Page 80 of Soren

“I would have killed him for you,” Gabe offered lamely.

Soren arched a blond brow at him. “Upset I did it myself?”

Gabe’s mate was feeling prickly. Defensive. Gabe could hear it in his words and also…feelit. A current of emotions running from Soren to Gabe. It was hard to pick everything out—Gabe was barely used to labeling hisownemotions, let alone someone else’s—but little bits of clarity came through.

Guilt. Apprehension.Hope.

Gabe fought to find words, wrestling with his very human concern and his new, less-than-human instincts. “No, I didn’t— I don’t—” He stopped, unable to finish the thought. He found there was only one thing to ask. “Can I hold you?”

Soren’s face softened, almost imperceptibly, as he nodded, setting the gas can onto the ground. Gabe rushed forward, wrapping Soren up in his arms, tucking his vampire’s head under his chin.

Fuck. That was so much better.

They should just…always be touching. The knots in Gabe’s stomach untied themselves. The beast inside him settled. He breathed in deeply, inhaling Soren’s clean, cold scent.

Soren was stiff at first, unyielding. But slowly the tension in his body eased. After a long moment without speaking, all of Gabe’s attention on the feel of the small, warm body in his arms, Soren giggled—that familiar, delightful sound. “You, uh, really like touching me, don’t you, Highness? I can feel it.”

“What?” Gabe asked, confused. He wasn’t hard. He’d been too keyed up to feel anything but relief to have Soren in his arms again.

Soren giggled again. So lovely. “Inside,” he clarified. “I can it feel through the bond.”

“Oh. Well…” Gabe was glad Soren couldn’t see his blush from his position under his chin. Gabe had just been learning to share his feelings, and now he didn’t even have to. Soren would be able to sense them, whether Gabe intended him to or not. Gabe found he didn’t mind it nearly as much as he might have in the past. He couldn’t think of anyone else he’d want inside his brain like that, but Soren…

Soren was different.

“I was supposed to tell you love stuff,” Gabe found himself blurting out.

“Love stuff?” Gabe couldn’t see Soren’s face, but a rush of fond amusement came through the bond.

“Yeah…like…I love you?” It was easier than he would have thought to say the words with Soren in his arms, keeping him grounded, but it still came out like a question.

Something stronger than fondness leaked through the bond this time. Gabe cherished the feeling. Soren rubbed his head into Gabe’s chest, speaking his next words into Gabe’s shirt. “You turned for me.”

“Yes,” Gabe answered simply.

“I killed him.” There was no regret in Soren’s voice, or through the bond. A statement of fact only. A request for understanding.

Gabe responded with equal frankness. “I know. I can smell the burning.”

Soren sighed, his breath warm against Gabe’s collarbone. “It wasn’t very nice of me.”

Gabe hugged his vampire tighter. “You did what you had to do to protect yourself.”

“I think I felt you,” Soren said, turning his head to the side so his words came out clearer. “My anger at Hendrick, it was like—like it multiplied. Intensified. I think that must have been when you turned.”

“Mm.” Gabe had definitely been angry, to say the least. Had wanted to gut Soren’s stalker like a fish. He’d never known he could feel rage like that before.

“You and I could be very dangerous together,” Soren said, pressing a kiss to Gabe’s chest.

Gabe wasn’t sure he cared. If it was evil assholes like Hendrick that took the brunt of their combined anger, he could live with that. Easily. “I guess we should hope no one pisses us off, then,” he said mildly.

Soren hummed in acknowledgment.

They ended up burning the whole damn cabin down to the ground. It was strangely satisfying, watching it all go aflame. Maybe Gabe had the makings of an arsonist.

They sat in silence together on the forest floor, within view of the flaming building but a healthy distance from the heat, until it was nothing but smoldering ashes.

Gabe, lost in thought, startled when he felt Soren’s delicate hand curl into his. Huh. It was usually Gabe initiating the hand-holding.

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