I WAKE up from my bond’s painful walk down memory lane sitting at the table alone.
The Soothsayer is standing over by the window, three steps away from me, as he looks out over the small valley of the Sanctuary. He doesn’t blink or move, and I stare at him for a minute just to be sure he’s still breathing. I wouldn’t want him to forget that Gryphon’s body, you know, requires oxygen and just decide to stop doing that.
North and Nox are murmuring together over a pile of paperwork spread out over the breakfast bar, a glass of whiskey in front of North but, surprisingly, nothing for Nox. Atlas and Gabe are nowhere to be seen.
I take a second to be sure I’m fully in control of my body again before I get up.
The Soothsayer follows me immediately.
North watches it with a scowl, but Nox just slips away from their conversation to follow us both down the hallway to my bedroom, as though I’m a magnet drawing them all along with me without question. I hear North collecting up his paperwork and then footsteps as he follows us as well.
I find Gabe already asleep in my bed, snoring gently as he lies on his stomach, one arm tucked under his head, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. Atlas is in my shower, the water running and the door half open.
He’s still the only one without a functioning bathroom, but when Gabe had tried to apologize for taking so long getting it working for him, he had merely shrugged and pointed out that he was happier sleeping in my room and using my shower every night than going back to his spare room, as he calls it.
North had seemed happy with him getting along so well until he called it that. Then he scowled in his direction because he thinks that it’s disrespectful of him to take up so much space in my room. It doesn’t bother me though, for the most part.
I would rather have them all here with me.
I know that’s never really going to happen, not permanently, because of Nox’s firm boundaries around his bedroom and having his own space, but I’m willing to take as much of the rest of them as they’re willing to give.
It doesn’t surprise me that Nox and North had immediately pulled out Nox’s research and tried to start planning. All of this is terrifying in a way that I’m really not processing properly yet.
We’re not just being hunted by the Resistance, we’re being hunted by other gods.
The abilities they may have, the ties they could have with one another even if they aren’t Bonded, all of it will have to be factored into our next moves. The toll of fighting isn’t just our own; the battle always spills out onto the other Gifted and non-Gifted as well. All of them have been collateral in a war they had no idea was being waged over a hundred lifetimes.
Now that our bonds have warned us of the danger that’s coming, it’s exhausting to think about, to even consider what we might all be facing now. Bigger, badder, stronger—
“There is no one stronger than us.” Gryphon’s voice startles me out of my thoughts, and I jump a mile in the air.
I had forgotten he was following me and that he’s, once again, got front row seats to every little thought in my brain.
When I come to a stop in front of Gabe’s sleeping form, the Soothsayer comes to stand with me, pressing himself into my side so that the heat of his body scorches mine.
I have to clear my throat to find my voice again. “If you say so, but all I know is that the god-bond who was there managed to shut us all down with the pain it wields.”
His large hand comes towards me, slowly enough that I can move out of the way if I want to, but when I don’t, he presses his palm into one of my cheeks, a happy rumbling noise coming out of his chest that is so unlike Gryphon.
I want to giggle at the sound of it.
“That attack woke me up. The god-bond is complete now, and you will never feel that pain again. I will be sure of that. We all will.”
I nod, too tired to question it anymore, and nuzzle my cheek further into his palm. I’m not sure if it wants this sort of affection or whether it’s just tolerating the human interaction because I crave it so much, but I appreciate it either way.
He slips his other hand to frame my face completely, murmuring to me quietly, “I waited for you. We all waited for this lifetime, for these vessels… and for you. You are as vital to me as the bond within you. Without question, I see that clearly now.”
I feel as though I was waiting for the god-bonds too.
As though I was holding my breath all of this time, and it’s only now I’ve finally let it go that I’ve noticed. My bond is settled and calm in my stomach for the first time, truly resting in complete contentment, and a frenetic energy that I didn’t know was there has finally eased away.
I’m at peace.
I glance back up to the Soothsayer’s eyes and find that hunger back in his gaze. Only now, we’re in my bedroom, and there’s nothing really stopping us from doing something about it. No tales of death and destruction that need to be shared, no gods of pain staring us down, no obligations to get in the way, only a Bonded Group full of overprotective, jumpy men who might want to rip the Soothsayer apart for looking at me as though he wants to tear me open in the most pleasurable of ways.
The bathroom door opening wide breaks me from my train of thought and reminds me that my entire Bonded Group is here in my bedroom with me right now, and though we’ve definitely had, ahem, group intimacy, it definitely hasn’t started like this.
I still feel awkward as fuck about it.
I pull away from the Soothsayer to lean down and brush Gabe’s hair away from his face as a distraction, pressing a kiss to his lips, but it doesn’t wake him up. He doesn’t react to it at all other than to sigh. I know the feeling, having taken a power nap like this a dozen times before, and I just tuck the blankets up around him a little closer.
I don’t like the way he’s looking at you, Sweetness.
I don’t look up or react to Atlas’ words. There’s no point in starting a fight. He’s fine. He can also hear you in here as well. He’s just being polite in not pointing it out.
North steps around the Soothsayer, pointedly keeping his eyes on me and not the surly god-bond, and I smile at him softly, the type I reserve just for my Bonded. He smiles back before looking me over from head to toe, assessing me for any damage that might be left behind, but, thanks to the Soothsayer, I’m completely healed now.
A shiver of anticipation runs down my spine.
“I don’t care what the god-bond wants, Bonded. What do you want? If you’re tired, you should get some rest. Everything else can, and will, wait.”
I open my mouth but nothing comes out, my eyes darting around at each of them. I don’t want to start a fight with them. I’m definitely too tired for that, but am I too tired to give the god-bond what he wants?
No.
I need the connection as much as it does, and my bond is very interested in the dark hunger in its void eyes.
It just feels impossible to speak with them all staring at me like that.
“You have a meeting in the morning. Go get some sleep, brother.”
Relief floods me at Nox’s words, the tension in my body leaving me in a rush. When North sees it, he turns and nods at him, and then leans down to kiss me as he heads back towards the door. The reassurance that his brother is here with me, for however long he deems necessary, is enough for him.
It’s not enough for Atlas, though.
Nox stares him down for a minute before he says, “You too, Bassinger. I’ll call you both if we need something.”
That’s Draven code for ‘if shit hits the fan in here’, because I doubt there’s much that Nox couldn’t handle for himself.
North shoots a look at Atlas and pushes the door open, gesturing for him to leave. I’m waiting for the argument to start up, and a full tense minute of silence passes before, finally, Atlas ducks down to kiss me as well. Without another word, he leaves. North just shoots me a look, one full of fiery promise and possession, before he leaves as well.
Nox pulls his jacket off as shadows fall away from his body, Mephis and Procel forming at his feet, and he takes a seat on the small, plush chair in the corner. He settles himself there without a word, as calm and self-assured in this moment and what’s about to happen as ever, but my heart starts thudding hard in my chest the more I look at him.
He’s here to keep me safe.
The same way Gryphon had when we’d Bonded, back when Nox had no desire to be in the same room as me, let alone have sex with me. He’s here to make sure that this god-bond really is going to pleasure me and treat me with the same respect that any of them would.
He’s going to watch it all.
My eyes flick down at Gabe again, checking that he really is asleep. There’s nothing for me to worry about, he’s out cold. My only real concern about him waking up is that he’s always been my most cautious Bonded about sex, the one who draws the line at what my bond does when she takes control. I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t have it in me to fight them on this. I let out a sigh and roll my shoulders back, confident that nothing is going to go wrong here. The moment I look back up to the Soothsayer, he stalks back to me.
He’s done waiting.
It’s a good thing I’m done fighting this as well.
With a single hand wrapped around my thigh, the god-bond lifts me up and crushes me into his chest with the other, his lips crushing down onto mine in a biting claim of a kiss. There’s a stark difference between the man and the bond. The ways they move are nothing more than an echo of each other. I find myself desperate to know how far those differences go.
Will they fuck differently too?
Will he eat me out like Gryphon does, as though he’s a starved man who needs the taste of me to survive?
“Yes, to all of it. I will give you everything you want and need, Bonded,” he murmurs into my ear, barely louder than the sound of my heart thumping in my chest as he walks us around to the other side of my monstrously huge bed.
A shiver runs down my spine at the feel of his breath against my neck. It’s a simple seduction that I’m not sure he even realizes he’s doing, but it has me wiggling in his arms all the same. I want to feel that breath lower, over my chest and my nipples, the planes of my belly, between my thighs. Fuck, I want to feel it on every inch of my skin as he explores and claims this version of me.
I want to be his favorite vessel.
I want him to love me like he loves my bond. I want him to be desperate for us both, to hunger for my attention as much as the god’s within me.
I want everything.
The god-bond spreads me out onto the bed carefully, tugging at my clothes in a rough demand until I’m naked for him, his eyes roaming over me as though he’s committing every little freckle and dimple to memory. I don’t feel shy about it either. I stretch out and arch my back a little, smiling at the way his eyes glue themselves to the swell of my breasts as I move.
He undresses in a frenzy of tearing fabrics and buttons popping away from their stitching, as though the very idea of unzipping and carefully disrobing is an insult to both of us and our Bond.
It’s nothing I haven’t seen a hundred times before and touched and tasted and worshiped in my own way, but it’s still a sight to see.
Gryphon always has been too perfect for words.
The Soothsayer leans down to kiss me again, one hand on the bed and the other coming up to wrap around my throat again, almost as if he’s afraid I’m going to try to run away from him.
I couldn’t even if I tried.
He moves his weight onto his knees and then his fingers dip into my pussy as he bites at my lip, impatient and greedy to fill me up, to claim me, to own my pleasure and feed it to me at his leisure. I moan, and he breaks away, biting and sucking his way down my neck to my chest with his own noises of pleasure at the softness of my skin.
There’s a rustling sound from the corner, and I remember that we’re not alone, my eyes snapping open and finding my Bonded in the darkened room.
Nox’s eyes smolder back at me from the corner, and I turn my face more towards him, my lips parting on a low moan as the god-bond’s fingers tighten around my throat. He watches it all, his eyes dark as he takes it all in. I’m laid out here on display for his viewing pleasure except… I want more. I want them both. Fuck, I want them and their bonds and mine. I want it all.
The god-bond’s fingers tighten even more, flexing until I’m gasping for breath as my pussy clenches around his fingers as he pumps them in and out, hooking them to graze over that spot inside of me that makes me want to scream.
I don’t even have the chance to wish for more before his fingers are slipping out of me, my legs spread apart by his thighs as he pushes the thick length of his cock inside of me. He anchors himself on the hand around my throat, his fingers flexing in time with the pumping of his hips until I’m a shaking mess.
Every inch of his body is commanding me, owning me, using me for his pleasure even as he gives me even more of that same intoxicating pleasure.
I need more.
“Not the vessel.”
It’s Gryphon’s voice, but still, they’re not his words. I could argue with him if I could speak, but I’m still fighting for air in the best way, choking on my own bliss as he finally eases up just a little and the rush of oxygen hits me. The only way to describe the feeling is euphoria, ecstasy. I come so hard my vision whites out as my juices run down my legs.
“I’m here for her, not to follow your orders. If she wants me, then you’ll just have to deal with it. She calls the shots here, not you,” Nox drawls, and it’s a tempting offer.
Tempting to ever think I’m calling the shots between us.
That’s just never been our dynamic, never been the way that we’ve fit together at all. He’s been in charge, the one pushing at me and pulling away, always pulling away. In the descent from the tallest heights that my orgasm had taken me, I feel tears prick at the edges of my eyes.
The god-bond sees it all.
Not just the tears, no. He sees everything inside of my head clearly. I might as well be an open book written just for him, every thought and feeling and even slightest whim is there for him to see.
He does a lot with that information.
The moment my legs stop shaking, he pulls away from me, ignoring the whimper that tumbles out of my lips as he grabs my ankles to drag me to the edge of the bed, dropping to his knees and tugging my legs open until my pussy is spread wide underneath his intense gaze. There’s no questioning if he likes what he sees. His eyes drink me in as though to him, I’m the last glass of water in the desert.
Desperate and gluttonous.
His lips devour me, his hands wrapping around my hips as he pulls me closer, closer, never close enough to sate his hunger. He drives me over the edge with that single-minded determination he shares with his vessel, with my Gryphon, and my chest aches at his absence.
I want the god-bond, but I need my Bonded.
As soon as I’ve thought that, the god-bond changes his tactics, shifting from the ravenous edging to pushing me over the edge again and again until I can’t think straight. Every little thought I have is used against me in the most torturous ways. The god-bond sees every part of my pleasure and manipulates it, pushes it, stretches it out until I’m sobbing out my orgasms, my head thrashing against my pillows until I’m a complete wreck.
Only once I’ve completely lost all control of my legs does he come up for air, moving me around as though I weigh nothing until he’s holding me in his lap, his hands tight on my hips as he slowly impales me on his cock. I wrap my arms around his neck and hold on tight as he fucks me, his void eyes unblinking as he watches the perfect agony on my face. When I finally can use my legs again, shifting so I can ride his dick properly instead of being moved at his whim, he lies back to properly enjoy the view.
His eyes stay glued to where we’re joined, the wet sounds of my pussy bouncing around the room obscenely as I soak his thighs with my cum.
I still want more.
If anything, fucking the god-bond has only given me more energy. Somehow, he’s tapped into a reserve I didn’t know I had, and with a smile down at him, my hips still sliding up and down his cock, I look over to where Nox is watching us.
His eyes have shifted to black.
He’s still in control. I can see it clearly, but his bond is there at the surface as well. Nox always did work well with the extra being inside of him, and even now, he’s willing to play nicely.
I want them all.
The god-bond moves me onto his chest, pulling me down into a mirror image of how I was when Nox and I Bonded, and I hear the rustling of clothes behind me.
A triumphant grin breaks over my cheeks.
Two fingers slicked up with lube press against my ass, hesitating for just a moment before they plunge into me, curling gently as he opens me up. I wiggle back against the feeling of them both in me at the same time, at Gryphon’s cock splitting me wide open as Nox’s fingers prep my ass for him as well.
I could have them together.
The very idea of it has my pussy clenching, my thighs shaking as I try not to collapse onto the god-bond completely. I haven’t tried that yet, not since Nox and his bond had shared me in a night full of shadows and whispers and possessive demands.
His free hand runs up my side, moving me and shifting me in little ways until he can line up and push into me, slowly at first as a low moan bursts out of my lips, moving gently until he’s sure I can take it, before he sets a brutal pace. Though he’s never said it, I think watching the other Bonded fuck me is a big turn on for Nox, and he doesn’t need much else to get him on edge.
The Soothsayer’s hands tighten on my hips, holding me still as he fucks me, his cock dragging in and out of my pussy in tandem with Nox’s cock in my ass so that there’s always someone buried in me. I feel so full I could scream, so full I might tear open at the seams, but my bond writhes in my chest. It gloats and pushes at my skin as though it wants to come out and swallow them both whole. When the Soothsayer’s hips begin to falter, its jaw clenching where it’s watching from underneath us as it reaches its own climax, my bond pushes out and into it, sealing them together in its own demand for attention.
It wants a million impossible things but, fuck, I think the god-bonds might just give it everything it wants and more. Anything. Everything, the ultimate act of true devotion.
Nox’s fingers wrap around my wrist firmly, pulling my arm back and holding me against his chest tightly. I feel so full that I can’t speak, can’t think, can’t breathe, and he murmurs into my ear, “Do you want all of your Bonds? Do you want every hole filled up? Every last one of us fucking you until we’ve had our fill of this sweet, poison pussy?”
My mind shatters the moment he says the word ‘poison’, the tone of it a taunting endearment and a testament to how much has changed between us. A low moan ekes out from between my lips, Nox’s hips still pumping in and out of my body at that same brutal pace as he follows me over the edge.
The Soothsayer watches us both, unblinking void eyes unnaturally bright in the darkness of the room.
Nox’s head drops to my shoulder, his hair falling over my cheek as he breathes me in, and when I open my eyes to look back down, I finally see Gryphon’s green eyes staring back at me.
The god-bond is satisfied.
I WAKE up as a pile of sore muscles and aching bones. My head is full of air, and it takes me a minute to remember where the hell I am.
Nox is nowhere to be seen, but Gabe is still snoring on the far side of the bed, just as worn out from his shifting as I had been from the power exchange, and, surprisingly, Gryphon is also in the bed with us. He’s usually the first one up and out of the door in the morning.
His arm is flung over his eyes, and his breathing is even as he sleeps, his heart beating steadily in his chest under my ear. I lie there for a moment, listening with my face tilted towards his to watch him, enjoying the quiet of the room.
When his arm finally moves and his eyes open, I sigh in relief at the clear, green hue of them.
“Did you miss me, Bonded?” he murmurs quietly, and I nod my head as I lean forward and kiss him slowly, relieved that his hands feel like his own as he pulls me into his chest a little more securely.
As much as I love his bond and the way it had worshiped me last night, I love this man more. Is it weird to pick favorites?
“As long as I’m your favorite, no,” Gryphon mumbles again under his breath, pulling me back into a kiss as his hands frame my face gently.
I press my forehead against his, enjoying this quiet little moment for just the two of us in the dark, and the tension in my body eases away.
“You scared me for a minute there. North thought the god-bond might try to take over the vessel,” I say before coming to an abrupt halt, my words drying up because the thought of that ever happening fills me with an indescribable pain.
Gryphon only nods, brushing his thumbs over my cheeks once more. “I don’t like the feeling of the god taking over. I know now why North fought it so much. It was like I could see everything, but I was powerless to do anything about it when it grabbed your throat to ease the sickness away. For a second, I thought I was trapped in a nightmare.” He swallows and pulls back enough to rub a hand over his eyes, stress practically leaking out of his body at the memory.
I find myself fussing over him the way he’s fussed over me a hundred times before, hurrying to reassure him that everything is going to be okay. “It loves me, Gryphon. I know it does. I think it respects every last one of us… They all do. Whatever it is about this timeline and these vessels, it’s as if we were meant to be.”
He shakes his head as if he’s clearing it and then presses another kiss to my forehead with the type of devotion a man shows the center of his world. “I don’t know how they keep coming back. I can’t imagine losing you in one lifetime, Bonded, let alone over and over again. It sounds like a form of torture. No wonder they’re all a bit… psycho.”
I giggle and tuck myself back into his side, threading my fingers through his as I enjoy lying back in the bed with him. We’re always the first to rise, and even when I was forced to rest by North after my time in the Resistance camps, Gryphon had still gone to the Tac Training Center early, so I enjoy the novel experience of just lying here together for however long it might last.
Eventually, Gryphon fusses around in the bed until he finds his phone, checking the messages there and grumbling under his breath about something that Kieran had sent him. “Are you going to see Sage today?”
I nod and murmur back to him quietly as I glance over at Gabe, watching the rise and fall of his chest, just a little bit concerned at how deeply he’s still sleeping. “I promised her I would. Kieran and North agreed that she could be let out of the cells as long as one of her Bonded was with her at all times. Felix insisted on taking a few days off to stay with her just in case there’s any physical effects of what the Soothsayer did to get the other one out of her head.”
Gryphon blows out a long breath, frustration etched into the lines of his face. “I’m not a hundred percent sure, obviously, but I was aware of what it was doing to her. If I had to make a guess, I’d say that she really is going to be fine. Actually, I’d say she’s going to be protected from anything like that happening again, not just from that god-bond, but any other being that might try to manipulate her.”
I let out a deep sigh, relief coursing through me and unloading a heap of pressure that I have been carrying for the longest time. There had always been a fear in me that whatever had happened to Sage when she had been possessed might happen again. Gryphon’s god-bond, the Soothsayer, has given me a priceless gift by protecting her in such a way.
“Do you think that it could do that for the rest of us too? If he can keep Sage’s mind safe like that, could he protect the rest of us as well?”
Gryphon’s head pushes back into his pillow as he considers my words, his hair falling over his forehead where it’s come loose from the leather hair tie he keeps it back in. “I don’t think the rest of the Bonded Group needs it. I think that I might be the only one capable of getting into their heads in the first place. I’ve only ever done that with their permission, even Atlas.”
I nod and settle back into his arms, taking a second to just enjoy the quiet peace of the bedroom. I’m afraid to let it go, to get up and get back to our lives. The moment I do, this will all slip through my fingers, and I’ll never have it again.
As I sigh for the third time, Gryphon shifts me in his arms, murmuring, “I’ve never been so sure of our ability to win this war. Whatever you’re thinking about that has you sighing like that, Bonded, don’t tie yourself up in knots about it. We’re going to deal with these god-bonds, clear out the rest of the Resistance scum, and no one is ever going to be able to take this away from us again. This is it for us, the perfect Bonded Group and life. I’m sure of it.”
The slow smile stretches over my face as I run my hand over his chest, enjoying the simple touches between us that we so often miss out on because of the demands of his job.
“It sounds like you might actually like the god-bond more than you’re letting on here, Bonded,” I whisper with a self-satisfied smile, the type that shows that he’s taken care of every last one of my needs.
“If the god-bonds are going to keep you safe and get us all through this alive, then I’ll like it a whole lot more than I was ever expecting to. You’re worth every bit of that possession feeling, the helplessness, if it keeps you safe.”
He lifts a hand to thread through my hair as he curses under his breath at his phone, looking down at me draped over his chest with nothing but pure male satisfaction.
He cups the side of my face and presses a gentle kiss to my lips, murmuring against me, “The one feeling that the god-bond woke up with, that stayed with it for the entire time he was in control of my body, was the overwhelming need to protect you, covet you and worship you… to destroy anything that might harm you or upset you. It’s a relief to know that if I’m going to have something like that living inside of me and sharing control of my body, at least we’re on the same page about that.”
My heart flutters in my chest at the idea of their shared devotion, at being the catalyst within the Bonded Group, the one thing to bring each of these men to peace with the gods living within their skin.
His phone buzzes again, and he curses viciously under his breath as he grabs it. “The world won’t wait for us forever, Bonded, though I might just kill Black for interrupting us like this.”
As much as I feel as though I’m betraying Sage by thinking this, I agree with him wholeheartedly as he gently moves me off of his chest and gets up to walk back to his own bathroom to shower.
After a few minutes of moping quietly, Atlas ducks his head into the room and, seeing that I’m awake, saunters over to me with a relieved grin. He’s careful not to wake Gabe, which is another thing that sets my anxiety off. He would normally shove at my shifter playfully or throw a pillow at him or some other show of rowdy friendship, but even he can see that Gabe needs his rest.
Atlas senses my anxiety, and after he’s swooped down to brush a gentle kiss against my lips, he whispers, “He’ll be fine, Sweetness. It’s just the shift sapping his energy, the same way that you used to take extended naps.”
I nod. I’m sure he’s right, but I can’t help myself either. I drag myself out of the bed to pull clothing on as quietly as I can, aware of Atlas’ eyes on me as he not-so-discreetly checks me for any damage the Soothsayer may have done.
I’m more worried about whatever marks Nox’s firm grip might have left, but Atlas doesn’t say anything, and his face is still calm when I turn around in a pair of jeans and one of his sweaters that covers me to the knees.
I check on Gabe before we leave, pressing a hand gently against the side of his neck to feel the steady thrumming of his heartbeat and trying to let it lessen my anxiety a little bit.
He sighs in his sleep and rolls towards me unconsciously, his body seeking me out even in his slumber. I find myself very tempted to just climb back into the bed and lie with him, but there’s also a frenetic sort of energy underneath my skin; the juxtaposition of how tired I feel but how wired I really am is making me itch.
“I’ll take you over to Sage’s place, Bonded. We can message Gabe later and tell him to come over when he’s finally up. Everything will be fine, Sweetness. Stop frowning. He wouldn’t want you fussing over him like this, not when he’s not awake to enjoy it.”
I scoff a little and then follow him out of the door, dragging my feet a bit.
