THEIR_VIRGIN_PRINCESS by Shayla Black Lexi Blake

Alea felt hot tears scalding her face.
    Lan thumbed away the tears, but his voice didn’t change. It
     remained a deep, polite monotone. “Coop came from a big ranching family. When
     he was a little kid, the ranch hit real hard times. His family almost lost
     everything. Every dime they made went back into the land or to pay the
     mortgage, so he grew up poor. He was the youngest of seven boys so by the time
     the hand-me-downs got to him, they were patched up and worn and he was so
     skinny that the kids in his school called him Scarecrow. Call him that a couple
     of times and it’ll cut him to the quick. Since you’re not only fucked up but
     cruel, that should give you some ammunition. Enjoy it.” He shook his head. “The
     way I see it, either you were always mean or you let them make you mean. Either
     way, it’s a goddamn shame.”
    Lan brushed away another tear and turned, following after
     Dane and Coop. They were all leaving, and she’d been the one to shove them
     away, hurting them and lashing out because she wasn’t brave enough to be kind,
     welcoming. That required a strong heart, and hers was shattered.
    More tears fell, but the scream that was always in her
     throat stuck. “Landon.”
    He stopped but didn’t turn. “What do you need, Your
     Highness?”
    So many things. Nothing she could ask for. “Tell Dane I’m
     sorry. And Cooper and… I’m very sorry that I hurt you too.”
    He nodded and left, and she was alone again.
    Alea crumbled to the floor. The gorgeous gown she’d picked
     out in hopes that they would notice her was lying on the tile, trampled by boot
     prints, ruined. What had she been thinking? She could dress up all she liked,
     but she was still that girl chained to a bed, waiting to die.
    The only trouble now was she seemed determined to take
     everyone to hell with her.
     
    * * * *
     
    Dane let Cooper drop as soon as he’d hauled him out of the
     princess’s quarters. He didn’t trust Coop not to run back in and try to get on
     top of her again.
    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 asshole.” Coop was on his feet in a heartbeat. “What
     the fuck 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 pussy? 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,