Hunting Haven
Chapter Fourteen

Gabriel

There were worse ways to wake up than to Haven snuggling deeper into my side. Even if that cuddle came with a face full of her hair.

I tilted my head up to free myself from the curly mass that had tried to suffocate the life out of me, but I woke its owner up in the process.

“Stop moving. You’re a terrible pillow,” she mumbled, her words muffled by my skin as she buried her face against me.

“So sorry, your highness. It won’t happen again.” She bit my chest, a little harder than playful, and I laughed. Apparently, she didn’t appreciate my sarcasm.

Rolling over to hover above her, I caged her in with my forearms. My ribs twinged at the motion, but the pain had already greatly decreased from the night before. Healing charms were the best.

“How is it that I spent years getting rid of vamps and it’s your rabid ass that bites me?” I joked.

“Rabid?” She screeched, faux insult coloring her face.

“I mean… you do have a bit of an animal on your head right now.” She let out a playful growl, glaring up at me. I leaned down for a kiss, lingering for a moment. “I still think you’re beautiful with the opossum on your head.”

She curled her legs around my waist, her thighs dragging my jeans down a fraction, but not nearly as far as I would have liked. “You’re a pain in my ass, Macias.” She contradicted her words immediately after, pulling me down for another kiss.

It was a hell of a lot hotter and more intense than the innocent one I’d given her. I could feel myself straining in my jeans as I got hard. She arched her hips up to grind against me. The friction was half heaven, half torture. It wasn’t enough. Although, I instinctively knew that no matter how much Haven I had, it would never be enough.

I shifted my weight to my right arm, giving my battered ribs a break from supporting me, and slowly slid my hand up her outer thigh. Her soft skin practically called to me. I wanted her, all of her, desperately.

Unfortunately, our lovely host had other ideas. Dane burst into the room like a bat out of hell. The door rebounded off the wall, almost colliding with his face. He had to catch it before impact. I tried to jump out of bed, but Haven’s legs still held onto my waist, her grip tightening out of surprise.

“What is it?” I snapped, untangling from her limbs.

“Oh. nothing. Just making sure you weren’t having too good of a morning, Macias. We have to have a little chat.”

“You’re an asshole,” I grumbled.

Haven, on the other hand, cackled as she sat up. “I think I like you, Pantherman.”

“It’s because you saw me naked, isn’t it? I might turn into a panther, but I’m hung like a h-”

“Get out,” I yelled over him as I blocked his view of Haven and started shoving him out the door. “We’ll be out in a minute.”

He tilted to the side, looking around me as he addressed her again. “He’s just jealous because he can’t compare to the size of a shifter.”

I slammed the door in his face as soon as I’d managed to push him fully out of the room. My lovely companion laughed so hard she snorted, clutching her sides. “Your face is priceless,” she said when she finally managed to get herself under control. “You do realize I’ve seen naked men before, right? I promise randomly seeing his naughty bits didn’t make me want to jump his bones.”

“Naughty bits?” I said with a chuckle as I picked up her pajama pants off the floor and tossed them onto the bed. “How old are you?”

“Well, I was going to say dick, but I figured that would offend your sensibilities. Would you rather I say penis? Ding-dong? Schlong? Pleasure pump? Custard launcher?”

“Custard what?” I choked on a laugh. “Please stop. For the love of God, I cannot handle any more names.”

“So then I guess that meat thermometer isn’t acceptable, either?”

I let out a groan, shaking my head. Afraid that I’d just encourage her by responding, I refrained from replying as I pulled my shirt on over my head.

“Put your pants on and come out before Dane bursts back in.” I opened the door to see the panther nearly doubled over at Haven’s antics.

“You’re so fucking nosy,” I griped as she called out behind me. “Oh wait! What if I say I’m not interested in his pipe fitting skills? Is that better?”

Shaking my head, I exhaled an amused breath as I shut the door behind me. She was definitely something else.

“I like her,” Dane grinned.

“Yeah, me too.”

***

Haven, Dane and I sat at a round kitchen table sipping coffee. The sun was high in the sky and, just for a moment, we felt like normal friends having a relaxing morning. At least until the vampire talk started.

“So do you want to start with what happened when you faced the fang or should I?”

“Dude,” I snapped, but Haven waved me off.

“It’s cool. I can go first because I’m going to have hella questions for you guys when you tell yours.” She paused to lick her bottom lip, sucking it into her mouth and biting down on it for a second. I’d spent enough time around her to realize it as her nervous tick.

I placed my hand on her knee, squeezing it encouragingly. She took a deep breath and launched into her tale. “I felt someone stroke my hair. At first, I thought it was a dream, but when I rolled over, I saw him sitting there. I screamed and jumped out of bed. I always sleep on the side closest to the bathroom, so I ran in there and locked the door. Obviously, I had no idea he was a vampire. Just thought he was a freaky eyed stalker who broke into my house. How do they avoid being noticed with glowing peepers, by the way?”

“Did you tell her anything about vamps last night? Jeez.”

“He was too busy trying to get me naked and horizontal,” Haven added in.

“No, I wasn’t!” She cocked a skeptical brow at me. “Vampires can hide their inhuman traits,” I began, trying my best to steer the conversation back on track. I really couldn’t handle Haven and Dane at the same damn time.

“Their eyes glow red when they’re hungry, angry-”

“Horny, too,” Dane interrupted.

“Either stop interrupting or get out until it’s your turn to talk,” I snapped before returning my attention to Haven. “They can hide the color if they put in enough effort. They can also use compulsion to bend humans to their will, but they have to maintain eye contact to do so. Blood drinking is a given. They’re fast and strong. Pop culture got that part right. Sunlight is also off-limits. Most vamps can’t even stay up during the day.”

“Great, so Dracula meets Van Helsing. Got it.” Defaulting to sarcasm was one of Haven’s defense mechanisms. I gave her a small half smile and shook my head. “Not quite. Vampires aren’t dead. They still have a heartbeat.”

“Wait so like… why do they fang out and have freaky eyes if they’re alive? They do fang out right?”

“Yeah, they have fangs. No one really knows the origin of vampires. Some people say it started as a witch’s curse, others say it’s a disease. We don’t make it a habit to study vampires. We just kill them.”

“That’s… kind of fucked up. What if it’s a good vampire?”

“There is no such thing as a good vampire,” I snapped. Pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration, I took a deep breath before I continued. “Believe me. Vampires are murderers. They can’t survive without slaughtering humans.”

“And it’s not because they have to,” Dane interjected. “They kill because it excites them. Vampires are vicious sadists. They don’t feel emotions like we do. Not love, guilt, remorse. All they want is to consume and destroy, not cherish. Even supernaturals are weary of bloodsuckers.”

Haven shook her head as if she disagreed with our explanation but didn’t issue any further objections.

“You said he talked to you, called you Margaret. What else did he say?”

“Seems like your ‘vampires don’t have emotions’ thing wasn’t totally right. I mean, he’s definitely delusional and I’ve never seen him in my life, but still. He kept saying he loved me, that we had a second chance, and that he wouldn’t let anything happen to me this time.”

I shifted uncomfortably. “Remember how I didn’t get to finish telling you everything last night?”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, sticking her tongue in her cheek. The fact that she was prematurely irritated didn’t bode well for my immediate future. I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket and pulled out the photo I’d found in her car.

“Yo! That’s my face,” she gasped. I nodded as Dane laughed. She didn’t miss a beat, flipping him off without looking up from the picture. “Any explanations would be appreciated. That definitely isn’t me, but like home girl is basically my twin.”

I shrugged. “The photo is old. If I had to guess, I’d say she was an ancestor, but it’s possible that you two have no other connection. You could just look similar.”

“This is so fucking weird.”

“I know, and that’s not all.” She looked up from the image, eyes full of suspicion as she glared at me. I hesitated briefly before telling her the gifts she’d found on her porch didn’t come from where she thought.

“You’re saying Laura didn’t send the donuts? I literally asked her to send some like a week before I got them.”

“They weren’t packaged for shipping. I’m sure if you asked your friend, she’d say that she never mailed you any.”

“Okay. Moving on from that one, the flower was definitely from my neighbor’s son. He always brings me flowers.”

Dane and I locked eyes. Neither of us were eager to tell her about the vampire’s victims in town. I knew she’d blame herself for it. If I could have, I would have kept it from her forever, but I couldn’t. Ignorance may be bliss, but it wasn’t prudent when it came to safety. She needed to understand how vicious vampires were, and how much danger she was in.