Page 90 of Broken Ties

Baby steps.

She’s terrified of Bonding, of her Gift getting any stronger, of making connections that could lead Davies to find her again.We’ve built a strong foundation together, thanks to the distance between us. I need to prove myself to her now, and that’s not about to happen if I’m throwing myself at her the second I see her. I need to not only respect her boundaries but fiercely defend them alongside her.

Keeping the other Bonds away from her might not be instinctual, but I’ll do it with fucking pleasure, onherbehalf.

When she stands there stunned for an extra beat than I do, my triumph swells in my chest until I’m grinning like a fool at her when our eyes finally meet and she almost shakes herself out of the stupor.

"Well, damn! You look even better in person, and I can tell you, I was fucking impressed with your photo," I drawl, because I might not be willing to push at her boundaries but I’m also not about to lose the push-pull flirting I worked so hard to establish with her.

She scoffs in reply, cutting a look at me that lights up my blood instantly in a fire I never want to put out. "You could have called ahead and let me know you were coming! I'm wearing yoga pants, for fuck's sake! I could have at least attempted to look cute."

She’s more than cute, she’s a fucking siren even in all of these layers, and I want to get her out of the snake pit before any of these assholes do something stupid, like call Draven to come interrupt us. Every girl I’ve ever known has found the sheer breadth of my size intimidating, even without knowing what my Gift is, but my Bond clearly doesn’t. As her head tips back to keep hold of my gaze, it doesn’t feel like she’s looking up at me. We’re equals in every way, perfectly paired, and when I step closer to her to crowd her back into her room and away from the many curious eyes watching us both, she only leans further into me.

Fuck, Ineverwant to forget this feeling.

I keep up with her banter with a smirk filled with promise. "If this isn't your ‘cute’, I don't think I'm prepared for it."

I carefully get hold of her hips to walk her back into her room, the only safe place to put my hands with the way she’s been talking with her own hands, and the little gasp she lets out etches itself into my soul.

She ducks down to grab her bag from the floor, as though she’s trying to clear her head, and I only wait long enough for her to straighten back up before I’m taking it from her and slinging it over my shoulder. It’s a smooth action, not an awkward one despite how flustered she becomes, but I’ve already made up my mind on how I’ll be treating her, so I won’t back down.

Not unless she asks me to, and only if she wants it for herself. From the moment I first spoke to her on the phone, all of her protests have centered around being an inconvenience to me and her other Bonds. Not only is that wrong, it’s not even possible, and if it were, nothing would change. I want to be inconvenienced by her. I want to be the Bond she turns to for everything, the Bond she trusts with her strengths and her flaws. I want to be the one who tells her that I crave it all and I want her to know that it is the truth as surely as the sun rising in the morning… because it is.

That’s why going at her pace isn’t just something I’m begrudgingly doing or conceding to in the hopes she’ll reward me or something else gross like that, it’s the only path forward for the Bonded Group I want. Whether I’m her sole Bonded or not.

"I can carry that, you know," she says, color on her cheeks, and her eyes won’t lift to meet mine.

It’s the first time she’s acted embarrassed around me and I want to commit murder. Fuck, I want to beat those other Bonds of hers to death with my bare hands and it really hits home with me that I have to share this perfect girl with a bunch of arrogant,self-serving, asshole Bonds who couldn’t put her first if our lives depend on it, which is intolerable.

With an easy sort of amusement I don’t at all feel but am determined to project for her comfort, I grin at her as I shrug. "Yeah, but you'll let me do it today. I was kind of hoping we could stay here for the day, let you get to know me a little better, but if you insist on going out, then you'll let me take care of you a bit instead."

Her blush deepens and she glances away from me. "I'm not allowed to skip classes. The GPS tracker means North will know and he will personally come here to punish me."

Even the breathy tone she’s using can’t distract me from my rage-fueled response and, like the other boundaries she’s clearly marked, this is one of mine.

No one is going to treat my Bond like that. Period. Not me, not North Draven, not a single fucking Gifted to ever walk this Earth.

"Yeah, I'm going to fix that for the both of us pretty soon. North may be on the Council on this side of the country, but my family controls the Council on the East Coast. If he is going to a be a dick about this, then I'm taking you home with me and they can fucking rot here for all I care."

A shiver runs through her body, her mouth dropping open invitingly for a second before she can reply. "If I thought we could get away with that, I would totally agree. But I get the feeling North Draven doesn't ever lower himself to compromise."

Damn me to hell, but I can’t stop myself from stroking her hair away from her face and kissing her cheek. "Sweetness, I don't give a fuck whatNorth Dravenwants. If he gets in my way or upsets you, I'll royally fuck him up."

She stops breathing at my close proximity but when I pull back, she rocks on her feet like she’s desperate to keep theconnection between us, even while clearly struggling to find a safe way to put distance between us because of her fears. Her fears are well-known to me by now, and they’re the entire reason I pull back without even a drop of hesitation or disappointment, but there’s also an indescribable euphoria that almost gets me drunk when I realize she’s instinctively trying to get my lips back on her skin. Shit, watching as her eyelashes flutter on her flushed cheeks, all but melting at such a tiny act, I could die right now at her feet and know that my convictions about my beloved Bond weren’t just some fantasy like my mom so desperately tried to convince me.

Shaking herself as if out of a stupor, she glances up at me quickly and then away, her voice a little thready. "We should head to class. I don't want to fall behind."

I hold my hand out to her, already prepared with a response if she denies me, and I almost punch the air when she simply threads her fingers through mine. She’s calm and sure, even as we step out of the room together, and she trusts me not to make any more demands.

Then all of that beautiful peace evaporates into thin air and violence once again takes hold of me.

I recognize the Shifter walking over to us instantly, but even if I had never seen him before, I’d know he’s another Bond tied to my Central. My bond responds to his arrival but not to him; it feels the mournful keening within my Bond, the way she’s breaking inside over this goddamned idiot, and it’s reacting to her pain. I want to comfort her, to soothe this agony, to beat the life out of Gabriel Ardern for being so blind to her needs.

I can’t do any of that, but when his eyes flick to our linked hands, I see just how easy this chump is to read. Shit, the heartbreak and seething jealousy pours out of him and slams into me like a wave. Murmurs start up around us and I pay just enough attention to it to find out that he might be the golden boyon campus but his Bond Group has also made him a target for their distrust and fears.

I might not be able to swing at him, but I can hurt him far worse than that, and I’ve never claimed to be the bigger man here. Nope. I’ll happily get my ticket to hell punched right now just to knock him off of his little pity pedestal.

Squeezing my Bond’s hand gently in reassurance, I stare that jealous asshole down as I lean down to whisper in Oli’s ear, "Lock your door, Sweetness."