Page 42 of Princess Broken

“I swing both ways,” she grins. “That’s called bisexual or queer or some shit now.” Shaking her head, she sighs. “So much happened during the decades I was stuck in that fucking hole.”

My heart goes out to her. I can relate to being sequestered, but at least at the palace I had some access to media and information about what was going on in the world. But I made little attempt to keep up with human culture.

“Have you been with…with any of…” I glance back toward the entrance.

“Haven’t had the pleasure.” She shakes her head, making a face as if she regrets her words. “But I’ve heard stories and I’ve watched a couple of them fuck.” Her eyebrows rise. “And let me tell you… Whoa boy!” Sucking in a breath, she licks her lips.

I’m scared to ask for details. “Do, do any of the men have…preferred lovers, potential mates?”

“Mates?” She laughs. “Not a chance. They grab whoever’s first in line, bend her over something and plow in.” She licks her lips. “Some of the chicks in Freetown practically live in the Rec Center, hoping to get lucky.”

“Lucky?”

“Sugar, those bodyguards of yours really know how to pound a cunt.” She runs her fingers between her legs, circling over her sex. “Each has their kinks, from what I’ve heard, but hey, pain can feel good during sex.” She shrugs. “Plus, vampires heal.”

Pain? My insides clench and I fight to hide the grimace fighting to take over my face. Timur took so much care to make sure I didn’t feel pain during sex.

“And even without their kinks,” she continues, “bondage, cutting, burning, choking, whatever it is each of them is in to…have you seen the sheer size of their cocks?” Whistling, she motions, her palms a foot apart.

“And thick, too. Shit.” She uses her fingers to form a circle that’s got to be a gross exaggeration. No male, human or vampire, has such girth. But I remember that Rock, one of Selina’s mates, is part giant, and my thoughts drift to the hardness Phil rubbed against me.

“I’ve taken a huge cock before—” Gracen scrapes her teeth over her lower lip “—but not one attached to a man as hot as Crusher.”

Breathing heavily, I fight to absorb this information without revealing its effects on my body—or my mind. Effects I don’t comprehend—a strange mix of fear, shame and unmistakable desire.

“You mentioned a place called a Rec Center?” I ask, remembering the men used that term too.

“Yeah, that’s where unhitched vamps go to fuck and feed.”

“Unhitched?”

“Ones without mates or a regular blood partner. Pretty much everyone down here.” She shrugs.

“I see.” My mind races. There were rooms like that in the palace, rooms furnished with beds and other soft furniture where vampires took each other’s veins and had sexual relations in full view of others. I never entered those rooms. Timur and I always fed in private, but I caught quick glimpses once or twice while passing.

And then, during my time here in Philadelphia, I saw public displays of sex in the place they call The Club. I averted my gaze, out of respect, but it’s not hard to picture what she’s talking about.

My body heats, imagining what goes on in this Rec Center, imagining one or all of my bodyguards pumping their hips between the legs of a reclined female, looking down into her eyes… Jealousy races through me again.

“So, you’re really not attached to the psycho brothers?” she asks, drawing me out of my lust-filled daydream.

“Attached?”

“Not their lover?”

I shake my head and wonder why she keeps calling them brothers when they’re clearly not genetically related.

“So, then, you wouldn’t mind if I…” Her eyebrows rise a few times.

“If what?” I ask, and then her meaning sinks in. “Oh.”

“Sugar.” Leaning back, she raises her palms toward me. “Message heard. Loud and clear. I’ll keep my hands off.”

“I…” I didn’t say any such thing, and certainly don’t have the right to tell Gracen with whom she can, or can’t, have sexual relations. And yet, I don’t correct her assumption. Now that I know Gracen, I hate the idea of her having sex with one of the men. Or, even worse, one of them hurting her…

She chuckles. “Not that my hands would ever touch them.”

“You don’t enjoy touching your sexual partners?” I have so much to learn. “Is abstaining from touch a kink?”

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