I wake up with Gryphon still wrapped around me, but this is a lot different to all of the other times I’ve woken in his bed.
Mostly because his hand is between my legs, his thumb stroking over my clit through the fabric of the boxers I’d borrowed from him last night, his dick hard and rubbing against my ass as he groans. I can’t help but wiggle back, grinding up against him instinctively, and I’m happy that the ache between my legs is gone.
If the worst has happened and I’m Bonded to him, then I might as well enjoy the ride to hell.
Gryphon’s teeth are sharp as he bites down on my shoulder, drawing a gasp out of me before he eases up and kisses over the mark. “If anyone is going to hell, it’s me for being so fucking smug about getting to have you, though I didn’t take you for such a pessimist.”
I elbow him but again, it does nothing to him. “Get out of my head, I’m allowed to be a dramatic bitch in a crisis if I want to be!”
He catches my elbow and pulls it back more, pinning my arm behind my back as he blows out a breath on the wet spot he’s made on my neck, goosebumps breaking out over my body as my back arches and grinds my ass into his dick a little more.
He drops his mouth back down to my ear to murmur, “Stop squirming and fighting me so I can show you how sex is supposed to be, how it’s going to be between us now.”
Arrogant Bonded. “I’ve seen enough porn, I’m pretty sure I know where all of the parts go, and I’m not sure there’s a kink you can whip out that will shock me.”
He huffs at me and snakes a hand around my body, slipping his fingers under the waistband of the boxer briefs and straight into the folds of my pussy, finding me slick and ready for everything his tongue is teasing me with.
I wiggle against him just because the chase is half the fun and if he wants to show me anything about his sexual prowess, he’s going to have to work for it.
His dick gets even harder against my ass as I struggle and when he lets my elbow go to catch my throat and bend me back against him again, a low moan spills out of my lips. His fingers tighten but his other hand is just playing, not actually trying to make me come as he moves them, and I wiggle again to try to force him to touch the important parts.
He gets sick of waiting for me to just lie back and be compliant, so once again, he ends up just manhandling me into the position he wants me in, a pillow under my hips and his sweater shoved up my body so that he has access to all of the parts of me he’s so focused on right now.
I open my mouth to cuss him out again but he just covers it with his own, biting at my lip as though he’s punishing me for acting out. If this is how he plans on keeping me in line, sign me up for ruining this man’s life because I’m not ever going to give this up.
His calloused thumb is rough against my nipple, the rasp of it a delicious sort of pain, and when he pinches it, I gasp into his lips, his answering chuckle a gloating sound. I want to be angry about it but his lips are too skilled and sure as he worships me with his tongue, moving down my neck and adding teeth to the mix again. I already know he’s leaving a trail of red skin, making sure there’s no question of where he’s been, but he’s perfected the line between too much and just enough, leaving me teetering on the edge of desperation.
It’s so much more intense without my bond in control of my mind.
I can feel everything he’s doing much more keenly, and his hands map out every inch of my body until I lose track of where my body ends and his begins. He finds all sorts of sensitive spots I didn’t even know existed, licking and sucking at my skin until I’m writhing underneath him in a mess of delayed almost-pleasure.
When he finally moves down to strip the boxer briefs off of me, I’m ready to channel a little more of my bond again and shove his face into my pussy, but he moves decisively enough that I don’t have to. The large window that overlooks the garden is lit up with the morning sun and it feels too exposed, too bright and intimate. I want to fling a hand over my eyes to hide what little I can, but Gryphon takes both of my wrists in his hands and pulls them down so I have no choice but to watch him eat me out.
And the man can eat.
His hands tighten around my wrists as he licks his way around my pussy, making sure to lick and suck his way over every part of my lips, and it feels amazing, but nowhere near enough to get me off. When I grunt at him like a dying woman who wants to be put out of her misery, he finally zeros in, attacking my clit like a pro, and my spine lifts from the bed as I come.
If he’s trying to prove himself to me, then he’s doing the greatest freaking job of it. The debauched, wet sounds of my pussy echo around the room as he finally lets go of my wrists to squeeze my thighs and pull them over his shoulders. I’m seeing an obsession here with my legs, but I’m also too busy grinding myself into his face as I come again to snark at him for it.
I’m over-sensitized and whimpering after the third orgasm. He grunts at me unhappily when I beg him to ease up, take a break, let my pussy recover from the brutal pleasure of his tongue and finally, finally, he lifts his head up to look at the mess he’s made of me, a very self-satisfied smirk stretching across his lips.
I don’t have the energy to snark back at him or kick him in the teeth for looking so smug, but when he pulls himself up onto his knees and lines his cock up, there’s no pain as he pushes in, my pussy is dripping, gushing with my cum, and he groans as I suck him in.
Then his mouth starts running and I decide that he’s trying to kill me, his own plans to get rid of his dangerous Bonded are a wicked and cruel thing. “Such a greedy fucking pussy, taking me all the way down like a good girl. Tell me you’ll be good for me from now on, give me this pretty Bonded pussy whenever I want it. Let me fuck you raw whenever you need to be reminded of who you belong to, because this is mine. Your bond told me I belong to you. Well, baby, this is my fucking pussy to use and fill up whenever I want to as well. You want me, this is what you get.”
When he pulls out to flip me over, cracking a palm over my ass as he plunges back in, I moan and writhe out another orgasm into the pillows, my voice hoarse and cracking from all of the screaming he has me doing.
His fingers dig into my hips as he comes, groaning and slamming his hips into me until I’m bracing against the headboard to stop him from fucking me into the wall. I feel the wetness of it as I turn over, realizing that once again, we’ve had sex without a condom, but then I guess the pill North is organizing for me will take care of that.
“Holy fucking shit,” I groan, my legs still tingling and made of jelly as he sprawls out on his back next to me, his chest looking freaking bitable as he catches his breath.
“Better than porn?”
I shove the pillow that was under my ass over his face with a loud thumping noise and when he roars with laughter, I give him a very reluctant sort of smile back. “It was better, but don’t let your game slip. I’m a tough girl to keep happy.”
I STEP into the foyer tentatively, which is just freaking stupid.
After I’d taken an hour to recover from the aftermath of Gryphon’s bond-free claiming, I’d climbed in the shower to delay the inevitable, awkward, post-sex aftermath meeting. I know it’s coming. I know that no matter what Gryphon and, possibly, North say to Gabe and Atlas, I’m going to have to speak to them and explain what the hell happened.
Gryphon had stood guard over me, watching my every move as though he thought I was going to hang myself from the shower if he turned his back, and when one of the maids knocked on the door with a small bag from the pharmacy, he’d answered it fully dressed and with a handgun pointed at her.
It was a little extreme.
I mean, it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one feeling completely freaking insane with the effects of the Bond, but it’s also strange to see my most level-headed Bond just lose his head entirely now that we’ve completed the Bond.
Bonded.
Jesus. Fuck.
He’d waited until I’d taken the drug, drunk water, gotten dressed in his clothes, and then he’d walked me back to my room to watch over me as I got dressed and ready for my shift at the cafe. Only once I was completely ready did he leave me alone to go down first and run damage control.
I’d sat on my bed and texted Sage like a coward.
She’d already known something had happened because when North told Atlas and Gabe what Gracie had done, Atlas had, apparently, gone on the warpath. There was an argument that ended up with North’s smoke coming out to split everyone up, and if that isn’t the most goddamned embarrassing thing I’ve ever heard, I don’t know what is.
So, now I’m sneaking around like a thief in the night, terrified to run into anyone but also fully prepared to bear the brunt of everyone’s anger and disbelief.
Maybe the universe decided I’ve suffered enough because when I get to the foyer, I find a teeny, tiny puppy made of smoke and void eyes waiting for me.
I duck down to catch him as he bounds towards me, doubling in size so that when he drops to his back at my feet, there’s a whole lot of belly for me to scratch. “Brutus! There you are! I’ve been worried, I thought I might have to come fight Nox for you. I would’ve, if I hadn’t seen you soon.”
There’s footsteps but I’m too scared to look up, so I just focus on giving the best belly scratches ever.
“You shouldn’t have sent him back to me. He would’ve helped more if he were there,” Nox drawls, and when I look up at him, he looks… drunk.
I lift a shoulder. “I didn’t. My bond did, it took over and sent him off. It probably knew he would’ve… hell, I don’t know what he would’ve done.”
Nox walks over to where we’re both crouched down, running a hand over Brutus’ belly alongside mine. “He would’ve told me what was happening and I would have had to decide what to do. You don’t look too upset about the Bonding, maybe you did the right thing sending him away so you could trap Gryphon the exact way you wanted to.”
This man will never make sense to me, I swear to God. “And when you pinned me to the wall in the hallway, was that me trapping you too?”
His lip curls and his face goes from the tipsy but calm look, to the enraged Draven mask I’m more than used to seeing now. “I know better than to fall for a bond’s tricks. Just because I want my powers, doesn’t mean I’d let myself be chained to poison.”
I take a good, long look at him, my bond staying silent in my chest at the disheveled sight of him. He looks like a very well put together, very controlled, chaotic mess. I remind myself that he’s also grieving someone important to him and that only a few short weeks ago, I’d held his hand during the memorial service.
He’d also let me.
I pull my hand away from Brutus’ belly and sit back on my haunches a little more, moving to scratch behind the pup’s ears when he chases after my hand, eager for more love, but I keep my eyes trained on Nox’s, unflinching. “If that’s who you need to believe I am right now, Nox, then I won’t try to change your mind. If you need me to be the villain in your story to get through your day, then I’ll accept that. You’re not going to be the villain in mine though, no matter how hard you try. I have a much better view of you now and I won’t give you the satisfaction of being the big bad in my world.”
He reacts as though I’ve threatened him.
Rocking back on his heels with a defensive and aggressive look at me, his eyes flick down to where Brutus is eyeing him off. I’m not sure which way he thinks this is going to go but I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life as I am that Brutus won’t hurt me.
I’m not sure if it’s that my bond knows that his gift would never harm me, that Brutus might be the only part of Nox that doesn’t wish me harm, or if I’m just arrogant about the levels of my own power, but I’m not worried here.
Too bad Atlas, Gabe, and Gryphon don’t feel the same way.
“Get the fuck away from her!”
“Fuck, Oli, just come away from him.”
“Don’t touch my Bonded, Nox. Just walk away.” Gryphon’s hands wrap around my forearms and pull me up to my feet, stepping backwards before he tucks me behind him.
Brutus moves with me, ducking around Gryphon to stay at my feet, and Gabe has to hold Atlas back from trying to kick my precious puppy.
I stare him down and when he finally stops swearing, jerking himself away from Gabe, he snaps, “He’s a fucking Draven spy, not a pet! You’re not safe from that asshole with that thing following you around.”
I hold my hand out and let Brutus climb up to tuck back behind my ear where he belongs, out of sight but close to me and giving me boundless amounts of comfort. For the first time all morning, I actually feel like I can handle the mess I’ve found myself in.
Nox clearly doesn’t feel the same way and when he finds himself at the wrong end of one of Gryphon’s viciously furious looks, he snaps, “You’re really going to pretend like she’s some precious little innocent Bond now that you’ve fucked her? It must have been—”
“Don’t.”
Nox laughs at him, his closest friend, and for a moment I think Gryphon is going to take a swing at him, but he just takes a deep breath and then says, “Go sleep it off. It’s been a stressful night and you look like shit.”
THE RIDE over to the cafe is quiet.
Gryphon had given me a very chaste kiss to my hair as he’d left me behind with Gabe and Atlas, his phone ringing with issues that he and his TacTeam needed to sort out, and he was gone before I really got to say goodbye.
Gabe was quiet for a moment and then took a hold of my hand, pulling me to his side, and we headed out to the garage together. Atlas had followed us without a word. He hadn’t tried to touch me until we’d gotten into the Hellcat and out onto the highway. I’d finally taken a breath when his hand covered my knee, his fingers rubbing at the fabric on my jeans like always.
At least he’s not pissed at me.
When I hurry into the cafe, Sage, Sawyer, Gray, and Felix are all waiting for me.
They’re in my Bonds’ booth, coffees and sandwiches in front of them. When I walk in with Atlas and Gabe close behind me, Sage punches Sawyer in the arm when he opens his mouth with a salacious grin.
I adore that girl.
Gabe and Atlas grab extra chairs to pull up to the booth and join our friends while I duck into the back to stash my bag away. Gloria is polite but a little frosty as she greets me. My stomach drops over it but instead of letting myself spiral over what she’s angry at me about, I throw myself into the busy shift.
Kitty is a freaking nightmare.
She refuses to move from the register to help out even when she’s gotten through the line, so I spend the entire shift running around like a crazy person.
My friends all pile out after an hour of not being able to catch me to talk but my Bonds stay put to wait out my shift. Atlas switches to iced tea after his third coffee but Gabe just downs the lattes like he’s planning an all-nighter.
I have to mop a huge portion of the floor after one of the customer’s kids throws an entire milkshake on the ground. No one attempts to apologize for the mess, which gets me in my feelings, but I just plaster that sedate smile over my face like this isn’t the worst goddamn shift I’ve had since I started here.
The afternoon drags on for what seems like days.
When we finally close up, Atlas and Gabe scowl at me when I usher them out of the building so that I can mop, and Kitty disappears out the back to sit on her phone and avoid doing any of the cleaning that’s required. Gloria doesn’t say a word to her about it so, once again, I just shut my mouth and get into it.
I think that I’m doing a great job of proving that I’m a good worker, an asset to Gloria’s business, and considerate of the time away I’ve been forced to have.
Boy, am I wrong.
When I’ve gotten everything spotlessly clean, the register counted, and the day’s deposit set aside for Gloria to take with her, Kitty finally shows up from the bathroom, dressed in her regular clothes with her bag already slung over her shoulder. She smirks at me and flicks her hair over her shoulder in a smug move that sets my teeth on edge.
“Off you go, Kitty,” Gloria says, waving a hand at the girl to usher her out of the back door and ignoring the way she curses under her breath about it. No one ever calls that girl out on her attitude or poor work ethic and it eats at me a bit.
But the pay here is good, so I’m going to keep my mouth shut about it.
When the door closes behind her and Gloria turns back to me, I say, “I’m sorry about all the time off I’ve been having, I promise it won’t—”
She cuts me off. “Those Bonds of yours are waiting outside for you, so I’m not going to keep you long. You need to leave your apron behind, you’ll not be working here any longer. I have your paycheck here for what you’re owed for today, no need for me to have to see you again.”
My jaw drops to the goddamn floor. “I’m sorry, you’re firing me? What have I done wrong?”
I’m expecting her to say my time off, I could almost understand that, but her words spark my bond’s ire. “You never once asked what my Gift is. I’m an Empath, I can see what people’s Gifts are. I can also see their intent. I might not be the strongest Gifted, certainly not a Top Tier Gifted, but I know evil when I see it. You’re not welcome in my cafe. I didn’t want to make a scene when you arrived, but I won’t have you here anymore.”
Evil.
Monster.
Poison.
My temper catches fire. I stop myself from yelling at her, but my words are sharp nonetheless. “You let Nox eat here! He came back here and spoke with you, surely you’re not going to spout that ‘monster Bond’ bullshit at me!”
She shakes her head at me, clicking her tongue like it’s so offensive that I cursed at her. “It doesn’t matter what people say about those Draven boys, I’ve seen what they have in them. They’re good, all the way down to their bones. A Gift doesn’t make a person a monster. I can see into you too, and I don’t like what’s there. I wasn’t sure about you before, but now that you’ve Bonded and it’s gotten clearer to me? I’m not going to have you in my shop. Don’t come back, and don’t call in for anything either.”
