Page 81 of Blood Bonds

I calm down the second she opens her mouth. Her voice is more than enough to break me out of my murderous thought spiral.

“It might seem like I’m doing something extra thoughtful for you, but it’s also pretty selfish. I needed this as much as you did.”

She nods and looks out over the mountains that surround us, their peaks casting shadows over the entire valley. “I get that. The others all grew up together and have had a whole lifetime to get used to living in each other’s pockets. We’re both sort of on the outside with that.”

I catch her hand in mine and bring it up to my mouth to kiss the back of it. “It’s worth it. All of it. Having you here safe is worth it all. As much as I loathe admitting it, Draven outdid himself with this place. It’s like he knew that we’d need it for you, and he just did it. He just poured all of that Draven wealth into keeping our Bond safe… I can get behind that. I also didn’t have to learn a new language just to keep you safe, which is handy because I barely passed Spanish at school. I’m really shit at pronunciation.”

She giggles at me like I’m telling a joke, but I’m really not.

We get over the last of the small ridges to the opening of the first big cave, the one we’ll be camping out in tonight that the cameras cover the opening of. It’s clean and dry and secure, everything we need for a night out in the wild.

While also being completely safe at all times.

“How the hell did you ever find this? And are we taking bets on how long it takes someone to come find us, because I’m not sure we’re going to make it the whole night.” She giggles at her own joke, which is cute as hell, her eyes lighting up like she’s already feeling giddy about our time alone.

That makes two of us.

I park the ATV and kill the engine, sitting back in the seat a little and letting the cool afternoon air wash over us both. “I took one of these things out when we brought Aurelia back from the camps. I just needed to clear my head, and then I found this place. I’ve been planning on bringing you out here since I found it, I just wasn’t expecting you to be needing it so badly.”

She looks over at me and grins, pulling off her helmet and getting out of the ATV to walk around the rocks. I point out the cameras to her so that she knows we’re being watched and are safe enough here, and she waves to Sawyer.

And I’ll bet North has a live feed of us directly into his office as well, but at least we have complete privacy inside the cave.

I grab the bags I’d packed from the back and follow her up to the opening. There’s a small outlook there that is the perfect viewing point for the town lights and the giant, fortress-like concrete wall that North put up at either end of the valley to keep this place a secret from anyone who might stumble upon it.

I watch as the awe settles over Oli’s face, and it’s a fucking beautiful sight. Her eyes light up and she sort of backs her way up the path so that she doesn’t have to look away from the view. The sun is already starting to fall into dusk, low over the trees, and the brilliant burst of oranges over the sky warms her skin in a gorgeous glow.

I take a photo of her.

Then I make it my background on my phone like a complete sap, because she looks like a fucking model, absolutely breathtaking andmine.

She glances over to me and blinks a little like she forgot what we were doing here. “Did you happen to bring dinner? I forgot about food during my bond’s weirdness, but now it’s taking a nap and I’m starving. I should’ve thought of that.”

I grin at her and brush past her to put the bags down a little further into the cave where I’m sure they can’t be seen by the camera. They’re my maker, my way to know if I’ve set our bed up too close to the opening and Sawyer is getting a free show of my Bond sleeping.

Or of us at the very least making out, which would cause me to kill the man. He should never know the way that her cheeks pink up or the fall of her chest when she’s struggling for breath because she’d rather the taste of my lips than oxygen.

I pull out the sandwiches I’d thrown together for us both as I’d packed and take one to her, holding it out and watching her face light up all over again. She’s sweet behind all of the sass she throws at everyone. I feel smug that I get to see it so often, a perk of being her safe place when the others were still up their own asses about her.

She giggles at the overloaded state of the sandwiches, the only way to eat them, and opens hers up right away, acting as though it’s a big deal as she takes a bite. “My bond is having a field day right now. Two of my Bonds cooking me food in the same day? This is practically the dream.”

Ah.

The old trick North had used to his advantage back when he was pretending to hate her. I’m still not convinced that any of his bad feelings were real because the way her treats her hasn’t really changed, just the delivery and how it’s received.

She’s a lot better about doing what he says now they’re Bonded.

“What are you thinking? You’re frowning again,” she mumbles with her mouth still full.

“You. I’m thinking about how to make things better for you here.”

She walks over to the small ledge and sits down, hanging her legs over the edge and kicking them out. There’s a small drop, only a couple of feet, but I park my ass next to her straight away in case she falls.

She’d probably barely scratch herself on the way down, but I’m not taking the risk.

She swallows her mouthful and says, “Things are fine. They’re good, really. I’m not as scared anymore. I’m— okay. I mostly feel guilty now, but I keep telling myself that everyone is safe here, thanks to North pulling the trigger on the move. I don’t think he would’ve if I wasn’t in danger, so those kids running around that new school? They’re safe, thanks to his need to protect me.”

I scowl at her. “Why would you feel guilty?”