Page 85 of The Runaway
But Gabriel shook his head. “None of this makes any sense.” He glanced at the mirror again, but his eyes were their usual brown. But there was no denying what he’d seen before. “Adalene asked Connor if he wanted to bond with me on the first day we headed out for Paris. He said no. That was less than two weeks ago. People don’t change their minds about how they want to spend the rest of their lives in just two weeks. Never mind the fact that the bonding process itself takes far longer than that.”
Antoine shrugged. “What do you want me to say? You saw the colour of your eyes, and we both know there’s no one else you could have bonded with.”
“I don’t know,” Gabriel muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“I think we should call Connor back and tell him the news. No doubt he’ll be as surprised as you are.”
“Yes,” Gabriel agreed, knowing there was nothing else he could do right now. “But maybe… I think I should tell him privately. I’m honestly not sure how he’s going to react, and it might be better to do this without an audience.”
Antoine nodded sympathetically. “He’ll be happy,” he said, sounding far more confident about it than Gabriel felt. “He wouldn’t have bonded with you if he didn’t want to. It’s simply not possible. But if you want some privacy, then that’s fair enough. Wait here and I’ll send Connor over and see that you’re not disturbed.”
???
Connor was a little confused at being sent back to the main house only ten minutes after he’d been sent to the stable to help Dante with the horses. Nonetheless, he put down his bucket and headed off across the yard, knocking politely when he arrived at the sitting room.
“Come in,” Gabriel’s voice answered him.
He pushed the door open, thinking that maybe Antoine had some questions about Paris, or that there was some other urgent task that needed an extra pair of hands. So he was surprised when he looked around the room and saw that Gabriel was the only one inside.
”Come in,” Gabriel repeated, and he made an effort to smile. An effort that fell far short and ended up as more of a grimace. Oh fuck. This was not going to be good news, then. Had Connor done something wrong in Paris? Had he been too confrontational or talked back to Gabriel too much? He’d said some fairly mouthy things, feeling assured at the time that Gabriel was above being offended by such things, but perhaps he’d been wrong? He’d become complacent since Gabriel had bought him, assuming that most of the hardships of slavery were now behind him. It was a foolish way to go about life.
So was this going to be a simple reprimand, a warning to remember his manners and make sure he did better in the future? Or was it going to be worse than that? Gabriel wouldn’t sell him. Surely not. No, certainly not. Not after everything they’d been through. But maybe he was going to transfer his ownership to Antoine, so that Connor was a regular house mate, instead of Gabriel’s personal… Was he even Gabriel’s personal omega? It had never been stated outright, though he was fairly sure the rest of the estate had assumed as much.
“Connor, come and sit down,” Gabriel said, breaking into his frantic thoughts. “I can see you thinking. And I don’t think this is going to be anything like as bad as whatever it is you’re imagining. At least, I hope not,” he added, with a sudden frown.
“You look all tense and flighty,” Connor said, looking him over once again. “Like you want to run away and hide in the barn.”
“I kind of do,” Gabriel admitted. “I have some news for you. And I really don’t know how you’re going to react.”
“Is it good news or bad news?” Connor asked. The difference should be relatively simple to deduce.
“It’s probably good news. It’s supposed to be good news.”
“Doyouthink it’s good news?” Connor tried a different angle, since his first question hadn’t given him a clear answer.
Right in front of his eyes, Gabriel sort of… melted. His shoulders drooped, his frown fell away, his hands relaxed from their tight fists. And his eyes flashed to the brightest, most vivid colour of gold Connor had ever seen.
“I think it’s the most wonderful news I’ve ever heard,” Gabriel said, though Connor barely heard the words. He was too busy trying to figure out what the hell it was supposed to mean that Gabriel was flaring. It didn’t make any sense. There was no way in the world that… It was impossible…
He remembered his laughter when Adalene had been dumbstruck by her own bonding, and now he suddenly regretted his mirth. Clearly, the powers that be had seen his amusement and turned the joke straight back on him.
“We’ve bonded,” he murmured, his eyes fixed on Gabriel’s.
“Is that okay?” Gabriel asked, with a look of such stark longing that it made Connor’s chest ache.
Was it okay? Connor didn’t know. He felt dizzy, the world suddenly tilted sideways. He’d never wanted to bond with anyone, and he tried desperately to remember all the reasons why. It would mean giving up what little control he had of his life. It would stop him from making his own decisions, being forced to go along with whatever his bonded alpha wanted. It would take away any remnants of his independence…
He was going to lose his independence… to an alpha who basically gave him everything he asked for, and who had reordered his own life just to assist Connor when he declared he wanted to go to Paris.
What the hell sort of alpha did that? It was absurd! Such people didn’t exist, not in this world of ownership and slavery and of the clear and gaping divides between the haves and the have-nots.
“Why the hell would you want to bond with me?” Connor asked Gabriel, feeling horrified by the absurdity of it all. “I talk back to you, and I take things from you without asking – like wine, or space in your tent – and I get angry if I don’t get my own way, and then I panic every time someone gets angry withme. I’m a complete mess.”
“You’re perfect,” Gabriel said, absolute honesty all over his face. “You say what you think, and I never have to second guess what you actually want, and you have more courage than anyone else I’ve ever met. You have more courage thanIdo. Why on earth wouldn’t I want to bond with you? I didn’t think you wanted to bond with me.”
“You’re incredible,” Connor said, unable to find more eloquent words. “You’re absolutely incredible.”
Gabriel finally smiled at that. “So you’re not upset about this, then?”