Sought...Book 3 in the Brides of the Kindred series by Evangeline Anderson Page A

she allowed herself to
just feel good in his arms.
    “Kat,” he breathed and she looked up. His
brown eyes were half-lidded and she realized he was going to kiss
her.
    I shouldn’t be doing this. I’m probably
only feeling this way because of all the damn fruit I ate. But
she couldn’t help remembering the gentle way he’d tasted her the
night before, the sweet way he’d made her come with his tongue. The
memory made her hot and cold all over and she shivered in his arms.
She tilted her mouth up to meet his—
    “Brother, I—” Deep’s voice at the door made
her jerk away, but not before the dark twin’s coal black eyes had
taken in the way she and Lock were wrapped in each other’s
arms.
    “Deep.” Lock raised a hand to his brother.
“The lady Kat and I were just—”
    “I see what you were just doing.”
Deep’s eyes flashed. “Don’t let me interrupt you.”
    “Stop,” Lock pleaded. “You know it isn’t
like that. It can’t be. Without you—”
    “I’d say you’re doing just fine without me.”
Deep nodded at both of them coldly and left, shutting the door
behind him.
    Lock sighed and stepped back, away from Kat.
“I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have been able to
do that.”
    Kat frowned. “What do you mean?”
    “We’re bonded twins.” Lock ran a hand
through his hair. “Touching a female in the way I was touching you
should have been excruciatingly painful for me without my brother
somehow involved.” He sat heavily on the edge of the bed. “It hurt
me to take you in my arms without Deep touching you as well, but I was able to do it.”
    “It hurt you to hold me?” Kat looked
at him, her eyes wide. “Really? How…how does it feel?”
    “Like a low-level electrical shock running
through my body. But just the fact that I was able to do it at
all…” He shook his head. “We’ve grown apart lately. Ever
since—”
    “Since what?” Kat asked but he only shook
his head.
    “Never mind. I owe you an apology.”
    “It’s all right,” Kat said softly, sitting
beside him. “I wasn’t exactly trying to get away. I should have,
though—I don’t want to lead you on.”
    He gave her a look from the corner of his
eye. “Meaning you still have no interest in us.”
    “I think I could if I let myself—I could
have feelings for you , anyway,” Kat said honestly. “I mean,
you’re sweet and kind and caring and gorgeous—what more could a
girl want?”
    “But?” Lock raised one dark blond eyebrow at
her.
    “But…” she said reluctantly. “You come with
an awful lot of baggage. You know what I mean.”
    “Yes.” He nodded heavily. “Yes, I do. But my
lady, if you could just give Deep a chance…”
    Kat was already shaking her head. “I’m
afraid not, Lock, it would never work. Deep and I—we’re like oil
and water—we don’t mix. We can’t even have a single conversation
without it turning into a shouting match.”
    Lock’s broad shoulders slumped. “I know he’s
difficult to get along with. But he truly does care for you.”
    “Then why don’t I feel it?” Kat asked. “I
get all these strong emotions from you two but what I mostly feel
from him is lust and annoyance. He wants me but mostly I irritate him.”
    “You’re only feeling what he lets himself
feel,” Lock protested. “But under all that, he cares. I know he does.”
    “Maybe you just want him to,” Kat said
gently. “Because you two come as a package deal and I can’t take
one without the other. Look, I can tell how hard it is for you and
I’m sorry—really I am. But aside from the whole feeling both of
your emotions thing and the, uh, way you perform bonding sex which
is scary to say the least…” she shivered and wrapped her arms
around herself. “Aside from that, the fact is, I just can’t let
myself get involved with two guys when one of them can’t stand me.”
She shook her head. “God, that sounds so weird.”
    “No, it sounds like common sense.”