Unbroken Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #6)(46)

Gryphon finally gets his fill of me and he moves away, just far enough that he can grab a towel to wrap me up in, carrying me off into my bathroom to get us both clean. I could argue with him, I always have a fight in me, but my legs feel like jelly, and it’s far more satisfying to just let him lug me around.

When I’m dry and back in one of his shirts, he hands me over to Nox, and I’m surprised when he walks me back over to the bed and gets us both settled in there.

Nox never sleeps in my bed.

Before I can freak out over this change, North comes back into the bedroom, sweatpants slung low on his hips and a swagger to his walk that speaks of a deeply satisfied man. He hands me a bottle of water as his eyes trail slowly down my neck and over my chest. There’s no damage done to me, nothing but the delicious burn of my muscles as I shift and turn.

There’s always a deep ache inside me, a yearning for them that I’m not sure will ever truly pass, but it’s quiet now that I’ve been so thoroughly used.

“You almost killed Kieran.”

I choke a little on the water as I sit up, coughing dramatically as I thump my chest to clear it. I glance down at Nox as I sputter, “Excuse me? How? When? Oh my God—”

Gryphon smirks at me. “He means that you woke up while we were still at North’s office, and we made him Transport us back here. North wasn’t expecting you to already be naked and between the other two. When the door opened, you weren’t exactly being quiet. The moment he heard you moan—”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up! I can never look that man in the eye again, oh my God!” I moan, shoving my face into the pillow and ignoring the evil chuckling from all of them.

When I was daydreaming of having them all here in my room together, in my bed, I was not imagining this side of it.

North rubs a hand over his eyes with a pained sigh. “It’s not funny. I still want to go down there and murder him. Fuck it, put some pants on Nox. We’re tearing his head off of his shoulders at the very least.”

To my horror, Nox actually moves me away from his chest as though he’s on board with this stupid plan. “Don’t you dare! If you get out of this bed right now, Draven, the only murder that is going to take place is your own. Don’t smirk at me. I’m dead fucking serious right now.”

Nox moves back onto the bed and draws me in closer to his body, pulling me away from everyone else as he does. It’s a very Draven trait, something North does all of the time, and my heart squeezes in my chest that Nox is doing it to me now too. Bearing the full brunt of the Draven brothers and their possessive, jealous, protective maelstrom of love is everything I ever needed, something I didn’t realize I was missing until now.

Atlas shoots Nox a dirty look from the other side of the bed. “If you’re sleeping in here, then don’t be an asshole and drag Oli around everywhere. Learn to share.”

Nox just stares back at him. “No.”

When Atlas glares back at him, Nox smirks, his eyes and the skin of his neck slowly turning black. “If you want her, come and get her.”

I tuck my face into his chest and send through the mind connection just to be sure they all hear it and understand, I’m tired. You can fight about it once I’ve gotten twelve solid hours of sleep, so please stop ruining my afterglow and let me pass out.

Atlas’ eyes narrow to slits, but he does lie down finally, rolling over and shoving a pillow over his face. Gabe flings an arm over his face and falls asleep in under a minute, but Nox fusses until North climbs into the bed as well, getting Gryphon to move over. He leaves a large space between Nox and I, a small concession to keep Nox in the bed here with them instead of spiriting me away to his room like he wants to.

I feel bad about it for a moment until he sends through to me directly, I’m not tired, Oleander. I’ll watch you sleep and keep you safe.





CHAPTER FOURTEEN





Oli



It only takes three steps outside of our house and into the Sanctuary to know that things have changed.

For one, Kieran is waiting for us, and my cheeks heat the second I see him, North’s words from last night still echoing in my mind. I step in closer to Atlas’ side unconsciously, enjoying that he tucks me in without a word. I have no reason to worry though, Kieran meets my eyes with a ‘no bullshit’ look on his face and the same nod of respect he always does. There's no sign of a smile or sarcastic comment out of him this time, and he holds his arm out for us to take for Transport.

I'm a little surprised that we're traveling like this within the Sanctuary. It seems like a waste of resources, but I take his arm without question. He takes us directly to North’s offices.

Gabe and Atlas are crushing me between their hulking sizes as though they’re expecting us to appear in the center of a Wasteland. I want to roll my eyes at their dramatics, but the second my feet hit the ground, my stomach roils with motion sickness and Atlas has to catch me as my knees buckle. There's cursing and then Gryphon's hands slide onto my neck, easing away the sickness. Before I get the chance to straighten and thank him, he stalks back over to the far side of the room.

For a moment, my heart sinks and I feel as though maybe I've done something wrong and pissed him off. Then I glance up and see the screens that the rest of my Bonded Group are staring at along with Vivian and Unser. There, on the three large monitors, is the footage of the Transport Zone from the Sanctuary. They're watching as groups of families leave in a mass exodus. The entire area is surrounded by the General and his TacTeams, all of them with guns in their hands as they stare out at the crowd forming to watch the people leaving, but none of them attempt to approach.