Golden Binds

by Roberts, Laylah

“I have something to tell you.” She paused, unable to find the words.

  Garret rolled them so they faced each other. He cupped her face between his warm hands. Leaning in, he kissed her lightly. “You can tell me anything.”

  She wished she could believe that. She would love to tell this man all her secrets and feelings. To have someone other than Roger to unload on. Roger was a good listener, but he didn’t really give the best advice.

  “I’ve never done this before,” she whispered.

  “Made love?”

  “Yes.”

  He smiled. “I know, baby.”

  “How?” she asked, half-insulted, although she wasn’t quite sure why.

  “Oh, there were a few clues. Don’t worry, I already decided that I’m not taking your virginity tonight.”

  He wasn’t?

  “Why not?” Was he disgusted by it? No. He didn’t look horrified. In fact, when he stared at her she could see his hunger.

  “As much as I might want to take you, and believe me, I do, I was intending to do just that until I realized you were a complete innocent. I can hardly believe it but, for once in my life, I’m going to do what’s right. The honorable thing.”

  “You are?”

  “Yes. It’s seems you’ve changed me.”

  “I’ve known you less than two days.”

  “And yet, we both know this is special. That we’re meant to be together.”

  They did?

  “And that changes everything. My brothers deserve to be part of your first time.”

  “What? You think that you and your brothers are going to—”

  “Take your virginity together? Yes.”

  She stiffened. “That’s not happening.”

  “Pardon?”

  She wrenched herself back. Aware she’d only broken free of his hold because he’d allowed it. “I’m not fucking you and your brothers. I’m not some whore you can pass around between the three of you.”

  His gaze narrowed. “I would never call you a whore. This isn’t about sex.”

  “No? Really?” She widened her eyes in exaggeration. “My mistake.”

  She needed clothes. Something to cover herself up with. She couldn’t believe him. What did he think this was?

  He rose as well. “Gigi, you don’t understand.”

  “I understand you think I’m some easy lay.” And who could blame him with how easily she’d just succumbed to his seduction? She barely even knew the guy.

  Garret barked out a laugh that made her jump. “Oh, I definitely don’t think that.”

  She pulled the blanket around her

  “Gigi, there are things you don’t understand.”

  “I understand enough. Is that why you came here? To seduce me into becoming a whore for you and your brothers.”

  “Stop calling yourself a whore.”

  “Do they know you’re here?”

  “Yes, of course. But it’s not like that.”

  “You need to leave now. Out the window.”

  He tilted his head to the side, studying her. She shivered. “Gigi, I’m serious about this. My brothers and I intend to share you. You will be ours. I came here tonight to convince you to come back to the castle with me.”

  She snorted. “If you think I’m returning with you you’re delusional. I’m not ever going back there.”

  He narrowed his gaze. “You will.” Then his face lightened. “You just don’t understand what’s going on.”

  “I understand you think you’re going to share me with your brothers. That you think one orgasm is all it takes to have me falling into your arms. Now, either you go, or I start screaming for help.”

  He studied her for a moment. “I’m not leaving. Not until you understand.”

  He moved closer, pulled her against him before she could move and kissed her. This kiss was different. Harder. Almost punishing. And definitely possessive. When he drew back from her, they were both breathing heavily.

  “Gigi, you have to listen.”

  “Nothing you say will convince me to be your fucking whore.”

  Smack! His hand landed on her ass, and she jumped, gaping at him.

  “Hmm, maybe I haven’t given Sawyer enough credit. That was quite satisfying.” His gaze pierced her. Held her. “That is the last time I want to hear you call yourself a whore. I will never allow anyone to disparage my mate. Including herself.”

  “Your what?” Mate? What the hell was that? Like they were animals?

  He leaned in, his face dark and dangerous. What happened to the fun-loving, carefree Garret from earlier? Who was this man? She gave a shocked gasp as something happened to his skin. It moved. She swore she saw it ripple.

  “Fuck. Shit. I have to go.” His voice was a low growl. Something she could never have imagined would have come from a human. He opened the window and grabbed the rope, chucking it down. Then he turned back. His gaze glowed. He didn’t look like himself.

  “I’m coming back, Gigi.” Then he was gone.

  She ran to the window, thought she might have caught a flicker of a shadow, but that was it. That rotten bastard.

  As he ran, he could feel himself changing. Could feel the bear taking over. He fought for all he was worth, but it wore at his control. On the outskirts of the city, he finally succumbed to the swirling rage, and darkness overtook him.

  8

  Joe paced up and down his office. He hadn’t been able to wait in the dungeon. Not with the scent of the female lingering in the air. Besides, he’d wanted to come here and check his parents’ records. See if there was anything he could find to help Sawyer. He stopped and ran his hand over his face, trying to calm his impatience. He wanted to go after the female. To find out for himself if she really was theirs.

  Knowing Garret, the bastard had no doubt seduced her already. He clenched his hands into fists then forced himself to take a calming breath. Murdering his brother wasn’t going to help. If she was their mate, they would share her. That was a given. He’d always known that. Expected it.

  He just hadn’t expected to feel so damn jealous over it.

  A shuffling noise caught his attention and he glanced over as Sawyer walked in from outside. He’d gone out a while ago. Joe assumed he had private business to take care of. He couldn’t exactly use a bathroom in his state.

  Sawyer saw him, opened his mouth, and let out a roar loud enough to shake the entire state.

  “Don’t yell at me!” Joe snapped at him. “Don’t you think if I knew the answer, I’d tell you. I can’t find anything in their records about what to do if you get stuck in bear form and all I can remember from our lessons is that they said you had to use visualisation. You’ve got to imagine yourself in your human form.”

  Why hadn’t they paid more attention to their lessons? Maybe because they hadn’t expected their parents to die as they had. Their small, private plane had encountered an unexpected storm. A flash of lightning hit the plane, frying the controls. There was nothing anyone could have done. A freak accident.

  Only it had left the three of them without guidance. Garret hadn’t even been out of his teens. Joe had a shaky memory of those lessons at best. Why hadn’t this occurred to him before? He should have been prepared for this. This was his job, to protect and guide his family. But he’d figured they would instinctively know what to do.

  Now, they were a mess. It seemed their mate could be a human. He had one brother who was stuck in bear form and another who was off having a grand old time with her. Without him.

  “Maybe I should have gone,” he muttered.

  Sawyer made a snuffling noise. Probably in agreement, although it was hard to tell.

  “Garret will be too busy trying to get inside her pants to tell her any of the important stuff.”

  Sawyer just looked at him. “All right, I know. It’s not something we can just knock on her door and announce. It’s not like he can say ‘Hey, how’s it going? I think you’re our mate. You’ve brought forth one of our bears, s
o how would you like to come back to the castle and fuck?’”

  Joe turned to Sawyer. “Shit. He wouldn’t say that, would he?”

  With Garret, it was hard to tell. “I’m going after him. You’re on your own with this. You’ll just have to figure it out. But if you don’t do it by the time I get back, you’re going to have to hide. We don’t want to frighten the shit out of her.”

  A loud roar exploded around him. He turned to Sawyer. “Will you stop that?”

  Sawyer just stared at him. If it was possible for a bear to look surprised, then he did. “That wasn’t you, was it?”

  Sawyer shook his head. He turned to the door as it was nudged open. Another bear stepped into his office.

  Shit.

  “Garret?”

  The bear opened its mouth then seemed to think twice and nodded. “You’re stuck as well?” He’d hoped it was an anomaly with Sawyer. But Garret nodded again.

  He moved to his desk and sank back in his chair. “She really is our mate then.” He narrowed his gaze at Garret. “What on earth happened? Where is she?”

  No reply. What was he expecting?

  “Okay, I’m going to assume you couldn’t convince her to return to us?”

  A nod.

  “And does she know about this?” He waved his hand at Garret.

  He shook his head.

  “Well, thank God for small favors.” He ran his hands over his face. “What do I do now? I can’t leave the two of you like this to go after her.” And he couldn’t really go to her until he knew what had happened with Garret.

  “I’ll wait until darkness. Then I’ll go after her.” And he would bring her back. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.

  * * *

  Sawyer woke up in a bad mood. He was grumpy, tired and he was lying on a hard floor. He reached up to scratch at his nose and then froze. He opened his eyes and stared at his hand.

  His hand.

  He let out a whoop loud enough to rattle the dead in their coffins.

  “Shut up, will you?” Garret grumbled from where he lay on the floor of Joe’s office next to him. “I’m trying to sleep here.”

  He reached over and shoved his younger brother. “Wake up, asshole. We’re human again.”

  Garret didn’t move for several moments then he sprang to life, jumping onto his feet. He let out his own yell of excitement. “Thank you, God.”

  “Jesus, man, stop moving. The last thing I need is to see Mr. Happy flopping around.”

  Garret stilled and looked down at himself. “Yeah, well, there’s a reason why Mr. Happy is standing loud and proud.”

  Sawyer raised his eyebrows. “You mean you struck out?”

  “I wouldn’t say that exactly.” Garret smirked. Then he grimaced. “Well, shit.”

  “Well, shit, what—”

  “I’m going to go see her. The two of you will just have to—fuck,” Joe cursed, which was extremely unusual for him. But Sawyer guessed coming in to see his two brothers standing naked and human in his office had shocked it out of him.

  “Oh, thank fuck, you’re both human again.”

  “Joseph Bjorn, you just swore twice within the space of a minute,” Garret said with exaggerated shock. “We’ll corrupt you yet.”

  “What happened? How did you manage it?”

  Sawyer shrugged. “Don’t know. Guess it just happened while we were sleeping.”

  “Well I know we don’t have to sleep each time to change,” Joe said thoughtfully. “But maybe it’s being relaxed enough, dropping your guard that did it.”

  Yeah, it was a good theory. But it wasn’t going to be a lot of help the next time their bears broke free.

  “Jesus, Garret, think you could put that thing away?” Joe’s lip curled. “Could you both get dressed. The last thing I need is the naked image of you two burned on my brain when I go to see our mate.”

  “You’re not going to see her,” Garret said quickly.

  Joe and Sawyer turned to him. A rumbling warning came from Sawyer. Garret gave him an impatient look.

  “You think you’re going to keep her to yourself?” Joe asked.

  “Of course I don’t.” He shrugged. “I mean, I can fantasize, but that’s not the way it’s meant to be, right?”

  Right.

  And, actually, Sawyer was grateful for it. If he had a mate of his own, he’d have no idea what to do with her. He didn’t know anything about females. How to care for them, how to shield their delicate emotions. Physically, he would guard her with his life. He would make sure she was the most protected person on this earth. But emotionally, he was lost. That’s where he would rely on his brothers.

  “What happened? You obviously found her, why did you leave her there? Was it because you changed?” Joe fired out the questions.

  Garret sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Then he grabbed a throw off the end of the sofa and wrapped it around himself. Sawyer sat on the sofa. He wasn’t self-conscious about his own nudity. Although he’d admit to being relieved Garret had hidden Mr. Happy.

  “Oh, I found her all right.” He sat, looking weary.

  Looking more impatient than Garret had ever seen him before, Joe sat on an armchair, leaning forward. “Well? Did you tell her? What happened?”

  “Who is she?” Sawyer asked. “And why did she come here?”

  Garret looked pensive, which alarmed Sawyer. Garret was rarely serious.

  “I caught her trail. It wasn’t hard to follow her. Those damn tunnels go all over the place. She could easily have gotten lost in them.” And have been wandering around for days, if not longer. That wouldn’t be happening anymore.

  “But the one she used came out on the outskirts of Oldstown. So, I followed her through the city.”

  “Yeah? And? Who is she?” Sawyer asked.

  “Well, that’s where it gets tricky. She’s Georgina Blake.”

  “Blake?” Disbelief filled him, chased down by a big helping of horror. “She can’t be.”

  Garret nodded. “She is. I had to sneak into his compound. I had to hide and wait until I saw her at one of the windows so I could work out which room she was using. Then I set up a diversion to distract the guards.”

  “You walked into Carlin Blake’s house?” Joe gaped at him.

  “Uh, no, not exactly. I threw pebbles at her window.”

  “What the fuck where you thinking, Garret?” Sawyer exploded. “Do you know how dangerous that could have been?”

  “Relax. No one saw me.”

  “If Blake had captured you, he would have bled us dry for the ransom,” Joe told him.

  “I wasn’t going to let him capture me, and even if he did, he’d never have discovered who I was.”

  “She might have told him,” he pointed out. “Georgina. His sister.” It tied his guts in knots to think that their mate was the sister of a criminal like Blake.

  “Gigi.”

  “What?” he snapped.

  “She likes to be called Gigi. Personally, I think it suits her.” Garret’s face took on a dreamy look.

  “Personally, I think you’re an idiot,” Sawyer told him.

  Garret rose to his feet and the throw slipped to the ground.

  “Jesus, I’m going blind.” Joe raised his hands to his eyes.

  “You know you’re going to have to get over your squeamishness at seeing us naked,” Sawyer snapped at him. “We’re not going to have clothes always nearby when we change back. And if we’re going to share her properly . . .” They’d all be in bed with her together. His cock hardened at the thought of having her sandwiched between him and his brothers. Of fucking her pussy while another was in her ass and one more taking her mouth.

  Yeah. He had to stop thinking about that or his Mr. Happy was going to come out to play.

  “So, she let you in?” Joe asked Garret.

  “Reluctantly. She has this sparse bedroom. Nothing much in it except for this stuffed rabbit, a baseball bat, and a picture of her with her parents.”
/>
  “A baseball bat?” Sawyer asked.

  Garret looked at him. “I think it’s for protection.”

  “Who the fuck does she need protection from?” His bear rolled beneath his skin, and he snarled.

  “Easy, Sawyer, or you’re going to shift again,” Joe warned.

  He took a deep, calming breath. Well, semi-calming.

  “Why isn’t her brother protecting her?”

  “He is. But she lives in the middle of a group of thugs and criminals. I bet the bat makes her feel better. Her door was thick and it had a good bolt on the inside.”

  Sawyer started to breathe a little easier.

  “Then what happened?” Joe asked.

  “I tried to butter her up with some food. She likes strawberries. And one thing led to another—”

  “You fucked her?” Sawyer snapped. He didn’t like the idea of Garret touching her without him there.

  He shook his head. “We played around. I touched her. Tasted her. Fuck, she tastes like the sweetest of peaches, juicy and—”

  He paused, seeming to realize that both of his brothers were glaring at him. “Yeah, well, you’ll find that out for yourself. I gave her pleasure, but I didn’t take her.”

  “Not like you,” Sawyer commented.

  Garret flashed him a look filled with contempt. “I know you both think I’m some sort of sex maniac, but I do have some control. I fucking held back for the two of you, and this is the thanks I get? I could have had her, you know. Could have taken her virginity myself.”

  He froze. He could hear his heartbeat thundering in his ears. Surely not.

  “A virgin?” Joe croaked.

  “I don’t know anything about virgins.” Sawyer was panicking now. He could feel it. He didn’t panic. Ever. He was temperamental, given to bouts of anger, and the occasional sulk. But he didn’t panic.

  “What do you need to know about them? Garret asked impatiently. “All you have to know is that you need to take your time. Go slowly and don’t hurt her.”

  “I’d never hurt her.”

  “We’re getting off topic,” Joe warned. “We’ll need to discuss taking her later. But right now, we need to know what you said to her.”

  “Who she is complicates things,” Garret said with a frown. “Blake isn’t a trusting man and he guards his sister closely.”