Their Virgin Princess (Masters of Ménage #4)(50)

"But when we get home, and we will get home, I intend to find out whose fault it is," Dane said, sending Cooper a dark look. "Someone planned this." 

Someone meant to kill her. Cooper knew exactly what Dane's expression meant. He was asking Coop to join him in hunting and taking down this fucker. He nodded to Dane. Oh, yeah. They would make sure this asshole couldn't ever hurt her again.

"I thought the pilot was just crazy and hated my family." Alea's arms slowly wound around his waist. "You're both so warm."

Cooper cuddled a little closer. "We'll always keep you warm, safe … whatever you need. We'll take care of you. We can survive here indefinitely. Landon is scouting the island for more food right now."

"What happens if he doesn't find any? What happens when the food we took from the plane runs out?" Alea asked, then bit her lip for a moment. "We got all we could, but we can't survive on crackers, pâté, and peanuts for very long."

Dane chuckled softly. "There's an ocean of food right out there. This place has bananas and all kinds of fruit. We were all trained to know what kind of plants we can and can't eat. Lea, we've got this. We survived the crash. That was the hard part. The rest is easy, especially now that you've convinced Coop to make sure he doesn't die of gangrene. I won't say it will be like hanging around the palace, but if we take care of each other, keep the fire going, find a safe place to wait out any storms that might come, we'll be golden."

She nodded against his chest. "I want to help. Just tell me what to do."

"Really?" Dane asked.

"Yes. Of course."

"What we need most now is your trust. You have to rely on us. Take this time to get to know us better. Let us have an actual chance to please you and make you happy." Dane laid a small kiss on her temple.

She shivered a little, her head coming up off Cooper's chest. He wished Dane hadn't pushed yet, but everything his buddy described … yeah, he wanted that, too. "Just a chance, Lea. You don't hate this, right?"

"I'm getting used to it," she admitted, swallowing hard. She was tense, but not rejecting. It was a step. "Can we agree to go slow? I don't know what I want and I don't have any idea what I'll be able to handle. It's going to take a while to get used to the idea that you guys could actually want me. That someone touching me isn't doing it to hurt me."

There was a low shout as Landon marched through the foliage and back into camp. He was carrying Alea's mesh laundry bag, which he'd appropriated earlier when he'd left on his quest to gather coconuts. But it was dripping wet.

"Hey, I found a bunch of conches!" Lan held up the bag and looked at it proudly. "That's some good eating and-holy shit."

Lan had obviously caught sight of Alea's half-naked state because it put a truly sizzling stare on his face. Then he lost his usual athletic grace as he walked closer, jaw hanging around his knees, stumbling over the log he'd dragged into camp earlier. He tripped in an epic pratfall. That would make some popular shit on YouTube.

Alea broke free and started running for Landon.

"I'm okay!" Lan shouted, but Alea was right there, crouching beside him, and there was no mistaking the way Lan took advantage to stare right at her boobs.

Dane slapped Coop on the back. "Let's shore up for the night. We're all tired. We can cook up those conches and talk about making base camp more comfy. Tomorrow we put our plan into action. It's time to claim our girl."

Coop nodded. "Amen, brother."

Dane strode over to give Landon a hand with the conches, whistling as he walked.

It was the happiest he'd seen Dane in a long time. As Alea turned to glance at him over her shoulder and shot a smile his way, he had to admit, it might be the happiest any of them had been in a good, long while.



       
         
       
        



* * * *



Alea shivered a little and wished that her clothes had dried during dinner. But they hadn't yet. The fire Dane had built was roaring, but she still trembled. Even so, the stars awed her. They wove a brilliant canvas across the dark sky. She'd never seen so many twinkling so brightly.

"Beautiful, huh?" Lan sat beside her, his shoulders rubbing against hers.

She wasn't alone. She might be on one of the remotest islands in the world, but these three men had gone out of their way to show her that everything would be all right.

"It is." The fire crackled in front of her. Cooper and Dane were talking quietly on the other side of the fire pit they'd dug. "Do you think someone will find us?"