Page 50 of Princess Claimed

“This is nice.” His deep voice reverberates in my ear and through my torso. “I like lying here with you like this. Cuddling.” The last word comes out like he’s just figured out its definition.

“It is nice.” I hug the arm that’s under me, using his biceps like a pillow. His other arm falls over me, and so I gather it into my hold too, tucking into him as if he’s a warm blanket I’ve gathered around me. I press back my ass, hoping to make contact with his hardness, but his position and height keeps it away from me. I’d guess Phil is close to two feet taller than I am.

I could wiggle around until I make contact, but Phil has something he needs to get off his chest, and I suspect that the moment his erection touches my body we’ll be done with talking.

“The ways you’ve changed me…” He pauses. “Sure, some of it is physical. When we fuck, you set fireworks off inside me—more like land mines. I’ve never come so hard.” He pauses, and I absorb his heat as his chest expands with air on a deep inhale.

I play with the copper hairs on his upper arm. “You set off fireworks for me too.”

He shifts slightly and his breath moves my hair.

“But still, that’s not what I meant,” he says low and deep. “Don’t get me wrong. That kind of explosion is fucking amazing, but another kind ignites inside me—more like a constant rumble—whenever I even look at you, think of you.”

My heart flutters. “Like butterflies in your stomach?” My own butterflies are going berserk.

“Yeah, but it’s more than that.” He hugs me closer into his chest. “You’ve changed me. Changed me so much I can’t recognize myself.” He nuzzles the back of my head.

My body’s on fire, but I wait for him to continue. I need to know what he means, even if a big part of me wants to turn the snuggling into something more. I wonder how sex would feel with us lying on our sides, his huge body draped around me as he thrusts.

“I’m confused,” he breaks the silence. “It’s gonna come out wrong, and I don’t want to say anything that might hurt your feelings.”

“Don’t worry.” I squeeze his arm, but my heart rate accelerates. Fear twists my belly as I brace for whatever pain he’s about to cause me. “You can tell me anything.”

“You say that now…” His leg shifts, sliding over mine, even as he keeps his hips back. “Nothing in my head makes any fucking sense right now.”

“Just tell me everything you’re thinking,” I say softly. “It doesn’t need to make sense or come out in order, and you can take something back once you’ve said it. Just dump it all out. Sometimes it’s easier to sort through feelings if you say them aloud.”

“Really?” His breath is warm against my neck, moving my hair. “I guess it’s worth a try.” His heart rate accelerates. He’s nervous, and it’s beyond endearing. I hope I’ll still feel that way, once I’ve heard what he has to say.

“From the start,” he says, “I was against bringing you to Freetown. Sure, in the heat of the moment, I collapsed the tunnel behind us. I didn’t want those assholes following. But bringing you here was the last thing I wanted. I was pissed from the start.”

“I noticed.” I bite my lower lip, hoping my interjection won’t throw him off or stop him, but he chuckles, his body vibrating against mine.

“Then, I got even more pissed. Especially when you tried to boss me around— What I did to you. Fuck, I’m so sorry. I was a monster.”

I shake my head. “It’s forgotten.” My insides heat. I was furious that day but can’t deny the physical effect he had on my body.

“Although…” I twist my neck, hoping to make eye contact, but his gaze is directed above my head. “Can I tell you something about that day?”

“Sure.”

“That day, when you had me trapped against the wall, when you were thrusting against me and putting pressure on my sex with your hand…” The memory pulses through me: my fear, my humiliation—my intense pleasure. “You gave me my first orgasm.”

“First one that day?”

“First ever.”

His body shifts. “You’re shitting me.”

“I’m not.” Grinning, I snuggle back toward him, but he keeps his stiffness out of reach.

“Your mate—your lover—he never…”

I shake my head. “Timur and I only had sex a few times, and he was always very…careful with me, very formal. He’d known me since I was seventeen, and before our first time I was a virgin.”

“Hmmmm.” Phil makes a deep ponderous sound behind me. “I don’t get how he kept from fucking you every chance he got, but?—”

“I interrupted again.” I stroke Phil’s forearm, loving the texture of the red hairs dusting the steel bands of his muscles.

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