Page 16 of Princess Claimed

“I didn’t lie. You assumed.” I shake my head. “No, you’re right. I should have set you all straight from the start. I’m so sorry.” I look down, ashamed to look into any of their eyes. “I should have explained the situation that first day.”

“I get it,” Flame says. “You were terrified.”

Blade shifts to sit beside me against the headboard, sliding his arm around my shoulders. “I, for one, am glad—thrilled—by this news.”

I look up into his flashing silver eyes, and his honest joy and sincerity steals the breath from my chest. All the men are handsome, but Blade takes my breath.

“Thrilled?” My heart is racing, and I lean against his chest, snuggling under his arm without thinking. “Why?”

“This means I don’t have to compete with Timur’s memory to win your heart.”

My chest swells with happiness, and my cheeks heat. Blade wants to win my heart? What does that even mean? These men have made it clear that they don’t do relationships, and as close as I feel to him, Blade and I still haven’t made love, not really, even though we have had sex…

But it doesn’t matter what he means. I don’t care right now. Even if he misspoke, his words moved me in ways I can’t comprehend.

Crusher clears his throat. He’s frowning, his eyes on Blade. Then he shifts his gaze to me. “I need more explanation. How did you feed from Timur for a hundred years, without… I mean, how could he have not… or you…” Shaking his head, Crusher runs his hand through his thick, dark hair. Then he shifts to sit on the end of the bed, folding his arms over his lap and looking uncomfortable.

I swallow to wet my dry throat. “I thought Timur was a eunuch.”

“Why the fuck would you think that?” Phil spits out.

“Listen.” I straighten my back. “I get why you’re angry, Phil. I lied to you. By not correcting your assumption, I lied, hoping you wouldn’t hurt me. And…” I shake my head. “I thought I could use your misunderstanding to my advantage.” Might as well lay it all out there. “I am profoundly sorry for doing that, but given my situation?—”

“We understand.” Flame cuts me off.

“We all do.” Blade squeezes my shoulder.

Phil grunts.

“I’ve disrupted your lives,” I say, looking at Phil. “I fully understand that. After a nap, and maybe some blood…” I glance toward Blade.

He strokes my throat, and I close my eyes at the tenderly delivered pleasure, but I need to finish my thought. “After that, I’ll get out of your hair. None of you have any obligation or duty toward me. You never did.”

Phil’s gaze lifts toward mine, and my back flattens against the headboard.

“You’re a piece of work,” Phil snaps. “You think you can just fuck with our lives, fuck with our minds, and then just leave?” He stomps out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

“Don’t worry about Phil.” Reaching forward, Crusher gently squeezes my foot. “He’ll be okay.”

But will I be okay? Phil’s ire hurts more than I’d like to admit. I wish I could leave here on better terms with him, but I have no idea how to mend it.

“Why did you think Timur was a eunuch?” Crusher asks.

“Because that’s what he told me.” I shrug. “So did my father. I was a child when King Dunkan turned me. He put Timur and I together so that I wouldn’t be exposed to sex so young. And until I met you guys…”

Heat flashes through me. “Before Crusher, the only vampire’s blood I’d ever had, post transition, was Timur’s. And I had very little of King Dunkan’s during my change. He fed me enough to heal my bullet and bayonet wounds, and to save my life. But as soon as I was stable, he rushed me to the vampiric palace where he introduced me to Timur.”

“You really are Anastasia Romanov.” Crusher’s eyes widen.

I turn toward Flame. “You didn’t tell them?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t repeat things told to me in confidence. Besides, the name didn’t mean much to me.”

“I figured it out.” Blade draws my attention toward him, and he looks at me in a way that makes me believe he knows everything there is to know about me, and not just from history books.

My insides stir. The way Blade looks at me makes me believe he knows the full truth of me. That he sees things I hide even from myself.

Shifting his position, Crusher rubs his head. “It’s not like I’d never heard rumors. I’d heard talk that the vampiric princess was that Anastasia…” Through the duvet, Crusher’s hand slides up from my foot to my ankle then to my shin. “Shit, Ana. That massacre at Mariano’s was staged, wasn’t it? Staged to terrify you.”

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