Void(91)

“That’s just the bond talking,” I said with a small smile.

He shrugged, like it didn’t matter to him one bit. “Maybe. But you’re still fucking mine.”

To emphasize his point, Gritt moved his hand down to my right thigh. “What are you doing?” I asked, panting as the roughened pad of his finger touched me. A shiver rolled down my skin.

His green eyes were locked on mine, a flicker of male pride evident on his face. “Looking for your mate mark,” he replied.

I stared at his face for a moment, and Gritt held up his hand to show off the faint vines circling his ring finger. It looked like petals woven together in a wreath, and my eyes widened. “That’s a mate mark?” I asked.

He nodded. “It just showed up last night,” he explained.

Speaking of last night...

“Umm, so we all, umm…”

Render grinned at my embarrassed, stuttered words. “Yep.”

I didn’t know it was possible to blush as much as I did, but I felt my cheeks burn hotter than fire. “And then you guys just...lay next to me all night...naked...and fed my Void?” I asked, but what I really wanted to know was why all four of them had joined together last night to bring me back from the brink. I wanted to know where they all stood with me and each other, because until I knew that, I didn’t know how to process it all. Last night had been frantic and beautiful and intense. But in the light of day, I didn’t know how to feel about it yet.

Gritt shrugged. “Had to.”

I frowned. “You had to?”

“Yes.”

My eyes darted down to where Render’s hand suddenly curved over my very bare waist. The paleness of our skin matched, making Gritt’s darker tone stand out even more.

When Render started circling my belly button, Gritt growled and smacked his hand away. “Hands off. She doesn’t need skin-to-skin to feed anymore.”

“I don’t hear her complaining,” Render said, placing his finger over my rib cage and slowly moving it up. “And you certainly weren’t complaining last night, Wolfy.”

“Yeah, well she’s my fucking mate,” Gritt ground out.

Render’s hand kept moving up, over to my left breast. My entire body started to heat up, with Gritt’s hand so close to my core and Render’s cupping my heavy globe. “I’m glad you brought that up,” Render said pleasantly. “Because it seems that she’s my mate now, too. And I’d very much like to know why that is.”

My head whipped around to look at Render, my eyes wide. Gritt sat up, showing off his abs and very prominent erection, but he wasn’t paying his dick any mind. He was too busy staring murderously at the vampire.

“What the fuck do you mean she’s your mate too?” he demanded.

Render lifted his left hand, and there on his ring finger, was a mate mark identical to the one that Gritt had.

Gritt was out of bed and on his feet in a second, his green eyes flashing. “What the fuck? When did you get that?”

I sat up, looking around for my clothes, because I had a feeling this wasn’t going to go down well.

Render pushed off the bed and picked up his black slacks from the floor, yanking them on. Gritt did the same with a pair of worn jeans, choosing to go without boxers. Meanwhile, I was still searching frantically all over for my clothes, except I couldn’t see them anywhere.

“Last night,” Render answered with a menacing smirk. “You might remember, yeah? You were eating her out, our tongues brushed a couple times during the exchange. Then I fucked her hard while her smoke got you off. I’d be happy to recreate the moment if you need a reminder.”

Gritt looked pissed. I half expected smoke to pour from his red ears.

“Look,” Render began. “I know you’re a territorial barbarian that likes to beat his chest and scream mine every chance he gets, but you’re going to have to get over this.”

“You’re a filthy blood sucker. You know nothing about shifter bonds and what it does to us. It’s fucking feral. I can’t control it any more than you can control the urge to feed,” Gritt tried to explain while dragging his hands across his face. He was vibrating with anger now, each tremor coursing through his muscles.

“Well, it’s a good thing I like to fight, mutt,” Render replied while shrugging a shirt on. I could tell by the gleam in his gray eyes that riling Gritt up amused him. “And as our mate found out last night, I also like to fuck,” he added, making Gritt growl. “I’m bonded to her now too, but I’m not going to be an idiot like you. Which means I won’t be throwing feral hissy fits every five seconds. While you chase your tail in circles, I’m going to keep on fucking Devicka. Guess you’re just going to have to get used to it.”

In a flash, Gritt launched himself at him, shifting mid-leap. He was now a massive lion going for the vampire’s jugular, and I stood there in shock as a full-blown vampire-shifter brawl started right there in the middle of the bedroom.

“Are you serious right now?” I screeched.

Gritt nearly tackled Render to the floor, but the vampire flashed out of the way at the last second.

“Stop it!”

Neither of them listened, of course.

I rushed over to the closet and frantically looked through clothes, but it was like the damn vampire only wore his uniform, suits, or Dracula capes. I could hear grunts and growls and something breaking, so I quickly snagged a blood-red dress shirt and a black cape off the hangers. Grumbling, I pulled the shirt on, buttoning it all the way up before rolling the sleeves so that my hands could reach through. I tied the cape, knowing that I looked like a damn Halloween secretary dressing up for my skeezy vampire boss.