THEIR_VIRGIN_PRINCESS (13 page)

The desire shimmering from those blue eyes made something in
her belly jump and tighten. If what he had to say was half as hot as his face
suggested, she wouldn’t be able to handle it. “Don’t. Please. I’ll sit back
down.”

“Ah, we’re back to bargaining.” Dane’s hair was just the
slightest bit shaggy, and she loved the way it curled around his ears as he
looked down at her. “I think we have another couple of minutes before takeoff,
so I’ll elaborate. First, I want to look at your breasts, Alea. I want you to
take your shirt off and show them to me. I want you to cup them with your hands
and offer them up.”

She shook her head even as the heat inside her surged. “I
can’t do that.”

“He’ll tell you how beautiful they are,” Landon continued.
“We all will. We’ll sit and watch them for a minute because none of us will be
able to take our eyes off you and your gorgeous, full breasts.”

“They aren’t. They’re small.” Why was she talking about
herself? She should be shoving them away and firming up boundaries. But no, she
was standing there and arguing over the size of her breasts. And practically
feeling Dane’s hands on her, even though he wasn’t touching her.

“No. They’re the perfect size, baby. They’ll fit right in
the palm of my hand. I don’t think I’ve ever seen breasts as beautiful as
yours. Tell me something, Princess. Did Cooper get his mouth on those nipples
last night?”

She shivered, remembering everywhere Cooper had put his
mouth. “No.”

“I barely touched her breasts. I just ate that pussy like it
was the tastiest treat I’ve ever had.” Cooper edged closer to her. “You tasted
so good, baby. I’ve had a hard-on ever since, and no amount of masturbation
satisfies my cock. I want
you
.”

The idea of Cooper touching himself while he thought of her
sent another wave of arousal through Alea. She actually wanted to touch him, to
see and feel him all over. Their words were turning her into a woman she didn’t
know, one who ached to do and feel everything they murmured in her ear. Would
they let her explore without asking for anything in return? Likely not. Men
seemed geared to take from women. These three had proven they could be polite
and kind, but she was sure in the bedroom, Dane, Lan, and Coop would be like
other men.

But…what if, like Coop’s mouth on her, that could actually
feel good?

“I want to suck your nipples, Alea.” Lan’s voice was softer
than she could ever remember. “I’ll be so gentle. I’ll lick, play, and kiss on
them until you forget there was a time when they weren’t in my mouth.”

“He’s got a breast obsession,” Dane admitted with a chuckle.
“Now, as for me, I really want to touch your ass. God, Alea, do you know what
that round ass does to me?”

She tried to back away, but only bumped into Landon. “Now I
know you’re joking. My ass is huge.”

Instantly, Dane tensed. Cooper shot a placating stare to his
pal. “No. Go easy on her, man.”

Dane’s jaw tightened. “We’re going to establish a few rules,
baby, some for your protection, some for our sanity. Rule number one, you don’t
ever
talk badly about yourself.”

Why did what she thought or said about her ass matter? No
clue. In fact, she couldn’t think about anything except the fact that they
still loomed so close—and seemed to be moving in. “I am going to talk to Tal.
You can’t treat me like this.”

“Poor baby. Who do you think gave us his stamp of approval?”
Dane leaned closer until his lips were almost touching hers.

She tried to move, but Landon wasn’t willing to let her
retreat from them. The minute she backed up, something thick and hard poked at
her bottom. His erection. That didn’t scare her the way it should. Still she
tried to move forward. When she did, another erection poked at her belly. Dane.
Her knees went weak.

“Sorry, Princess.” Dane didn’t sound sorry at all. “I’m
afraid that’s my permanent state around you, and I just don’t have the
inclination to masturbate like Coop there.”

“God, you smell so good.” Landon groaned against her neck.

“Are you sniffing my hair?” She brushed it in front of her
shoulders, away from Lan’s nose. What rabbit hole had she fallen down?

“That’s not all he’s smelling, Princess,” Dane replied. “I
know because I smell it, too. If you’re going to tell me your pussy is angry
like your nipples, I’m going to call bullshit. You’re aroused. Do you want me
to take care of that for you? Cooper didn’t quite make it. I promise you we
won’t have that problem this time. I’ll touch that pussy until you find heaven.
We’ll go so slow, and you’ll be in charge—for now. We’ll only do this your way
and for your pleasure until you can handle more.”

“Come on, Lea,” Lan groaned in her ear. He wasn’t pressing
his erection into her, but it was big enough that she couldn’t miss it. “Let us
taste your pussy. I’ll be so gentle. I’ll just lick and love it until you come
all over my mouth. I want that so bad. I want to touch you, but I won’t until
you’re comfortable with it. Just my mouth and your sweet pussy. Don’t you want
to come? Don’t you want to feel good?”

Landon’s words were drugging her, pulling her into a place
where all she wanted to say to him was yes.

“Such a pretty flush on your cheeks,” Cooper murmured. “We’d
persuade you to pull up your skirt. We’d take off your panties and have you sit
back in one of those big chairs. We would spread your legs wide and take turns
eating at your pussy. I’m dying to get my mouth on you again.”

Now that she’d opened herself up to the possibility of
pleasure, Alea could see that vision so clearly in her head. And heat pulsed
between her legs. Landon and Cooper would jostle for position between her legs.
Their tongues would run all over her, and she would find that magical moment
other women talked about. And Dane. She would do what he demanded. She would lift
her shirt and unhook her bra and let his lips and teeth touch her not-so-angry
nipples.

That all sounded…fantastic. Sexy. Maybe she could do it.
Maybe she could have them.

The plane jolted forward as it started to move again,
slinging Alea back against Landon. His big arms came around her, keeping her
upright. That was all it took to incite panic. She screamed and tried to shove
away from him, thrashing and kicking.

“Alea, no. You will calm down now.” Dane’s deep voice cut
through the sheer terror.

His command drummed in her head. She was on the plane, and
Lan was just trying to steady her. Finally, she dragged in deep breaths and
stilled, even managing to brace herself against Landon’s hard chest. He froze
as she regained her balance.

“I want to hug you, Lea,” he whispered, lightly brushing her
arms. “But I won’t. I just want you to know that if I could do anything in the
world right now, I would hug you and try to make you feel safe.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. His words were a far cry from
anything any man in Colombia had said to her. God, how could she turn that
away? Lan sounded so vulnerable. He was making himself that way. It couldn’t be
easy on him, but he was doing it for her.

Very slowly, she turned and put her arms around Landon, her
body shaking as she did.

He didn’t wrap her up, didn’t jump on her. He just stroked
her hair gently, his voice achingly tender. “Thank you, Lea.”

She nodded and let herself sink into him a bit more. It
wasn’t bad. Actually, it was sort of nice. But it proved she was still fucked
up because it had taken all her courage and mental focus just to allow herself
to hug the man trying to protect her.

Alea shuddered and pulled away. God, she was so damaged and
she wasn’t sure if or how she could be fixed.

Dane sighed. “We’re about to take off, baby. Sit down. I
think we’ve reached the depression phase of this mourning.”

Sure enough, they were gaining speed. Soon, they’d be in the
air to Australia. With these three along, no telling what that would bring. But
she didn’t see a peaceful holiday in her future.

Alea eased back into her seat and buckled her belt. Her
voice was still shaky. “What exactly do you think I’m mourning?”

“The days of wallowing, Princess. They’re over.”

“Jerk.” She turned her chair away from him, but that sent
her looking straight at Cooper, who smiled at her and didn’t try to hide his
erection.

She turned toward the window as the plane touched off the
runway, and she stared out into the big, dark sky just beginning to lighten
with the coming day. It was vast, expansive, right in front of her. But all
that open freedom may as well have been a million miles away.

Why couldn’t they understand that this was never going to
work? She was never going to be able to handle a man on top of her much less
three.

“I believe our princess has gone into the inner-journey
phase,” Dane whispered as though she couldn’t hear him. “By the time we get to
Australia, she’ll be in acceptance.”

“If you think I’m accepting that you took it upon yourself
to crash my vacation without asking what I wanted, you’re wrong.”

“You can thank us for our stellar company later,” Coop
teased.

“God, I wish I had something to throw at you.” But her lips
were turning up.

And what the hell had happened to Dane? When had he gone
from super polite to this ridiculously charming asshole? And why did she like
him so much more this way?

Because he was finally being himself. They all were. Instead
of being what they thought she wanted or wearing their professional masks, they
had dropped all pretenses to just be themselves. They had been so gentle
because they were worried she would break at any moment, but the whole “poking
fun at her” thing meant that she really couldn’t stay angry. And she couldn’t
take herself too seriously. It was so much more dangerous because it made her
feel almost normal again.

And she had to remember that she wasn’t. They might be
comfortable showing their real selves, but she didn’t have that luxury. The
minute they knew the Alea who lived deep inside her, they would run as fast as
they could.

She looked through the tiny window and watched as the world
she knew fell away.

* * * *

About six hours later, Cooper watched as Alea started to
drift off. She’d probably been up half the night packing and plotting her
escape, only to discover they had her cornered. Now she was exhausted. There
was nothing more he wanted to do than to cuddle close to her and let her sleep
on his chest.

Instead, he cursed under his breath. Besides the fact that
she wasn’t ready for any man to hold her close, he sounded like some sort of
rom-com loving freak. If he didn’t watch himself, he was going to burst into
song, and that would be bad for everyone because he was tone deaf.

“Do you think she’s okay?” Lan asked quietly.

“She handled being accidently touched today a hell of a lot
better than she did last night,” Dane whispered.

Well, she hadn’t tried to deball any of them, so Cooper was
calling it a win. She’d held it together and honed in on Dane’s voice when
panic had threatened, so that was progress. And she’d actually managed to put
her arms around Landon.

Funny, that. Coop knew damn well he’d had more of an
intimate connection with Alea than the others, but he’d felt a twinge of
jealousy when she’d haltingly placed her arms around Lan’s chest and stood
there in his arms. The moment had felt deeply tender, and she’d pushed herself
to extend the gesture rather than just stand there and accept it because she’d
known that Landon needed the contact. Lan’s yearning had compelled her to give
him the comforting balm of her hug in return. That compassionate, loving
woman—that’s who Alea was deep down, when she let herself be.

Building a relationship with her that included compromise
and trust would not be easy. But with time and open communication, Cooper had hope
that they would work it all out. If nothing else, she hadn’t found a way to
throw them off the plane, and that had to count for something. She’d responded
to Dane’s dominance way better than Coop had expected. When she’d started to
lose control, Dane’s commands had snapped her attention right back. And he
hadn’t missed the way she’d smiled and turned yielding in the face of Dane’s
sexually-laced arrogance.

Lan was the gentle one. He was the one she’d bend for
because she hated to hurt or upset him. Dane was the Dom who could give her the
firm foundation she needed.

Where the hell did he fit in?

Dane stood up and gestured toward the seats grouped together
in the back. He and Lan followed. The cabin of the plane was small but
luxurious. Alea was sitting close to the front, so they migrated away to let
her sleep.

They’d all eaten breakfast together. The lovely but bland
flight attendant had served croissants and Danishes, along with smooth, rich
coffee, but it was the conversation that had really surprised him. He and Dane
had started talking about activities they could potentially do in Sydney. Alea
had joined in, discussing her favorite places in Australia. Lan had listened
with an excited smile. Within minutes, they had all been laughing and teasing, especially
after Lan had threatened to find a crocodile to wrestle because he was certain
that no Aussie could be tougher than a Texan.

It felt natural and right to be with these people. In those
moments of flowing laughter, they had felt like a family.

Then Alea suddenly seemed to realize she was this close to
being happy. She’d excused herself, turned away, and fallen asleep.

“I wanted to talk to you guys about the investigators’
report.” Dane had a familiar folder in his hand. “I set up a conference call
with the guys at Anthony Anders for the day after tomorrow. I refuse to be out
of the loop just because we’re on a different continent. And we need to discuss
her security protocols.”