Free Haven 5: Invincible by Gabrielle Evans Page A

it.”
    Taking a deep breath, Aslan did his best to push the voice away and ignore it. Now was not the time for him to be distracted.
    “It’s part of the curse,” Torren answered without turning away from the counter. “Our bodies stop aging when we reach however old we were at the time our souls were split. I was twenty-six. What else would you like to know?”
    Hoping Torren wouldn’t think he was a complete moron, Aslan blurted the most pressing issue on his mind. “I didn’t understand a word about this Twin Flames thing.” He didn’t even know where to start asking questions, either. None of it made sense to him. Maybe everyone was right. Maybe he was clueless.
    “Well, of course you are.”
    Aslan didn’t even bother putting up a fight with the cold, heartless voice. What would be the point? “I’m sorry,” he said to Torren. “I don’t mean to be so stu—”
    He cut off abruptly when Torren growled and slammed the mustard down on the counter with enough force to crack the bottom of the plastic bottle. Then he was across the kitchen and in Aslan’s face before he even knew what was happening.
    “I don’t ever want to hear you talk about yourself like that again. Am I understood?” His eyes flashed fire, and heat rolled off of him in waves.
    Aslan swallowed hard. His pulse tripped into overdrive, his palms began to sweat, and every muscle in his body quivered with nervous anticipation. He wasn’t afraid of the giant towering over him, but something inside him responded to the steel-laced command in Torren’s tone—something connected straight to his cock.
    “Yes,” he whispered breathlessly, trying like hell to keep from panting. “I understand.”
    Torren’s eyes softened, and he caressed the side of Aslan’s face with his fingertips. “Better.”
    Shivering in delight from his mate’s touch and the fact that he’d pleased the man, Aslan wrapped his fingers around Torren’s wrist and pressed his face into the huge, soft palm, nuzzling his cheek against it.
    He loved that Torren was so much bigger than him. It made him feel safe and protected, as though nothing in the world could hurt him while he was surrounded by Torren’s strength.
    “I’ve really missed you.” It was a strange feeling, but he felt it all the same—like part of him had disappeared and only now returned. “I don’t understand any of this.” His eyes popped open wide when Torren growled at him. What had he done wrong now? “Torren?”
    “Maybe I should have qualified my statement earlier. I never want to hear you talk about yourself in a negative way, and I don’t want to feel it, either. This is a lot, Aslan. Anyone would be spinning from all of it right now. Just because you don’t understand, it does not make you less intelligent than anyone else.” It should have occurred to him that if he could feel Torren’s emotions, then the same would be true in reverse. He couldn’t help how he felt, though. What did the man want from him? He’d promised that he wouldn’t speak his concerns aloud. That’s the best he could do, though.
    As though reading his mind, Torren sighed, scooped Aslan into his arms, and settled him in his lap as he sat in Aslan’s now-vacated seat. “Now, you listen to me, Aslan…” He trailed off and frowned. “I don’t even know your last name.”
    Aslan shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I stopped using it when my parents sold me to that vampire coven.”
    “When was this?”
    “A couple of years ago, I guess. I was sixteen.” Torren’s face took on a pinched look and his eyes creased in the corners. “Please tell me that you’re eighteen.” He sounded choked and maybe even a little sick.
    Rolling his eyes, Aslan leaned forward and pressed their lips together as he straddled Torren’s massive thighs. “I’ll be twenty next month.”
    To his surprise, Torren closed his eyes and groaned. “So young,” he whispered as though it was painful for him to speak the