This time has been different.
Whether it was because of my other Bonds and the way I had been passing energy on to them, or if it was the Gifted soul that my bond consumed, it was only after hearing about Sage that the bone-deep exhaustion took over. I’m pretty sure that’s been more of a defense mechanism than something that is really affecting me physically.
I give myself a full minute of squeezing Gryphon back as hard as he’s clutching me before I move to pull away, stepping back and taking a look around.
North's offices look far more untidy than I have ever seen any of his spaces look before. The couch is still half made up from where Nox tends to sleep on it, blankets and pillows and his ever-present pile of books stacked there, waiting for his return. There are files and boxes of paperwork littering the floors everywhere and a computerized white board has been set up behind his desk, blinking away with all sorts of information.
My eyes finally land on North himself, looking older than he had just a few hours before, the toll of the day weighing heavily on his shoulders. The first stirrings of my bond start up in my chest. I don’t like to see him under such pressure. I can’t stand to see the ways that it’s affecting him to be at the helm of this community and be responsible for so many lives.
How he’s still standing is beyond me.
“We've moved Sage into one of the more comfortable cells in the underground bunker here,” Gryphon murmurs quietly, and I glance back to him with a curt nod.
It’s now or never, I guess. “I’m here to talk with you both about her. I can't believe that she did this… I won’t believe she did it.”
Gryphon shares a look with North over my head. And even though his mouth is downturned, he nods slowly. “We don't think she’s a spy either, Bonded, but there are only a few explanations that we can think of.”
North cuts in, his tone soaked with frustration and exhaustion, “And we can't risk leaving her in the general population until we know exactly what happened and how to stop it from happening again. I need you to promise me, Oleander, that you're not going to attempt to get her out. This isn't about your friendship. This is about keeping people safe. I need to know that you are going to work with us on this.”
For the tiniest of moments I want to be insulted, but I have to remind myself that I have walked into a burning building for that girl and they both know it, so instead I look Gryphon dead in the eyes and say with complete honesty and surety, knowing that he will be able to feel it through my words, “I am going to find out what happened. I am going to save my friend. I am not going to risk anyone's lives unnecessarily while I do so.”
There's a small pause and if I didn’t already know that my complete honesty was a turn on for Gryphon, the heat that fills his eyes would be a dead giveaway. He doesn’t make a move to act on it though, now isn’t really the time, instead he just nods to me slowly and lets out a breath.
Nothing else really matters though. I’ve never been so serious in my entire life as I am when I say those words. Sage would never turn her back on me, and I'm not going to turn my back on her now.
Whatever it takes, I’m clearing her name.
“Riley and Giovanna are staying at Daniella’s lake house, about an hour away from Draven. Riley’s headaches and nosebleeds have been happening more frequently, so they decided to spend some time out there for him to rest and recover,” North says, tapping at the screen on his tablet. The computerized board starts to show a GPS map and photo images of a traditional style lake house that looks as though it costs at least a couple million dollars.
Gryphon had been called out for some issues that had cropped up in the town clean-up. North had taken one good look at me before insisting that I sit with him to go over my plans.
The room is dark around us, the curtains drawn so that all of our focus can be on the information lit up on the screen. I’d teased North about the board when I’d first seen it. It had seemed like such an unnecessary luxury when the Sanctuary was still only half built, but I can see the appeal of it now. With a few simple taps, he can send anything up there for us to look over together and discuss. Maybe this whole ‘richer-than-sin’ thing isn’t so bad.
I wiggle a little in his arms, settling further into his chest and enjoying the way his arm tightens around my waist like he’s trying to get me even closer as well. Hell, I think I’d burrow into his skin at this point, just so I could make sure no one could ever keep us apart.
My eyes stay glued to the board though, the information up there is both concerning and vital to figuring this all out. There are timetables and delivery schedules, appointments they have booked and daily routines. Giovanna is definitely that type of psycho who takes a morning run, willingly and on her own volition, every day at six a.m.. Everything we could ever need to show up there and kidnap them both is up there.
It had been my idea to be in his lap, mostly because I needed him close to me, but also a small part of me is hoping that it’ll soften him up enough to let me do what I need to here.
“I want to forbid you from going. I want to insist on keeping you here in this room with me and send Gryphon out to do this for us all,” North murmurs to me, as if he’s reading my mind.
I tip my head back onto his shoulder a little to whisper back, “But? There has to be a but here, Bonded.”
He chuckles quietly, his legs widening a little so that my body settles even lower onto his lap until I can feel his dick hardening under my ass. “But… my bond wants you to do it. My possessive, jealous, murderous, and malevolent bond who has writhed in fury over the very mention of you being in harm’s way is telling me to let you go there. Why exactly do you think that is?”
The grin that tugs over my lips is an easy one with a little flirty edge to it. I rock just a little against the hard line of his cock, a purposeful tease. “Because he trusts me? He knows exactly what I’m capable of? Maybe he loves me more than you do.”
The words are out before I even really think them through. Before I can curse myself out or try to take them back, North tosses the tablet onto his desk and manhandles me until he has me turned around in his lap, now straddling him and facing him dead on as one of his hands cups my jaw and forces me to look directly at him.
“Impossible. There’s no one, not my bond or any of the other Bonds you’re tied to, who loves you more than I do, Oleander. I will argue that point until I die, vehemently and with great pride. You’re the reason my heart beats, and even if I don’t deserve you, I’ll go to my grave doing everything I can to be the man you do deserve. I know I’ve done a shitty job of it so far, but I’ll prove myself to you.”
I swallow roughly and nod slowly, leaning forward just a little to press our lips together softly. “You’re already doing a great job proving it. I love you too. All of you; your bond and your shadows too. None of that stuff scares me or worries me. I’m proud to call you mine… even if we’re both terrifying monsters.”
He scoffs at my teasing and leans forward to give me a proper kiss this time. “Your bond is the only reason I’m agreeing to your little trip outside of these walls. I know I can trust it to not hesitate.”
I deepen the kiss, ready to lose myself in him and maybe escape from the chaos in my head for a minute. Then his computer chimes and he groans against my lips, a frustrated sound that has nothing to do with the searing heat of his dick straining through his pants.