And he didn’t trust himself not to walk back and have a throw down with her that would very likely end with him getting his ass arrested for laying hands on Her Royal Highness.
“You ass**le.” Coop was on his feet in a heartbeat. “What the f**k was that about?”
The hallway around them was quiet. He’d been afraid Tal would follow them, but it appeared he had gone back to the ball. He was fine with that because he was just about ready to start throwing punches. Caving in Coop’s face might take the edge off the nasty anger building inside him.
Alea had scored a direct hit. He could still hear Kelly screaming at him that he was a pervert, a freak for what he needed. He could still remember the day his father had told him what an embarrassment he was to the family and that he was no longer welcome in the house he’d grown up in.
He hadn’t been invited to his brother’s wedding. Of course, that wasn’t such a huge surprise since his very vanilla brother had been marrying his ex-wife.
He felt Coop shove at his arm, goading him. “What? Now you can’t talk?”
Dane narrowed his eyes, flexed his hands. He’d thought he was going to beat the shit out of Lan for bringing Alea to the meeting, but Cooper had done something much worse. “I can talk, man. I just don’t think you’re going to like what I have to say.”
Cooper pulled back slightly, frowning. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“Oh, it was an accident then? You tripped and fell on top of her pu**y? Did your tongue fall out and land on her clit?”
“She was responding, damn it.”
Dane had seen just how she’d responded. “Yeah, you must have done a hell of a job with her, buddy. She was screaming and kicking and fighting you as if she was struggling for her very survival.
He’d heard her from down the hall. He’d been lighting into Lan when they both heard Alea’s shout. They’d run, terrified that someone was trying to kill her. Lan had his gun out and he’d just about taken off Coop’s head when Dane realized who it was.
Coop’s whole body sagged. “It didn’t start out like that. I was trying to check up on her. I wanted to make sure her BP was okay. She nearly fainted. When she took a while in the bathroom, I went in to make sure she hadn’t fallen or stumbled and hit her head. And I saw her. She was…”
“Beautiful.” Yeah, he’d gotten that, too. He’d seen every inch of her golden body, every curve and valley. Even though she’d been screaming, he was just enough of a bastard to get a hard-on because she was so f**king sexy. Shame filled him. She didn’t want him and she was probably right. No man with real morals would have gotten an erection when the woman he adored was terrified.
And they damn straight wouldn’t have threatened to spank her. The trouble was, she responded to dominance. It was only when he’d used his Dom voice that she’d calmed and come out of her episode. She needed someone to take control when she couldn’t, to make sure she didn’t hurt herself. To stand by her and give her the safe boundaries and structure she needed.
“Yes, she was so beautiful, and we had this connection, Dane,” Coop continued. “She thinks she’s frigid, but she’s not. She was pressing her pu**y against my mouth and wriggling around. That’s why I tried to hold her down, so I could finish her off. Damn, I don’t think that girl’s ever had an orgasm. If I hadn’t wrapped my arms around her, we would be in a totally different place.”
“Yeah, you would be f**king her, and Dane would be rearranging my face,” a laconic voice said from the doorway. Landon stared at Cooper.
Coop rolled his eyes. “God, don’t give me that. I wasn’t trying to steal her. I was trying to show her how good it can be. And you’re a fine one to talk. What the f**k was that move you pulled? Did you sell her on how awful Dane and I are to cut her out of that meeting?”
“Fuck you, Coop.” Lan squared off, facing the other man down. They started to circle each other like two pit bulls waiting to take a chunk out. “She deserved to be in that meeting. It was about her. She’s not a child.”
“She sure knows how to throw a temper tantrum,” Dane said, frowning. “That shit she just pulled is exactly why I left her out. Alea isn’t ready for that much reality. We all agreed on this plan, and you took it into your own hands to reverse our decision.”
He’d been trying so hard to get them all on the same page. Alea needed all three of them. She’d grown up in a country where she was practically expected to marry two or three men, maybe more. Being kidnapped had torn her world apart, but eventually she would find comfort in her custom of plural marriage. But in order to offer her what she needed, they had to stick together, and his ass**le, idiot partners were being selfish pricks.
Lan’s face flushed an angry red. “Look, I talked to Cole. He’s been in this place before.”
“Oh, Cole Lennox is now your best friend?” Coop shot at Lan, rounding on him. “Or is he the guy giving you advice on how to get her all to yourself?”
“What are you talking about? He shares his wife with his brother.” Lan growled a little, a sure sign that this situation was about to get ugly. “And you’re a fine f**king one to talk, Coop. I made a decision to bring her into something that involved us all. I thought we’d sit down and hash this out with her. I thought that maybe if she understood the situation, she would be a little easier on us. Let us closer. What’s your excuse? Are you going to try to convince me that you were just warming her up so Dane and I could come in behind you and show her a good time? I didn’t see you leaving a whole lot of room in her pu**y for us.”
Coop’s right fist flew out, catching Lan’s jaw. There was a thud, and a nasty, happy little smile crept across Lan’s face because he was a man who appreciated violence, and Coop had just made the enormous mistake of giving it to him.
Lan’s fist popped up almost faster than Dane could see it, and a nice splash of blood came from Coop’s face. His lip, it looked like. He’d shifted just enough that Lan hadn’t broken his nose.
They started to wail on each other, but Dane had lost the desire to fight.
Because he was pretty sure they had just lost Alea. Or maybe she’d already been lost, and tonight had simply forced him to face facts. The woman spitting the cruel barbs just wasn’t his princess.
He heaved a long sigh. She needed him, but she would never acknowledge it, never give him the chance to prove it to her. And, hell, maybe he was wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time. Maybe he should just join a f**king club and spend his time with the subs there who came out for a good time. He’d wrecked his marriage. He’d f**ked up his career.
“I should have expected this.” Tal stood beside him, watching the fight and shaking his head.