I pull back from him and stare up at him with a stern look on my face, my bond pushing to the surface a little in irritation at his words. I'm not going to be kept away from my Bonded. My bond is not going to be kept away from either of them.
Gryphon nods, but he also doesn't back down. I know that. But you have to realize that we all take precautions because of your bond. There are certain things that all of us have agreed to, even Nox, and we do it because we know what your bond is capable of. It is our responsibility as your Bond Group to help keep your bond happy, safe, and out of the murderous zone, unless your life is in danger.
I nod and step away from him, happy enough to accept what he's saying but needing a bit of space for a second to wrap my head around it. Why does everything have to be so freaking complicated?
I strip and climb into the shower, mostly to have something to do, not that I actually need it, and I let the hot water fall over my body and soak into my skin as I watch Gryphon get dressed for the day. He has early morning training sessions with his personnel and then a long list of security measures to go through. I already know that he has so much on his plate, and to add any of my shit on top of it just seems completely unreasonable to me.
When he’s strapping on his weapons, all of them pulled out from a safe underneath the bathroom sink that I was completely unaware was even there, I send through to him directly again, What does Nox do? You said even Nox has agreed to certain things about my bond. What has he agreed to?
Gryphon takes a deep breath, and I can tell that he is hesitant about my interest in the last of my Bonds. I think that even a week ago, if I’d shown this interest, he would have encouraged it and been happy about it because he wants the Bond Group complete and for all of us to have that extra security. But what was said last night at dinner, and whatever he saw in that tent between our bonds, has rattled him, and now he's not so sure.
He agreed to sleeping in his room. He has agreed to give you any of his clothing that you might require to keep your bond calm and centered, and when you were rescued from the Resistance and needed skin contact, he agreed to that too.
Holy shit.
He agreed to the skin-to-skin contact.
My shock must be palpable because Gryphon nods, even with his back turned to me. North was with him the entire time. He wouldn't let anyone else anywhere near him while he held you, but I wasn't expecting anything different, to be honest.
You know what his reason is, don't you?
Gryphon glances over his shoulder at me and keeps eye contact with me as he replies, I do. I can't tell you what it is. No one can tell you except him. Even though I am furious at the two of them, I'm not going to break that. Because like you said, trauma is hard, and you don’t get much more traumatized than Nox Draven.
I nod and duck my head back under the water, mostly to get away from the intensity of the moment. Gryphon finishes up and then comes back over to the stall, opening the door and catching my lips in a quick kiss as he stalks out to start his day.
A few moments later, the door opens again and Gabe stumbles through, making a beeline for the toilet. Something I will never get used to, even with having five male Bonds, is the ease with which men happily wander into an occupied bathroom and pee in front of an audience. I can't even comfortably pee with them in the next room over, half the time, without psyching myself up for it.
How did you sleep, Bonded? he sends through the mind connection to me in a soft and sleepy voice that comes through loud and clear. There’s a cheeky grin on his face as he revels in the perks of our completed Bond. I can’t help but give him one back, even with all of the chaos in my head.
Like a baby. The bed is perfect.
He moves over to the sink to wash up and he sends through to me, That's good, because we are going to spend the day visiting with Sage and trying to figure that situation out now that we have some more information from Giovanna. Hopefully we can get her outta there.
My eyes snap over to him and I cut the water off, jumping out of the shower like my ass is on fire. “Why didn't you say anything earlier?”
He shrugs at me and says out loud, “Gryphon just smacked me in the face to wake me up and told me that's what we were doing, so you knew the moment I knew, Bonded. Now I'm gonna go wake Atlas up the same way, because I'm sure he'll want to come too.”
Then he leaves the bathroom with a cackle that's just a little too close to evil.
Chapter Twelve
North
I don't like leaving the Sanctuary.
I don't have anything against traveling or any concerns about my own security or ability to handle any threats that might come my way for being a prominent council member, but the Sanctuary is still in its infancy and far too green to be able to run without someone in charge there at all times. Leaving Gryphon behind is a good start, because everybody there knows that he is able to speak on my behalf, but there's something about a consistent figurehead at the helm that is so desperately needed right now.