Forced Bonds (The Bonds That Tie, #4)(34)

I’m more than happy for that to be my greatest accomplishment.

The curtains are thick enough that no sunlight reaches us, but I can tell with how good I'm feeling that it's definitely morning and that I've slept a good twelve hours.

After a little while of resting there and enjoying the peace, I notice the tugging in my chest, the feeling that another of my Bonded is close by. I can already feel that it's Atlas, thanks to our own connection, and I stumble out of the bed to find something to pull on.

Gabe makes a grumbling noise under his breath and, after I've pulled on one of Gryphon's shirts and a pair of old shorts, I head back to him to smooth that golden lock back and murmur into his ear quietly, “I’ll be back in a minute. I'm just going to see what Atlas is doing.”

He huffs quietly and gives a nod without opening his eyes, rolling a little more onto his stomach, and the sheet slips down to uncover his ass. It is absolutely tempting me to give up on my search and climb back into the bed with him instead.

Priorities, Oli.

I'm thankful that this house is smaller than the Draven mansion, there are a lot less rooms to have to go searching through to find Atlas. I mostly follow the feeling in my chest, my bond leading me like a compass until I end up in one of the ensuite bathrooms staring at a very sweaty, shirtless Atlas as he installs a bathtub that could easily fit three people inside it.

He's moving with ease, but without air conditioning, it’s like a boiler room in here. I find myself with a flush across my cheeks pretty quickly.

It’s definitely got nothing to do with how freaking hot he looks right now.

Nope.

“Did you have a good night, Bonded?” he drawls, and I raise an eyebrow at him.

“Really? We're not going to have any boundaries here?” He grins and shifts the bathtub again until it slides into place, dropping a half inch with a satisfying thud sound that echoes around the unfinished room.

He turns back to me and says in a cautious tone, “How're you feeling?”

That's a much more appropriate, but difficult, question to answer. “I don't think I feel any different, but until I let my bond out in a threatening situation, I won't really know.”

He nods and shrugs at me. “Well, the world didn't end. We'll take it as a win, so far. And you’ve bonded with all of your Bonds now.

I pull a face back. “Not quite.”

He gives me a stern look back. “You're not actually going to bond with Nox though, are you? All he wants is his power. He doesn't give a shit about you, and you owe him nothing.”

I know that from the outside looking in, that's how it looks. For all I know, Atlas is right, but there's something about Nox that I can't quite figure out, something about the way that he words things to me that sets off alarm bells, even when he's being a complete asshole.

“He’s still one of my Bonds, and the Bond Group isn't complete until I've bonded with you all. I'll figure out the hows and the whys of it later.”

Atlas’ mouth tightens a little but he nods, accepting, as always, that it is my decision and he has no real power to change whatever it is that I decide to do with my asshole Bond.

He might be the first person ready to murder Nox if he tries to force me into something, but that doesn't mean that he would try to take the choice away from me either.

I try to change the subject away from this because I don't have any real answers for him. Plus, I don't want to waste my morning-after glow arguing with one of my Bonded about Nox. “Are you enjoying working on this place? I can't believe how much of it is already done and that I can move in already.”

He smirks at me and gestures around the room. “I don't think I'm cut out to be a builder, and I'm nowhere near as good as Gabe is, but I’m finding myself very motivated to get this done.”

I grin back at him and shrug. “It looks pretty good to me.”

He steps away from the bathtub and dusts his hands off on his jeans. “That's because you haven't seen my tiling efforts yet. I'm gonna have to try to convince Gabe to help out. Otherwise, it'll be the only bathroom in the place with tiles that are off-kilter.”

I roll my eyes and giggle at him, enjoying the early morning banter, even if I’m standing here in this hot-as-hellfire room without any damn underwear on. “I did some tiling work when I was with Gabe the other week. I'm sure between the three of us, we could knock it out today if you want?”

He stalks over to me and cups both of my cheeks in his big hands, swooping down to kiss me thoroughly. I'm reminded once again that we had our own morning-after stolen from us by the Resistance attack. Even though I'm feeling an itch across my skin to get back to Gabe, I'm glad that Atlas is here and that I'm getting to see him again.

“Are you hungry, Sweetness? I checked the fridge this morning to make sure that Gabe had thought far enough ahead to bring over supplies. I can whip you up something to eat, if you are.”

I nod back, my stomach rumbling at the mere mention of food, and rise back up onto my tiptoes to kiss him again. “I’m starving, actually. Is it okay if I grab a shower before I head down though?”

He nods and lets me go, bending down to grab his shirt from where he’d discarded it on the floor, and then he pulls it back over his head as he steers me out of the room.