Page 64 of Soren

Now Soren kicked his heels against the bottom of the kitchen counter he was perched on, watching Jay fiddle around on the stove, his human sulking at the opposite counter. Soren would ask Gabe again when they were alone. If Gabe thought he could keep all his feelings inside, he was vastly underestimating Soren’s ability to pester them out of him.

Jay sang to himself at the stove, completely oblivious to Gabe’s mini temper tantrum. The other vampire had taken the news that Soren and Gabe had been ordering in for most of their meals as an invitation to try out cooking for the first time. Soren hadn’t had the heart to tell him that Gabe mostly stuck with boring toast after a night shift, especially after Jay had begged him to help look up online recipes for omelets, of all things.

“Okay,” Jay said cheerily. “I think they’re ready.”

Soren glanced down at the barely recognizable blobs on the pan. At the moment, he was feeling immeasurably pleased he didn’t have to consume human food for survival.

They ate at the kitchen counters. Or at least, they tried to. Jay’s omelets were somehow both burned on the outside and runny on the inside. A masterful culinary feat, in Soren’s opinion.

He watched in fascination as Jay took a bite of his own food. After a hard swallow, Jay shot Soren a concerned look. “Humanslikethese?” the vampire asked.

“Well, notthese,” Soren answered, fighting to keep a straight face.

“Don’t tease him.” Gabe finally broke his silence to defend Soren’s friend. “These were great, Jay.”

“But you only ate your toast?” Jay questioned.

“Um…” Gabe clearly didn’t have an answer for that.

“He’ll never learn if you lie to him,” Soren admonished. “The omelets were terrible.” He took one look at the crestfallen look on Jay’s face and sighed. “But the effort was sweet. Thank you.”

Jay flushed, nodding. “I’ll learn. I can be useful, I promise.”

“You don’t need to beuseful,” Soren told him.

“But I can be,” Jay insisted.

Christ. Whatever. Jay had spent the vast majority of his long years of existence in servitude to another. It wasn’t a habit Soren was going to break overnight.

He sighed, tugging Gabe up from his spot at the counter. “Thanks for the meal, Jaybird. Time to get cranky pants to bed.”

Gabe frowned ferociously at him. “I’m not a cranky pants.”

Soren patted Gabe’s back soothingly, herding his human up the stairs. “Sure you’re not.”

They changed into their pajamas, Gabe giving Soren the silent treatment the whole time. Well, Soren changed into his silk set. Gabe just undressed down to his boxer briefs, his preferred sleeping outfit.

Soren had no complaints.

Settling into bed, for once, Gabe didn’t immediately pull Soren into his arms. The human was clearly tangled up in his own head. Soren smirked to himself. It had been so long since he’d dealt with brusque, standoffish Gabe. It made Soren feel almost nostalgic.

“How are you doing over there, Highness?” he asked.

Gabe grunted in response.

Soren patted at the space between them on the bed. “It’s just so lonely all the way over here, all by myself,” he teased.

Gabe gave him an impressively bitchy side-eye. “You don’t evenlikecuddling,” he grumbled.

Soren shrugged. “Maybe not usually. I don’t mind it with you though.”

Gabe gave him an inscrutable look. “And why is that, do you think?” he asked.

“How about you tell me all about what bug crawled up your ass,thenI’ll share about my precious feelings?” Soren offered.

That response had Gabe sulking, but after a minute, he lifted an arm, a clear invitation for Soren to come closer. Soren sidled in, tucking himself easily against Gabe’s chest. The tension in the human’s larger frame eased substantially.

But Soren didn’t think his touch was the only reason Gabe had beckoned him closer; at this angle, his human could share without them having to look each other in the eye. Fine by Soren, if it got Gabe to talk.

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