As the sun started to sink over the horizon, Cooper thought about running from Alea. And then he thought about it again. But the truth of the matter was, she would only find him. And she’d only be more pissed off.
“Don’t move. I just want to clean it.” She walked up to him with a small red kit in her hands.
According to Cooper’s watch, two hours had passed since the plane had sunk below the surface and into the ocean. In two hours they’d managed to build a fire, gather palm fronds and bamboo for an eventual shelter, and scout around what was now their base camp. The island was tiny. It had taken Landon a whole twenty minutes to jog the circumference.
But in that two hours, the one thing he’d managed not to do was give in to Alea’s sudden desire to play nurse. It looked like that time had come to an end.
“I’m fine. Really, I used to be a medic. This little cut is nothing. Just hand me a bandage and it will be fine.” Cooper went back to sorting through the food and water.
“It’s only a little cut until bacteria gets inside. Then it becomes a flaming septic pus-filled wound that kills you within forty-eight hours,” Alea explained, wielding her first aid kit like a sword. “I won’t even go into all the bugs that would just love to burrow under your skin and make a nice home for themselves.”
Cooper shrugged. “I got saltwater all in it. Salt can be very purifying.”
Alea looked over his shoulder to where Dane was digging a pit. “Can’t you command him or something?”
“I tried to command you to get out of those wet clothes,” Dane said. “It didn’t do me any good. He’s a damn fine medic, as well as the absolute worst patient who ever walked the earth. He’s a complete pansy when it comes to stuff like this. Oh, you can shoot him and he won’t complain, but try taking off the band aid and he’ll howl.”
“It’s a different kind of pain,” Cooper grumbled.
He hadn’t really had a choice the couple of times he’d been shot. The assholes who’d shot him hadn’t brought him in for a consult on the situation. He looked up at Alea, his brain processing what Dane had said and finding something he might be willing to endure that sting to get. She was still in clothes. Despite the heat of the day, it was humid. They stood under the shade of the trees. She was still soaking wet.
The rest of them had immediately stripped down to their boxers and laid their clothes out to dry. Though Alea had unpacked some of the clothes they’d salvaged, they were wet, along with everything that hadn’t been wrapped in plastic. She’d fashioned a clothesline by tying some rope between two palm trees and hung their garments to dry. But she was still in her skirt and top.
“Cooper Evans, you are going to let me clean and dress that wound,” she said, her mouth firming.
Somehow, after years of fighting with his older brothers and dealing with Special Forces commanding officers, the gorgeous set of curves in front of him just wasn’t very scary. Sexy? Hell, yeah. And it was about to get a hell of a lot sexier. “Negotiate with me.”
“What?” Her mocha-colored eyes narrowed.
“Life is a negotiation, Princess. You took all those political science courses. You should know plenty about that.” Yeah, he liked this idea. It had been a crapfuckingtastic day. This could make it all a little nicer. “So let’s negotiate.”
Her bare foot tapped on the sand. “Fine. I want to save your life.”
“I want to save yours in return. Take off the clothes, Princess.”
Her eyes rolled. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You’re cold, Lea. You’ve got goose bumps all over your skin. It’s going to get worse as that sun goes down.” He and Dane had already talked about the fact that, after sunset, the temperature would drop. The blankets wouldn’t have had time to dry out. Alea needed to sleep close to the fire, and she would need body heat. But none of that would help much if she wasn’t dry first.
She frowned. “I’m not walking around here naked.”
Just a little give. That was all he needed. “Your panties and bra will dry a lot faster if you strip out of everything else.”
She turned around, and for a moment he thought he was going to lose. Then she tossed the first aid kit his way. “All right, damn it. Don’t expect me to be gentle.”
With jerky, slightly nervous motions, she tore into the buttons of her shirt. Once she’d undone them all, she shrugged the garment off and settled the heavy fabric over the clothesline before she shoved at the waistband of her skirt. She was wearing a plain white cotton underwire bra and panties, but plain didn’t begin to cover just how gorgeous she was.
Fuck. She had curves for miles. She was built to please a man, and he damn straight wanted to be that man. Well, one of three. Somehow the whole near-death experience was making it way easier to realize that they might not have time to waste. Tomorrow might be now. If they wanted her, they were going to have to find just the right way to take her.
And they’d do it together. Coop knew he wouldn’t have survived without his brothers. Without the three of them, Alea would have died or she would have been stranded alone. They wouldn’t have the bounty of supplies they’d gathered without Dane and Lan. And god bless him, Lan had fought that vicious current to bring all of those necessities to the island. They could survive quite nicely for a while because everyone had done their part, including his sweet Alea. She’d calmed quickly and figured out their coordinates, then settled into the cockpit to help him land, and he was in awe. She seemed to soak up and retain most everything that anyone had ever taught her.
The four of them made a damn good team. If they were lucky, they could make a fine family.
Alea turned, a blush high in her cheeks. “Fine. Now I’m almost naked.”
“It covers more than most bikinis.”
“I don’t wear bikinis,” Alea said.
Dane was suddenly at his side. There was a happy, hungry look on the big guy’s face that only happened when he got around Alea. “I just thought I should help.”
Yeah, right. Dane wanted to get as close to the candy as he could. Not that Cooper blamed the guy, but he’d been the one to unwrap the treat.
“Your help isn’t required, but thanks for playing.” Coop made a sound like a rude game show host’s buzzer. Then he turned back to Alea. “Did you learn to swim as a kid?”
She frowned. “Yes.”
“Did you swim as a teenager?”
“Sure. I was as rambunctious as any other kid. Bezakistan gets too hot in the summer to play outside much, and I didn’t like being trapped indoors all day. My aunt and uncles took us to the shore at least once a year, so swimming was a necessity.”
“But you don’t swim now?”
Alea got on her knees in front of him and opened the little kit. With an air of “whatever,” she started digging out the instruments of his torture—little cotton balls and packs of antiseptic. “Not much anymore.”
“It’s good exercise, and you’re right about the summers in Bezakistan. So why did you stop?” Cooper asked.
“I don’t know.” She seemed to want to look everywhere except at him. She focused intently on dabbing the cleaner on a cotton ball.
“When exactly did you stop?” Dane asked in that deep voice, his Dom voice. Cooper knew his buddy meant business. “No lying.”
Alea shrugged. “A couple of years ago. Hold still.”
She pressed the cotton ball to his cut, and he nearly came out of his seat. Damn it, that burned. He cursed, and Alea’s lips turned up.
“Really, you big baby?” she mocked. “You’re a SEAL?”
Yeah, he got that a lot. He touched the tat on his left arm. It was a SEAL tattoo of an eagle clutching a rifle, anchor, and trident. “I even have the tat, baby. But I’m out of the Navy now. I don’t have to suck it up anymore.”
Dane huffed. “You didn’t suck it up then. I was with you in Kandahar. You took one measly knife to the gut and whined about it for hours.”
Alea gasped. “Someone stabbed you in the stomach?”
He pointed to the nice little scar on his right side. “Yep. And I was very heroic. I saved three kids and stitched up some soldiers before I finally lost consciousness in a very manly fashion.”
“He face-planted on the street,” Dane clarified, then turned his attention back to Alea. “So you stopped swimming after the abduction. Why? The warm water and solitude should have been relaxing. Did you quit so you could avoid bathing suits and hide your body?”
Crap! Cooper bit back a protest. He’d just gotten Alea to strip down to her skivvies and he’d been trying to make her nice and comfortable. Did Dane really have to push her now?
She paused, hesitated, then very cautiously continued to clean his wound. “I suppose so.”
“Why?” Dane’s voice was softer as though she’d pleased him by answering. “Baby, whatever they told you, they were lying.”
Had the fuckwads who’d taken her told her she wasn’t pretty? He reached up and caressed her hair, pushing one side away from her face. It had dried into sexy waves, rather than that stick-straight mane she unmercifully flat ironed every day. “Unless they said you’re the most beautiful woman on the planet, they were lying. Lea, baby, they would have said anything to break you.”
She took a long breath, studying her handiwork on the side of his face, seemingly happy. Then she started looking through the kit again. “They might be liars, but I’ve always had issues with my weight.”
“What issues?” Cooper asked, truly astounded at the thought. “Is it hard to be perfect?”
She snorted slightly. “Yes, it’s so difficult.”
“Alea, I would seriously consider what you say about yourself in the next few minutes,” Dane warned. “I’m willing to listen to concerns, but don’t degrade yourself.”
Her hands balled into fists on her lap. “I’m not a size two. God, Dane, I’m not even a size eight. It wasn’t just my captors. The press hasn’t always been kind.”
Cooper had no idea what dress sizes meant. “Uh, if those are smaller than you, then I’m glad because I want a woman with curves. I want a woman who looks like a woman. Ask most guys. They do, too.”
“Lea, you should damn well know that most women modeling in magazines are far too thin. They might photograph well, but it’s actually unhealthy,” Dane said. “Who idolizes models? Do you think it’s men? No, baby. Mostly women. Porn is a better example of what men like. Those women have hips and boobs.”
Cooper sniffed with disdain. “I only watch the amateur stuff now because the pros have gotten too thin. And I like real boobs.” Alea had real boobs. They were encased in a sturdy bra, but they were totally getting his attention. Soft and round. They would be a sweet handful. And last night, with her distraught…and then his mouth on her pussy, he hadn’t really gotten a good look at her ass. But what he’d seen in the past always looked so damn good. “Not to mention a juicy ass. Love that.”
“Juicy is good,” Dane agreed.
Alea squirted ointment onto her finger and quickly wiped it across his cut. “You don’t have to try to make me feel better. Growing up, I always wanted to look more like Yasmin. Taller. More graceful…”
Dane made gagging noises.
Coop joined in. “No girl looks good with her head that far up her own ass. A bony-looking ass, I might add.”
Alea shook her head and giggled. “You two are so juvenile. Really? She’s blonde and willowy, and she doesn’t have to have her dresses custom made. I had to pay through the nose to get that Narciso Rodriguez gown. They don’t normally make my size.”
“Then they suck. And you look gorgeous in anything you wear.” Coop frowned.
He didn’t normally notice Alea’s clothes. He noticed how her boobs and butt looked in them. And he loved her toes right now. It was kind of freaky, but he wanted to suck on them and rub them. They were a pretty pink.
She slapped a butterfly-style bandage over his cheek and stood. “I think that should prevent infection from setting in. Keep it covered until it closes. And you two don’t have to be nice. I appreciate it. I really do, but I own a mirror.”
“Then it must be your eyesight that’s suffering.” Dane stood beside her. “Cooper is never just nice.”
She shrugged as if she was a bit uncomfortable with their compliments. Or maybe it was the way they stared. Because he couldn’t seem to stop. Her nipples clung to the thin white cotton of her bra. God, he wanted to get those nipples in his mouth. He could suck on them and bite them just the tiniest bit until she squirmed. And begged. He’d really like to hear her begging.
“Of course Cooper is nice. He’s not really interested,” Alea said, then blushed. “You don’t have to try to convince me.”
“I’m pretty sure that was my mouth on your pussy last night,” he pointed out.
And Dane just rolled his eyes. “You really are blind, Lea. His cock is poking out of his boxers. Dude, shove that thing back in.”
Cooper readjusted, but not before he noticed that Alea’s eyes widened at the sight. Her breath hitched. Yes, she was at least a little intrigued.
And they were on a deserted island with absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to be. Sure, they were having to fight for their lives, but Cooper believed in the power of positive thinking. Anything could happen. In fact, he was damn sure hoping everything did happen soon.
“Are they angry with us again?” Dane asked with a grin as he ran one finger over her hard nipple.
She immediately crossed her arms over her chest, blocking him…though he could see some great cleavage. “I’m just cold.”
Cooper opened his arms wide. “Come here, baby. We can warm you up.”
Another blush stole across her face. “I liked it better when you were all moody and standoffish.”
Dane shook his head. “That didn’t work out for us, so we’re trying something new.”
“Shouldn’t we be worried about survival?” Alea asked, turning away.
“Baby, you won the lottery. You went down with three former Special Forces soldiers.” Cooper stood. It was completely reasonable that she was scared and wondering about the basic necessities. What did a princess know about survival training? He wanted to hold her, but she might be scared that his dingus would likely make another appearance. “We’ve done this before.”
“Hell, yeah,” Dane added. “And we’ve done this in far worse circumstances. This is practically the Ritz compared to that time we got stranded in the Dashti Margo. We were tracking some Taliban scum. We took care of them, but our Humvee got blown to smithereens.”
Cooper shook his head. “Taken out by an RPG. Damn, we moved fast to get away from that one. Good times, man.”
“It sounds horrible.” Alea had turned to face them again, still valiantly trying to cover up.
“It was absolutely awful,” Cooper admitted. “We spent ten days in the desert until we were located and someone sent transport. We survived with virtually no supplies while hostiles were shooting at us. We’ll survive this, baby. Living here will be a cakewalk. A little vacation.” He caressed her arm in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture, trying not to think about how soft she was and how good all that would feel up against him. “We left word with your cousins that we were traveling with you. We didn’t bother to mention the whole sneaking away part, but they know when to expect the plane to land. They’ll send out search and rescue.”
She sniffled a little. “It’s a big ocean.”
“In water this clear, the plane might well be visible.” Dane said. “And they’re patient men.”
Tears formed in her eyes, and she looked down at her bare feet. “I did this to us.”
Oh, damn, she couldn’t think that. “No, you didn’t.” He couldn’t restrain himself a minute more. He walked up to her. “I want to hold you. Can I, please? Can Dane and I give you a little comfort? It’s been a hard day. Let us reassure you that it’s going to be all right.” When she hesitated, he joked, “I promise to keep the beast in my boxers.”
She rewarded him with a little laugh, then nodded. “I’d like that. For the most part, it’s been a long time since I let anyone hold me. I want to try.”
He eased forward cautiously, letting her observe his every move, giving her plenty of time to object. She was a little like a wild deer he wanted to feed from his hand. One wrong move and he could spook her.
“My hand is going to touch your waist, Lea,” Dane said before settling in behind her. “You can lean back against me any time. You’re cold. You need to get warm. We’ll settle you by the fire, then have a nice dinner. Relax and know that we’re going to take care of you.”
Cooper slowly wrapped his arms around her. She trembled for a moment, then sighed as though she appreciated the heat their bodies generated.
Once again, he appreciated how soft her skin was and how sweetly she fit against him. “Consider this a break from civilization. You wanted one, right? Here you go. No reporters. No one who needs your attention. Well, besides us. No one is going to ask you to make appearances or to go to balls.”
“No curious people who look at me with pity,” Alea continued.
Coop wanted to take exception to that, but now wasn’t the time to argue with her. Making her laugh seemed to work so much better. “Nope. You just have to worry about us ogling you. All the time. Every day. Every hour.”
Sure enough, she laughed. “You guys are crazy.”
Dane had his cheek against her hair. “My main goal in life is to convince you that we’re not. At least not completely.”
“How can you not be mad at me? I’m the reason you’re here,” she admitted in a whisper.
“I think I speak for all three of us when I say we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Cooper replied. “If I wasn’t with you here, I’d be going out of my damn mind with worry. But cuddled up with you… It’s all good. Alea, this wasn’t your fault.”
“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?”
“Sure.” There was no hesitation in his voice. “I think your cousins will move heaven and earth. But it’s a damn big ocean, Lea. It could take some time. Be prepared to settle in and get comfortable waiting.”
Her cousins. They would be worried by now. She’d intended to text…and now that wasn’t possible. They would know the plane hadn’t landed in Sydney. Piper would be so worried. They would be forced to call all of Dane, Cooper, and Landon’s relatives to tell them their sons were missing. She knew Dane had a father he didn’t talk to anymore. Cooper had a big family scattered all over southern Colorado. What about Landon? “Is there anyone back in the States who’s going to be upset? You have to know Talib is going to call your parents.”
Lan turned to the fire. “Don’t have any.”
His parents were gone? “I’m so sorry.”
A bitter smile crossed his face. “Don’t be. They aren’t dead, darlin’. At least I don’t think they are. I don’t know. My mom ditched me about five minutes after I was born. As for my dad, I don’t even know who he is. I’m not even sure my mom did. She got around.”
She knew he came from a small Texas town. How hard had it been to be abandoned by the woman who should have loved him above all others? “How old was she?”
“She was all of seventeen when she had me. The way my grandma told it, she tried really hard to get rid of me, but I was dug into that womb.”
“Get rid of you?”
Lan turned to her, his face a careful blank. “She tried a homemade abortion. I wasn’t part of her plan.”
“Oh, Lan.” She reached for him, feeling sick, and yet an urge to comfort him all at once.
Then she stopped her hand in midair as she realized that she’d been about to hug him. The sympathetic gesture had come almost instinctively.
Lan turned back to the fire as though he couldn’t stand to watch her choose to not touch him. Like other women in his life had rejected him. “It’s no big deal. My grandma raised me. We didn’t have much, but she made sure I got fed and had clothes.”
He’d said absolutely nothing about anyone loving him. “Do you miss her? Is that who Tal will call?”
“She died a couple years back. She wouldn’t have really cared. She was a mean old lady. There was a reason my momma wanted to get the hell out of that trailer. My grandma ran off everyone who ever loved her. She never let a day go by where she didn’t tell me what a whore my momma turned out to be and that I was an embarrassment. She kept me because righteous women take care of their mistakes.”
How hard had it been for his sole guardian to consider him a burden? Lan was so competent. In the course of one day, he’d scouted the perimeter of the island, found food, and set up a desalinization station that was gathering water so they could stock up. He was amazing and he’d always been so deeply kind. She didn’t stop this time. If nothing else, he was her friend.
Alea scooted closer to him and placed a hand on his back, leaning her face against his strong upper arm. His skin was warm and smooth, so much softer than she’d imagined, though it covered rock-hard muscle. “You weren’t a mistake. I can’t imagine any mother not being so proud of you.”
He turned slightly, forcing her head up and looking on her with a curious gaze. Slowly, he reached down and brushed away tears she hadn’t known she was shedding. “Are those for me?”
She shrugged, then nodded. He wrapped a bulky arm around her and hauled her in close. For a moment, she stiffened, then sank against the heat of his body. And the safety. She felt safe with all of them.
“Don’t you cry for me, Princess.”
Sometimes when he called her that she could almost believe it was a term of endearment and not merely a title. “Someone should. And I’m not really crying for you. It’s not pity. You came from so little and you’ve turned into a wonderful man.”
“Sometimes,” he began, staring down at her, “bad things happen to good people, and they still find a way to turn it around. They find a way to be brave. I know you’re brave, too. I want you to kiss me, Lea.”
So much for his lack of smarts. He was a manipulative bastard. But if she wanted to heal, wanted to move forward and not let the kidnappers beat her, as Piper had pointed out, she had to be willing to take chances. Get out of her comfort zone. Try to be a whole woman. Believe that she could trust them.
Alea closed her eyes and tilted her head up. She could handle this. Landon would never hurt her.
She waited, but nothing happened.
Alea opened her eyes, and found Lan staring down at her. Cooper had moved behind, and she could feel his heat. Dane had edged closer, too. His gaze was fixed on her, smoldering like the nearby fire, as he leaned back against a tree.
“He said he wanted you to kiss him, baby,” Dane pointed out. “You have to listen to instructions or there might be consequences.”
She stiffened a little. “I don’t think I like the sound of that.”
Cooper leaned in. “Come on, Lea. Don’t be scared. You know Dane likes to play. It’s just who he is. He needs to feel like he’s in control.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “If he thinks you’re afraid, he’ll pull away. His ex-wife told him he was a pervert, and I don’t think he can handle it if you feel the same way.”
Talib liked to “play,” too. Oh, her cousins had tried to hide that fact from her, but she’d snuck into Tal’s “dungeon” when she was a teenager. The locked door had always intrigued her, and they’d never let her in or explained. Unfortunately when she’d finally figured out how to sneak in, Tal had been playing at the time. She’d hidden, of course, but she’d heard the moans, the slaps of leather on skin, the gasps—the sounds of satisfaction.
And she’d heard the tenderness he’d shown his submissive afterward. The praise he’d given her. The woman’s sighs of contentment. They had both enjoyed themselves. There hadn’t been anything wrong with it. She’d heard that the dungeon was open again and her cousins played with Piper, teasing her and loving her. Tal needed the control after what had happened to him.
What had happened to Dane?
She sat up and stared at him, illuminated by the fire. He had a bland, somewhat expectant look on his face, but she was starting to really know him. His anxiety revealed itself in the hard line of his shoulders, in the stiff way he held himself. “What if I’m not submissive?”
And just like that, his body relaxed, and the teasing Dom was back. “Oh, you are.”
“Maybe I want to be in control. Maybe I need it after what happened to me.” How would he handle that?
A smile softened his face. “You’ll always be in control. That’s the great misunderstanding about the lifestyle. The submissive can stop the scene at any time. Any play is meant for your pleasure. Any rule is meant to protect you, build trust between us, and lift you up. It’s why I won’t listen to you talk badly about yourself. I’m willing to spank you over that so you’ll remember. Even if you hate me, I need you to believe how amazing you are.”
She didn’t necessarily understand, but she was pretty sure she couldn’t hate him. Ever. “We have to go slow with the whole play thing, Dane. I might never be able to handle it, especially the bondage. Being unable to move…it scares me.”
Which meant she might never be able to please him.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay. We’ll go as slow as you need,” Dane assured her. “Trust isn’t an overnight process. We’ll take it one baby step at a time, if that’s how it’s got to be. For now, I want you to kiss Lan slow and deep. He’s going to sit back and let you have your way with him.”
Lan smiled at her, placing his hands behind him and using them for leverage as he tilted back. The move left his big chest on display. “I’ll keep my hands to myself, darlin’.”
She rose to her knees. Her having control while she had her way with Lan confused her. “That doesn’t sound terribly submissive, Dane.”
“There are as many ways to play as there are players,” Dane shot back. “We don’t have to follow any rules except our own. Now kiss him. I want to watch.”
The idea of Dane watching her as she kissed Landon made her heart pound in a sultry rhythm. She’d been kissed before by men, yes. But she’d never been the aggressor.
Men? Hah. She’d dated boys. Not a single one of her few boyfriends had been as masculine as Landon or Cooper or, oh god, Dane. They were big and broad and hard. They oozed testosterone. They had protected her today. They had made sure she was comfortable and safe and warm. They always would.
No, she’d never dated even one man before. Those rich boys had been cultured, some even really intelligent and interesting. And she would bet they would have panicked and screamed like girls the second they realized the plane was going down. They wouldn’t have put that much time, energy, or thought into making sure she lived. Hell, Coop had all but volunteered to commit suicide by palm tree just to put the plane down in a visible location that might give the rest of them a better chance at being rescued.
And Landon… She stared up at his stony face, his gorgeous, sculpted mouth. His lips were thick and perfectly curved. His cheeks already had a sexy growth of beard. And his blue eyes were so hopeful.
Kiss him. She wanted to. She could even feel blood rushing to her nipples as she thought about it.
With a little smile, she leaned in and brushed her lips against his, getting just a hint of his warmth and the firmness of his lips before she pulled away.
She’d done it! She’d kissed him. And she wasn’t stressed or traumatized. He hadn’t pounced on her or…
“You can do better than that, Princess,” Lan challenged.
“Yeah, you aren’t going to make him crazy with that little kiss.” Cooper was watching, too, over her shoulder. He’d gotten to his knees behind her. She could feel him almost touching her. What would it be like to have his hands on her hips? Or her breasts, teasing her nipples as she kissed Lan?
Her whole body flushed with heat at the thought.
Alea leaned toward Lan again, determined to make him—and the others—a little crazy. She could do it. She’d survived a damn plane crash. She could survive being touched and touching in return.
Lan’s eyes drifted down to her breasts. He liked them. There was no mistaking the way his cock got hard because he was only wearing his boxer briefs and the fire illuminated his thick length. Yeah, she was already getting to him.
Alea brushed her lips against his again. But this time, instead of backing away, she pressed in, allowing her hands to cup his face. She loved the rough feel of his whiskers against her palm as she inhaled his scent, tested the firm softness of his mouth, acquainted herself with her body being so close to his.
This was nice. So nice. She was getting warm and relaxed.
“Use your tongue, Lea.” Dane’s command guided her from somewhere near the fire.
Her tongue. Heat surged through her belly…and arrowed lower. No denying that she wanted to know how he tasted.
Alea ran her tongue across his bottom lip and felt his whole body shiver as his lips parted. Then she curled her tongue around his shyly and drank in his flavor for a heady second. Oh, she felt lightheaded, but as she eased away, she realized that she had power over him. Dane was right. She wasn’t out of control. Quite the opposite.
“Hey, it’s my turn,” Cooper said. “I want a good-night kiss, too.”
“Go on or he’ll whine all night long,” Lan whispered against her lips.
Good-night kisses. If she started allowing them, would they want them every night? Would they want more? The thought made her shiver.
She turned to Cooper. He held himself just a bit apart, giving her space, the same way Lan had. She moved closer to him and cupped his face, too. His hair was so short, but when she ran her hand across it, she was surprised at how soft it felt. She bumped her nose against his before finding his lips.
As they touched, a little spark sizzled over her lips. As she opened her mouth and his followed suit, their breaths meshed, their tongues tangled. Coop wasn’t quite as good at being passive and patient as Lan. He surged in, wrapping a hand around her shoulder, as he tilted his head and went deeper. Alea stiffened for a moment, then relaxed. A big zing followed. He was potent. And she couldn’t deny that it was nice to be close to them.
She sucked his bottom lip into her mouth and loved the groan that came from deep in his chest. Then she nipped at him again before pulling away with a teasing grin.
Alea stood up, perfectly satisfied with this little experiment so far. But she had one more man to go. Dane.
Gulping down nerves, she walked to the fire, her feet sinking deliciously into the sand. It was funny how much more aware she was of everything now. The night suddenly wasn’t cold, but rasped a nice cool breeze over her skin.
Dane watched her, his gaze warm as she halted beside him. “Is it my turn, baby?”
She nodded, putting a hand on his chest. He was perfectly ripped, every muscle gloriously hard. His face had no give. And somehow, without a word, he demanded that she try her best, give as much as she could. For some reason, she found herself wanting to please him.
“Go ahead.” He spread his arms wide, giving her full access.
Alea had a suspicion that he wouldn’t give her this much leash often. She’d better enjoy exploring and setting the pace while she could.
Searching up into Dane’s blue eyes and finding a gentle understanding under his hunger, she leaned against him and kissed him, not waiting this time. She drew her tongue along his plump bottom lip, and he remained still beneath her, letting her control everything. How far would he allow her to go?
She pressed harder, but his lips stayed closed.
“Open your mouth,” she whispered.
He obliged when she kissed him again, giving her access. She hoped she was doing it right. She rubbed her tongue against his, curling and sliding. He played along, but he was largely still beneath her.
Alea stopped and backed away.
“What is it, Princess?” Dane asked.
“I want you to kiss me back.”
“I moved with you.”
She shook her head. “No, you—”
But he had. Yes, it was reassuring to have all the control, but she wanted him to respond. She wanted him to truly want her and to prove it in his kiss. Even twenty-four hours ago, she wouldn’t have been able to imagine needing him to kiss her. Now she ached for what he held just beyond her reach.
“What I mean is, I think I’d like it more if you kissed me.”
“Do you really want me to kiss you?” Dane asked. “Because I won’t keep my hands off you. I’ll take control. Just a kiss, Lea. It won’t go any further than that. I’ll kiss you and hold you. And then we’ll go to sleep.”
He was baiting a trap. She sensed that he’d push a bit beyond that…but she was alive after a harrowing day. And she realized that for the first time since Cole Lennox had pulled her out of that brothel, she wasn’t terrified. Somehow, kissing them made her feel like she was taking control of her life again. Doing what she wanted, not what fear allowed her. No way would she stop Dane now. She wanted to know what it would be like to kiss him.
“All right,” she murmured.
He sat in the sand and leaned against the tree, then patted his lap. “Sit here.”
If she did, so much of her would have to touch so much of him. He’d maneuver them into a position that ensured he was in control. But she knew Dane would honor his promise. Just a kiss.
“It’s all right, Lea,” he said, that hard tone to his voice disappearing. “Let’s just get some rest. You sleep between Cooper and Lan. They’ll keep you warm.”
She’d been such a coward and she was through with it. They had been nothing but kind to her. She didn’t have to be afraid of them. They were all alone on an island. No pressures, no reporters, no threats. Right now, they didn’t know everything in her past. Maybe they never would. This was her clean slate.
Someone would eventually rescue them, but maybe she could take this time and enjoy it. She could be their Lea just for a little while.
She scooted on to his lap and felt his erection right against her hip. Dane Mitchell wanted her. That was all that mattered tonight.
Dane’s expression changed, turning hard and dominant. He reached up and touched her face, brushing across it with his fingertips as though trying to memorize the feel of her skin. Alea had to swallow down a gasp as his hand trailed down her neck to her chest.
“I’m going to touch your nipples.”
She nodded and felt them tighten before his fingers even got close. They strained against the cotton of her bra, trying to meet him halfway. While his right hand traced the hard points and a soft sigh escaped her, his left wound around her waist, clutching her hip.
And she wasn’t freaking out because this was Dane, the man who had risked his own life to save hers.
He cupped the nape of her neck, pulling her forward. “Put your hands on me, Lea.”
There was something about his deep, rich voice that had her fingers moving to his chest and stroking him. She rubbed her palms over his muscled shoulders as he brought her closer and pressed his lips to hers.
His hand slowly fisted in her hair, every movement precise and slow. She wasn’t startled. Once she reminded herself that he wouldn’t hurt her, she let go of the fear. Then he was drugging her with long, slow kisses, leading her closer and deeper. God, he smelled like a man, musky, potent. She couldn’t stop herself from melting.
When his tongue licked along the bottom of her lip and she opened for him, he invaded, sliding against her. Over and over, he dipped inside her mouth, taking possession, as his fingers toyed with her nipples. Heat pooled low in her gut. She gave herself over to the moment, moaning softly, arching her breast into his hand.
Then suddenly, Dane leaned away. He dropped one last, chaste kiss on her lips. “Time for bed, Princess. Lay down on your belly, and let Lan and Cooper touch you for a while.”
“What?” It was over? And she was supposed to do what?
Dane moved, shifting her off his lap and standing up. He held a hand out to help her up. “It’s part of your training. Or rather it’s part of your retraining.”
“I’m being trained?” She was a little unsteady on her feet as Dane led her back to Lan and Cooper.
“Yes, you’re being trained to accept love and affection. Lay down. They’re not going to do anything except stroke and rub you until you relax.”
Landon and Cooper had made a place for her between them. She was the only one with a “bed.” They had saved the cushions from the plane and laid them out so she would be comfortable. They would sleep on the sand. She had argued with them, but to no avail. They wanted to know she was comfortable.
And now they wanted to touch her. To retrain her. To teach her to accept their hands on her body.
Alea settled down, aching to be with these brave, honorable, sexy men, too. She wanted to leave her fears behind and just give herself over to these men she was falling for.
Cooper took a foot in his hand, cradling it in his own, warming her. “I give a damn fine foot massage.”
He started to rub, and Alea couldn’t stop the groan that came from her throat.
Landon’s fingers found her scalp and started to rub. “Go on and get some sleep, baby. We’ll protect you all night long.”
Her body relaxed, and Alea gave over to the heavenly contentment, reveling in the fact that she didn’t feel a bit of fear.
Her last thought as she closed her eyes and drifted away was a sweet one. She’d held the title of ‘princess’ for years, but this was the first time she’d really felt like one.