When my mind comes back online, I have to blink to see straight again. I find Nox still fucking me through my peak. His eyes are so dark that I have to really look to check that his bond is no longer in control, but when his fingers curl around my chin to turn my face up to kiss me finally, I know it’s him in there. It’s Nox at the helm as he pounds into my pussy until I want to scream, his hips brutal as he gives me everything he’s got.
It’s as though I’m having sex with two men here and not just one, both of them checking in and out as they fuck me senseless. The shadows pull at my limbs, dragging me deeper into the bed until I feel as though I might break open, the power of him filling me until I’m dying to scream out my pleasure.
He watches it all, the darkness of his eyes still shining back to me. When I bite my lip to keep myself from moaning or whimpering again, he leans down to speak to me, his bond murmuring in a voice that isn’t of this world, “Not even death can keep us apart. Every part of you belongs to me, and I will tear any man apart who dares to get in my way. Bond or not.”
I don’t need the reaction of my bond to those words to know that I’m close, my orgasm building up from the tips of my toes and rolling over me like a wave until it takes every last ounce of my control to stay silent as my body breaks into a thousand shaking, blissful pieces. My pussy gushes, wetness soaking my thighs as I fall apart in his arms, only his shadows wrapped tightly around me holding me together.
I want to cry, to sob at the overstimulation as he fucks me through my orgasm again, his eyes watching every second of my pleasure before he comes too, but only after I’m done. I watch as his eyes roll back and his lips curl, looking furious as he snarls out his own pleasure.
A shiver runs down my spine at the sight of him, stunning and twisted and gorgeously broken. He moves to collapse on the bed next to me with a grunt, the wild curls falling over his forehead in a sweaty mess, and my heart clenches at the sight of it.
He’s still the same vicious and cruel man, only now he’s mine, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him, nothing I haven’t already done for him.
There’s a moment of quiet between us, the inches that separate our bodies on the bed are such a small and insignificant thing now. I wait until the shadows have completely receded before I think about using my voice again.
I don’t have any words for what just happened between us anyway.
So I let my eyes fall shut, and I enjoy the silence instead.
I think that Nox is just going to lie there in silence with me, but then his hand slips onto my cheek, pulling me closer until his lips meet mine. I know the moment that his bond interrupts and takes over, the way that the dark obsession bleeds through, and when I pull away to breathe, it murmurs, one last time, “Mine.”
Eventually, Nox gets up to clean himself, moving slowly through the room without bothering to cover his nakedness. I sneak a look at his ass and bite my lip at the sight of it.
Just as great as North’s. I’m the luckiest Bond to ever live.
When the bed dips with his weight again, he finally breaks the silence. “I can show you how to keep Gryphon out of your head.”
I turn my face just enough that I can meet Nox's eyes, but I find that he has them closed, his dark eyelashes fanning out over his cheeks, and I enjoy taking a moment to stare at him, marveling at the dark beauty of him.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to learn, no matter who’s teaching me. Gryphon tried to, but I just… can’t. It’s literally impossible for me to push him out of my mind.”
Nox shrugs, his face barely changing. “It’s because you’re too emotional about him. Your mind is bending towards him always because of your connection to him. If you can control your emotions, you can keep him out.”
I don't feel insulted by what he's saying, mostly because there is no accusation or venom in his words, for once, but there's also a part of me that doesn't want to do anything about my emotions to my Bonded.
“I’m not telling you to stop feeling towards him. I'm just saying that if you can control the emotions more in the heat of the moment, you will be able to have a little more privacy.”
I nod at that, slowly rolling my body closer to him and enjoying the heat of him even without our bodies touching. Having him lying next to me like this is like we’re finally able to get the nesting that we were both denied thanks to his trauma. I find my bond incredibly smug at finally having the opportunity to just soak each other up.
“It's not that I mind having him there. It's more that I'm afraid of accidentally betraying my other Bonds’ privacy,” I say slowly, my words carefully thought out, even though I'm starting to relax about accidental missteps.
Nox nods slowly. “I would rather Gryphon not know every little detail of what was shared between us.”
My cheeks heat, and even though I know he's probably referring to the soul-bond and the sharing of every moment of our lives, there’s a part of me that can’t stop thinking about our Bonding, the way that his bond had taken over and kissed me as though it owns me.
It was as perfect as this time between just the two of us, so different, but both times perfect in my eyes.
“Listen to what I’m telling you, Oleander, and do exactly as I say. I know you can do this; you can do anything you put your mind to.”
Chapter Six
Gryphon
Falling asleep after Oli and Nox had disappeared from her room is almost impossible. When I wake up the next morning, I feel as though my head is full of air and not much else.
I lie there for a minute, looking up at the unpainted ceiling of my half-finished room as I get my shit together enough to get into the day.
There are a lot of reasons I don’t want to get moving right now.
When I’m dangerously close to being late, I head back over to Oli’s room, to the only working shower in the house, to get ready for my morning session at the Tac Training Center.
There’s an itch under my skin at my Bonded’s absence, the same one that had been there when I’d woken up in the chair and found them both gone. As badly as I want the two of them to figure out their Bond, for Nox to come to terms with the fact that they are tied together no matter his feelings on the matter, there's still a large part of me that just wants to hold her and be reassured by the steady beating of her heart.
The moment that she had saved Nox’s life by shoving his soul back into his body and taking hers with it, starting the soul-bonding process and doing what was necessary to save his life, had been the most terrifying experience of my life.
One I never want to experience again.
I’d felt the moment that her body had begun shutting down. I’d felt her heart slow to a stop and her breathing get shallower as her body no longer had the essence of life in it required to go through the mechanics of staying alive. We had all felt it, being her Bonded, but something about my ability to read her and connect with her mind had amplified the entire situation into a living nightmare for me, one I’m sure will haunt me for the rest of my life.
I take twice as long as I usually do in the shower as I try to scrub the memory away. I had barely bothered showering over the last few days while our Bonded Group had been dealing with Nox’s death and subsequent resurrection, so I’m careful about making sure I do the job right this time. My head is under the hot stream of water so I don't hear her coming until the shower door opens and Oli's body slips in beside mine.