Page 66 of Soren

“He hadyou,” Soren said, trying not to get ahead of himself.

“What?”

“He lost your dad, yes. But he still had you. Taking care of him. Holding it together. He had stability because he had you.”

Gabe tensed. “Jesus, brat. You can’t say stuff like that.”

“Why not?”

“I think I’m in danger of…liking you? Like, a lot. You were supposed to be a monster. A manipulative, demonic creature.”

Soren laughed. “Is that what you told yourself I was?”

“For a while there, yes.”

Soren looked up, catching Gabe’s eye. “I’m not a good person though. You know that, right? I’m selfish. Vain. Petty.”

Gabe smirked down at him. “You’re the one who just told me nobody’s perfect. And you’re good to me. And to Roman. Danny. Jay, even. You’re not as bad as you think.”

“Idiot,” Soren grumbled.

“Your idiot,” Gabe answered, holding him close.

sixteen

Gabe

Gabejerkedawaketothe sound of his alarm blaring. There was a weight on his chest keeping him from sitting up, so he reached out blindly with one hand, grabbing his phone and turning off the hateful sound.

He tilted his chin, looking down at the blond head tucked underneath it. He inhaled Soren’s comforting scent, sneezing when the vampire’s hairs tickled his nose.

“Christ,” Soren said, his voice muffled by Gabe’s chest. “First your obnoxious alarm, then you sneezing on my head. Terrible way to wake up.”

Gabe rubbed his still-itchy nose more firmly against Soren’s hair. “Too bad.”

Gabe thought it was a great way to wake up. Soren may not have needed the same amount of sleep as he did, but the blond vampire had gotten into the habit of staying in bed with him anyway, either reading or crocheting to pass the time, usually catching sleep for the last few hours before Gabe had to be awake himself.

Gabe sighed happily and ran a hand along the strip of bare skin between Soren’s pajama shirt and pants, the skin just as soft, smooth, and cool as the silk itself.

Wait.

He removed his hand, placing it over Soren’s forehead instead. “Hey,” Soren protested. “What are you doing?”

Gabe frowned down at the vampire. “You need to feed,” he accused. “You should have told me.”

“You weren’t exactly in the best of moods last night, Highness. I could wait.”

“Don’t,” Gabe said firmly. “Tell me next time.”

“Fine, fine,” Soren grumbled. “Do we even have time?” He lifted his head to glance at Gabe’s phone.

“Yeah. I set my alarm a little early.” Gabe didn’t feel the need to share the fact that he’d been setting his alarm earlier every day to sneak extra time with Soren before his shifts.

“All right.” Soren stretched languidly, reminding Gabe once again of a contented house cat. The next moment, Gabe’s breath left him in a huff as Soren abruptly flipped him onto his back, straddling him smoothly in the same movement.

“I want your neck again,” Soren demanded, pale eyes glinting.

“Yeah, um.” Gabe tried to focus on Soren, and not on the way that statement made his cock swell, for some reason. “Where else would you do it?”

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