Eternal Beasts

Backing Off the Edge

Not waiting for her to answer, he grabbed his towel and stepped out of the door. Judging by the smoldering energy he was getting over the bond, he went up a couple floors before going into that communal shower, knowing Samantha had no intention of staying put. While they were bonded, it was a symbiotic relationship, not master-slave. He couldn't 'order' her to stay, only suggest and hope that she respected that. And, going by that energy he felt emanating from her, she wouldn't be respecting his request to stay in the room any time soon. In fact, he was surprised he managed to get to the staircase without her being right behind him.

Pulling off his clothes, he stepped into a shower stall and hit 'cold'. As the icy water sluiced over his body, he put his hands against the wall and leaned forward enough for it to cascade down his back, eyes closed.

Yup, there she was, moving down the hallway towards the communal shower on their floor, now completely naked, definitely intent on finding him and finishing what he had started.

- If you want to stay hidden from your griffon, you need to mask the bond, boy, - the book unexpectedly said into his mind. Without moving, Jared replied.

- Agreed. But how do I do that, book? Your pages are filled with volumes of information about Ethaeron, her people, and her cultures. But little on Eternal Beasts. -

- You've done it before, - the book pointed out. - Automatically, actually, when you didn't want Samantha to feel what you were feeling when you and Nikeera reconciled. -

- No shit! Huh. -

Jared quickly replayed the scene in his mind, a trick he had picked up from his time in the necromancer's torture hole. Ah! There it was, a simple folding in his mind of the output over the bond. Frowning, he focused on duplicating the relatively easy exercise. And smiled when he felt Samantha stagger to a halt, suddenly confused.

- She can't do that to me, can she? - he asked.

- Not that I'm aware of, - the book replied. - Ironic, really, since it's an extension of her magic that allows you, her rider, to do so. I suspect it's a privacy mode of sorts. For when a rider wants to keep their thoughts to themselves for whatever reason. -

- Nice. But damn, is she going to be pissed when I get back to the room! - Jared observed, feeling his blood finally cooling to the point that his passion was ebbing.

- No doubt. But we both know it had to happen. All three of you were perilously close to the edge. Well done on removing yourself from the situation before it exploded. -

- I'm not sure I should say thanks because damn, I was very into what was happening! - Jared confessed. - It was survival mode that got me out of there before we ran the risk of damaging the ritual's magic by our premature intimacy. -

- Not many men would've been able to extract themselves at that point, - the book pointed out. - You demonstrate your growing maturity by doing so. -

- Huh. Don't be so quick to pat me on the back, book. Night's still young! - Jared wryly reminded the ancient entity. - Still plenty of time to screw things up! Literally! -

Samantha was waiting outside of his dorm when he came out of the staircase and walked towards it. The griffon was leaning shoulder against the wall, her arms folded beneath her breasts which were, thankfully, covered once more by her t-shirt, her golden eyes staring at him as he approached, her expression tight with anger.

"You used magic to hide from me," she hissed tautly, pushing away from the wall to look accusingly at him.

"Of course I did," Jared said, brow lifted as he stopped in front of her. "I knew you weren't going to stay in the room. You stripped off and came looking for me, intent on finishing what we had started in bed."