Page 50 of Tangled Fates

He looked at our hands, when a wave of melancholy and longing hit me.

“We’ve never really been apart and those days of not knowing if he was dead or alive, really fucked with my head,” he said, intertwining our fingers. “But what really scared me, was you.”

“Me?” I was confused.

“Yes, with your double wielding frying pan abilities,” he smirked, making me laugh. “Gray has never looked at a woman like he looks at you.”

“That’s why you hate me?” I was in disbelief.

“I thought you must have done something to have him so smitten with you, where he was fighting against me,” he said quickly. “There's a lot of things you could have done with him here, but now I know that’s not it.”

“That makes no sense,” I said. “But why the sudden change of mind?”

Soren let go of my hand taking a deep breath.

“Amor Aeternus,” he whispered.

Eternal love?

“It’s rare for vampires to have mates, but it's not unheard of,” he explained. “I think that’s what you are to us. You smell like mine, like ours and I pushed that thought away, hating that I wanted you even though I was dead set on you being the bad guy.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you believe me now,” I said, feeling the truth in his words, even though he still scared me and made me wary.

“When Demetri was saying all those things about you, it snapped something in me, like I failed you,” he said, looking up at me with those vibrant green eyes. “I know I shouldn’t have killed him but the things he said about you, I couldn’t tolerate him speaking about my mate. Killing him that easily was a blessing for him.”

I didn’t know what to say or how to feel about this.

“You don’t have to feel or say anything about this now, but I wanted to speak with you and let you know that as your mate I would do anything and everything to protect you from whoever has held you captive here against your will. I am yours, Blondie.”

He didn’t wait for an answer before kissing my palm, sending tingles up my arm. I didn’t think about it, but I slid my hand along his cheek and neck pulling him in for a kiss. It was simple, soft but igniting a response in me that made me want to bring him into my bed. I deepened the kiss as his tongue brushed against my own.

The kiss ended too soon.

“Blondie,” he said, as if he was in pain. “Don’t tempt me because if we do anything more, I don’t trust myself to not make you mine and as much as I know you are mine, I want you to choose me.”

His words made me choke up. He kissed me softly again before standing up and leaving the room.

“Calm down.” Soren’s voice was barely audible as Loki came into my room.

I stared at the door, processing how I felt about this and immediately wondering if what he said about Gray was true?

“Sunshine?”

A soft touch caressed my face as my eyes fluttered open.

“Hey, beautiful.”

Gray’s face came into focus while I rubbed my eyes.

“Hi,” I said shyly, wondering when I had laid down to nap.

“Are you ok?” He studied me with concern on his gorgeous face.

Everything that Soren and I had discussed came back to me, making my abdomen flutter with butterflies.

“I think so,” I said, still reeling from earlier.

“I know Soren asked you already.” He took a deep breath. “Did they physically hurt you? Did they force?—”

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