Page 30 of Princess Broken

Crusher adjusts his so he can keep an eye on the princess’s door.

“What now?” Flame lights a candle sitting on the small table between his chair and mine. “Is she going to live with us? Forever?” He passes his palm through the flame, pausing in the heat until his skin burns.

My chest fills with what I can only describe as hope, and I realize what I want. I want her to be here with us, always. But how the fuck will that work?

“We’re duty bound to protect her,” I say. “For life.”

The others grunt and nod.

“But what if she doesn’t want to live in Freetown?” Flame slides his hand through the candle’s flame again.

“Then we go to one of our other properties. Figure out a way to protect her Above,” Crusher says.

“No fucking way.” Phil shakes his head and runs his fingers over his chin. I’m not sure when he found the opportunity to shave off his beard. Must have done it while we were swimming. “This is where we live.” He frowns.

“It’s not our only home.” Shifting my forearm muscles, I release one of the blades from the trigger holster on my forearm, and it shoots into my hand. Sliding my index finger along the exposed blade, I dare my skin not to split against the sharp edge.

“No need to ask for trouble before we’ve got it,” Crusher says. “She can’t go Above until we kill Mariano.”

“We don’t know Mariano was behind what happened,” Flame says.

“Who the fuck else could it be?” Phil goes back to the bar, returning in a few seconds with another full glass of whiskey. He holds it up before taking a sip. “One of you guys want a drink?”

I shake my head, but my fangs tingle, wanting to drink something entirely different. Although I fed not long ago—we always go into big jobs fully fed—I could certainly dig into Ana’s throat, not to mention other parts of her. My cock stirs.

What is it about her? Her dress is beyond modest, showing almost no skin, and although she’s attractive, I’ve seen many female vampires more objectively beautiful, and yet… Yet. Fuck. I’ve never wanted to ram my cock into a vampire more. Not even directly after feeding. And normally, my cock doesn’t care where I stick it.

And what I’m feeling is more than a powerful sexual attraction; I want to protect Ana, to please her, to serve her. I never want to leave her side. Not ever. Even the thirty-foot distance and wall separating us now feels painful, like part of me has been sliced off my body.

“Then it’s agreed,” Crusher says.

Looking down, I realize I’ve sliced open my thumb and the previously undetected pain starts to burn. I wait until the skin heals and then reach inside my jeans pocket for a handkerchief to wipe the blood off my chair.

My fingers find the stolen lock of her hair, and my already hardening cock starts to pound.

“We can’t fuck her,” I say, my voice coming out hoarse.

“Who the fuck said we’d do that?” Phil shakes his head at me, like I’m crazy, and I realize I haven’t been listening to their discussion, and have no idea what they’ve agreed.

“For the time being, she’s got to stay in Freetown,” Crusher says. “Best way to keep her safe. Better still, if we keep her confined to our quarters.”

“She’ll feel trapped,” I say, even though I want to keep her confined, not only in our quarters, but impaled on my cock.“

“She needs to feed soon,” I say. “I could smell her hunger. Which one of us will do that?” My fangs tingle and my cock pounds.

“None of us,” Phil says. “We’ll take her to the Rec Center.”

“Agreed,” Crusher says. “She can have her pick of any vampire in Freetown, but us. We’ll stand watch just in case, but no one down here will dare hurt her.”

My throat goes dry and my body tenses, rigid in my chair.

“You disagree?” Flame asks, clearly seeing my reaction. “Someone’s got to feed her and fuck her. And you said yourself that it can’t be us.”

Turning toward him, I see concern in my brother’s eyes. There’s no point in my trying to deny what I’m feeling. I can’t fool Flame.

“Fuck.” Flame slaps my arm. “Cool your jets, brother.

“Not touching her is the right thing to do,” I say. “Doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy.”

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