“Why not?”
“Just didn’t sound like a ton of fun being out on the water by myself. Hey, we should do that sometime. You and me.”
I smile so hard it hurts. “I’d love that.”
Soren returns my smile, kicking my foot. “It’s not fair, you know. You know all this stuff about me, but I’m drawing blanks over here. Come on. Spill.”
“Spill what?”
He huffs in amusement. “Tell me something about you! Otherwise I’m just gonna sit here guessing that you, I don’t know, wrestle bears in your spare time.”
A bark of laughter bucks my chest. “Is that something people do in this time?”
Soren snorts. “Honestly? Probably.”
He wants to know more about me, but I’m not sure what else there is to know. “Well… I enjoy a good hunt. A mug or two of mead—after, not before. I learned that the hard way. I once tried to ride a reindeer in my wolf form rather than hunt it. Not my smartest decision.” Soren laughs beside me, making me smile. “And… well. Mayhap this is unmanly but I enjoy the smell of flowers.”
Soren bites his lip. “That’s cute as hell.”
I rub the back of my neck, feeling it warm under my palm. “My mother… she loved flowers.” A lump sticks in my throat. I clear it, blinking back the sting in my eyes. After all these years, her loss is a wound that has never quite healed.
“Yeah?” Soren’s voice is soft as he scoots closer. Our thighs touch, and his shoulder brushes mine.
I cough. “Aye. So, anytime we lads were out training or doing our chores, I’d slip away and bring her back some. She’d sniff them and smile like they were the best thing she ever smelled.” I swallow with some difficulty. “I haven’t picked any in years since we lost her.”
“I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to upset you.”
I thumb away the dampness in my eyes. “You did not. I chose to tell you, Soren. Of all the souls in this world, you knew mine like I was simply an extension of yours. Losing you was like losing a part of myself but finding you again after all this time… it’s as if my heart has finally come home.”
Soren blinks rapidly and looks out over the water. “That’s, uh… Wow. It’s weird but I know what you mean.” He rubs his chest. “For the longest time, I felt like something was missing. There was this absence nothing could ever fill, no matter how happy I was.”
It hurts my heart to imagine the loneliness he’s experienced for so long. I lean in closer, needing to know the answer when I ask, “Have you found what your soul was seeking?”
Soren looks over, eyes widening when he realizes how close we are. His breath gusts over my mouth, so warm against my skin it makes me feel dizzy. Soren drags his tongue along his bottom lip, and I ache with how badly I need to kiss him, to take him in my arms after all these years.
“I think so,” Soren says, his voice low and barely audible over the chilly winter wind and the cry of the gulls. “God. I hope so.” His voice shakes, the scent of his fear and longing palpable.
Lifting my hand, I settle my palm against his cheek. Stubble rasps against my skin; the sensation is so familiar it takes my breath away. I can’t believe he’s really here. So close to me. “You have. I promise you, Soren. You are not alone anymore, nor will you ever be from here on out.”
I don’t know when he closes the space between us. All I know is that when his lips find mine, the world around me disappears.
He’s kissing me.
Soren’s kissing me.
Closing my eyes, I fall into the kiss. The softness of his lips, the scratch of his stubble. He pulls back, and I realizeI’ve closed my eyes when I open them and find him flushed and looking at me with both awe and fear.
“Was that okay?” Soren asks.
I gently bump my nose against his. “I don’t know. Kiss me again, and mayhap I’ll make up my mind.”
He laughs, breath warm on my damp lips, then leans back in.
This time he grabs my shirt and hauls me in. Our lips crash together the way a wave breaks upon the shore. Closing my eyes tight, I drink in every little detail.
The hitch in his breath when I lean into him, pleading for more. His hair between my fingers, shorter than I remember. Soren cups the nape of my neck, pulling me closer, kissing me deeper. A sob kicks in my chest.
I can’t believe it. Oh gods, I hoped and prayed and wished so desperately for this moment, but a part of me, one that had grown larger over the years the way a bear cub grows into a fearsome predator, had feared this moment would never happen.
