Page 124 of A Game of Veils

“I know.” I gird myself and raise my head. A quaver ripples through my voice, and I let it stay. “Nothing intimate that’s happened with any of you has been a gambit or a lie. I’m falling for Lorenzo, and I’ve been falling for both of you too. It’s not how I set out to feel; it just is. And I don’t know what to do about it. I’ve been trying to keep my heart safe, because I know nothing real can come of it, but I want so many things… If I’ve confused you, it’s only because I’m confused too. I apologize for that.”

By the end of my declaration, my throat has closed up.

I don’t want it to be true. I don’t want to care this much.

What’s the good in it when I’ll have to throw it all away in a matter of days regardless?

There’s a moment of silence as both of the princes stare at me. Something warm and hungry dawns in Raul’s eyes.

He steps toward me, the heat he’s emanating not remotely angry now, and trails his hand down the side of my face. “Princess, you don’t need to apologize for wanting me. I swear I’ll never do anything to harm you again. The only gasps I want to hear from these lips are from pleasure, not pain. If you don’t believe it yet, I’ll just have to keep proving it to you.”

A hot flush washes over me from head to toes. “Raul…”

He dips his head to mark the corner of my jaw with the slightest nibble, gentle but provocative enough to set off a quiver beneath my skin. His husky murmur tingles into my ear. “You tell me to stop when you feel like you need to stop. I’ll just do my best to convince you that you’re in good hands after all.”

I should probably stop him, shouldn’t I? I gave myself an out. I told them why I can’t just hop into bed with all of them.

But gods help me, the press of his lips against my neck, the flick of his tongue over my skin, and those provocative words echoing through my mind do feel so incredibly good. If he needs this brief intimacy to believe what I said, wouldn’t it be “strategic” to indulge both our desires?

Raul lifts his head to glance over his shoulder toward Bastien, who’s standing stiffly watching us, his own face flushed. The bigger man shoots him a cocky grin. “Are you going to help me show her how well we can take care of her or not? We have a lot of mistakes to make up for.”

Bastien’s blush darkens, but he steps closer and catches my hand. A hint of determination sets his jaw.

As Raul returns his lips to my neck, Bastien cups my cheek at my other side and leans in to capture my mouth.

Gods above and below, I had no idea my body could light up like this, encompassed between two men at once. Every nerve sings with the heady thrill of it.

They haven’t made their own confessions of deeper devotion. I’m not sure how much this encounter is about staking a claim for their egos rather than dedicating themselves to me. It’s awfully hard to worry about it when Raul is sliding his hand around my waist, Bastien tangling his fingers in my hair to pull me even closer…

I sway between the two of them, clutching their shirts, so swept up in the moment that I don’t hear the click of the door, only the rasp of startled breath that follows.

Bastien jerks away from me to whirl around. Raul draws back at a more measured pace, his hand lingering on me possessively, but his confident expression falters as we face the new arrival.

Lorenzo glares back at us, his hands clenching at his sides. His illusionary voice reverberates through my head. “What the fuck is this?”

I didn’t tell him I’d been attracted to Raul and Bastien too. I assumed they all shared their stories of the conquest.

Apparently not. There’s no mistaking the tremor of betrayal coloring his illusionary voice and passing over his face.

“Lorenzo,” I say, pulling away from the other men. “I?—”

His hand slices through the air in an emphatic gesture to stay away. The other hand jams into his belt-pouch and hurls a small paper packet in my direction. As it hits the floor, he spins on his heel and stalks out of the room without another word.

Bastien curses under his breath and rushes after his friend.

Raul glances from him to me, looking stricken. “We’ll sort this out.”

Then he’s vanished into the hall too.

I exhale in a long, shuddering rush. My nerves are clanging with a mix of unfulfilled lust and bewildered guilt. It’s a dizzying combination, and not in a good way.

How upset is Lorenzo with me? How upset can he be when he knows I was already planning on marrying another man—when he told me to my face that he understands?

Maybe being the only illicit affair in my life mattered to him. Maybe he thinks I’ve done much more with his foster brothers than I actually have.

I creep forward to pick up the packet he threw at me. Before I’ve even finished opening the flap, the mildly bitter scent seeping out tells me it contains the mirewort he promised me.

Oh, Lorenzo…

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