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Silence fell and Theon moved his hand from her hair to her back, rubbing up and down her spine, feeling her relax into him.

“Why do you do that sometimes?” she asked into the quiet room.

His hand stilled. “Do what?”

“Sometimes you call me ‘little storm.’”

“Because your eyes remind me of a thunderstorm,” he answered, revealing only part of the reason.

“When you say it, you make it sound…intimate.”

“A Source bond is supposed to be intimate,” he countered.

“So it’s because of the bond?”

“Yes and no,” he answered honestly.

She didn’t say anything else, and a little while later, her breathing had shifted enough to tell him she was asleep again. He didn’t sleep though. When he closed his eyes, he saw her strapped to that fucking chair, screaming in agony, with blood dripping from her nose and ears. And this docile creature sleeping on his chest was the result of that. She’d retreated into herself, battling her own nightmares and not letting him help. A part of him wondered if she would ever let him help her. A part of him wondered if that was where she hid her secrets.

But something else had come from this whole fucked up day too. Tessa was responding to the Source bond. She was using it, seeking him out, and asking him to comfort her. And if she ended up giving in to the bond because of today, he didn’t regret a single thing about it.

24

THEON

He let Tessa sleep until Luka knocked softly on the door. Luka had bags of clothing and other items in his hands that he set on the small table near the window. He hung a garment bag in the closet as well, which Theon assumed held Tessa’s dress for dinner tonight.

“How is she?” Luka asked, his eyes going to where she still slept on his chest.

“I don’t know,” Theon sighed, his fingers brushing gently up and down the sleeve of her robe. “She hasn’t said much. She only asked me to sleep with her, that she needed the comfort of the bond.”

“You think she is accepting it?” Luka asked, his brow arching.

“Gods, I hope so. I’d hate if this is what it took, but if she is finally accepting the bond and welcoming it, it was worth it.”

“Perhaps,” Luka said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the table.

“You think otherwise?”

“I think her time with Pavil and Metias was just as traumatizing, if not more so judging by her display of power, and that didn’t cause her to accept a godsdamn thing.”

Theon mulled that over a moment before he replied, “Maybe it’s been building and building, and today was the final push she needed.”

“Perhaps,” Luka said again.

“What are you and Axel going to do while we are at dinner?” Theon asked, changing the subject. Debating this wouldn’t serve any purpose at this point.

“He is bringing his laptop. We will work on alliance possibilities out in the vehicle. Do some research on what these things could be that crawled out of that crevice. If we can figure out what they are, maybe we can figure out Valter’s angle,” he answered with a shrug. “Then there’s a Chaosphere game on.”

“Sounds exhilarating.”

“Considering we are not quite sure how the evening will play out, we didn’t think it would be a good idea to leave you without a ride.”

Theon nodded in agreement. “I better wake her so we can get ready. Dinner is in two hours,” he said, wishing they could simply stay in this bed until morning.

Luka took the hint, leaving the bedroom. Theon let out a long breath, then gently shook Tessa’s shoulder. It only took a moment, and she was blinking open her eyes, tilting her head to look up at him.

“We need to get ready for dinner,” he said by way of explanation.