Page 14 of Gilded Locks

Every inch of him was thick muscle, and he did nothing to hide his brute strength. With a torso like a tree trunk and arms built to crush, he could snap her in half without even breaking a sweat.

This one—Hunter, the one with green eyes had called him—wasn’t like the others. He was worse. There was something utterly untamable behind his obsidian scowl. And when his glare narrowed on her, she stopped struggling immediately, recognizing when she was outmatched.

The heavy scruff around his jaw did nothing to hide the hard angles of his face, and his mouth never strayed from a flat line. His dark skin, marked by old scars, told a story of survival. Nothing about this man was vain. He merely existed in the rawest form of masculinity she’d ever seen.

The casual way he restrained her with one massive hand demonstrated just how powerless she truly was in this place. He wasn’t even breathing hard, wasn’t even trying, while she squirmed like a fish on a hook.

The other one’s molten green eyes settled on her face, as the giant’s thumb brushed across the delicate skin of her inner wrist, then loosened enough for her to break free.

She stopped struggling, stopped squirming, and looked back at him in question. She was free. She turned to green eyes.

“What do you think will happen if you run, little rabbit?”

The blond glanced at the blizzard outside the tall windows. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s nowhere to go.”

My god, they were terrifying.

Cowering, she scanned their faces but found no sign of compassion. These men did not want her in their territory, and they were the only shelter for miles. “Please,” she said, softening her tone. “I swear, I’m not a danger to anyone. I just need a place to stay.”

“This isn’t the Ritz.”

Thunder rumbled outside the windows, and wind howled. A grey hell made of wind and sleet seethed on the other side of those stone walls. She came here for shelter and willingly walked into a cage, but there was truly nowhere else to go.

“There has to be a way. You have plenty of room?—”

“Do not speak of what we have,” the quiet one snapped in a thick Russian accent. “What we have is a pest in our home.”

“I swear, if you just give me a few nights?—”

“You’re staying,” Green Eyes said, contradicting the larger one, as if it wasn’t even a question. “You trespassed on private property. Now, we decide when you get to leave.”

His threatening promise landed like a gavel in a corrupt hand. “Until the storm passes?”

“Until we say you can leave.”

“You can’t keep me here forever.”

“That’s not your decision to make.” The blond searched her coat pockets with methodical precision, withdrawing her soaked paperwork and dropping it into a pile on the bed beside Mary’s license, a few crumpled bills, and the wrapper of her last snack. He looked at her expectantly when he finished his search.

A sense of violation raced through her, stirring up familiar, indignant fury until she snapped, “That’s all I have.”

“No, it’s not,” the green-eyed one dragged his stare down her body.

“What else do you want?”

“We want to know why you’re really here.” The quiet one reached over her to flip the identification card right side up, and she caught his scent—cedar and something wild that made her recall the forests they used to play in as children.

“I told you. I got lost.”

Green Eyes cocked his head as if to silently tell her they all knew that was a lie. She looked at the blond, but he shook his head. When she glanced at the silent giant, she again lowered her gaze.

“We’re going in circles.” Green Eyes reached back to adjust the tie in his long brown hair, and her gaze drifted to his ridged abdomen, hardly concealed by his fitted thermal shirt. “What are you willing to do to make amends for your transgressions?”

“Transgressions?” Fear transformed into anger, and anger made her reckless. “I was dying! I needed shelter!”

“And we provided it.” The rugged, dark-haired man’s grip tightened on her upper arm just enough to remind her who controlled this situation. “Fed you. Clothed you. Kept you warm and safe through the night. That kind of generosity isn’t free.”

“I can pay you back,” she said quickly, words tumbling over each other. “Whatever you think I owe?—”