me and dove into the corn. There was a thud and she cursed as I ran to see what happened.Had she fallen? Was she hurt? It made me crazy to think of anything happening to her.

Five feet through the corn, I found her leaning against a wood fence holding her knee. We had reached the north-eastern corner of the field. The afternoon slung the stalks’ shadows over her, but as her head popped up hearing me, the light slanted over her eyes. So very Morticia Addams. And I was her Gomez, hopelessly dedicated to her.

“Are you alright?” I slowed my approach, even though I wanted to run up to her and scoop her into my arms.

“I’m fine. Just bonked my knee.” Carmilla shook her head and glanced at me, still tense and wary. “What are you doing here? We shouldn’t be alone.”

“You didn’t complain about it last night.” I raised my brows and smirked. There were laws that forbade unclaimed Omegas from being alone with Alphas, but consequences be damned. I pushed aside the stalks and stood in front of her. My whole body reacted to being so close to her, wanting to pounce and claim my prize. “Let me see your knee.”

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