THEIR_VIRGIN_PRINCESS (30 page)

Law gave him a sarcastic salute. “I’ll be flying that baby.
The sheikh is having his private plane sent. It should be here in a couple of
hours, and it’s been under guard twenty-four seven. I’ll check it out myself
and take the controls. I’m licensed to fly just about anything. We’ll be back
at the palace tomorrow morning, then Riley and Dominic will want a full report
on everything that happened. Well, all the non-naked stuff. So, you going to
give this whole sharing thing an actual go?”

Lan heard the shower cut off and the sounds of Cooper and
Dane talking softly to Alea. He thought about telling Law to mind his own
fucking business, but there was something about the way he asked the question.
And he remembered how close the guy had seemed with his brother. Even despite
their dumbass fighting, he would bet those two boys had shared their toys a
time or two.

“Yeah. We haven’t made anything formal yet, but we’re going
to marry her.”

Law stepped up to the window and looked outside. “Weird
little country, Bezakistan. Back where I come from, me and Riley are kind of
freaks. Throw Dominic in and we’re just a parade of crazy. Women like it for a
night, but they will jump right off the train when you try to make it permanent.”

“You looking?” He was a little surprised at that. Law Anders
looked to be a tough guy, the kind who wouldn’t want to settle down.

Massive shoulders shrugged up and down. “I want what
everyone else has. I just can’t have it on my own. I got wired wrong, I guess.
Anyway, the plane should be here in a couple of hours. I’m trying to find some
extra security, but this place is full of like divers and shit. If I wanted to
go swim with a fucking dolphin we would be set, but finding someone who knows
how to keep the crowds back is a different prospect. The way I heard it, the
press is on their way as we speak. Some of them were already set up here
because it got leaked that the princess is staying here.”

The door to the bathroom opened, and Alea emerged looking
soft and sweet and vulnerable all wrapped up in her fluffy robe. Dane and
Cooper came out after her. Dane wore a towel, but Coop had changed into the
sweatpants the concierge had hustled up.

It was weird not being naked with her.

Lan watched as Alea moved into the suite. She was bundled
up, but there was a hint of a smile on her face. She reached for Dane’s hand as
he walked up to her. Lan watched as their fingers tangled together and was
surprised that he didn’t feel a hint of jealousy. All of that emotion had
burned off on the island as they had found their unique roles in her life and
she’d settled into her place as the sun in their sky. She was theirs, and they
had to do everything they could to protect her. Including shielding her from
the press.

Law softened around Alea, proving he wasn’t as much of an
asshole as he seemed. “Princess, your cousins are really happy you’re alive.
The queen has been beside herself.”

Alea nodded, pulling the lapels of her robe together
tightly. “It was very good to talk to her. Thank you for everything you’ve done
in searching for us.”

“But you didn’t want to be found, did you?” Law asked the
question almost sadly as though he understood.

Alea paused and sighed, her hand squeezing Dane’s. “I will
only say that the island wasn’t so bad. If you’re ever going to have a plane go
down, I would highly recommend the accommodations.”

“Most women would have gone crazy out there,” Law said. “But
you look like you bloomed.”

“Hey, look at her less, buddy,” Cooper said, crowding her other
side.

But Lan realized that Lawson Anders wasn’t hitting on their
woman. He was longing for what she represented. Warmth. Love. Acceptance. “You
do look gorgeous, darlin’.”

She flushed beautifully. “I’m glad you think so. Could
someone order tea?”

He’d already done that. “It should be here any minute. I
ordered tea and some snacks. It’ll be good to get some carbs, you know? And Law
here promises me that Tal is sending us the big bus. It’s going to be first
class all the way home.”

Alea nodded, but he could see the strain on her face. She
could probably still remember how it felt to have the plane plunge and to
wonder if they were going to make it. Hell, he didn’t want to get on the plane
and he used to jump off the fuckers.

There was a knock at the door. The tea service. He hoped
they had gotten the order right, and there were some Cokes, too. Because he
didn’t do dainty teacups and cucumber sandwiches.

Alea moved for the door.

“Hey, I’ll get it,” Lan said, blocking her.

“I can get a door, Lan,” she said with a smile.

“No. Not this one.” He moved to the door but she stayed
right behind him. As he pulled the door back, there was a flash and the quick
sound of a camera shutter going off at high speed.

“Princess! Princess, is it true you have three lovers? What
happened on the island?”

“Would you like to comment on the accusation that you aided
your kidnappers in torturing young girls in Colombia?”

“Princess, the world would love to know what you were
wearing when the plane went down.”

There was a mob of them with cameras and video equipment,
the light coming from the hall nearly blinding him. They were vultures, every
single one of them. Rage popped through his system, adrenaline flooding his
veins. They had no right to be here.

A microphone was shoved into his face. “Are you the guard?
What are you getting paid to be the princess’s lover? How many of you are
there? How does it work?”

“Are you bisexual?”

The questions peppered against him like rapid gunfire. He
reached for the first camera he saw, blocking the doorway to keep the fuckers
off Alea. He could make damn sure these reporters didn’t get at her again. They
would have to get through him, and he was going to let them know that wouldn’t
be an easy task. He reared back a fist, anger nearly choking him as they
shouted crap about the woman he loved.

Before he could connect, something jerked him back into the
room.

“Shut that fucking door,” Dane snarled, still grabbing his
biceps.

Law jogged to the door. “I’ll take care of this. You don’t
open this to anyone but me.”

Cooper moved in and locked the deadbolt. Lan saw red. His
heart pounded. His fists clenched. Fuck, he had to get control of himself. He
would check on Alea, then he was going to take apart some reporters. He would
rip a couple of heads off and mount them at the end of the hallway, and maybe
the next set of vultures wouldn’t be so eager to knock on their door.

“Don’t.” Dane pulled him back.

“I’ll do it quietly.”

“You can’t. They’re
reporters
.
Do you forget who we are? I don’t just mean our names. Now we’re both the
princess’s guards and her lovers. You can’t beat the shit out of people
anymore. Everything we do reflects on her. Ultimately, we represent the sheikh
and his family. Let Law handle it.”

Fuck
. He hadn’t
thought about that. He forced himself to calm down. Never once during his
pursuit of Alea had he thought about the dark side of royalty being his problem
if he actually caught her. This was her life, and if he wanted her, it had to
be his, too. He would have to put up with all the questions, the reporters, and
the constant speculation.
Oh fuck
…
Dane was smart; he could handle it. Cooper was charming enough to slide by. But
he’d just about walked out into the hallway and started tearing reporters up.
It would have all been caught on camera for the world to see.
Shit!

Lan looked up, and Alea was staring right at him, her dark
eyes burning a hole through him as though she knew exactly what he was
thinking. “Lea?”

“That’s the way it’s always going to be now.” She wouldn’t
look him in the eyes. Her face had flushed, her hands trembling slightly. “You
won’t be able to have a normal life if you’re with me.”

His stomach sank. God, why hadn’t he just slammed the door?
“I don’t want a normal life.”

“That’s just the start, Lan. They will come at you every
day. They’ll drag you down with me,” she said, her voice tight.

“Lea, come on. Let’s dry your hair.” Cooper reached for her
hand and started to lead her back to the bathroom.

She walked with him, her head held at that regal angle she
used for state appearances.

Damn it.
He
started to go after her. He had to explain…what? That he was sorry he’d nearly
started a new scandal for the entire royal family and made things much worse
for her?

“Don’t.” Dane stood in his way. “Let Coop handle her right
now. You need to decide.”

He hated the fact that Cooper was with her and not him. “I
nearly fucked everything up.”

“You should have known this was going to happen. You’ve been
guarding this family for over a year. You know how the press can be.”

He did, but he’d never been in the middle of it. He’d never
had all that attention focused on him.

Dane frowned. “What did you think would happen? What do you
think is going to happen when we marry her?”

“I think I’m going to have to get a grip on my temper. But
they said some horrible things about our girl. How can I not defend her?” He
needed to get a fucking grip and wrap his head around it all.

Dane took a long breath and held his hands up, backing away
slightly. “We have to find new ways to defend her because lashing out will only
make things worse. Sorry, man. I think we’re all on edge. We need to back off
and reconvene after we’ve gotten her safely back to Bezakistan.”

Lan nodded. He could still hear the reporters clamoring
outside the door, and over it all, Law’s shouts. “I wish they’d never found
us.”

Dane’s shoulders slumped. “Me, too, man. Me, too.”

* * * *

Alea felt numb as she was led into Tal’s office. She’d
pretended to sleep all the way home, keeping her eyes closed and ignoring the conversations
around her.

But all she could hear in her head was those reporters and
all she could see was the look of horror on Lan’s face as he’d realized what
he’d really gotten mixed up in.

She’d managed to read some of the press surrounding her disappearance,
despite Dane and Cooper’s attempts to prevent it.

They were calling her all sorts of names. And despite the
fact that it had been tradition in Bezakistan for hundreds of years for
brothers to share a wife, her men weren’t being considered brothers. Because
they shared no blood, the press seemed to think they could deem their
relationship kinky rather than traditional and savage it.

And who had even told them they had a relationship in the
first place? Who the hell was this palace source they kept talking to?

And the worst part was the girl from the brothel recounting
all the ways Alea had failed. According to Brittany Hahn, she was worse than a
coward. The girl was telling the world that Alea had actually participated in
the other women’s torture to spare herself. It was a lie, but she still saw
those women in her nightmares, their eyes pleading with her to help. She hadn’t
tortured them, but she hadn’t been able to save them either. Had she tried hard
enough?

“Lea!” Piper nearly ran across the space that separated
them, throwing her arms around Alea, tears streaming down her face. “Lea, I
thought you were dead.”

She returned the hug, but Alea felt like she was on
autopilot. She’d tried to think of any way to spare her men the pain of the
hell they were all about to endure, the constant exposure to the vicious side
of the press. But every road led back to one conclusion. They were better off
without her.

Her cousins were standing around Tal’s desk, all of them
showing signs of the strain the last month must have placed on them. Rafe and
Kade looked like they hadn’t slept, and Tal had a grimness about him she hadn’t
seen since he’d married his Piper.

Piper stepped back, smiling at the men who had filed in
behind Alea. “Dane, Landon, Cooper. Thank you so much for taking care of her. I
heard how you managed to land the plane and get her to safety. You’re heroes.”

They were her heroes. How could she drag them into her
world? It had been so simple on the island, but this was reality, and she
feared that none of them were really ready for what it would mean to be married
to her. Perhaps if she’d never been kidnapped, they would only have to deal
with reporters taking pictures and asking intrusive questions about their love
life. But now, these “journalists” were out for blood and called her very
morality into question. How long could the press ask these questions before
Dane, Cooper, and Lan would get tired of comforting or defending her? How long
before they wondered if the reports were true? She had no doubt they would
stand by her, but they would get hurt. How long before they resented her for
their loss of privacy?

Tal walked around shaking hands with her men. “They are
indeed heroes. The royal family cannot repay this debt to you, gentlemen. I
will only promise this, no matter what happens in the future, you will always
find aid and shelter in this house. I consider you family now.”

Alea let her eyes close briefly because she was about to
blow everyone out of the water.
Damn.
Damn. Damn.
She didn’t want to do it, but she didn’t see another way to
ensure their happiness. She hadn’t been able to help the women she’d been
trapped with, but she could help the men she loved.
 

She’d known the minute they’d been rescued, seen the
speculative looks on the scientists’ faces, that it wouldn’t work. Not here.
The island had been different. She’d been able to let go. There was no pushing
away the past here.

The men began talking among themselves, and Piper started
ordering food, talking to the staff about a fine welcome home dinner. Alea
drifted to the window, staring at the gardens.