Bound In Secrets : A Death Kings Novel

**Sawyer**

"Give me your hand, Bonnie girl. I'll lift you."

I reach my hand up to the handsome sixteen-year-old boy with long, inky hair. He pulls me up to sit behind him on a moving pump jack, tucking me close between him and my best friend's older brother.

Carmen wasn't with us tonight because she got grounded. It's unfair because it's my 13th birthday, and I wanted to spend it with the ones I love. Since my father had church tonight at the clubhouse, the boys decided I couldn't spend my birthday alone. So, I am riding a pump jack with three 16-year-old boys on an oil pad in a pasture.

I feel myself sliding on the jack head as it tilts slowly, wrapping my arms tightly around Storm's middle. Storm, who chuckles, is the leader of our misfit crew. I'm always with my boys. They are my best friends, protectors, and the boys I love; my entire world revolves around them and Carmen. Other than them and my father, I have no one.

Jensen holds me tighter, keeping me from falling. "Relax, Juliet, your Romeo won't let you fall," he utters with his breath tickling my ear.

I feel his dick (I think it's his dick) pressing into my back. What am I supposed to do with that? I just had my first period, so it's probably his hormones. It makes me wonder if he has had sex with girls. Do I want to know the answer to that question? The thought of them kissing a girl who isn't me enrages me. They are my boys.

"This is so high up. I cannot believe I let you jerks talk me into this," I reply with a slight tremble.

"We will make it up to you when we get back to Jen's," Carter purrs from behind Jensen.

"Say nothing else, C," Storm warns him with a rumble I can feel against his back.

I love laying on or against Storm to listen to him talk. Their voices are deep now, but none more so than Storm's. When he speaks, his entire chest vibrates.

I'm suspicious this outing serves a secondary purpose. Carmen has been cagey all day, saying it just because she is grounded, but now I wonder if it's because of this surprise.

"Okay, we rode this thing up and down three times now. Can we please get off? Heights aren't my favorite thing, you jerk." My eyes are squeezed shut, and I have yet to relax.

*"We could jump in the pool at my house," JT suggests. "My grandma won't mind so long as we clean up after ourselves."

JT has lived with his grandmother since his parents disappeared about the same time his grandfather died. The police think that JT's parents killed his grandfather, but no one knows for sure other than his grandmother. "We need to kill some more time, so that will work. Let's go swim," Storm orders.

The boys behind me slide off one by one as the pump tilts up. Storm and I had to ride it back down first because I did not start sliding off in time. It is much scarier without Jen behind me, keeping me steady.

"I'll catch you, Eurydice, just slide on down," Carter coaxes me as the jack goes back up. With my eyes closed, I slide into Carter's powerful arms. Since I first met him two years ago, he is more robust than he looks now. He recently had a growth spurt, shooting up overnight. Here I am with just a barely budding chest, all spindly legs and arms.

"Open your eyes now, little one; I got you. I will always catch you," Carter tells me as I look into his baby blue eyes and then look around at my boys. They are surrounding me.

I meet Jensen's moss-green eyes. "We all will. We will protect you for the rest of our lives, sweet girl."

"We will defend you," JT utters when I meet his ocean blues.

Finally, I look at the ebon eyes of Storm. "Always."

My dream shifted to another memory two years later:

Carmen found me with torn clothes in the girls' locker room when I finally got to my phone to call her for help. She had already called Jensen to tell him I was in trouble. I couldn't move from the shower. Carmen wrapped me in a blanket, holding me close when my boys arrived.

Jensen saw me first, noticing the blood running down my thighs. I was a virgin. I guess I'm not now.

The look on Jen's face startled me. When the others see me, I am terrified, not for me, but for the boys who did this to me.

"We should have been with you, Juliet. Then this wouldn't have happened." Jensen's fists are clenched tightly by his side.

I shake my head, knowing that being at a college party instead of the high school football game is far from their fault.

What those boys did to me, no one could have helped me. I couldn't even help myself. I tried. I fought as hard as I could. The fight was uneven - three seventeen-year-old boys against me, a fifteen-year-old five-foot-five.

Carter takes a step toward me, reaching out for me, but I unconsciously take a step back. At that moment, thunder and lightning crack across the sky. Carter's face falls so much that I know I've wounded him without meaning to. "Please, little one,... we would never hurt you."

I hug my arms close to myself. I know my boys would never hurt me, but I can't bring myself to welcome any touch after what happened tonight.*

The dream shifts to later that night:

*My boys are covered in blood because of me. The look on Storm's face tells me everything I need to know. There is a tick in his tight jaw. The boys who sexually assaulted me are dead at their hands. "They are gone, baby girl. You will never have to worry about them hurting you or another girl again."

I'm standing outside my house while the wind picks up and a storm rolls in. I don't feel bad that those boys are dead. I'm devastated at what that means for my boys now. They are killers, murderers. "Someone saw us, Sawyer. We don't know what will happen now," JT states in a melancholy voice.

"But we will never leave you willingly, Bonnie," Storms affirms as lightning flashes and thunder sounds. The sky opens up to a torrential downpour.

The shift happens again:Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I'm yelling while running down the road after a black SUV that my boys are in. "You assholes! You promised you wouldn't leave me! I hate you all! You promised me!"

Soon, the vehicle is out of sight, with no one looking back or the SUV stopping. I crumble to the ground in a heap. A heartbroken, soul-shattering scream erupts out of my throat, unbidden. I've lost the boys I love. I'll never see them again.* I jerk away, screaming, with tears running down my face. I haven't had that dream in at least five years.

"Woah, babe, are you okay? You almost hit me in the face."

Ah crap, I forgot about his guy. What is he still doing here? I swear I only brought this guy home for an itch that needed scratching. Why hadn't my one-night stand left when I was done with him? I guess it's my fault for falling asleep and not kicking him out.

The next thing I know, my door is being busted down by Storm Diesel Benson. His black eyes lock on mine. I do not hide my naked breasts from him. His eyes narrow, but before I realize what is happening, he has Jack, Mike, Mick, whatever his name is, by the throat, pushed against my closet door. His face is turning purple. Meanwhile, Storm's face portrays zero emotion.

I hurtled out of bed, stark naked and livid, making a beeline for Storm. He will either pay to have both doors fixed, or he will damn well fix them himself. I place both hands on my hips and sharply issue my command. "Storm Diesel Benson, you will let my one-night stand to go this instant. He isn't the problem here. You are," I growl that last part.

Storm releases the man to crumble to the floor, coughing hoarsely. Storm slowly turns around to face my fury. His eyes go from cold to smoldering within seconds. My body responds to his heat by sending liquid down to coat my bare thighs, and my nipples harden painfully. Storm is going to be the death of me if I let him. My traitorous body is way too willing for him to cause death by sex.

"Go sit on the couch, Clyde. You owe me an explanation and an apology."

"I'm not leaving you with him." Storm crosses his arms over his bare, muscular, tattooed chest.

"I screamed, relieving a nightmare caused by you, Storm. I didn't scream because of him. Get. Out. Of. My. Bedroom," I bite out. Storm nods, exiting.

I go to 'what's his name,' helping him as Storm leaves. "No pussy is worth this shit. I'm leaving," he says hoarsely, quickly dressing and grabbing his clothes.

"You should have left hours ago, right after sex, instead of falling asleep in my damn bed," I snarl at the worthless man. "Say hi to my friend on your way out, asshole."

I snicker at his hasty retreat. Well, at least Storm kept me from dealing with a stage-five clinger.