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  “Having the two of you inside my head. All of us knowing exactly what the others are feeling, are thinking at any given moment, even after the connection is broken.”

  “No, of course not,” Lock said.

  “Oh, good.” She put a hand to her throbbing head. “Because for a minute there I was kind of freaking ou—”

  “Thought sharing wouldn’t occur unless we were fully bonded to you,” Deep said, obviously continuing where his twin had left off.

  “So you could hear my thoughts, even when we’re not touching or joined?”

  “Only if we were bonded. Right now all we can do is sense your emotions—as you can sense ours.” Lock made it sound like it was perfectly normal to be feeling someone else’s emotions—two someone elses, Kat reminded herself.

  “Oh my God—okay, this is too much.” She shook her head. “I mean, I like sci-fi and everything but this is all just a little too Vulcan mind-meldy for me.”

  “What?” they both said together.

  Kat took a deep breath. “What I’m trying to say is, I was good with us sharing thoughts while we were joined—well, maybe not good, but okay. It was actually pretty damned uncomfortable letting you two into my head but whatever, it was for a good cause—we had to find Sylvan and Sophie. But you didn’t tell me it was never going to end! That I would still feel you in me after it was over and done with.”

  “You don’t understand, do you, little Kat?” Deep took a step toward her, looking at her intently. “When you pair with Twin Kindred, the joining never ends. Not really.”

  “Stop it! Can’t you see you’re scaring her?” Lock turned on his brother looking really angry.

  Scratch that—feeling really angry. Because I can feel the anger and frustration like lava bubbling up inside him, Kat thought dismally. And Deep is even worse. He’s so hungry. There’s a vast, black chasm in his soul. Oh God, I can’t handle this right now!

  “Please don’t leave.” The look in Lock’s eyes when he turned back to her was pleading. “I feel your fear but we would never hurt you, Kat. And we don’t like the idea of you wandering around the ship with nowhere to go.”

  “I’ll go back to the sacred grove,” Kat said, trying to keep her voice steady. “I’ll be fine there.”

  “No.” Deep was positively glowering now, his black brows pulled low over burning eyes. “You’ll have to go through the unmated males’ territory to get to the sacred grove. You can’t go there.”

  “What my brother means is that it wouldn’t be safe for you to go near unmated males in the state you’re in,” Lock said apologetically.

  “What state?” Kat demanded. “What are you talking about?”

  “Your scent.” Deep leaned forward and inhaled deeply before looking into her eyes. “You smell too hot. You need to stay away from unmated males.”

  “But…but you two are unmated males,” she objected, her voice trembling. And the way you’re feeling about me makes me think I should stay the hell away from you. But she didn’t say it out loud. The burning lust she felt coming in waves from both brothers was too frightening, too intense.

  “We know you,” Lock said in a soothing voice that belied the vortex of need inside him. “And you know us—you know deep down we won’t hurt you. Don’t you, Kat?”

  “I…I don’t know,” she faltered. “I know you want me. I can feel it coming off both of you like…like heat.”

  “We can’t help what we feel,” Deep said roughly. “How can we help wanting you between us, beautiful little Kat? How can we help wanting to fill you again?”

  Somehow Kat knew he wasn’t talking about filling her with his mind this time. No, this time he and Lock wanted more. Much more. And that scared the ever loving crap out of her.

  “Just stay the night,” Lock urged quietly when she didn’t speak. “Don’t listen to Deep, we won’t bother you—you can have the bed all to yourself if you like.”

  The thought of getting anywhere near their bed, even if she was the only one in it, gave Kat a bad case of the butterflies. “No, you guys take the bed,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ll take the door, I’m leaving.”

  “No!” Deep moved to block her way again but Lock held him back.

  “Go then, my lady,” he said and she could feel his sorrow like an ache in her heart. “We won’t try to stop you. Only please, stay away from the unmated males’ territory.”

  “Look, I don’t care where I go right now as long as I can get away from the two of you and…and your feelings!” Kat knew she was being cruel but she couldn’t help herself—she was drowning in emotions that weren’t hers. It felt like a giant hand was gripping her, squeezing her for all it was worth and she couldn’t breathe…couldn’t breathe…

  Deep gave her a sharp, predatory grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “Oh, I think you’d care if you wound up there, little Kat. You’d care a hell of a lot. Because the warriors that live there would listen to what your scent was saying, not the words coming out of your pretty little mouth.”

  “Kat—” Lock started, but Kat had heard—and felt—enough to last her a lifetime. Dodging around both large male bodies, she slapped the door switch and squeezed out even before the silver panel had finished opening.

  There was a blast of sorrow/anger/pain/need/hunger so intense it nearly knocked her over, and then she was running blindly down the corridor, trying to get away. Trying to get anywhere else but where they were.

  Never. The word pounded in her brain as she ran, gasping for air. Never going to go through that again. Never, never, never!

  Chapter Thirteen

  The snuffling stopped and then there was a low growling sound outside the door that made the short hairs at the back of Sophie’s neck stand up. It was answered with a deeper, and even more menacing rumble. After a moment she realized it was coming from Sylvan.

  She edged toward the bathroom but she didn’t go in yet. Indeed, she couldn’t go in—she was too transfixed by the sight of Sylvan, who seemed to be changing before her eyes.

  She shivered when she looked at his face. His fangs were out again, deadly and sharp and the pupils of his eyes had grown until the iris was only a thin blue ring around a well of black. But not just black, she saw—his pupils were red. Blood red. And the look on his face was one of pure menace. Completely inhuman.

  But then he’s not human, she reminded herself. He’s a warrior from another galaxy. But even telling herself that didn’t help—he still looked chillingly animalistic in his anger. She wondered if the urlich could see as well as they could smell. If so and they were looking through the crack in the door, they would have to be crazy to confront such a threat.

  For a moment the growling rose to a crescendo that made her want to cover her ears. Then, miraculously, the sounds from outside the door began to die. To Sophie’s vast relief, in a matter of minutes they faded away to nothing, until even the snuffling was gone. Still, she waited anxiously, watching Sylvan who was still on high alert.

  He turned to her at last. “They’re gone.” His voice was a snarl and he still looked more animal than man.

  “Okay.” Sophie shrank away from him when he came toward her. God, he looked scary with those blood red eyes and was it her imagination or had his fangs gotten even longer? “So…” She cleared her throat. “So we can relax?”

  “No.” He was still glaring at her, his face filled with some emotion she couldn’t read. Maybe raw aggression? “There were only one or two out there,” he continued, still advancing on her. “They weren’t sure of the scent so they went to gather the rest of the pack to reach a consensus. If they decide that the scent they’re looking for is here, we’re done for.”

  “Oh.” Sophie put a hand to her throat. “What…how long do we have? What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to mark you. Right now.” Reaching out, he gripped her upper arm before she could dodge away. “On the bed. I need you out of your clothes—all of them.”

  Sophie’s mou