Love Bites

“There’s only one place I want to be right now.” Kellan leaned forward and braced his hands on her car window. As his stomach muscles rippled underneath his wet T-shirt, her thoughts flatlined. “Inside you.”

She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. Her belly clenched when Kellan’s gaze openly followed the move. “Looks like it’s your lucky day, boys, because I love giving rides. But if we’re doing this, I insist on a hell of a lot more than just one.”

Kellan’s eyes never left hers. “Count on it.”

“You’re of age?” Lucas asked.

The phrasing struck her as odd, but she nodded. “Twenty-nine. Both of you?”

Kellan merely smiled, again showing off a mouthful of blinding white teeth much like Lucas’s. There was something almost feral about them, as if they were blades poised to strike. But rather than concern her, the thought only turned her on more.

“We’re above the age of consent, yes.”

“Then let’s go.” She hit the button to unlock her doors. They opened with a deafening click. “You,” she murmured to Kellan, “can sit up front with me.”

The two men had taken no more than three steps when Luke piped up. “You sure about this, Kell?”

Kellan snapped a hot gaze toward the man beside him. If Lucas were human, he’d be rendered speechless from the force of that look. Unfortunately, his power had no effect on his similarly endowed friend. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Lucas wasn’t without his own enhancements, but it was hard to realize the full scope of your gifts when you questioned yourself like a namby-pamby mortal around every turn.

“Strap on a pair, would you?” Kellan lowered his voice, knowing Lucas would hear him at a decibel Sydney could not. “We talked about this.”

“I know.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“You know what the problem is.”

Kellan shook his head and tipped his head back to view the churning sky. The rain had stopped for the time being, possibly a good omen. He could use one.

He didn’t know if Sydney was just a momentary distraction, but he figured a night with her would answer that question. And Lucas needed to get laid by someone. Anyone who wasn’t a certain petite librarian named Emily, a nondescript woman with glasses and a complete disinterest in sex. Especially vampire-bonded sex, since she subscribed to the notion vampires were nothing more than a subject of lore. She knew plenty about that lore, too, and shared her knowledge with the masses during her endlessly boring monthly library chats. The subjects ranged in topic but she seemed to return to vampire and paranormal mythology with frightening regularity.

She was a smart woman, he had to give her that. But she was also incredibly naïve and annoying as hell.

Which brought him full circle to Lucas. Yeah, Kellan was a humanitarian. Vampiritarian? Whatever. Though thinking of his fellow man was only his first priority when he didn’t have a second, Lucas was the exception. His buddy was ailing, and Kellan hated to see that, even if his friend was blinder than three bats. He’d found his damn bonded mate. Most vampires searched for decades—if not centuries—for theirs, and here Lucas was, willing to walk away because Emily had rebuffed his pathetic attempts at seduction?

Ridiculous.

“We made a deal. You said you’d give another woman a chance. A gorgeous babe wants us. Both of us. And now you’re fretting and blushing?”

As Lucas pushed a hand through his long hair, leftover rain streamed over the shoulders of his black trench coat. He always dressed in dark colors. Standard B-movie vamp attire. “I’m not blushing. And what’s up with calling her breasts tits? Hypocrite.”

“It’s completely classless, but I’m trying to speak in your adolescent vernacular.”

“Most guys call them tits.”

“Most guys also wouldn’t turn down a hot, juicy pussy.”

Lucas frowned, his eyes blazing. “I’m not turning it down. I’m just—”

“Thinking about Emily again,” Kellan finished. Because Lucas’s mind was almost painfully straightforward, his pal would never guess that Kellan’s attempts to push him toward another woman weren’t what they seemed.

Much as he hated to admit it, Lucas had found his true mate before Kellan had encountered his own. Damned fool just couldn’t accept the truth.

Honestly, he had no interest in sharing a woman with Lucas for more than an hour or two. Especially not this woman, whom he’d had his eyes on for weeks. It was the ultimate sacrifice to offer him Sydney. But he owed Lucas. Besides being the best friend he’d ever had, Lucas had forgiven him the biggest of sins and also allowed Kellan to live in a manner far beyond what his own modest efforts as an artist could provide. Sharing a woman with him, to hopefully prompt him to finally make his move toward Emily, was the least Kellan could do.

“What is taking you guys so long?” Sydney called from inside the car, and Kellan gave Luke a pointed look.

“On our way,” Kellan replied, gesturing to his friend.