THEIR_VIRGIN_PRINCESS (24 page)

Clearly, she should have waited until Dane was with them,
but it had been spontaneous.

Cooper held up a hand and gave an awkward little smile.
“Dude, if you’ll ratchet down the drama, we’re all going to get a turn at
knocking her up. She knows we want to marry her and have a family. We’re just
making sure it will be a shotgun wedding.”

“I don’t need your jokes right now, asshole.” Dane glowered,
then turned that nasty stare on Lan. “So when were you going to tell me about
this new plan? I’m betting never. Because, oh, you didn’t want the big bad Dom
touching your pretty princess and scaring her away, right? That’s why you
waited to fuck her until I was busy.”

Alea flinched at the ugly accusation. “It just happened. I—”

Lan held up his hand to her, and Coop pulled her back with a
shake of his head.

“What are you saying to me?” Lan challenged, his voice going
low and guttural.

She was a little surprised they didn’t start beating their
chests like aggressive apes. Only minutes ago, she’d felt so languid, sated.
Happy. Now all she felt was the weight of the moment. Everything she wanted,
everything they all
needed
could be
in jeopardy if she couldn’t pull them together.

“I’m saying you had no fucking right to deviate from the
plan.” Dane was a good two inches taller than Lan and he seemed intent on
proving it by looming over him. “We were
all
supposed to be here with her the first time. But I shouldn’t be surprised. You
broke from the plan to bring her to the meeting with the Anders brothers, too.
Think you’re the big smart man making all the decisions now?”

The last of her sated peace dissipated and fury replaced it.
“Don’t talk to him like that! I belonged in that meeting, so he took me. I
wanted him, and he gave me what I desired.”

Dane pinned her under an icy stare. He raked that cold gaze
up and down her body until she shivered. “I’ll bet he did. Did he fuck you
good? Is Coop going to back him up now?”

God, his snide tone made her feel cheap. She’d wanted to
make love, and they had given her a special memory to treasure. She’d felt
special. Now, she just felt like a bone the gentle lab and the rabid hound
would fight over. And she felt more than vaguely guilty for something that
wasn’t her fault.

“It wasn’t like that!” she insisted, feeling sick to her
stomach. “You’re being a bully.”

“Shut the fuck up, Dane. Are you even thinking about her?”
Cooper rose and dove into the fray.

“All I’ve done is think about her,” Dane shot back. “I’m the
only goddamn one of us who thinks with his head at all. You two have done
nothing but think with your dicks since the moment you saw her. You
tongue-fucked her in a bathroom and couldn’t get the job done,” he sneered at
Cooper, then shifted to Lan. “You took a virgin
and
a princess on the ground like any ol’ hook-up because your cock
got hard. You were supposed to treat her right, but no. You just chucked her on
the ground and sank your cock in, spewing all your swimmers in her unprotected
womb. That’s a great first time for her.”

“I enjoyed it. It was a great first experience.” Or it had
been until Dane had stomped in and made it sound crude with his destructive
accusations.

“You weren’t here, so you don’t know shit.” Landon ignored her,
too. “I took care of her.”

“Dane, you need to calm down, brother.” Cooper got in
between the other two men, obviously ready to stop them if they threw down.

Lan took a step away, his gaze tangling with hers and now
full of regret. “Lea, I’m sorry. Darlin’, let’s wash up. If Dane is determined
to fight, he can do it with himself. But he’s right about one thing; I’m not
taking care of you the way I should right now.”

When he tried to lead her away to the pool, Alea dug in her
heels. It was obvious Dane had a serious problem with what they’d done. Maybe
she hadn’t understood the “plan” well enough. Maybe they should have talked
more first. They were damn sure going to talk now. “Dane, stop being a hothead.
I’ll get dressed, and we can discuss this like rational adults.”

Dane looked down at her, his eyes cold. “I wouldn’t dream of
interrupting your little party. I’ll just take myself off, so you can get back
to fucking my friends.”

If he’d slapped her across the face, he couldn’t have hurt
her more. Shame coursed through her, shoving out all the happiness she’d felt
just minutes ago. Then Dane pivoted away and stalked back toward the beach like
she didn’t mean a damn thing to him.

“I’m going to kill him.” Landon started to stomp after him.

Cooper put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You want to go
and beat the shit out of Dane with your junk hanging out? Don’t, my brother.
Dane fights dirty. He will not have a problem trying to pull your dick off.”

“You stay here.
I’m
going.”
She looked around for the nearest garment and found Cooper’s shirt, then
dragged it over her head. It wasn’t much but it would cover her long enough to
give him a piece of her mind. “I am not letting him get away with that.”

Dane had talked and talked about taking it slow and easy.
He’d assured her that the choice was hers, that when she was ready, they would
all be here for her. Yeah. He’d really meant that bullshit.

“I am glad I’m not the one she’s mad at,” Lan said under his
breath.

“She’s really pissed off.” Coop sounded proud.

Furious, actually. She didn’t have a thing to be ashamed of.
Dane did. He wasn’t allowed to make her feel like a whore, then walk away. He’d
tried so hard to convince her this relationship would work, but the first time
he got angry, he pouted and threw a tantrum.

She took off after Dane, anger thrumming though her veins.
She took a deep breath. He wanted a fight? He’d better brace himself for what
he’d claimed to want all along—the real Alea al Mussad.

The minute Dane’s feet hit the beach he knew he should go
back and apologize. Hadn’t the fight at the palace and Tal’s dressing down
taught him anything? Everyone with a successful plural marriage had told him
they had to behave like brothers. Brothers didn’t normally walk away from
brothers. Well, his biological ones had, and he’d resented the fuck out of it.

Hadn’t he just done the same to Landon and Cooper? Yes, but
they’d taken Alea without him. And he hadn’t really listened to what they’d
said. He’d just lost his temper and his fucking mind.

Now he was arguing with himself.
Awesome.

Dane planted his hands on his hips and forced himself to
suck in a breath, clear his head. What exactly had happened? The whole way up
the trail to the lagoon, he’d been hoping that this would be the day. Once he
got to wherever Lan and Coop had claimed was paradise, that maybe they would
kiss her a little, maybe seduce her out of her clothes. They’d talked about all
being there, going slow with her. But he’d wanted to get inside her. He’d
wanted to make love to her.

Then he’d discovered that Landon had beaten him to the
punch.

When he’d crashed into the clearing to find her, so fucking
gorgeous with her head thrown back, taking pleasure from Lan and Cooper, he’d
felt dizzy with shock. He’d stood there and watched as she’d given herself to
them, and his blood had boiled with betrayal. Terrible accusations had spewed
from his mouth. On the way back to base camp, he’d cursed. This wasn’t her
fault, or Coop and Lan’s.

It was his own.

While on top of him, Lan had allowed Alea the control she’d
undoubtedly needed. His buddies could be gentle with Alea. They could treat her
right. They didn’t have perverse needs.

They were better for her than he was.

Cooper and Landon hadn’t been kicked out of the military.
Oh, Dane had been allowed to leave of his own accord, but everyone knew he’d
been a hairsbreadth away from a court martial. Alea deserved an honorable
lover, and he wasn’t that.

He didn’t have a family anymore. They’d all turned their
backs on him. He didn’t have wealth or even much of a future. When he really
thought about it, he didn’t have a whole fucking lot to offer her. He scrubbed
a hand through his hair. He should have kept it together, but no, he’d said
some terrible things because he’d felt so damn inadequate in that moment. He’d
just known that she’d waited until he was gone and she was alone with Lan and
Coop to make love.

He sank down into the sand, his head in his hands. He’d
walked into that little piece of paradise and he’d turned into a kid again.
He’d been eight fucking years old and his brothers had been taking what he
wanted just because they could, so he’d lashed out. How pathetic was he?

“Dane?” A soft voice pulled him out of his misery.

Alea stood looking at him. She was wearing Cooper’s T-shirt,
her golden legs bare and her feet sinking into the sand. He’d expected to see
rage on that gorgeous face, but she was looking down at him with doe eyes.

And all he could do was beg for forgiveness. “I am so
sorry.”

She sniffled a little before sinking into the sand next to
him. “At first I was going to throw things at you like a warrior princess. I
think I’d better leave the battling to you guys because all the enemy has to do
is look sad and I give up.”

Her heart would always be too soft for real war. She proved
it by sliding her arm against his. He was willing to take any warmth she would
give.

“I jumped to conclusions and said things…” Dane sighed. “I
was a complete ass.”

She nodded slowly. “You were. We weren’t trying to shut you
out. I know that’s what you think. But for once in my life, I was in the
moment. So much of my life is planned out for me—schedules, appearances, even
my meals. I didn’t want this to be planned, too, Dane. I was swimming with
nature, basking in the sun…and I felt so free. I wanted to keep that feeling. I
wanted to share it.”

She hadn’t done anything wrong. He kissed the top of her
head, loving how she opened up to him. He’d been the one to fuck up, yet she
was still here with him, offering his dumb ass comfort. “I want that for you,
too, Lea.”

She pulled back slightly so she could look up at him. Her
gorgeous face was so grave, he would have done just about anything to get the
softness back. “Are you sure you want this kind of relationship?”

He hadn’t in the beginning. At all. “I wasn’t taught to
share, Alea. But, yes, I want this. I screwed up today. I can only say I’m
sorry and it won’t happen again.”

“How can you be sure? Dane, I know about your wife.”

“She’s not my wife.” He couldn’t even stand to think about
her now.

“Your ex-wife. She left you for your brother, right?”

“My brother turned out to be the better bet. And he didn’t
need to tie her up to get off.”

“You needed to tie her up?” Alea frowned. “I mean, like
always?”

She sounded daunted by the prospect. “No. Not always, but
toward the end I realized I wasn’t in love with her, so sex became a game.
There was no making love in that relationship. There was an exchange of goods
and services. When I got cut off from the family money, she found another way
to tap into it.”

“I can’t make up for what she did to you. But this is the
kind of relationship where jealousy just can’t have a place.”

“I wasn’t asking you to make up for what happened to me.”
Was he?

“I can’t fix what she did, either. Dane, I believe this
relationship can work, but not if you’re going to make me choose. I grew up
differently than you. I know this will require a shift in your thinking, but
I’m crazy about all three of you. My aunt and uncles were so happy, and I want
that for myself. I want that for us. But it can’t work if you don’t believe
that I’ll care for you all wholly and equally.”

“I’ve done everything I know to make this work.” The
accusation stung. He’d been the one to bring them all together. He’d been the
one to pull Lan out of his damn shell and to soothe Coop’s doubts. He’d been
the one to get Alea talking. Sure she didn’t like discussing her abduction, but
she at least opened up about how she felt now.

For his effort, he should have had her first.

Goddamn it. She was right. Dane cursed. He wasn’t looking at
this from a “family” point of view. He’d been selfish and dumb and he’d ruined
it for her. He’d been the one to tell her to go with the fucking flow. He’d
just been sure the flow would bring her straight to him.

He had forced all of them to try to face their demons, but
he hadn’t even started to face his own.

There was a part of him that wanted to slink away. He could
go to the other side of the island and not have to deal with any of this shit.
He could be alone. It was what he deserved, but was it what she deserved?

What she deserved was a man who was fucking brave enough to
tell her the truth. He hid behind his Dom role so often that he forgot she needed
a place in this family, too and not just the one on her back. She wasn’t a blow
up doll they were going to pass around. If he wanted to know her, really know
her, he had to let her know him, too.

Families were so fucking scary. His own had let him down. He
would rather face down ten guns than risk heartache again. Unfortunately, when
he forced himself to acknowledge the truth, he couldn’t deny that he yearned
for a family more than anything. He wanted
this
family—Alea and these brothers.

“You have,” she agreed. “But…”

“But I’m having a hard time trusting it.”

“Explain that. Make me understand.” She turned her face up,
those dark eyes full of sympathy.

Dane knew a whole lot of his friends would have backed off then
and there, sympathy equaling pity in their heads, but Dane took it for what it
was, an offering from a deeply kind and loving woman. He hadn’t known a hell of
a lot of love and kindness in his life. He latched on to it now, taking her
hand in his and holding on for dear life. The man his father had created wanted
to pick up his shit and run to the other side of the island and let bitterness
be his only friend, but Dane knew that would make him miserable. Instead, he
was going to be the man Alea needed, the kind who embraced happiness. It was a
gamble, and if he lost, well…at least he’d have the consolation of knowing he’d
given it his all.