Hunting Haven
Chapter Thirteen

Haven

I kept my mouth shut until Gabe and I were alone. The moment he shut and locked the door to the bedroom we’d been given to share, I unleashed. I’d spent the whole car ride formulating a list, and now it was time for the inquisition. And if he wasn’t forthcoming? I wasn’t above using torture methods.

“What the actual fuck?” It wasn’t a necessarily eloquent way to start things off, but it was definitely the most succinct.

He held up his hands in surrender and the gesture made me irrationally angry for some reason. Everything about the vibe he was giving off made me feel like he was going to try to soothe my anxieties, but all I wanted was the truth.

I had seen Gabe carry a panther from my bedroom. I’d witnessed that panther turn into a very naked man. I’d heard the term vampire thrown around. What I needed was some goddamn answers, not pacification.

“Why don’t you get some rest and we’ll talk about all this in the morning?” he suggested quietly.

“Because the last time I fucking slept, I woke up with a strange man sitting next to me.” I almost felt bad for snapping at him, but the fact that he hadn’t been surprised to see an exotic animal in my bedroom raised all sorts of red flags.

He heaved a sigh and walked over to the king-sized bed. He sank down, hanging his head as if in defeat. His posture sagged and the distraught look on his face seemed to age him a decade. My heart twinged with sadness. I was pissed that he’d kept some pretty big secrets from me, but I still hated seeing him look so lost.

I sat beside him, tilting my head so it rested on his shoulder, and grabbed his hand in mine. He intertwined our fingers and kissed the back of my hand. It was so strange. Our date, our first kiss, felt like it happened ages ago rather than earlier that day. The fact that I wanted to comfort him, to touch and hold him, was the weirdest part for me.

Even as angry and confused as I felt, I wanted him and I was glad that he was the one with me. That didn’t mean that I was going to let him off the hook, though. I needed answers.

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“The beginning would be great.”

“Well then, I guess we should begin with the night your car got broken into.”

I listened in silence, physically biting my tongue at certain points to avoid interrupting. Some of the information was hard to swallow. Like the fact that he and Dane had taken turns watching my house every night. I understood when he said it was against the rules to tell me vampires existed, but I still felt betrayed in a way.

“Is that why you kissed me? Was it easier to protect me if you got close to me?” I tried to ask in a matter of fact tone, but I couldn’t stop the sadness that seeped through.

“Hey,” he whispered as he reached up to cup my face. I averted my eyes immediately. “Look at me, baby.”

I desperately wanted to ignore him, to hide the hurt I felt. But his pleading tone and the way he spoke the endearment made it impossible to deny him.

When my gaze finally met his, he stroked my cheek with his thumb. “I would never do something like that. Haven, I tried so hard to resist you, to deny the fact that I wanted you. You’re sarcastic and funny and a giant pain in my ass. How could I not want you? I planned to stay away, to take care of this vampire and then disappear, but you have this way of destroying my willpower.”

My eyelids fluttered shut as he touched his forehead to mine. “I kept things from you for your safety, but I’d never play with your feelings. Believe me, I want you like I’ve never wanted another woman before.”

I wasn’t sure who moved first, but suddenly I was in his lap. Our mouths collided as our hands roamed each other’s bodies. There was so much more I needed to know, so much more I had to ask, but it was hard to think at the moment. I could feel him growing hard beneath me as our tongues warred. Rolling my hips, I elicited a groan from the both of us.

His hands slid under my shirt, rubbing the underside of my breasts before moving higher. Perk of being dragged out of your house in the middle of the night? No bra to delay access.

The feel of his calloused hands against my soft skin was maddening. I couldn’t help but to grind against him. I broke the kiss to remove his shirt.

As soon as his skin was bare, it was like a cold bucket of water was dumped on my lust. I gasped and broke away from him, climbing off his lap. He reached out to pull me back, but I caught his hands.

“Are you okay?” I screeched.

“I will be if you get back over here.” His quiet tone and bedroom eyes would have been enough to make me cave in under regular circumstances. But the dark purple bruises that mottled his ribs had killed my desire.

“Your ribs look awful and your stomach is bruised, too. How can you even think about sex right now?”

“Uh, how? Do you remember where you were two minutes ago? That’s how. Relax. He just got me in a rib shot. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m being serious! You’ve got to be bleeding internally. Your stomach shouldn’t be bruised. Not from a rib shot. It looks really fucking bad.” I tried to keep my tone level, but I could hear the hysteria rising.

“I’ll be fine in a couple days. I have charms that help me heal. Relax.”

“Stop telling me to relax,” I snapped.

He stood, wrapping his arms around me. “You’re cute when you worry, but really I’ll be fine. The witches treat their hunters right.”

“I thought you said you quit hunting.”

“I did. I just didn’t return my equipment. Besides, the healing spells are tattooed on us.”

I looked at his exposed skin, searching for ink. “Where?”

“Maybe I’ll let you look for it once I heal enough for you to touch me without freaking out.”

My eyebrows shot up as I wondered about his tattoo’s location, but I didn’t ask about it again. “Deal. Once your ribs are good, I’ll start my search.”

I reached out, slipping my fingers into the waistband of his jeans, and gave a soft tug. He took a step closer, and I popped up on my tiptoes to press my lips against his. My mouth lingered against his as I murmured. “I have a few tattoos I’ll let you look for when you’re better, too.”

He groaned, slowly tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. “These charms better work double time.”

I chuckled softly and took a step away from him. After I kicked my flip-flops off, I let my pajama pants fall to the ground when he looked at me again.

His nostrils flared as he bit his bottom lip. “You’re evil.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not ruining the game.” I looked down at my bare legs and barely there boyshorts. “There’s not enough of my skin showing for you to see my tattoos yet.”

“I repeat, evil.”

Grinning, I climbed into bed and patted the space next to me. “Come on. Now that I’m not distracted, you can finish your story. Preferably starting with why this vamp is obsessed with me and why the fuck he kept calling me Margaret.”

He sighed and toed off his boots and socks before climbing into bed next to me.

“Won’t you be more comfortable if you take the jeans off?”

He snorted humorlessly. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

He’d clearly meant sexual frustration, but still the smile fell from my face. That was a real possibility and a real fear. I could very well be the death of Gabriel. All because some old ass creature I still had a hard time believing in wanted me.

“Stop,” he whispered as he lifted an arm. I snuggled into his uninjured side, sighing as he squeezed me. “I’ll be fine. It was just a lucky hit. I know how fast the leech is, I’ll be ready. Don’t worry.”

“You stop,” I snapped, my earlier irritation returning. “Stop acting like this is no big deal. You and panth- the guy from the bar got hurt. You could have been killed.”

“Dane and I are harder to kill than you think. We’ll be okay, Haven. I promise.”

I growled in frustration and he continued. “Look, I’m exhausted and I’m sure you are too. Let’s get some rest. I’m not going anywhere and neither are your answers. It can wait until the morning.”

“Fine,” I pouted. The truth was important to me, and I was agitated that I’d gotten distracted. He’d just been so sweet that focusing wasn’t a thing. Blame it on my sleep addled brain, I sure was.

He chuckled quietly and kissed my forehead. “Go to bed.”

“Seriously?” I asked as I looked around the illuminated room. “It’s bright as shit in here.”

He shrugged a shoulder, eyes already shut. “Light is far away.”

“Bum,” I muttered as I crawled out of bed to flip the switch off.

“I’m wounded, remember?” he quipped.

“You weren’t too injured when you were trying to get frisky?”

He snorted out a laugh as I climbed back into bed and curled into his side again. “Frisky? Seriously?”

“Leave me alone. I’m tired.”

“Go to sleep, baby.”

As much as I wanted to talk smack about the pet name, I refrained. My natural shit-talking instinct warred with the fact that I liked hearing it. For once, my sarcastic side lost the battle.