Free Keeping Cambria by Kitty DuCane Page B

replied his twin. He caught a glimpse of uncertainty in his brother’s eyes.
    “I don’t need or want a husband.”
    “Mate,” they both replied.
    Cambria rolled her pretty green eyes. “Is there a difference?”
    “Absolutely,” replied Venom, and Viper was more than happy to let his brother dig this hole. “Inside of us are a werewolf and a vampire.”
    “Yeah, your jerk brother mentioned that, too.”
    “Yes. Our brother has a big mouth. Our wolf and vampire have deemed you as theirs.” Venom cleared his throat. “And we’ve claimed you.”
    Her hands immediately flew to one of her bites on her shoulders. Venom continued carefully. “Those will never heal. They are permanent signs of…”
    “Possession,” she whispered, her voice pained.
    “No, no. That’s too strong of a word,” replied his brother, but it was actually dead on. Cambria belonged to them.
    “What, then?” she demanded, her voice raised a tad.
    Viper had never seen his twin struggle with words before, but Cambria tended to do that to them, tied them up in knots with a word, a look, a…whatever she gave them. Hell’s Hunters didn’t tiptoe around the truth and certainly not about their feelings. Just like Judge did today. The thought made his ire climb all over again. He forced his attention back to her. The answer was so simple. “It’s a brand that tells everyone else to leave you the hell alone,” he stated unequivocally.
    Venom muttered a “damn it,” and she gave a huge gasp. Her gaze darted from Venom to his. “That may mean something in your fucked-up world, but it means nothing to us humans.”
    She was mad? He opened his mouth to tell her just how lucky she was, but Venom threw him a punch in his mind. Let me handle this. Just keep your fucking big mouth shut .
    “You’re right. Humans will think you have a hickey,” said Venom. Her lip curled in disgust. “But it’s much more. It binds you to us.”
    “I don’t want to be bound to you. Unbind me, right now.”
    Way to go, bro. You handled that well.
    Fuck you!
    Venom eased to the edge of his chair and enfolded her slender hand into his. “We can’t do that.”
    “But…but.”
    “But we’ll make you a deal. You give us a chance to date you, and if things don’t progress the way you need them to, we’ll walk away.”
    “You can do that?” she asked.
    Fuck no! yelled Viper’s beasts.
    What do you want me to do, man? Throw her over our shoulder? This way, we have a chance to change her mind without sending her running into the night.
    His brother didn’t give him time to reply, “Yes, we can.”
    You’re lying to her?
    No. If she doesn’t want us, then we’ll have to walk away.
    It would be easier to chop off our heads and rip our hearts out.
    It won’t matter. If she says no, she’ll rip our hearts out anyway.
    I don’t like this.
    Too bad. This is what it means to have a mate.
    A growl rumbled in Viper’s chest. Cambria leaned away from him, and his wolf eyes caught the little chills racing along her arms. “Sorry.” It sounded lame. It was lame, but his wolf didn’t like the hand they had been dealt.
    Changing the subject seemed like an advantageous idea, and he had to know anyway. “Why are you looking for Steven Johnson?”
    She ducked her head and played with a strand of hair as if she reminisced on something pleasant. “I’m not ready to discuss him. I just need to find him. He was last seen with some vampire, and then he disappeared.”
    “In Atlanta?” asked his twin.
    “Yes.”
    “And you won’t tell us why he’s important to you?”
    She shook her head as sadness rolled off her. Viper’s beast wavered between outrage and heartache. He’d kill this Steven fucker if he had to.
    “What’s your last name?” asked Venom.
    Her eyes darted between the two of them. “Johnson.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
    Aw, fuck!
    “Is he your father…brother…husband?” asked Venom.
    Her breasts rose under the grip she had on her