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.
Chapter Ten
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.