14
GOLDIE
What the hell?
When did my life become this confusing and terrifying thing that I seem to have absolutely no control over?
Control is a delicate thing. It’s something that I have an innate need to relinquish during sex but an innate need to hold close in all other aspects of my life.
I don’t understand it, but that’s how it is.
But now I’m not in control of anything.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, my voice becoming gravelly as my throat tightens. “But you need to explain right now… I’m freaking out.”
“It’s okay,” Robert says, laying a gentle hand on my shoulder. I can’t help my instinctive reaction to shrug it away. “You’re not in danger here, but you are out there.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your store has been damaged.”
“What?”
“Evan and Hunter drove past and saw the fire crew. That’s why they came home early. They wanted me to check that you were okay.”
“Oh my God.” I stumble backward and collapse onto the bed, dropping my purse onto the floor. My head swims. “Who would do something like that?”
“I don’t know.”
Robert comes to sit beside me, close enough that our legs touch. The same magnetic pull that existed before is still there. I want to sink into his arms, bury my face in his chest, and leave the world to fall down around me. The desire doesn’t make any sense, but it’s there all the same, as though his pheromones are narcotic.
“But you can’t leave here until we find out what’s happening. I can’t let you take unnecessary risks.”
“I want to go down there and see. I need to call the sheriff’s office and the insurance company.”
“You can do all of that in the morning. We have plenty of spare rooms. You can stay here, and we’ll investigate when we wake up.”
I shake my head, completely devastated. Was it that man who came back to retaliate? Or just an accident? Did I leave the coffee machine running? Or was there an electrical fault? What the hell am I going to do?
“I need to go home.”
“It’s too risky,” Robert says. He lays a hand on my knee, and I look down at it, wondering if I can take it as genuine affection or not. Is this real, or is it just a ruse to keep me here overnight? I’d have to go into town to see for myself. I felt like I should trust him, but there’s still a flicker of doubt.
“I don’t want to overstay my welcome, and you don’t owe me anything.” I keep my voice even .
“You’re not overstaying, and it isn’t about owing, Goldie. It’s about doing the right thing. There’s no way I’ll let you go home right now. If anything happened to you, I’d feel responsible. It would be my fault. Please.”
It’s the ‘please’ that gets me. He doesn’t have to beg. Right now, he’s bigger and stronger, and I’m on his territory. If he wanted to make me stay, he wouldn’t have to try very hard. But even through the uncertainty and fear, my gut tells me it’s okay. I might regret it, but what choice do I really have?
“I don’t have a toothbrush.”
“I’ll get you one.”
“You cut my PJs in half.”
Robert snorts with quiet laughter. “I’ll give you one of my shirts.”
“Can I sleep in your room?”
His eyebrows shoot up. Spare room, indeed. We just fucked each other’s brains out, and now he’s suggesting we sleep chastely and separately. This isn’t the nineteen-forties.
“Errr—”
“I don’t snore, or steal covers. In fact, I’ve been told I’m the perfect sleeping partner. Excellent spooning technique.”
“Spooning?”
“You know, cuddling from behind?”
Robert laughs again. “If anyone’s going to be the big spoon it’ll be me. And what makes you think I like cuddling? Did the spanking give it away? The whipping? Or was it my wrist action with the cane?”
I shake my head. “None of the above. I just get the feeling. Despite the slightly grouchy, reserved exterior and your ability to exert just the right amount of pain to make me scream, you’re like a big cuddly bear.”
Robert makes a choking noise in the back of his throat. Does he disagree that much with my description?
“Are you worried about sleeping alone?”
“I’ll feel more comfortable with you. This is a strange place to me.”
“Okay.” Robert stands and reaches for my purse. I follow him out into the hallway with my eyes and ears on high alert. Where are Evan and Hunter in the house? This place is so old and rambling.
Robert’s room is up on the next floor, right at the end of the hallway. It looks exactly as I pictured, down to the filled bookshelves and the imposing ornate desk. His bed is neatly made with a dark gray comforter and four large pillows. It smells of his cologne, and I immediately feel safe.
He rummages in the closet, returning with a toothbrush in a packet and a t-shirt that will probably come down to my knees. “The bathroom is there.” He points to a door in the corner, and I’m grateful I won’t have to venture down the hallway to freshen up.
There’s something so intimate about washing in someone else’s space. Robert uses the same toothpaste as me, but everything else is more manly. I wash quickly, using a thick fluffy towel from the pile on the shelves in the corner. The plug is still in my ass, so I remove it and wash it in the sink, leaving it on the side. It’s cringy for Robert to find it after the intimacy is over, but what else am I supposed to do with it. I open the cupboard and find Robert’s deodorant. He even has some face moisturizer I can use. It would seem that even the most rugged men look after their skin.
When I’m done, I open the door slowly but find the room empty.
A note on the end of the bed reads, There’s something I need to do. I’ll be back soon. The doors are locked for your safety.
He’s gone out and left me locked in the house. Now I really feel like a captured princess. I go to the window, needing some fresh air to clear my head. It’s not hot in the room, but I feel stifled by the situation, stifled and nervous.
I take hold of the handle and ease the window open slowly and quietly. I don’t want to alert anyone to my presence. The night is cool, the air crisp and scented with the musty scent of rotting leaves, wet soil, and tree sap. The trees rustle gently with each soft gust of wind that passes, branches leaning like they’re reaching to embrace each other. There’s louder rustling, too, like someone or something crunching through the undergrowth. I pull back behind the curtain, worried that I’m going to be spotted by Evan or Hunter.
Peeking through the gap, I strain to see who’s out there. Maybe it’s Robert doing whatever it is he needs to do. Who needs to do things in the forest at this time of night? Maybe it’s his job. He’s never talked about what he does for a living. I’ve let him push things into my most private places and yet I don’t know. He could be a doctor on call. What other professions take you out of bed in the middle of the night? Mine is one. Firefighter? Vet? CIA?
Oh Lord, now my mind is all over the place, but there's something out there—something big.
I catch sight of what looks like a furry haunch at the edge of the tree line. It’s shadowy, so I can’t be sure, but it looks like a bear. A big-ass bear like the ones I ran from earlier. The trees wobble as though they’re being disturbed by something passing through. Is there another bear? Could it be the same ones?
Shit.
I’m trapped in a house surrounded by wild animals. Even if I could find a way out of this room, I couldn’t go outside.
Bears .
There aren’t supposed to be any wild bears in this area. It’s not a national park. Where the hell have they come from?
I keep watching as the movements of the trees go deeper. Then, suddenly, it stops.
Have they found somewhere to sleep? That would be the only explanation. As I watch, waiting to see more movement, a person emerges from the foliage, naked. Then another man, and another.
The Bjorn brothers.
What the hell are they doing in the woods, without clothes, with bears?
This is the second time they’ve been around at the same time as the bears.
I’m so damn confused. They speak quietly, so I can’t hear more than a murmur. They’re almost at the door when one tips his head up to my window. His hair is shaggier than his brothers, and his mouth a grim line. Our eyes meet, and Hunter stops, his eyes fixed on mine, flashing the same shade of glittering gold as the first night, cutting through the darkness and making me gasp with shock and awe.
The others stop and turn, too, and Robert mutters what looks like a curse.
I wasn’t meant to see whatever this is, and now I’m in trouble, for sure.