Page 581 of The Bonding Games: Part 1

Cooper’s brown eyes slit.

Here we fucking go.

“No, I haven’t tasted our girl. I guess I just thought . . .” His flush expands to his hairline and paints his ears. I really didn’t know he could get flustered like this. “I thought that’s what she might taste like? Or just . . . is like in general? You know, like . . . spicy and fiery, but also sweet-tasting . . . ?” By the end of his explanation, his voice has completely lost momentum, almost a whisper, and he glowers at the floor like it’s the taalk’s fault he was put in this position.

“You’ve been fantasising about my girl?”

“Uh, nope! Nope, nope, nope. Nopedidy nope! Fuck no! We’re not going back to this!” Tate stops in his tracks where he’d been about to beat Cooper to death, head whipping my brother’s way as he continues vehemently, “She’s ours, remember? And that doesn’t make her any less yours. You can still have your special moments with her, and by the sounds of it, you did! Please share more on that! I’m very interested!”

It works like a charm, and I want to pat Tiger on the back for such an excellent job well done: Tate’s expression immediately smooths back out into that dreamy, longing expression as he sighs, “She’s everything. She’s so fucking gorgeous, and I just want to unpick her pretty little mind and discover everything, make a home in there, too.” He places a hand on his chest. “Fuck, my heart was pounding even more aggressively than my cock.” I knew that appendage would be mentioned somewhere. “Like proper ba-boom, ya know?” We all nod sagely. “And I was so close to her, and she was so close to me, and her skin was on mine, and my skin was on hers . . .” His grey eyes darken to black pools in an instant. “And then I was fucking her dry against the wall. Right into that swollen little pussy of hers.”

Alby squeaks, face the colour of a skilled Exot’s Avri.

My cock has risen to full attention as I imagine the scene and how Ezla would’ve looked so stunning receiving that pleasure, and I subtly shift to try to hide the greedy thing.

“And . . . you’re sure this wasn’t a dream or . . . anything?” To his credit, Cooper tries to be more tactful with his words this time. But Tate’s face hardens, and he glances around at all of us, almost . . . hurt.

“I know you guys might not believe this, but I’m really not insane. At least, not like that. I don’t have hallucinations or shit like that. I might be a little fucked in the head, but I don’t . . . I know what’s real . . . I know what’s right in front of me and what’s not. She’s . . . Havoc was here.”

My features soften, and guilt at my earlier thoughts twinges inside of me. Heading over, I pull him into a short hug and give him an apologetic slap on the back, and he stiffens in surprise. “Sorry, man. That was shitty of us. We know—she was here. We believe you.” Glancing over at Cooper, he nods resolutely, and I sigh in relief.

When I move back to give him room, Tate’s gaze roams over us all with something raw in it, and he clears his throat, voice coming out even deeper than normal as he says, “That . . . Thank you.” And although I honestly do believe he doesn’t care about his briefly mentioned parents, I think something might have just healed marginally in him that he himself may not have known was fractured because of them.

***

Training went by as usual that day, with us back in the Ground Training room working on landing on Ezla’s Avri jet to prepare for Game 4. I’m pretty happy with the progress we’re making.

However, I am not happy that my Bonded fired a goddamn missile at me to “make me feel how I would in the actual Game and act without letting the panic take over”.

Luckily, I jumped in time to remain in one piece and my Avri sucked back into the pads on my boots before it could be blown to smithereens and take forever to reload. But still, that was just fucking obscene, and it’s extremely concerning to wonder why on earth her training methods are so dangerous. Who taught her? It’s never been disclosed which school she came from, and not even the other Exots seem to know, so I’ve considered it likely she might’ve been homeschooled with a private instructor.

It’s early morning now as I walk into the dining room— And still immediately at the sight of an unmasked Ezla sat in one of the chairs at the table.

My throat works. “Love.”

“Love?! Ezzy’s here, everyone!” Tiger bellows from across our Bonded chambers.

What the fuck? Has my brother now got supersonic hearing?

The pounding of feet has me moving to the side to give the other Evots space before I get trampled on, and then Tiger’s there, the rest of my new brothers behind him, his Avri suit only half on so his bare chest is on full display.

I’m sure Ezla is thrilled.

Except when I look back at our Bonded, I find my sarcasm may be unfounded as her eyes trail over his naked skin, even if her face is as unfeeling as always. I scrutinise her, but I can’t be overly sure what she’s thinking, and it irritates me when I can normally read everyone so easily, and yet the one person I want to uncover the most doesn’t give me anything to work with.

Tiger clearly interprets her look very positively as his entire being lights up with the force of the Sun, and he lifts an arm and flexes his bicep, then kisses it. “Yeah, Ezzy, look at me. You can have all this, Nightshade—just say the word.”

Her expression remains blank.

My brother doesn’t care. “Would you like to see more?” He spins around before she can answer, Alby inching past him discreetly, drawing more attention than he bargained for when Ezla’s mismatched stare shifts from my brother to track his hunched form across the room. Tiger flexes his back muscles, oblivious to her wandering attention. “See, look at that slab of meat.” Slab of meat? Does he want her to objectify him or what? Is that the goal here? “Want you to use me.” That answers that. “But at the end of the day, I’ll know you really love me when I wear your nail marks on my back to show everyone who I belong to.”

Ezla’s eyes have found him again, and when he turns back around, she says evenly, though I could swear there’s a hint of something sharp there, “If you were mine, I would not want you flaunting your naked top half to other women.”

My brother blinks. Then a slow grin curves his lips. “Oooooh . . . Wifey, that was so sexy and possessive.”

“Agreed,” Tate grunts, striding over to our Bonded before dumping his large body in the seat beside hers. His eyelids fall closed as he leans closer to her neck to get a whiff of her scent. “Fucking delicious.”

Mismatched eyes slide to him and glare with the malevolence of a creature of hell.