Page 52 of Blood Bonds
I frown and he scoots back on the bed, tugging me until I’m straddling his thighs. My bond purrs in my chest at having him this close again. The distance between us has been the hardest part of all of the changes we’ve been going through. He lets go of my hands only to span his palms over my hips, pulling me down into his core a little more. He’s hard underneath me, his dick reacting to having me this close to him, but he just continues on like this is all business as usual for him.
“You’re the strongest Soul Render in recorded history. I know, I spent a long time researching it. What if Bonding with us is just going to make your bond more settled and secure? You were tortured. You were so young when Silas got his hands on you, your bond came out to protect you. I think that has changed the way things are happening. That and… the color of your eyes. That isn’t Soul Render specific. The Dravens are the only other family I’ve found with black bond eyes. There’s something there that we’re missing too. I hope now that we’re all on the same page about things, that maybe we can figure it out. Together.”
He kisses me softly, slowly, but not pushing for more. “Just think about it, Sweetness. Just think about it, and we can talk more later. I’m not pushing you, but if you can think of anything that means I’m wrong, I want to know about it. This is all I care about right now, getting you settled and secure in your gift and your bond. You shouldn’t be running scared anymore. I won’t have it, Sweetness. I can’t stand the thought of how long you’ve been doing this by yourself.”
I nod and lean forward to press my face into his shoulder, something settling inside of me now that I’ve had my fill of them all. Nox is the only one I haven’t spent any time with, but my constant connection to him thanks to Brutus means it takes longer for the cravings to hit me when it comes to him.
“Everything is going to be okay.”
I scoff. “Why does everyone keep saying that to me?”
He chuckles at me and rubs a hand over my spine. “Because you’re going to worry about every little part of this. You care about us all, you miss your freedom, everything seems terrible. Of course we’re all going to try to reassure you, because itwillget better.”
I quiet down and enjoy the safety of his arms for a little longer, our heartbeats syncing up because we were made for each other. Maybe—maybe someday I will be able to Bond with him. Maybe he’s right and we’ll get this forever, this safety and security andlove.
Eventually, he moves me over into his bed properly. He helps me strip off the sweater I’m wearing, and the yoga pants because I prefer to sleep in my underwear or shorts, and then he stalks over to his own side of the bed, shedding clothes as he goes. He’s still hard, his dick not getting the ‘no Bonding’ memo at all, but after spending a morning in his head while he jerked off, it doesn’t seem like a big deal to me anymore.
I have more experience handling men and their desires now, so much so in such a small amount of time that my head is still spinning from it.
I curl up in his arms and let him fuss with our position until he’s happy with how we’re lying. August stays on the floor next to the bed, watching me carefully until it’s clear Atlas has fallen asleep, and then he lies down to sleep there. I know that he’s here for North’s peace of mind, but there’s still something comforting about having him with us and I let myself drift off to sleep.
God knows how much later, I wake up at the sound of the door, but August doesn’t move from where he’s curled up on the floor by my side of the bed. Of course not, it’s North coming in to check on us. When I lift my head, he steps over to give me a soft kiss, stroking my hair, as he pulls up another chair to sit in.
“You’re going to watch us sleep?” I mumble.
He unbuttons his sleeves and rolls them up. “You. I’m going to watch over you.”
I wakeup with my bond feeling far more content in my chest about the proximity to Atlas. I try to convince North to let him out of his room for the day so we can go watch something in the giant home theater. When he doesn’t budge, we lie around in bed and watch the normal-sized TV instead. It’s less showy, but Atlas calls the kitchens and orders up a feast for us, telling them it’s for me so that no one dares to question him about it, and we eat fish tacos and chicken quesadillas in bed like the best of heathens.
It’s a little bit magical.
Gabe comes looking for me sometime after lunch to drag me away, and Atlas makes a big show of kissing me senseless at the door. Gabe barely bats an eyelid at the display, just waits until I pull away from him, red-faced and breathing a little too hard, before he slings an arm over my shoulders and directs me back down the hallway to head up to my own room.
I send Sage a text message and we agree to meet up at dinner, then I climb into the shower in an attempt to straighten myself out a bit.
I feel like I’m stuck in a time loop.
Like the days are stretching on and I’m just… lying around in a fucking bed all day with one of my Bonds, being absolutely useless while people like Davies are out there hurting, torturing, and murdering innocent people.
I’m a monster.
I try not to sound shrill and a bit psycho when I step out of the bathroom and say to Gabe, “I’m going to go crazy in this house if I’m not allowed out of it soon. I’m not trying to be a pain but seriously, Gabe, I can’t stay in here like this forever.”
I leave out the part where I have, indeed, already gone a little crazy.
He nods and takes my hand, threading our fingers together as he tugs me towards the door. “There’s a plan for that. North is working pretty much nonstop on it, but I’ll leave it to him to tell you. I’m not going to steal his thunder there. You just focus on getting better—”
I cut him off. “I am better! I’m all healed up and ready to use my gift and my terrifying bond on whoever I need to. Let’s get out of here for the night. Go hunt something.”
His eyebrows shoot all the way up his forehead and he blinks at me. “Go… hunt something? I thought you didn’t want to use your gift? You change your mind too much for me to keep up with, Bond.”
I huff and roll my shoulders back, the jitters taking over with how stir crazy I feel. “I don’t want to go around killing people but… I guess it felt good to get a lot of people out of that camp. I’d just sort of run away from it all and tried to forget about it, but being back there and seeing what’s happening to people there… I can’t keep my head in the sand over it. I need to get off my spoiled ass and go help out.”
He tugs me into his chest and reaches down with one hand to give said ass a firm squeeze. “It doesn’t feel spoiled to me. It feels fucking perfect, and maybe you should just slow your roll a little. You have no real Tac training, only the few classes that you were giftless for, mostly anyway, and Gryph will knock you back the second you attempt to bring it up. Don’t even think about running off. North has extra security on you, and there’s no chance that Black will take you anywhere again. He will be killed if he tries, and that’s not an exaggeration. North has made it clear that he’ll face the shadow creatures if he ever transports you without one of them again.”
Huh.
That seems a bit extreme, and I groan dramatically until Gabe grins down at me again and says, “Let’s go down for dinner. That’ll keep your mind away fromhuntingand wiping out the Resistance.”