Their Virgin Princess (Masters of Ménage #4)(37)

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.