Page 29 of Claimed By the Damned

“Came to see you,” he murmured. “Is that okay?”

She nuzzled into his chest a little. “Yeah.”

“You sound tired.”

“Understatement of the century.”

He chuckled, and the sound vibrated against her cheek. “Knox can be quite demanding. I hope that he let you sleep a little.”

“Oh yeah, he did. For maybe, like, an hour before he was at it again. He’s insatiable.” She shook her head at the memory, a small smile on her face.

Stroking the ends of her hair, he said, “If you want, you can go back to our apartment and sleep for a few hours. I can keep an eye on the store.”

She lifted her head to look at him but made no move to step out of his arms. “That’s really sweet of you, but I’ll be okay. I have a feeling I should probably get used to running on little sleep anyway, between you and Knox.” She purposely left out Drake’s name. She still didn't know what his deal was, and she refused to admit that it still stung.

He whispered something in Spanish that made her skin tingle as he kissed her forehead. “I wish I could say that wasn’t true, but I’d be lying, and I’d never lie to you, Princesa.” He went quiet for a moment, and then he started to lean. “What’s this?”

She followed his gaze as he zeroed in on the notebook she hadn’t realized she had taken out with her. He picked it up from the counter, and her face flushed. “Oh . . . uh . . . it’s notes?”

He smiled a little as he read. “You forgot something in the pros section.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” She was relieved that he wasn’t angry at her indecision. Instead, he seemed to be understanding.

Setting the notebook down, he grabbed the pen and scribbled something on the page while holding in a laugh. She read it out loud. “Three cocks?”

“Oh, wait. I messed it up.” He crossed that out and rewrote it.

She laughed. “Three huge cocks? Jesus, Zeke.”

His face lit up at the sound of her laughter. “Tell me where the lie is.”

“I never said that was a lie, but you didn’t have to put that on paper.” She shook her head, grabbed her mug of coffee, and took a drink.

“Just wanted you to take it into consideration.”

Over the rim of her mug, she giggled quietly. “Oh, believe me, I am. Considering that I am having difficulty even sitting down today.”

His eyebrows pulled together, and the humor faded from his face quickly. “Did we hurt you?”

“Relax,” she said softly, placing her free hand against his chest. “It’s a good sore. You didn’t hurt me. And, surprisingly, neither did Knox.” She sighed and set her mug back down. “You shouldn’t have let him come to my place last night though, you know. My father almost caught him there this morning. It’s a miracle he didn’t.”

His frown deepened, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, he said something about that.”

“Ah,” she muttered and looked at her shoes. She should have known Knox would say something to Zeke about it as he had been really upset when he left. She guessed she had just been hoping that the concept of her abusive father would remain a secret for a little bit longer. “How much did he tell you?”

He observed her for long enough that she slid her gaze back up at him. He rumbled, “Everything.” That one word held so much weight behind it. Anger. Sympathy. It caused her to glance at her books instead of him.

“Don’t be ashamed,” he added softly.

“How can I not be?” she asked, fighting the tears that now threatened to spill over. “It’s one thing to know what my father is like; it’s another thing to see it in person. That’s why you guys need to stay away.” She wasn’t sure if she was telling them to stay away from the territory or from her in general. She didn’t really know anything anymore.

Finally, she met his gaze. “I don’t want anything to happen to any of you because of me.”

“We aren’t afraid of him, Princesa. Say the word, and we’ll take care of this, however you want.”

She shook her head immediately. “I won’t be the reason there’s blood on your hands either, Zeke.” Her tone was firm, even as tempting as his offer was.

Honestly, she had lost hope a long time ago that her father would ever treat her with any sort of dignity or respect. Since her mother left, he had changed into someone cruel and mean. It changed the way he looked at her, the way he saw her. She could only guess that it was because she reminded him so much of her mother. She wasn’t going to deny that sometimes she wished something would happen to him so that she could be free of him, but she wouldn’t let the guys, her mates, be the cause. She wouldn’t be the reason they became murderers. Again.

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