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Gods, the uncertainty in her tone was enough to gut me. I wanted to scoop her into my arms, but it was obvious she wouldn’t welcome it. “You have my vow.”

Some of the fear left her eyes. “Please… I-I need to go home as soon as possible.”

My hopes for her swift acceptance of the mate bond turned to ash. I should have expected as much. A vampire of her beauty was probably already pledged to another.

Possessiveness whipped through my chest, and it was an effort to keep the growl from my voice. “Do you have a man?”

“Wh-What?” Her eyes went wide.

“A male.” I sucked in oxygen in a bid to calm my voice. “Are you mated?”

“No. No, of course not.”

My beast settled down.

She swallowed. “Please let me go.”

“We’ve discussed this already. I can’t release you. We’re mated.” Well, not yet. Not technically. Sealing the mate bond required Bram’s presence and a certain, ah, sexual position.

Probably best not to broach that subject at the moment.

Something akin to horror flooded her gaze. “You think I’m your mate?”

“I know it. There is no think when it comes to this, trust me.”

For a long moment, she just stared.

I stared back. She’d had a shock, and she was in a vulnerable position. The least I could do was let her dictate the flow of conversation.

She darted a look around. “Is there another one? I thought you came in pairs.”

I couldn’t hide my smile. “Sometimes. Or one right after the other. Twice on a good night.”

Her brows drew together, and if I hadn’t known better I might have thought she was confused.

But I immediately dismissed the idea. There was no chance she was innocent. The vampires’ orgies were well known, as was the way they drugged and then satisfied their prey.

The possessiveness flared in my chest again, and this time my beast stirred with it. No longer would she “satisfy” any other male. Whether she willed it or no, she’d get everything she needed from Bram and me.

The door opened, and the male himself strode in, his face a mask of exasperation. “This better be good, Fergus, or I swear I’ll—” He stopped in his tracks.

I waited a moment, soaking in the pleasure of seeing him stunned and speechless. A strangled sound had me swinging my gaze back to the bed, where the vampire watched him with an equally stunned expression.

“This is Bram McGregor,” I told her. “Your other mate.”

Chapter Five

BRAM

For a second, I was speechless. Fergus’s “good surprise” was a leech. A tiny leech he’d apparently tied up and stashed in his bed. I stared at her, scarcely able to believe my eyes.

Then his words penetrated the shock clouding my brain.

“This is Bram McGregor. Your other mate.”

I tore my gaze away from the vampire so I could frown at him. “Mate?”

“Mate,” he said firmly, his silver eyes twinkling. He was obviously relishing his little prank. It wasn’t unusual for us to enjoy the occasional woman in our bed, but we stuck to humans. Females from the Firstborn Races brought too much trouble—like vengeful relatives. But our trysts were harmless encounters that never extended beyond one night. We both awaited the one woman meant for us, and we weren’t interested in forming any kind of bond, however satisfying, with any but our fated female.