Her Brother, Her Mate

“Carli?” the vampire’s smooth speech caresses her name, making me feel sick. “You should have told me you were coming out tonight. Where is that….fussy mate of yours?”

“Home with the baby,” she smiled over to him. He grimaces slightly when she mentions Rosie, but if she notices, she doesn’t show it.

“Oohhh,” he rubs her back, and I fight back a growl at the familiar way he is touching her until she shoves off his touch. He may be interested in her, but she clearly doesn’t feel the same way. “So are you ladies having a night out on the town? Can I get you a few drinks?”

He finally looks over my way, smiling politely. The bartender brings me my drink at that moment and places another coke in front of Carli. “I guess not. Well, have fun tonight. I will be around if you need anything. Make sure this all goes on my tab.”

“I always do,” Carli smirks as he walks off, then turns back to me and her face turns into one of concern. “What’s wrong?”

What should I tell her? I found my mate and he’s a vampire? The vampire that is clearly into her? “Who is that?” I managed to say, fighting back the anxiety and sadness in me.

She looks back at the man, who is now talking to a couple of bouncers at the door. “Vincent? I thought you knew him?”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

I shake my head, but then remember hearing her say the name before. “Vincent is the guy whose parents went rogue a few years ago? The ones who abducted you?”

“That’s the one.” She pulled her cell phone from her pocket, grimaced at the screen, then sighed. “This asshat. I’ll be right back. If I don’t call him in the next 30 seconds, he says he’s sending out a search party.”

I forced a chuckle, knowing that he was bluffing. She walks off towards the bathrooms and I turn back to the bar, nursing my drink. After a few seconds of contemplating what to do, that delicious, spicy scent hits me again, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Vincent slides onto the stool Carli just abandoned, looking over at me with a sultry smile. “I don’t believe we met,” he drawls. He has a slight accent; maybe Cuban or Puerto Rican.

“Simone,” I told him quietly, trying to hide the desire in my voice as his eyes met mine.

“Vincent,” he smiled smoothly, offering me his hand. I’m hesitant to shake it, but when I do, the sparks are insane. I wanted nothing more than to straddle him on his barstool, melting into his body.

His face drops slightly at my touch, and he quickly takes his hand back, looking at it like he was just electrocuted by my touch. Could he feel the sparks too?

“Static,” he mumbles, offering me an apologetic smile. “Are you and Carli close?”

I licked my lips nervously, “Yeah. Best friends since we were kids.”

He nods, “I think I’ve heard about you. I didn’t expect that woman to have such a ladylike friend. Are you a warrior too?”

A nervous giggle bubbles out of me, “No. Not even. I’m not a fighter.”

“What are you then?”

I shrugged, feeling a little settled since he was asking about me and not just my friend.

“I’m a student at the moment. I’m attending business school at the University of Miami.”

“Business school, huh? What business are you looking at getting into?”

I smile shyly, “My, uh, parents own a fishing charter. I’m learning to take over the family business one day.”

“In the tourist industry, I see. Such a beautiful woman, I’m sure you will do well.”

I blushed at his compliment. Hope begins to rise up in me, and I’m about to tell him that I’d like to speak with him in private, to explain that he is my mate, when his focus turns behind me and his face lights up, like a kid on Christmas. He was only being polite to me as Carli’s friend. He probably wasn’t truly interested in me. My hope came crashing down.

“Well, the f*****g douchebag is on his way. I only have about 20 more minutes of fun.”

“Trouble in paradise?” Vincent lowered his brows seductively. Carli doesn’t notice. She’s too busy texting furiously on her phone.

“None of your business,” she muttered without looking up, making him laugh breathlessly.

I can’t sit here any longer. I’m fighting the mate’s pull to this man, and it’s ripping my heart out watching as he flirts so openly with my best friend. My married best friend, with a baby and a husband on her way to get her. He is still showing her more attention than me, knowing all of that.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” I muttered softly, sliding from my stool on the opposite side of Vincent. I can’t risk touching him again. I’ll either cry or throw myself at him, embarrassing myself.

“I’ll go too,” Carli stated. I nodded, not wanting to leave her there with my mate.

The line for the bathroom is long, but thankfully Carli is too busy on her phone to notice how unsettled I am while we wait.

Vincent POV

When my men told me that Carli Childes was there, I wasn’t even at my club. It was my day off, and I needed to feed, but the drive to see her overpowered my thirst, and I drove like a madman back to my place of business.

I had to settle myself before walking in. Ricardo, my lead bartender, told me she was here without that incessant alpha mate of hers for once. She rarely went there without him.

I met Carli 6 years ago, when I was going through a strenuous time with my family, and she was also going through a trial with hers. We spent the whole night nursing one another’s wounds, then she was just gone the next morning. I spent YEARS searching for her. I spent almost every night in this club hoping to see her again. I would go to the cove when my abusive father would permit me time away.

The night I saw her again, when I finally had her in my arms, her vexatious mate ruined it all. I know I shouldn’t continue pining for a married woman, but it’s like a pull on me. She was my first. My first for everything. That isn’t something easy to get over.

When I spotted her at the bar, my heart skipped that familiar beat like it always did when I laid my eyes on her. She’s fiercely breathtaking. She looked angry, and I could hear with my heightened senses that she was upset about something her mate had done. A triumphant smile spread slowly on my face. Perfect.

When I come up from behind her, the pull is stronger than ever. It’s like gravity is pushing me in her direction, not towards the earth. It’s strange, though. As I get closer, it’s like the pull is drawing me not to her, but to the one beside her. Like a magnetic attraction.

Her friend is quite exquisite, and it takes my full concentration to focus on the feisty redhead and not the brunette beauty beside her.

I’m confused by my own attraction to this mystery girl. I’ve never seen her before, so I’m perplexed as to why I would feel the gravitation toward a random beauty. I’m around beautiful women all day. I’ve never felt drawn to anyone except Carli.

While Carli is away, leaving this mystery girl on her own, I can not ignore the pull any longer. I came to occupy the seat Carli left behind.

Simone. Her name is Simone. I find myself being enraptured by her flushed cheeks and charming dimples. Her gorgeous mouth when she speaks and the sweet voice that sounds like chimes in the wind. She’s….beguiling. Of course, she is. She is Carli’s friend.

I’m confused by the electricity I feel at her touch. Her soft skin sends shivers through my hand. There’s something in her bottomless, chocolate-colored eyes that calls to my soul. I look away nervously as Carli comes up from behind her, trying to hide my embarrassing thoughts by putting my focus back on the girl who always ignores me. When Simone’s gaze shifts downward, and I feel her energy shift down a negative path, I’m about to reach back out to her, to ask her what was wrong, but she excused herself to the restroom before I got the chance.

When she and Carli leave, I feel this emptiness and longing. I’m not sure which one of the beautiful women it is for.