“I need my clothes, Landon. Could I have them, please?” She was fighting off that horrible panic that came from knowing just how foolish she looked.
Cooper surfaced in the pool, his gaze bouncing between her and Lan. “Lea? What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” She took a deep breath as the truth of that statement hit her. There was nothing going on at all. It appeared that nothing ever would. And she’d made a mistake hoping otherwise.
* * * *
“Dude, what the hell happened?” Cooper barked as he climbed out of the pool and stood expectantly.
If anyone had told Lan years back that he’d be comfortable standing naked with other naked dudes, he would have told them they were crazy, but there wasn’t a whole bunch of privacy in the Army. And nudity was even easier here in paradise. He’d become pretty comfortable seeing everyone walking around with their junk hanging out.
“Alea said that she’s ready.” To move forward. To accept them. Thank God.
Cooper’s eyes widened. “Are you shitting me?”
“Nope. But there are a few problems with that scenario.”
Coop looked down the empty trail leading from the beach. “Besides…the plan?”
“Yeah. I need to tell Alea something, and she didn’t let me get it out before she decided…I don’t know. That she was ugly or I didn’t want her or some other bullshit.”
Lan kept his eyes on Alea. She was so f**king gorgeous. The sun kissed her skin, and he could just about swear she glowed.
Cooper frowned. “Not want you? Lea, his c**k is so hard it’s, like, halfway up his nose. Mine’s not any softer. How can you say that? What are you thinking?”
Okay, halfway up his nose was an exaggeration, but not by much. It sure wanted to crawl toward her and work its way inside her. “Of course I want you.”
In fact, he really wanted to jump on her and spread her legs and get inside her before she could have a second thought. When she’d said she wanted him, his whole body had flashed hot. All he’d been able to imagine was her naked and under him as he f**ked her until they were both sated, spent, and he had emptied everything he had inside her.
Then the big problem had whacked him in the face with a two-by-four of duh!
“Fine. Tell me what the problem is.” Alea stared at him, arms crossed over those luscious br**sts.
When she turned that arrogant frown on him, he totally understood why Dane wanted to lay her out and smack her ass until she begged for mercy. Then he would let her suck his c**k in apology. Lan smiled at the image.
“I only lost one piece of luggage during my swim from the plane to the shore. I’ve dived out there twenty times looking for it.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “I think the current swept it away.”
Cooper’s jaw dropped. “No. Tell me you didn’t lose the condoms, man.”
He should have mentioned it before now. “Our stash of condoms is probably growing algae on the bottom of the sea floor. Darlin’, I have no way to protect you. None of us do.”
And that didn’t make a damn bit of difference to him. He still wanted her. Actually, the idea of f**king her with no latex between them made him crazy, primal. He could mark her. He could fill her up and know that something of him lingered inside her. He stared at her and his heart stopped a little when the sweetest smile stretched across her face.
She flushed a pretty pink. A gorgeous light glowed in her eyes. God, he loved her eyes. They were a mystery to him always, but he never loved them more than when he saw them lit as though she had a fire deep inside. It was banked most of the time, but Lan got the feeling that if he could just crack that shell of hers, she could warm them all for a lifetime. “So you still want me?”
The question nearly brought him to his knees. “Always.”
She stepped toward him. “Then don’t go. I still want you, too.”
“Good.” He swallowed, trying to hold it together. “I’m not worried about disease. Not at all. We’ve all had physicals and none of us have touched a woman since we hired on at the palace, but you could get pregnant, Lea. We could try to pull out, but…” This was probably a dumb move, but he wanted her to understand what she meant to him. “When the time was right, we were going to ask you to marry us anyway. I have no hesitation making love to you without birth control. I can’t wait for a future with you, if you’ll have us. I would love to look at your rounding belly and feel the life underneath kick my palm. Fuck, I’d love that.”
“Really?” Her lips parted in surprise. Her eyes softened.
Cooper scrubbed a hand through his hair. “We all feel that way, baby. We’re committed to this, to you.”
A pink flush crept up her cheeks. “I… That’s so sweet.”
She walked toward Lan then, arms outstretched, and he let himself look at her glorious body. First, the curves of her br**sts. A heartbeat later, his gaze dropped to her ni**les. So f**king pretty. Her curvy waist. Her oh-so-fuckable hips and that mound he couldn’t stop staring at. Her pu**y. He wanted to taste it. Coop had licked at that pu**y. He’d rubbed it across his face, and Lan was pretty sure he hadn’t washed his f**king face for days so he could still smell her.