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House Gardener Words

Song of the Gardener of Souls [BL]

Rowan sees beauty in death. The Order he has sworn to obey only sees defilement. As the reviled Caretaker of the Order, Rowan has accepted his role as a dutiful outcast because he believes it is the only way to prove his worth to the man who holds his sisters’ souls as collateral. With his magic and his voice, Rowan can absorb death and transform it, but only in ways the Order deems acceptable to maintain the stability of the reality it claims to protect Order must subdue Disorder. Reality must triumph over illusion. He is tainted and always will be. Rowan has never questioned those lessons, but that changes the night he harvests a crimson soul that is more than human and chooses to keep it a secret. When Rowan’s song transforms that soul into a beautiful and mysterious man he names Wren, he is forced to accept that sometimes duty is a lie and illusion is the only thing you can trust. As the fabric of the Order begins to unwind and a new kind of Disorder takes hold, Rowan will need to choose again, stand with the Order that held him down, or forge a new path with Wren at his side. He may be the only one who can restore balance to the worlds, but only if he can find balance within himself first. ************************************* Updates 3-4 times per week. Note: This story focuses on relationships. I promise an epic romance, lots of swoon-worthy moments, and a healthy amount of fluff. When it does get steamy…you might get burned. Fair warning for explicit content. I don’t shy away from my spice. There are lots of side characters and couples to fall in love with, in addition to the main couple. If you love the idea of found family, you will be happy. This book is set in a non-heteronormative world, so you will see various gender identities/expressions and types of love. ************************************* Excerpt (if you want the full steamy version, you will have to read the book!): Still reeling from the new magic that coursed under his skin and unsure of how to react to the desire that threatened to take control of him, Rowan froze. Wren's hot breath against his mouth sent a jolt of pleasure through his body, and he choked back a groan. A different kind of panic flared in Rowan's chest, burning him as if he were the one on fire. This was what he wanted, what he'd thought about every night since Wren left. But wanting more was one thing. Acting on it was another. He'd spent so much of his life hiding, he didn't know how to do anything else. One corner of Wren's mouth twitched as Rowan pulled away. When he attempted to free himself from Wren's grasp, Wren just hauled him closer. Rowan liked that he didn't have to think about what to do next. His bare chest thudded against Wren's torso, and the heat from Wren's body merged with Rowan's skin, melting him from the inside out. "What did you just do to me?" Wren's deep voice vibrated against Rowan's chest. "The Disorder of your illusion was holding you captive. I…I absorbed it." "Oh? Where did you learn to do that? Have I been gone that long?" Wren's grip loosened slightly on Rowan's wrists as if he was satisfied now that Rowan was practically sitting on top him. Rowan stared at Wren's lips. He opened his mouth to protest, but immediately closed it again. "I know you aren't going to say that I shouldn't touch you." Wren's free hand splayed over the small of Rowan's back. "Not when you started it." Rowan's breath hitched. "No. I'm not going to say that anymore. Not to you." "I thought you were afraid to be touched." Wren's fingers traced a circle over the curve of Rowan's spine as if testing for a reaction. "I know that I'm not afraid of you." Rowan waited for the panic to set in, but all he felt was desire. "With you, I want…" "You want what?" "I want more." Triumph flared in Wren's gaze before he narrowed his eyes. "Really? Then why are you still trying to get away from me?"
LivChanin · 1M Views

WORDS WE NEVER SAID

In a world where unspoken truths can weigh heavier than mountains, no one ever warned me about the danger of words left unsaid. I always thought I could handle it—breaking my heart seemed easier than breaking my mind, after all. But it turns out, the mind is a far more dangerous place than the heart. It doesn’t heal quickly, and it doesn’t forget. What happens when you leave words hanging in the air is that they start to fill every empty space, crowding out anything else, leaving only the residue of missed opportunities and what-ifs. My journal sat in front of me now, filled with everything I’d never said. All the words that could have changed something, anything. It was strange, how it felt so much easier to discard an entire journey than it did to let go of a single glance from yesterday. The words I left behind felt heavier than the pages I wrote them on. I didn’t even know why I kept writing anymore—maybe because it was the only place where I could finally speak, even if no one would ever read it. The reality of not saying things, of keeping my feelings buried, left a deeper scar than any conversation I never had. But what could I do? It’s not like the words would ever come, not now. What was left were the possibilities—the ones that never had a chance to come to life. A life where we could have made different choices, said the things we were too scared to say. But the past is a cruel thing to hang onto. It taunts you with the “what could have been” but never gives you any answers. And so, I sat there, sighing as I thought about how this was all I could do—curse the world, blame myself, and wonder if maybe there was something I could have changed. Maybe I could’ve found a way to let him know how I felt. Maybe I could’ve found the courage to stop pretending. But now, I was just left to face the weight of silence, and it felt as heavy as the words I could never speak. I thought I could be fine, that time would wash it all away—just move on, I told myself. But the more I tried, the more I found myself tangled in a web of thoughts that didn’t make sense. The days and nights we spent together were now just memories—snippets of laughter, quiet moments, little glances exchanged in the middle of the chaos, all trapped in the space between the confusion and the comfort of what used to be. I looked back, trying to make sense of it all, but it was like trying to hold water in my hands. The harder I tried, the more it slipped through my fingers. I regard all of us, how we all fall into this trap—how we’re all just people, trying to navigate this world with the hope that someone might catch us, that someone might finally understand what we didn’t say. Maybe we all end up here, stuck in the mess of things we wanted to say, but never did. And at the end of the day, there’s no one to blame but ourselves. We’re the ones who held back, who kept our truths hidden, all for the sake of protection, or pride, or fear. It’s easy to blame the world for the things that go wrong, but in the end, we’re the ones who let it go unspoken. And maybe that’s the hardest part—learning that we were the ones who stood in our own way.
silverstariii · 10.3K Views
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