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Ben came a moment later, with a series of quick, hard strokes. He gave out a soft, long, low groan and ground his hips against me. He thrust a few more times before exhaling out his nose and sagging down beside me.
A moment later I became aware of his feelings. Relief, pleasure and a deeper sense of love than I expected.
He picked up his head and we blinked at each other for a while before he smiled. "This is… Different."
I snorted. "Welcome to my fucked up feelings."
"Not fucked up," he said firmly, but gently. "Intense, but beautiful. Just like the outside you."
I didn't even see Dagen coming until two of his assholes grabbed Ben's arms and pulled him away from me. Another one drove his fist into Ben’s stomach.
I gasped, unable to contain the surprise of not only the assault, but the way I felt Ben's pain through the bond. Fuck, that asshole could hit hard.
Dagen nodded, satisfied. "Okay, let him go." He gave me a smarmy smile. "I had to be sure."
I tugged my skirt down. "You could have just asked."
"Would you have told me the truth?" he asked.
"Considering the choice was to be fucked by you, then yes, I would have," I said coldly. "The bonding stone did its shit." I pulled the cord from around my neck and tossed the stone to the floor. I got to my feet and straightened my clothes. My heart was racing like crazy. I had, of course, considered the possibility that having Ben bond me was an experiment. Dagen wanted to know for sure that it was possible before he bonded me.
I waited for him to make a move towards me, but he didn't. Instead, he scooped up the bonding stone and put it back in his pocket.
"Enjoy your bond. We'll put it to a little test later." He gave me a smile before he swept out of the room, followed by his goons.
"Any guesses as to exactly how many screws he has loose?" I waited until the door was locked before I turned back to Ben.
He stood leaning forward, his hands on his stomach, a grimace on his face. When he saw me looking, he straightened up and schooled his expression back to calm.
I wasn't fooled for a moment, but I let him keep his dignity. He deserved that and more.
"My guess is at least twenty-seven," I said.
Ben smiled and sat back down on the couch. "My guess would be thirty-two. With at least another three or four missing."
"At least," I agreed. "Are you okay?" I sat down beside him.
He put an arm around me to draw me closer. "I'm alone with the most beautiful woman in the world, with a bond to her no one else has, not even Jake. This should be pretty fucking perfect."
"That's a whole lot of irony for a Sunday," I said. I cocked my head. "It is Sunday, isn't it?"
Ben shrugged. "I have no idea. It feels like a Sunday.”
"In that case, I dread to think what Monday might bring. You know whatever he has planned is going to be shitty. For some reason he didn't want to form a bond with me. Probably because I'm too amazing for him, and also I would know all his plans. Or have a better idea of them anyway. He said the magic wears off in a couple of hours, so he won't touch me until then. After that…"
"I hate magic," Ben said. "But if it keeps him away from you, then I hope it lasts for a long time. You know this bond will, don't you? As far as I know, it will last until one of us is dead."
"I would much rather be bonded to you for the rest of my life, than bonded to Dagen for even five minutes." The idea made my stomach twist. I didn't want him to touch me in the first place, but add a bond to that, it was pretty much worst nightmare material. Although, if there was anything I'd learnt from Dagen, it was that my idea of a worst nightmare wasn't as bad as anything he could think up.
"I would also prefer to be bonded to you than him," Ben said. "For a moment there I thought he was suggesting that. That he or one of his men…"
I looked at Ben in horror. "Gods, don't give him any ideas."The idea of being raped was bad enough. The thought of watching and feeling while someone raped Ben was enough to push my sanity down half a notch. I wasn't sure I could handle having that happen to someone I cared about. And I cared about Ben deeply. More and more as the days went on. It wasn't just the forced proximity, or his calming presence. I saw sides to him I hadn't known were there before. And I liked it. And for some reason, he liked me in spite of the fact everything he was going through was because of me.
"It's not on my wish list," he said. He kissed my forehead. "I can think of a few other things to wish for."
"Freedom," I said. "Bacon that's cooked properly. Some decent cheese. The jellybeans we never got to eat."
"A big, juicy hamburger," he added to the list. "The kind with beetroot on it."
