Page 24 of Guardian's Dilemma

He didn’t even try to resist. He didn’t need to.

The damage had been done.

My dragon had followed our mate as he fled, and it was a good thing that I’d already moved his sword well out of the way or I’d probably have run straight onto it if he’d managed to find it. I was not at my best.

That was annoying, actually. I knew that mates were meant to bring out the best in each other. They were meant to spur each other on to greatness. Even little Morgan had managed to harness some serious power when he’d been riding hiscuraidhmate, so I thought it was unfair that meeting my mate had somehow made memorestupid. I’d made more mistakes since this morning than I had in the whole of my lifetime.

My mate stood beside his pack, his phone in his hand and a look of triumph in his eyes.

He hadn’t turned it back on. Turning his phone off had been one of the first things I’d done, since I didn’t want anyone to trace his GPS, but it seemed that hadn’t been enough.

“How many will come?” I asked.

“All of them.”

“When will they get here?”

“Soon.”

He was giving me more direct answers than before. There was nothing for him to hide now. He’d managed to use my own lust against me to get free long enough to send whatever message he’d just sent. I should have locked him away in a separate room where his scent couldn’t get to me.

But that would have meant I couldn’t talk to him and then how would I know what made my mate tick? How could I persuade him that dragons had souls, thatridirekilled us for trophies and power, and that we were meant to be together forever?

I held out my hand and he dropped the phone into my palm. I crushed it, with the vague hope that I’d interrupt whatever signal was going out. With any luck, they wouldn’t be able to get a lock on us.

It didn’t seem likely, from my mate’s pleased expression.

This time, I didn’t make the same mistakes I had before. I stayed a few feet from him at all times to keep his scent to a minimum and I led him to a large, ornate chair. It wasn’t as heavy as my bed, and he’d definitely be able to move it if he got enough momentum. He might even be able to break it.

It would have to do. The bed was not an option. Killing him wasn’t an option. Breaking his legs wasn’t an option.

That was why I tied him to the chair and, this time, I used cable ties. Easy and efficient, they were the best thing to make sure he couldn’t escape. They were also sharp and cut into his skin as he tested them, pulled his wrists against them to find a weakness.

I had to pull them tight to make sure he couldn’t get out and my dragon snorted inside me, unhappy with me because I was hurting him. I knew his wrists would be raw by the end of the day from where he constantly fought against the ties, but I couldn’t do anything else.

I tied his wrists behind his back to give him less leverage and I tied each of his ankles to one of the chair legs so he was immobile.

Ironically, the longer I worked, the more respect I saw glittering in his eyes along with the triumph and the confusion. My poor mate was as confused as I was: I didn’t know what Fate had been thinking, setting us up. Perhaps it was just a massive mistake.

Looking at my mate’s face, though, and his broad shoulders and strong arms, the quick intelligence in his eyes and the ruthlessness in his heart, I knew that there was no mistake. This man was perfect for me. Damn it.

“I’m going to leave you here. I know you’ll try to escape. We both know you won’t.”

“I don’t need to escape. My coven is coming.”

“Yes, I thought they might be.” I took a deep breath. “In the meantime, though, you might want to stay quiet if you hear anyone down here. I won’t be here to protect you from my clan.”

It was incredibly unlikely that anyone would come down here, even with what I was about to tell them. It still made me uneasy to leave him. He couldn’t defend himself.

My dragon nudged at me to free him, if only to give him a chance to protect himself.

My dragon was as big an idiot as I was, and I pushed the thought aside. My mate was dangerous and needed to be tied up.

I needed time to think, to work out how we’d both get out of this alive, and my mate had inconveniently gone and taken that time away.

I set some protections around him, more to keep him out of sight and to protect him than to stop him getting out. He watched me the whole time and I saw the minute movements of his arms as he tugged against the ties and I knew they would be cutting into his skin already.

“Don’t struggle,” I said. I might have begged.

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