by Joyee Flynn
Chapter 6
The next morning I woke up to Boone ’s tongue licking my hole. “Are you still mad at me?”
“No,” I moaned and spread my legs wider. “Was never mad, just depressed and giving up.”
“Don’t give up yet, Golden,” he begged as his oiled fingers teased my hole. “Let me show you how good life can be here. Let me love you.”
“Yes,” I agreed, wanting everything he offered and more. “Make love to me, Boone.”
“With pleasure.” He pushed his fingers inside of me and quickly stretched me out. Then he flipped me over and molded his body to mine while I was on all fours. It was awkward to kiss but we made it work. He took me tenderly, every inch that could possibly touch of our bodies doing so and moving together. “Need more.”
I didn’t understand until he pulled me up onto my knees so the angle was tighter. He wrapped his arm around me as he kissed me and stroked my cock. I reached back and held on to his hips as I pulled myself to meet his thrusts.
“This is what I wanted for us,” Boone whispered in my ear. “To come together like this and to let you see it’s you I want and not just anyone because I was lonely.”
“How can you know you want me so much already?” I asked, confused at his strong feelings already even though I felt the same.
“Because everything about you is perfect to me and I would do anything for you. What can I do to prove it?”
“Just love me, Boone,” I whispered, wanting it more than anything in the world. We weren’t there yet and I didn’t want him to lie. Instead he nodded and kissed me some more. When he started picking up the pace I couldn’t hold it back anymore, coming with a cry of his name moments before he finished inside of me.
After we were spent we fell to the bed in a sweaty heap, wrapped around each other. “That was indescribable, my darling.”
“I feel—” I started to say but the door to my room was opened with such force it banged off the wall.
“How did you remove the curse?” Boris bellowed as he stormed into the room. “Why Bash?”
“What?” I asked in shock, thinking he finally lost it.
“My god,” Boone gasped as he sat up, pulling out of me. I looked at him and followed his gaze. There was a stranger standing there with a smile on his lips so wide I was surprised it didn’t jump off his face.
“Holy shit!” I yelped and scrambled under the covers. “Who is that man?”
“Bash,” Boone and Boris said together. I froze in trying to cover up my indecency and took a better look.
“How?” I whispered as I took in his eyes, seeing the man instead of the cursed hybrid. He was still a big man but no longer over seven feet, closer to six, and any trace of beast gone. “How did this happen?”
“I can’t tell you,” Bash admitted quietly. “When the magic was lifted I tried to tell Boris but it was like there’s a trick to it all and I can’t speak the words.”
“He said you did this,” Boris growled.
“No, I said Golden gave me the key to how to break it,” Bash corrected as he gave me a smile. I stared at him as if he was mad and he got the hint. “The advice you gave me yesterday. I did it and it broke the curse.”
“The advice,” I parroted and then it hit me.“That advice? You saw her?”
“Yes,” he answered with a nod. “She’s agreed to marry me.”
“You’re straight?” Boris and Boone exclaimed. “What girl?
“Okay, all brothers out and downstairs so the youngest can catch you up,” I said with a chuckle and eye roll. It ended up being the wrong thing to say because everyone focused on me then and they weren’t happy like I was.
“How could you tell Bash how to lift the curse and not me?” Boone whispered as he moved away from me. “I thought you cared for me.”
“I do, Boone,” I gasped and waved at Bash. “I didn’t know my advice would lift the curse and if I understand him right, it’s not like a spell you can repeat. It has to be something he feels and admits.”
“I knew you would hurt me,” Boris shouted and punched the wall. In a flash I was off the bed and cowering behind it as he turned his anger on me. “You’re going to the whorehouse tomorrow.”
“No!” the three of us exclaimed together.
“Stop this and come talk to me while Golden gets cleaned up and dressed,” Bash demanded. “This is not his fault. I told you that he couldn’t have known. Telling you what he suggested won’t change anything or lift the curse for you guys. It didn’t work like that.” When they were both still frowning at me he decided to switch tactics. “Don’t you want to meet my bride?”
“Yes, very much so,” Boone admitted as he got to his feet and walked towards the door. He stopped in front of Boris and poked the man in the chest with his finger. “He’s not going to the whorehouse, so stop letting your temper spew shit you regret later. We’ll talk to him and figure out why this happened after we congratulate our brother. Understand?”
“Agreed.” They left my room, leaving me there to sit alone on the floor in shock at what had taken place. Boris went to close the door and held up a key.“But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to lock you in here until you tell us how to break the curse.” He slammed it closed before I could say a word.
I knew it. We couldn’t go half a day before I was back to hating him. And even worse? I couldn’t get cleaned up if I was locked in the room. The bathroom was down the hall.
I stood up, sighing as I then flopped back to the bed. Boris had come to me in the middle of the night and now Boone this morning. That was maybe six hours of good times before drama and anger again. If anyone dared pick on me for being constantly depressed, all over the place, and a tear factory I was going to lock them in a room with Boris for a week and laugh.
Just as copious amounts of cum were drying all over me I remembered that I had a glass of water by the bed. It wasn’t exactly the best bath I’d ever had, but I made it work. I didn’t even bother to get dressed though. What was the point? Boris or Boone would come back eventually, want more sex, and then everything would be my fault again.
If I didn’t get sold to the whorehouse first.
I sat on the bed, not sure what to do or how I was going to explain this one to them without just telling them. And what if I did tell them the truth? Boris would surely think I was lying. Boone would probably believe me and then say he loved me just to break the curse. But when it didn’t work we’d never be able to recover from that.
How could my life have ended up like this? Instead of them being happy I inadvertently helped Bash… I was the bad guy?
I knelt on the floor and opened up one of my bags, pulling out a framed picture of my mother. Staring at it for several moments, I started to get angry. “How could you do this to me? Nothing would have changed if you hadn’t told father I wasn’t his. Or if you had told us both years ago, he could have gotten over it. I could have found my real father even! You should have just drowned me as a baby.”
That’s when I realized the time had come to run. I finally was at the point where possible death and living on the run was better than facing Boris’s wrath again. I quickly dressed and packed as much of my jewelry-lined clothes into a bag, forsaking all my other possessions.
Then I opened the window and checked to make sure no one was around. I heard them at the back of the house and dropped my bag down. Realizing I’d break a limb in the fall, I quickly pulled the sheets off the bed and tied them together. I pushed the bed to the window and used the weight to secure the sheets. Then I climbed down the side of the house, careful of the windows in case someone was looking out of them.
Once I was on the ground safely I picked up my bag and ran. I couldn’t stay there and live like this. Yes, I was falling in love with Boone and had feelings for Boris. But nothing was going to change. I was still their slave and I couldn’t live a life like that, waiting for Boris to blow up at me over something else yet again.
I ran for as lon
g as I could, wishing I had some provisions. I was thirsty and hungry already, not even having a chance to eat breakfast before this all happened. Then I walked for what seemed like hours. I swore I was heading in the same direction Bash had taken me to the village but everything looked the same. I was lost.
Watch, I’d end up walking right back to the house I was running from after all this effort. I collapsed to the ground, long since needing a break. Several minutes later I heard the stomping of horses running and ducked behind a tree.
“This is your fault,” Boone bellowed as they came closer to where I was.
“I know it is. Stop reminding me and keep your eyes open for him,” Boris shouted right back. “His scent went this way and he’s got to be close. Golden!”
Right, because I was going to announce where I was. But they were closing in on me and would find me. I got to my feet and ran, hiding behind trees as I went in the hopes that maybe I would be hidden from them.
“There! Golden, stop!” Boone yelled as I heard his horse head towards my direction. I’d never be able to outrun a horse but I wasn’t ready to give up yet either. I kept running as fast as I could, ignoring the horses and men barreling down on me. My foot got caught in some underbrush and I went down hard and heard a sickening snap of my shoulder.
“Shit,” Boris growled as he jumped down from his horse. I bit my lip to keep in the cry of pain as I tried my best to scurry away from him. Yeah, I knew trying was futile at this point but sometimes instinct just kicked in. He was pissed before and now that I’d run he was going to be livid. “Why did you run from us?”
I just stared at him like he’d grown a second and third head. Was he really that dense?
“Don’t touch me,” I screamed as he crouched down by me. “You said you’d never hurt me! You promised.”
“I did,” he replied with a nod. “Why do you think that has changed?”
“There’s a hole in the wall of my room that shows how little control you have over your anger,” I answered firmly, clutching my limp arm to my body. “And once again you’re saying I’m going to the whorehouse. I thought last night meant something to you.”
“It did,” he sighed and lifted me into his arms, my fighting barely affecting him. “Stop, okay. Just stop. You dislocated your shoulder and you’re only hurting yourself.”
“Where’s my bag?” I whimpered, trying to see the ground where I’d fallen.
“I have it,” Boone said quietly, holding it up for me to see.
“It’s mine.” I held out my good hand for it, praying he’d give it back and not realize the fortune that was inside of it.
“What’s in there that’s so important, Golden?” Boris asked as he turned me in his arms so I was facing him.
“My only possible salvation from you or the whorehouse if you send me there,” I whispered as I closed my eyes. “Can I please just have my bag? It’s the only way I can buy myself back when you sell me and I can be free of all of this.”
“We’re not selling you,” Boris growled as he took off my jacket.
“Why not?” I yelled, having made a quick decision. “At least that way I could pay the madam more than what she paid for me and be free.”
“There’s no gold in this bag besides this,” Boone said curiously, holding up the pouch of coins Mitchell had given me.
“You opened my bag?” I whispered, hurt because I never thought Boone would be the one to betray me. “How could you?”
“How could you run, Golden?” he threw right back.
“Yes, because being locked in a room until I told you something I couldn’t was a much better option,” I answered sarcastically. I think the pain in my shoulder overrode my sense of self-preservation. “Boris was redecorating with his fist and once again he scared the shit out of me. I can’t live constantly worried I’m going to incur his rage. It wasn’t even half a day between outbursts. My emotions are all over the place, I’m constantly crying, haven’t eaten for days because of the stress.”
“You do seem a little thinner,” Boris agreed. I turned to him and narrowed my eyes at him, letting the disgust for him show on my face.
“What do you care? There’s enough of me to still hold on to so you can fuck your slave, right?” He winced at my words, turning his gaze away from mine. “There’s bones to break if you decide to use me as a punching bag. My mouth still works for your pleasure and—”
“Stop,” he whispered, shaking his head. “Please just stop. I’m sorry.”
“I’m done with your apologies. You say you’re sorry, do something nice, but then each time your anger gets worse to the point that I was scared enough of you to run.”
“Holy shit,” Boone exclaimed and I groaned. “He has a fortune in this bag.”
“Great, just fucking great,” I growled as Boris set me on my feet. He knelt down next to Boone and pulled out one of my jackets that William had sewed gems in to make it look as if there was costume jewelry.
“These are real gems?” Boris asked in a whisper as he glanced at me. Suddenly my feet were interesting and I looked at those instead. “Is this all of it?”
“It’s mine,” I whimpered, holding my arm to my chest. “Most of those were gifts or my mother’s. You said I could have my own belongings when I got here. Servants and slaves can have their own possessions. Just because you found them doesn’t make them yours.”
“We don’t want them,” Boone said in disgust as he threw one of my coats on the bag. “We just want to know what’s going on, Golden. How could you not tell us you carried a fortune sewn into your clothes?”
“Right, because I’ve known you long enough to be able to trust you.”
“Don’t you get it?” he shouted as he got to his feet and threw his hands in the air. “I love you, Golden. I want to mate you and make you my partner. I never wanted you to be my slave or—” He stopped and gasped, looking a little green around the gills.“What’s happening to me?”
“What happened to Bash I’m guessing,” I mumbled as I plopped down on the ground. My whole body hurt and this was not how I ever wanted someone to say they loved me. And even worse, if the curse was being lifted… He really meant it.
And I had run from him. This could really be bad.
Boone cried out and sank to his knees as his face reshaped into that of a human instead of partly beast. The fur fell off his body as if he’d had a haircut, and his body shrank slightly. When the transformation was over he was the most breathtaking man I’d ever seen. He moved his hands over his body, laughing in shock and joy as he checked to make sure everything was there.
Yeah, he was in shock.
“That’s why you couldn’t tell us,” Boris whispered as he got up slowly, staring at Boone. “Who knew something as insane as true love could fix a curse?”
“There’s nothing insane about love,” I replied, shaking my head at his attitude. “It’s the strongest emotion there is. But it’s also something I couldn’t tell you to do to reverse the curse. You just have to feel it and admit it aloud.”
I was looking at Boris when Boone dove in front of me and cupped my face in his hands. “I do love you, Golden. Will you do me the honor of mating me and being mine forever? No being a slave, no running, no ever having to worry about anything ever again. I will take care of you and we will be together always.”
“What about Boris?” I asked, my eyes wide with shock. “Will I still be his slave? Do I have to be with him then?”
“That’s up to you,” Boris answered as he looked away.“Not a slave, Golden. Boone and I agreed that we didn’t want you to be our slave, but our lover. Then he told me he was in love with you and wants to mate you. So the choice is now yours as to who and what you want. There is one thing we need to handle right away though because it will hurt worse the longer we wait.”
I knew what he meant and nodded. They helped me to my feet, giving me a moment to let this news sink in. I stared into Boone’s eyes, the eyes I had known when he was cu
rsed, and saw the man I loved. I’d been trying to fight it because I hated the idea of being a slave and the threat of being sold.
But I did love him. I just didn’t know how I felt about Boris or if I was going to live in that house if I wouldn’t want him in my bed as well.
Thankfully the pain from snapping my arm back into the shoulder socket was so immense that I screamed and passed out. I say thankfully because I didn’t have to give them an answer just then. It was a relativity thing.
Chapter 7
When I woke up I was back in my bedroom at their house, Boone lying beside me. I went to turn toward him and immediately stopped from the pain and his hand on my chest stopping me.
“ You’ll feel better in a few days but for now you need to just rest,” he said gently. I nodded and he scooted closer to me, his chest pushing against the good arm. “When I realized you ran my heart shattered into a million pieces, Golden. I thought you treasured what we had?”
“ I do, but you heard what Boris threatened and you were so angry and hurt I thought you were turning on me,” I whispered. He kissed my shoulder and ran his fingers through my hair. “We made love and it was amazing, but we didn’t even get a few minutes to enjoy it before the next drama erupted and I was in trouble again. I can’t live like that.”
“ Boris has agreed to simply be your brother-in-law if that’s what you want and if you want to mate me.”
“He could just give me up like that?” I heard myself asking out loud, wincing at how it must have sounded to Boone.
“No, it’s because he cares so much for you that he just wants you to be happy,” he said gently. Then he sighed and ran his fingers under the bandages that were holding my shoulder and arm in place. “You care for him, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I whispered as tears burned in my eyes. “There is good in him but something has hurt him so bad that he’s angry at the world and I don’t think I can live with someone like that.”
