Unbroken Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #6)(18)

“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.”