Soren (Vampire's Mate, #2)

by Grae Bryan

That the world he’d fought his whole life to make sense of didn’t come close to what he’d imagined it to be.

“That’s what you smell like. Like if the sea met a pine forest. And, um…cold. I don’t know how a person can smell cold, but you do.”

Soren chose not to answer himself. He and his brain weren’t on speaking terms anymore.

Soren still giggled at Gabe’s comment. The sound was bright and melodic. Like a little bell.

It was a heady thing, having this big, strong man at his mercy.

“It is. But because she’s sick, because of the responsibility you feel toward your brother, you’re ashamed of that anger. You try to bottle it up, to guilt yourself out of it. But that’s no way to heal. All it does is allow things to fester. You can be angry and still love your mom. You can hate seeing her like this, hate that she’s forgotten you, and still do right by her. You’re not a bad person.”

Gabe had been so grateful that here was an adult, someone competent and capable and in charge.

He was drowning, and Soren was both the water and the life raft.

had never exactly been Gabe’s thing, and he wouldn’t have called himself a cuddler before. But touching Soren was a world apart from touching anyone else. It just was.

but Gabe could be gentle, if he needed to be. He could be gentle for Soren.

“Someone can care about you—be upset when you’re hurt—without automatically thinking you’re helpless,”

Because we’re together, right? Because this is long-term. Because you want to keep me? You think we’re meant to be?

And there was strength there—that was for sure—more than Soren had given him credit for. How else could Jay have survived that hellhole and still come out chock-full of sweetness?

So maybe Gabe should stop reaching for a normal life that didn’t even really exist and accept the one he’d fallen into, fangs and all.

For making Gabe feel like life was full of more possibility than he’d let himself believe.

sadness so deep Soren wondered if maybe somehow he was bleeding internally.

He couldn’t stop life from changing. He clearly couldn’t keep bad things from happening. But he could choose what in life he wanted to focus on. He could choose what to strive for rather than against.

Gabe could accept magic in his life, if Soren came with it.

For what possible purpose,