Page 59 of Soren

Useless. He was useless.

“Highness?”

Gabe turned to find Soren standing in the doorway, a towel slung low around his hips. The vampire had rinsed off in the master bathroom shower, trying to get the rest of the blood off before their bath. He was so beautiful, even with the painful sight of his mangled shoulder on full display.

That shoulder. Gabe eyed the wound critically. It looked like it had already healed substantially in the short time Soren had been showering. There was shiny pink skin around the edges that should have taken days or even a week to grow naturally.

Gabe might not know how Soren’s vampire healing worked, but Soren was right—a vampire body was substantially less fragile than a human one.

He watched as Soren stepped gracefully into the bathroom, gliding over to where Gabe was seated on the edge of the tub. As soon as the vampire was in reach, Gabe wrapped his arms around his slender hips, burying his face in the soft pale skin of Soren’s stomach.

He sighed in contentment as Soren began brushing his fingers through his curls. The knot in Gabe’s stomach was slowly dissolving. But still…

“You’re shaking, Highness. What’s wrong?”

Gabe lifted his head, gazing up into pale-blue eyes. “What do you mean, what’s wrong? Hehurtyou.”

“Ah.” Soren continued his soft stroking. “That upsets you. I didn’t realize you…cared…quite this much.” He hesitated over his words. A rare thing for Gabe’s bratty vampire.

Gabe ducked his head again, trusting Soren to decipher his muffled response. “I’ve maybe grown used to you or something.”

Soren chuckled, but after a moment, the movement of his hand stopped. “You know,”—his voice came out harder than before—“I’m no damsel. I was hurt. I’ll recover. For once, I gave as good as I got.”

“Someone can care about you—be upset when you’re hurt—without automatically thinking you’re helpless,” Gabe protested, looking up again.

Soren hummed noncommittally. Gabe wasn’t sure he was convinced. “Anyway,” Soren mused. “I’m hoping he got the message. I’m not his toy anymore.”

“I feeluseless,” Gabe blurted out.

It was horrifying to say it aloud.

Soren tugged at one of his curls, tsking softly. “You’re not,” he reassured Gabe. “You think I let just anyone in? You think I’d stay in this stupid fucking town for anyone else?”

Gabe swallowed hard. “Whydidyou? Stay, I mean. Why didn’t you run this time? I don’t mean now, I mean…this whole year. Why did you stay?”

Soren smirked down at him. “You really want me to say it out loud?”

Gabe nodded, his chin brushing against the vampire’s soft stomach.

“Let’s just say…maybe you’re not as boring as I first thought,” Soren teased.

Gabe grinned. “You never really thought I was boring though, did you?”

Soren gave him a light tap on the head. “Stop being insightful. And definitely don’t go spreading that around. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”

Gabe tightened his arms around Soren’s hips, relief making him feel almost light-headed. Maybe this was something real after all. Something for the long haul. In which case, Gabe had some serious thinking about mortality versus immortality to do…

Soren took his hand off Gabe’s head, stepping out of his hold. “Get naked, Highness. The water’s going to get cold, and I want to soak.”

Gabe stripped hastily, stepping into the warm tub, watching with delight as Soren undid his towel and followed him in. Gabe immediately wrapped his arms back around the vampire as soon as he was seated, Soren’s back to his front. He sighed contentedly. It wasn’t exactly how he had envisioned the morning going, but he was happy enough to have gotten Soren in his lap in the end.

Soren matched his sigh, leaning more fully against Gabe’s chest. Gabe’s eyes started closing without his permission. It was just so…nice. He was pretty sure he could fall asleep just like this.

“Loofah me.”

“Excuse me?” Gabe opened his eyes with a start.

“Loofah me,” Soren commanded a second time, raising his hand. He held a baby-blue loofah with some sort of bath gel covering it. Gabe didn’t even know where it had come from.

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