Page 66 of Seduced

Women, amazing creatures, bled once every month. And were perfectly fine.

Alexei felt almost faint with relief. He swallowed hard, once, and determined to keep his voice hard. Try to salvage what was left of his dignity.

“If you mean to frighten me, my dear,” he told Rania, without taking his eyes off Poppy, “by telling me this, you have quite failed.” He swallowed again. A slight frown passed across Poppy’s face, as if she was in pain. Alexei’s breath hitched. “I am relieved you are not hurt, but why do you look so pale, Wyatt?”

Poppy’s eyes were on his, green pools that were swallowing him whole. She opened her lips and nothing came out.

How was it that this slip of a girl controlled his every breath, his every heartbeat, with the mere look on her face? How had he been reduced to this?

“I am in pain,” Poppy said finally, after three tries. “I am sorry.”

Alexei sat down in front of her, folding his long legs underneath him, like he used to do when he was a child. He thought his heart would stop.

“Why on earth are you sorry?” His voice broke. It was not the only thing breaking. “Why the hell would you—”

“Alexei!” There was a warning in Rania’s voice.

Finally, he snapped out of his trance and turned to look at her. Rania lifted her eyebrows at him. He climbed to his feet.

“I trust that Rania and Dante took good care of you, Miss Wyatt,” he said in what he hoped was his most respectable tone. “I hope you feel better soon.”

“We did,” Rania said, getting up herself, and giving her hand to Poppy. Poppy moved gingerly, as if everything hurt. Hades tried not to look. He could not take his eyes off her. “We are. She was rather unwell this morning,” Rania went on, “and I do not hesitate to tell you that I was quite frightened. Dante said let you know, my lord, because I was worried we should send for the doctor.”

“This,” Poppy said, “has to be the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me.”

“I do not see why,” Alexei replied, getting up to feed the fire in Dante’s fireplace. Dante himself was nowhere to be seen. Alexei would worry about him later. “It is perfectly normal, if not a straight-up wonder.” Poppy snorted. Rania laughed in delight. “I promise you, Miss Wyatt, a man could not do a damn thing to create new life, even if his life depended on it.”

“Which it does,” Rania added with that insufferable, knowledgeable look on her lovely face.

“Which it does,” Alexei agreed.

“What is wrong with you people?” Poppy asked, all the timidity gone from her voice. “No one ever talks of these things, not in front of a gentleman, not ever. It is a matter of conversation most shameful and vulgar.”

“It is not,” Rania said, waving a brown hand dismissively at her words, and saving him from exploding into a million flaming pieces of fury all around the room. “It is very important for a woman’s wellbeing, however, and many a young girl has gotten seriously ill by not talking about it, and hiding her discomfort. Girls should be taught how to take care of themselves. You yourself could possibly have died a few hours ago, so much was the blood that—”

“Rania!” Poppy cried, horrified, her face a deep, painful crimson.

“What the hell?” Alexei cried at the same time.

“Sit down before you fall over, my lord. And, pray, do not shout in that ungentlemanly manner,” Rania said, her tone quite queenly.

“I do not shout,” Alexei murmured, pushing a hand to his chest, because it suddenly hurt. “I swear, you’ll give me an apoplexy, Rania. Was she really…was it that bad?”

“There was just so much blood,” Rania repeated, “and you know me, I do not worry needlessly.”

“Indeed,” Alexei replied dryly.

“You must be careful with Miss Wyatt, Hades,” Rania said. “She…she has been through some hard times, and has never had a mother. I think that what happened here today was a result of being starved for so long, and now finally receiving enough nourishment, which caused her body to start working properly again with a vengeance. I am not exaggerating when I say it could have killed her.”

“You do realize that I am right here,” Poppy murmured, but Rania did not stop.

“Now, I imagine that there are more things not working properly inside that brain and that heart of hers,” Rania went on, “as a result of criminal abuse and neglect from those who should have taken care of her. I fear that the reaction, should these be tended to, might be equally violent.”

Poppy had fallen silent, her protests dead on her lips.

Rania continued; Poppy and Alexei listened to her attentively. And when she finally stopped talking, there was nothing but silence.

Which was just as violent a reaction as anything.

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