Kat felt her heart skip a beat at the old fashioned gesture and the feel of his warm lips on her skin. He looked so handsome standing there, so earnest and hopeful as he kissed her hand. When he looked up, his whole heart was in his chocolate brown eyes.
“Lock…” she said, not knowing how to continue.
“My lady,” he murmured. “Forgive me for offending your modesty. Please know that I acted only out of affection and the most earnest desire to see to your needs.”
He had needs of his own. Kat could feel them. She could feel the yearning inside him—the wanting so strong it brought tears to her eyes. And all of it, all his desire and need and love and lust, all was centered on her. “Oh, Lock…” Somehow she found herself hugging him, wrapping her arms around his muscular torso and holding him close.
“My lady… Kat,” he murmured into her hair, returning the hug carefully.
Kat breathed in his scent without speaking, knowing it was his mating scent but not caring for once. It was warm and calming—a mixture of hot coffee on a cold morning and fresh laundry straight from the dryer. Under it was a hint of masculine spice that tickled her nose and made her nipples and the tender vee between her legs throb. But despite her desire, hugging Lock was wonderfully comforting. His arms were hard and strong around her and she realized for the first time that she liked him—liked him a lot.
He liked her too. She could feel the warm iron bar of his cock against her thigh, but she didn’t pull back. It seemed right somehow—or at least, not scary. Her irritation and worry seemed to melt away and for a moment 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.”