Gryphon
“What’s it going to take for you to drag Nox out of his office? It's vital that you all show up tonight, Gryph, and he’s been playing cat and mouse with me all week.”
Sometimes I suspect that North Draven actually hates me; he has to. Only a man who loathes every fucking inch of me would insist on making a huge deal out of the first Halloween at the Sanctuary, and then put my sister in charge of it.
It’s Kyrie’s favorite holiday and she’s always been over the top about it, but seeing as this is the first one we’ve been able to celebrate since Silas Davies and the god bonds were dealt with, she's become a living nightmare. Every inch of the town square has been decorated. Even the training center has skeletons grinning ghoulishly in every corner.
It used to be my favorite holiday as well but with the workload I still have, I don't have time to mess around with parties and pumpkin spice. I was never naive enough to think that everything would end with Pain’s death, the poison of the Resistance was far too widespread throughout the Gifted community for that, but there was a part of me that hoped the responsibility of dealing with that wouldn’t fall on North and I. Typically, it has and while I'm usually the even-tempered Gifted of our Bonded Group, I'm not feeling so reasonable about it today. Probably because I haven't seen my Bonded in almost a week, between the missions my TacTeam has been deployed on and her own study schedule since she decided that she wanted to finish off her college degree.
Kyrie's stubborn glare only pisses me off more.
Looking over the paperwork and maps from my work, insuring the last of the Resistance are dealt with, she only stares back at me like I’m a pain in her ass.
After grinding my teeth for a solid minute, I have to relax my jaw to force the words out. "You're asking for a miracle, Kyrie. I've already told you I'll do what I can but, honestly, I think we have bigger things to deal with right now than a costume party.”
Her eyes narrow dangerously at me. "It's not a costume party, it's about the community coming together and celebrating all that your hard work has done for us by getting back to a normal life. There's been so much death and heartache— don’t you think the children here deserve to find some joy and happiness again?”
I scoffed back at her. "The children? You're trying to pretend this is all about kids and not you choosing some tiny costume to party in with my personnel and scar me for life?”
The scandalized look she sends me wouldn’t convince a soul. “I would never stoop so low and use children as a bargaining chip, Gryph. Just how terrible do you think I am?"
Stalking around my small office, I have to dodge boxes of intel to open the door and motion for her to leave me to my mind-numbingly frustrating work. "I don't have time for this, Kyrie. If you're really that concerned, go pester North about it. He has a much better chance of convincing Nox than I do."
She huffs, elbowing me in the stomach as she leaves. "Maybe I'll go see your Bonded, I'm sure Oli’s tactics could convince him of anything. Hell, she tamed him, didn't she? Proof miracles do happen and you’re just being an insufferable grump.”
I snap back at her. "Leave my Bonded out of it, Kyrie. I mean it, don't pull her into this unless you want me setting Nox on you instead."
She huffs at me, stomping out of the Training Centre without so much as a flirty glance at my team. It’s unusual for her but not unexpected, they’re smart enough to notice the arguement we’re having and scatter instantly. Careful not to alert Oli to our disagreement, I speak to North through the mind connection as I watch the doors close firmly behind her.
I have eight scouts out on recon, and I'm supposed to be ready to leave the instant they find the last of the East Coast families still trying to drum up support and keep the Resistance alive. Did you even consider how much of a nightmare this party would be for me when you set Kyrie a budget?
The ripple of irritation down the mind connection is far more reassuring than he probably intends it on being. With any luck, his day is going as shit as mine is, and it's exactly what he deserves right now.
My priority is Oleander’s safety and happiness, as it always is. Finding the balance between eradicating the last of the Resistance and building a life for her here isn't an easy task but it’s one I’m honored to do, as is my duty as her Bonded. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.
Typical self-righteous asshole.
Worse still, he’s right but reasonable isn’t in my vocabulary right now.
When I don't immediately reply, North speaks again, his tone carefully level. Go home, Gryph. There are more than enough personnel on duty, taking one night off to spend time with our Bonded and making nice with the community isn't going to hurt. This meeting with the new councilors should be wrapping up soon, we’ve come to an agreement on the blueprints for the new university. Seeing as we’ll finally be able to break ground on the build, my schedule has just cleared some and I’ll be able to have an early night.
There’s a small pause, then he drops his peacemaking act and gets to the hard sell of his plans. We can both force Nox into a costume and drag him to the Halloween party for our Bonded’s sake, shake a few hands, smile nicely to help everyone forget how terrible the god bond’s who live inside us are, and then we can take our Bonded home, lock the doors, and refuse to leave for at least two days. Maybe three, if I can pull enough strings.
Fuck him, but his plan works.
The way my TacTeam won't even meet my eye is damning, the state of my mood clearly far worse than I’d ever want to admit, but I clap Kieran on the shoulder as I leave and he's good enough to not give me shit about it.
I take one of the ATVs back to the house, trying not to let my frustrations bubble over at how many times I have to stop or swerve to keep from running people over. How the traffic on the road, with no cars and highly restricted access to anything motorized, can possibly be this bad is insane to me, a real achievement for the community. I can already tell there’s going to be a stupid number of accidents when the Sanctuary is finally large enough to require vehicles.
That day won't be too far off. Gabe and his family’s construction company have been working night and day, and it shows in the rapid growth of the town population. The list of Gifted desperate to move to the Sanctuary never seems to grow shorter, even after the Resistance disbanded, and though North’s rigorous selection process hasn’t eased off in the slightest, there’s still a distinct wariness around the community about my Bonded Group thanks to our god bonds.
It doesn't usually bother me this much.
When I finally breach the last row of houses and start making my way up the unoccupied hill towards my own house, I’m forced to admit how thankful I really am for the nepotism that’s provided me with space and privacy. Laying low here means not having to listen to neighbors thump around in their own space or have any worry about prying eyes catching glimpses of my Bonded through our curtains as they go for a morning stroll. It means we can finally breathe and, fuck, do I need that right now. All it takes is the garage door shutting firmly behind the ATV for a significant weight to lift from my shoulders.
Home, finally.
The house is quiet and thankfully decoration free, but I can feel my Bonded close by. Stopping to step out of my boots at the door, I stack them methodically into the shoe rack before stripping off my jacket and hanging that up neatly, as well. I don’t want to waste my night off listening to North bitch me out, or anyone else, so I stoop down to shove Gabe’s trainers into the rack as well. Muttering curses at him under my breath— when will he ever learn— I stalk into the kitchen, with very few plans beyond finding my Bonded and maybe a warm shower.
I don’t make it far.
Sitting on the kitchen table are bags from the mall back at Draven, each one labeled with a different member of the Bonded Group. Atlas and Gabe’s are empty, slightly crumpled up, while the Draven brothers and my own sit untouched. Oli’s has clearly been opened, but still has some of its contents.
It doesn't take a genius to work out their costumes for Kyrie’s party but it's the first reminder that hasn't had my frustrations boiling over. Instead, I'm intrigued.
Without bothering to glance at mine, I reach for Oli’s and find a stack of unopened packages. I don't know whether it was my sister making these decisions or North’s assistant but either way, every untouched outfit follows a single theme; raunchy.
There are no empty packages, or any sign of one missing, so I grab my favorites from the stack with a grin and make a beeline through the house to my Bonded’s room. There are a dozen new photos lining the hallway walls, the place starting to feel like a home rather than a half-furnished drop zone, and though most are recent shots of the Bonded Group and our close friends, there are a few older photos sitting innocuously amongst the rest.
When Oli had first asked me about hanging the one photo of my family I kept in my room back at the Draven mansion, I’d refused her. I felt sick to the stomach at the thought of my father staring down at us all, and though I still have a lot of confusing feelings around my parents Bonded Group, nothing will change the fact that he wanted my Bonded dead. He doesn't deserve any space within this house.
My Bonded accepted that without complaint, and instead she filled frames full of Gabe’s childhood photos, offered easily. Then North came back from a trip to the old Council offices with a box filled with his, and, by some miracle, a few of Nox as well, though all of them were taken after his mother’s death.
It was only after Oli put Atlas’ photos up, some with his sister and even one that included his mom, that I finally relented. Seeing the satisfaction on my Bonded’s face at filling this house with the real and the messy and the aching realities of the men she loves, made me love her even more. She didn't want any of us to hide here, not when we’re forced to guard our every expression outside these walls, and there’s no harm in accepting our pasts.
No one within the Bonded Group has any question of our true loyalties to Oli, or each other, though I still avoid looking at the photo if I can help it. Sometimes, I find Oli staring at it with a wistful expression that has my chest tightening.
When I discover Oli’s door slightly ajar, I push it open silently and find August and Brutus are unsurprisingly guarding the room. They’re both sitting obediently between my Bonded and the door, even as they watch her with the same fixation as the gods that command them, but the moment I step into view their void eyes flash as they both fixate on me. It doesn't matter that Oli is my Bonded, or that I’m a vessel for the Soothsayer just as the Dravens are, they still watch me as though they’re waiting for me to pose a danger to Oli so they can consume me whole.
Nothing about the events of the last year has a tamed either of them, not really, but my opinions of them both has certainly changed time and time again. Now, I'm happy to hear my Bonded coddle the two of them and shower them with all her affection.
Stepping fully into the room, I forget the shadow creatures entire existence the moment my gaze lands on my Bonded. Throat instantly dry, my fingers slacken and the bags slip from my hands to fall at my feet with a crunching plastic sound that echoes around the quiet room.
It's generic and so cliched, but no matter how many women I’ve seen in this costume, it’s never looked like this before.
The white dress is so short it might as well be a shirt and the perfect curve of her ass just barely peeks out from the bottom. Fuck, she’s either wearing a thong or is panty-free right now, but either way, no hospital in the country would employ a nurse looking like my Bonded right now.
Legs for miles, cherry red heels, I’ve always been infatuated by them but after so long of craving her, my knees go weak. I want those thighs squeezing around me, just as badly as I want her pussy gripping my cock.
I’m instantly obsessed, my dick throbbing, and the Soothsayer perks up in my chest for half a second before I shut it down. There isn't a force in the world that could tear me away from my Bonded tonight, and my conviction is so iron-clad that even my god bond backs down.
Oli glances over her shoulder at me, a coy smile lifting her cherry-red lips, and when she lifts her arms to adjust the small white cap she has pinned in her coifed hair, the hemline of the sinful dress lifts as well. I’m gifted the view of her entire ass, framed perfectly by the white silk thong she’s wearing, and my knees go weak.
“I know there's no way that I can wear it this short without stockings or tights, I just thought it would be fun to try it out—”
She breaks off as I stalk forward, ignoring the hard outline in my jeans even as it twitches the moment her own gaze drops down to it. I can’t utter a word, nothing coming to mind except the absolute truth I live my life by; mine.
She turns slowly to face me with a faltering look before her eyes follow the path of mine down to the buttons undone and revealing a sumptuous display of cleavage marked with a red heart and a white cross. “I’ll change— Bonded, let me just take this off and I can pick something else instead—“
My control snaps, dropping to my knees before her as I growl at her like a beast, instead of just a man pushed beyond his limits. “Don’t. Fucking. Move. Bonded.”
She gasps as one her hands shoots out to brace against the mirror, the sound quickly shifting into a moan as my hands grip her ass and yank her closer. With no length to the skirt, there’s no ducking underneath it, but who the fuck cares about semantics right now anyway? Not me, not while my Bonded lifts a perfectly creamy thigh to rest it against my shoulders and shifts the tiny triangle of white silk closer to my face like the good girl she is for me.
When I murmur this to her, a dozen praises rolling from my tongue with it, her head drops back on her shoulders. “I’ve missed you, Bonded. God, I need you, I’ve been so empty without you.”
Fuck.
That’s the sexiest, most intolerable thing she’s ever said to me.
The stream of words tumbling out of her ends on a gasp as I lean forward to press my face against the silk of her panties, another growl rumbling out of my chest at the scent of her desire already waiting there for me. The fabric is so thin I can feel the heat of her through it and when I swipe my tongue up the impression of her slit, she makes the most magnificent noises for me.
“Tell me who this pussy belongs to.”
Her eyes meet mine, liquid with her carnal urges. “You, Bonded.”
Hooking a finger around the edge of the silk and tugging to press the seaplane against her clit, I watch her every shaking reaction gluttonously. “Tell me who you want to fill you up, Bonded; tell me who you want to fuck you so good you’ll forget how empty you felt in the first place.”
Her hips jerk forward instinctively, my fingers bushing against her slick outer lips. I can feel the ripple of her pussy clenching and tightening as though she’s already imagining my cock driving into her, her wetness beginning to drip out of her as though her pussy is weeping for it.
“You, Bonded, I need you. Please, Gryphon, I need to come. Please, please, fuck, please—“
With another growl I finally break, yanking her hips towards my face with a rough jerk and wasting no time to get my tongue inside her sweet pussy. She lets out a long and pained moan, one hand digging into my hair as the leather tie snaps. I’ll never cut it off, not when she uses it as leverage to demand her pleasure from me as she writhes against my lips. Ripples of pleasure work their way down my spine with every tug, her moans growing desperate as I give her everything she could ever crave and more.
Using our Bonded connection, I speak directly to her while blocking out the others. Greedy Bonded, rubbing that perfect pussy up and down my face, all while dripping on my shirt. Is this what you planned when you picked out this outfit? Are you tending to my hunger for you, or just taking what you need?
Fuck, the rhythmic pulses of her orgasm are like heaven against my tongue as she lets out a sob, a groan tearing out of me as I look up at the mess I’m making of her. Her lips are bitten, her cheeks flushes, and the glazed look to her eyes is like a drug to me.
As she’s coming down from her orgasm, the first of a dozen I’m planning on giving her tonight, the front door slams shut and catches her attention. A shudder of anticipation quivers through her body, her thigh trembling against my shoulder, and the sigh that tumbles out from between her perfectly painted lips has my dick fucking throbbing in my jeans.
When she glances down at me, I only pull back far enough to murmur against her wet heat. “Lucky I’m good at sharing you, my Bonded, because you’re about to have two Bonded demanding your attention; North was leaving his office as I was.”
Whatever her response is, I miss it in favor of hiking her leg further up my shoulder to get a better angle to suck her clit, pleasure working its way down my spine at the firm tug she gives my hair with a squeal. I get a handful of her ass to help steady her, but it backfires immediately when I can’t help but draw her in closer, pulling and crushing her to me because it’s never enough. No matter how many times I taste her, lick her, suck her, fuck her, I’ve never had my fill and I’m desperate for more.
I’m lost in the taste of her and almost forget about North, but it’s the other Draven brother’s sharp drawl that cuts through Oli’s heady moans. “North’s meeting was derailed. He called me to dig him out of the mess but I was already on my way back here and I’m so glad I told him to fuck off.”
Instead of disappointment, Oli’s eyes turn liquid as she stares across the room at Nox, her pussy grinding against my mouth as she bites her lip and moans wantonly.
When her face brightens into a salacious grin as I hear clothing hit the carpet, it’s clear he’s joining us and not just throwing his petty victories over his brother around on his way. Boundaries have always been non-negotiable for Nox, and even now he’s clearly devoted to our shared Bond, nothing about that has changed.
With the taste of my Bonded’s cum still coating my tongue, I’m far more agreeable to Nox’s demands of Oli and I’m stretched out on the floor in front of her mirror in under a minute, enraptured by the sight of my Bonded lowering herself down onto my cock with a low moan. Bunching the dress up around her chest, she bites her lip and rocks her hips for a second as though savoring the feel of me before she rides me, setting a brutal pace that she’s clearly trying to kill me with.
Nox watches her for a minute, stroking himself as his gaze bounces over each of his favorite parts of her like he can’t pick where to look. The bouncing of her tits where they’re spilling out of the costume, her ass turning pink as I spank her with a stream of pure filth falling from my lips as encouragement, or her pussy lips stretched wide to accommodate every inch of my cock as she impales herself like she wants to be split in two. Rubbing the heat I’ve brought to her ass, I move to skim my fingers in the puddle growing between us before I use that wetness to rub her clit, groaning at the clenching of her pussy that I’m rewarded with.
For a while I think Nox only going to watch, or that maybe he’s going to wait me out and then fuck Oli when he can have her all to himself. She never pushes him on it, even when she’s desperate for him, or us all, but she never hides how badly she wants him either. I think she’s starting to crave his eyes taking her in just as much as she wants his hands on every inch of her skin.
On the edge of another orgasm my fingers draw out of her, it’s only when my Bonded gaze drops to Nox’s fist tight around his cock as he pumps it and her tongue swipes at her bottom lip that he finally makes up his mind and stalks forward to join us.
Swooping down to kiss me quickly, the little grin is back on her face, her sensual joy at having us both demands one from me in return. The press of her lips is way too short for my liking, and not enough tongue, but when she straightens up and wriggles to adjust her position on my hips, I’m caught off-guard and grunt as I grab at her hips to hold her still for a second, nowhere near ready for this to be over for me.
There’s something about sharing her with Nox that feels both different than the other’s and more intimate, probably because of the very particular way she submits to him. When his fingers dig into her hair and send some of her hair pins tumbling around us, a gasp tears from her lips, and he tugs her forward to claim her lips in a branding kiss far more explicit than the one she gave me. She moans and mewls into it, her hips jolting against my hold until finally I give in and let her get back into her rigorous efforts.
She doesn’t reach for him like she would with me, doesn’t move in his direction at all, only waits until he breaks away from her lips and uses his fistful of her hair to bend her down to take his cock down her throat in one stroke. She practically purrs, her nipples tightening even more and goose bumps erupting over her skin as she swallows around him.
Using the hold on her hips, I plant my feet against the carpet and begin to drive my cock up into her gushing pussy, intent on driving her to the edge of insanity with ecstasy. The sounds she makes are like a drug, muffled as Nox fucks her throat in long and eager strokes but still fucking incredible. The dark look in his eyes as he watches her take his demanding thrusts toes the line between love and hate, and all I can think is how very wrong Kyrie has it.
Nothing about Nox has been tamed.
When his hips begin to pump furiously, Oli’s pussy clenches around my cock as he grunts and tugs her further down his length. Holding her there, he comes with a roar and shoots down her throat, leaving her no option but to swallow, but when he tugs her head back and kisses her, there’s that soft look in her eyes, the one she has for him alone, that acceptance of all his broken edges and a decision to love all his most vicious parts.
I'm sure if it were anyone but his brother, North would be consumed with jealousy over that look but I’m not bothered by it at all. Not when all it takes is a firm grip of her hips to find the right angle, and with the next pump of my cock up into her perfect, tight, fucking gushing pussy she’s staring down at me with eyes that scream of worship. It’s a dark possession, the obsessive and consuming gluttony of her god bond but the Eternal is sleeping and every inch of the fire burning in my Bonded’s endlessly azure eyes is her devotion to me.
This look is mine.
With a scream that tears out of her throat, my Bonded comes around my cock again, her hips grinding down to meet my thrusts. I get a grip of her throat with one hand, tugging her lips down to meet mine so I can taste her pleasure as I follow her over the edge. My hips rock absently, drawing my orgasm out for as long as I can until our kiss has devolved into panting and moans.
When Oli finally moves to climb off me, my grip tightens on her hips again, so hard I might be bruising her, but despite the spike of guilt that stabs viciously at me, my fingers refuse to ease up.
I can't bear to lose this connection with her right now, can’t bear to let her go even if she’s lying next to me— I can’t lose her.
I didn't realize how taxing my work has been, or how little time I’ve allowed myself to process all of the events of the last few years. It's only now that the hours I’m pulling are getting in the way of life I fought so hard for with my Bonded, that I’m being forced to acknowledge this brutal truth.
Life goes on.
A comfort to many, I’m consumed by those words; awake and totally aware as they eat me alive. Life was supposed to be perfect after. We fought so hard and lost so many, but after it would be better— no, it would be perfect. How could it not be, when the cost was so high for so many Gifted within our community?
No amount of rigorous training or routinely scheduled therapy could fix that, nor could sharing the weight of my fears with the rest of my Bonded Group. Not even the whispered confessions to my Bonded in the darkest hours of the night, when she wakes up shaking or I do, none of it has been able to give us the Utopian life we promised would be on the other side of those horrors.
Worse still, nothing can wipe away the trauma of watching my Bonded cling to the edge of death, more times than I’ll ever allow myself to linger on.
Glancing down at me, I'm not sure how much of that chaos my Bonded sees and recognizes for what it is, but she doesn’t protest. Instead, she lays back down with a little sigh until she’s draped over my chest. My cock twitches at the sound, still buried in her wet heat, and it hadn’t really softened all that much.
“So I take it you both have a thing for nurses? Should I switch out my classes and finally pick my major?”
My fingers finally ease up their death grip on her hips, one of my hands sliding around to cup the perfect curve of her ass while the other smooths down her spine. "I have a thing for this— all of this— and I’ll spread you out no matter what you dress it up in.”
She huffs and pouts at me playfully, her head tilting so she can press her lips softly against mine, before Nox distracts her as he rolls out of the other side of the bed.
“North ordered all of us costumes for Kyrie’s Halloween party, they're all out on the dining table. He even labelled each of them so there’s no mix ups.”
There's a little bit of teasing in her voice, a new development in their dynamic, but Nox only gives her a curt look over his shoulder. “I’m not going.”
She doesn't pout or whine, no wheedling or bargaining like Kyrie suggested. There's nothing in my Bonded’s eyes but acceptance and the languid satisfaction we’ve drawn out of her.
“That’s fine, you’ve just been busy with the university build and I’ve been caught up figuring out my classes, so I’ve been missing you. Can I… sleep in your bed tonight, maybe?”
“You can sleep wherever you want, Oleander."
She waits until the bathroom door shuts behind him before she allows herself a soft smile, settling back down on my chest until her cheek is pressed over my heart. The way Nox speaks to our Bonded can sometimes sound hurtful or disrespectful, but I learned early on that her reactions are the only true way to gauge the interactions.
The Soul Bonding is a powerful, and fucking confusing, thing.
After a blissful moment of enjoying the weight of her on my chest, Oli lifts her head again to smile down at me, my heart stuttering in my chest in awe of her beauty. “Are you going to come to the party with me, Bonded? It's okay if you're too tired, I know you've been out on all week. Gabe and Atlas are already in their costumes and are helping Kyrie setup down at the Community Hall, so I won't be alone while North is held up if you want to sleep instead.”
No matter how fatigued I am, nothing could stop me from spending the night glued to my Bonded side. I’m determined not to go so long without her ever again, never to let myself slip so far into misery in her absence. I’m feeling very Draven about her right now, jealous and possessive, and I need to be with her.
Especially if she intends on salvaging what's left of that nurse costume.
“If you're sleeping in Nox's room tonight, I’m claiming all of your time until then. Hopefully, the costume North picked out for me isn’t shameful because I'm going to glue myself to your side so you’ll be just as embarrassed as I am by his petty games.”
She chuckles, her nose scrunching up a little, and when my hips shift despite myself again in response, it turns into a gasp. “We’re on a bit of a time crunch here, Bonded.”
I murmur along agreeably, all while thrusting into her, and when she sits up, I’m rewarded by the sight of her tits bouncing perfectly with every thrust. “Factoring in fixing my costume… separate showers… because sharing will only cause more trouble, and—shit… blow drying my hair so it doesn’t look like.. I’ve just had the life railed out of me… we only have twenty minutes… if we want to… get to the party on time.”
“Fuck the party,” North’s voice cuts through the room, soaked with fury and desperate need.
Oli startles, her pussy tightening on my cock like a fucking vise and it’s game over for the Halloween party. Surging upwards, I flip her onto her back and pound into her, the scream she gives me pulled straight out of my wildest dreams.
Better luck next year, Kyrie.