Page 7 of Making Haven
Picking up the plate, the fork, and two fresh cups of tea, I head into the living room. I make sure my steps are heavy, not wanting to surprise Devin if he’s already awake.
I didn’t need to worry. As I step into the living room, Devin is already awake and sitting up. He’s leaned forward, digging for something in his bag.
I wondered if maybe I imagined just how attractive he was, but seeing him again right now proves I was wrong. He wasn’t some mirage I made up. He’s very much real and very muchhot. Fuck me sideways. Literally. Please.
“Good morning, Mr. President,” I say, stepping into the room fully.
Devin sits up, leaning back on the couch and giving me an unimpressed look. God, he’s grumpy. But somehow that only makes him more attractive. The scowl on his face brings out his pretty brown eyes. He crosses his arms over his chest and Jesus fucking Christ, my eyes take in the flex of his biceps and my mouth goes dry. If I’m not careful, I’ll be asking this guy to stay just so I can keeplookingat him.
His eyes land on the food in my hand and that scowl melts away. “What’s that?”
“Scrambled eggs. Are you hungry?”
“What’d you do to them?”
“I fried them up in a pan in my bedroom. If you don’t want them that’s fine. I’ll just feed them to the birds outside,” I say, starting to turn around. I smirk to myself as Devin clears his throat.
“Wait. It’s fine. I’ll chance them.” He holds out his hands for the plate and I hand it over with a little smile. “Would be dumb as fuck for you to save me just to poison me now that I’m here.”
“I’ve been called many things in my time, but I’ve never been accused of being dumb,” I tell him with a smile that only serves to make him narrow his eyes at me. “I also have tea.”
“You have tea?”
“Mhmm,” I hum as I set it on the coffee table beside him. “I grow some myself. Helps with the cravings.”
Devin shoves a giant forkful of eggs into his mouth. He looks up at me, staring into me like he’s seeing my very soul as he slowly chews. I feel pinned in place, flayed open, exposed to him. Somehow, he’s seeing past my defenses and part of me hates him for it. The other part of me revels in it. Fuck, I’ve been so lonely and sure, Devin’s a bit of an ass but he’s real and he’shere.
“Cravings?”
“Yeah. Cravings.” I raise my brow at him. “I thought it was your leg that was hurt, not your head. Have you already forgotten I’m a vampire?”
Devin shakes his head. “I didn’t forget. Kinda thought I’d imagined it, though. Jesus Christ. Vampires. As if zombies, werewolves, and feral zombie werewolves wasn’t enough.”
I can’t help but snort. “I like to think I’m at least a step up from them, thank you very much. At least I’m not craving brains.”
“No, just my blood.”
I take a sip of my tea before responding. “Not yours in particular. Just blood in general.”
Devin hums as he tucks into his eggs. “That doesn’t bring me the peace you think it does. You’re still avampire. You still need blood to survive. What happens when we run out?”
I shrug. “I assume you’ll be long gone by then.”
“Good point,” he finally says with a sharp nod. Devin finishes the eggs before picking up the cup of tea and sipping it. Color has returned to his cheeks and his eyes are clearer than they were yesterday which only magnifies how pretty they are.
I thought this part of myself was gone for good. I thought with my vampirism, these feelings and desires had died, along with my beating heart. Apparently, all I needed was a prickly human to spark this longing back to life.
Is it Devin? Or is it the fact that he’s the first person I’ve met who hadn’t immediately tried to murder me?
The idea that there will come a day very soon that Devin is gone leaves me feeling weirdly unsettled. I’ve just met this man and have no idea the type of person he is, but he’s apersonhere with me after two years of loneliness. I don’t want to go back to being alone, but I don’t really have a choice in the matter.
“You should get some more rest,” I tell him as I take his dirty plate and empty cup. “The sun should be going down in a few hours and then I can see about getting you your own space.”
“My own space?”
I nod my head towards the giant window in the direction of the rest of the neighborhood. “You can stay here for as long as you wish, but I have a feeling you’d prefer if I wasn’t a hovering mother hen,” I explain with an amused smirk. “There’s a handful of houses around here that I’ve never bothered to properly clean up. We can pick which one you like the most and get you settled in.”
Devin stares at me for a long moment and I can’t help but feel like I’ve somehow misstepped. “Unless, you’d rather stay here with me?”
