Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
H aven was typically fine with how weird her life was. No one at Section 8 had more than a passing acquaintance with normal , anyway.
But tonight was a banner night for weirdness, even by Haven’s standards.
She’d never dated much. Dating and her job didn’t typically go hand-in-hand…especially when she was in love with her best friend, the dumbass demon who’d never so much as hinted at his feelings for her.
Even in her limited experience, though, she couldn’t imagine it being normal to have a first date at a shifter bar with the werewolf who tried to beat her up.
The un-creatively named bar, The Wolf’s Den, was what Haven would consider to be a high-end dive bar. The menu was full of reasonably priced drink and snack options, it was so clean you could eat off the floor (not that anyone would ever eat off a bar floor because that was just hepatitis waiting to happen), and the booths and tables were made of gleaming oak that looked like it had been buffed to within an inch of its life.
And it was packed full of wolf shifters. Shifters dancing, shifters drinking, shifters laughing and having fun, shifters…oh, those two in the corner were definitely more than just friends. Yikes.
But even in a bar full of shifters, Levi stood out. Haven could tell he’d be alpha of his own pack one day. It should’ve turned her on. But damn it, it didn’t. And she blamed Roan.
Stupid, hot, non-communicative demon .
Levi turned on his barstool, and when he caught her eye, his face lit up like Christmas morning, making her feel even worse about not being attracted to him.
She instantly regretted wearing her black miniskirt and fluttery white top. This was a play-your-cards-right-and-you-might-get-a-BJ outfit, not a I-have-a-complicated-life-and-maybe-we-should-just-be-friends outfit.
He opened his mouth, probably to greet her, after she’d shouldered her way through the crowd to the bar, but she held up a hand to stop him. “I need to tell you that I don’t see this going anywhere because I’m an idiot who loves a demon who can’t say he loves me back and my entire life is a weird mess because of that time I died two years ago and I might’ve brought back a new power from the great beyond that I may or may not ever have control of, so?—”
Levi laid a finger over her lips. “Take a breath, little red.”
Haven sucked in a breath. Yep. She’d needed that. “Thanks. I was getting a little lightheaded.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, that happens when you say a whole day’s worth of words in three seconds. Listen, I’m not an idiot, OK? I knew you had something going with the demon. I hoped, of course, that it was one-sided on his end, but I can accept that it’s not.”
She winced. “Sorry. I probably shouldn’t have even accepted the date.”
He smiled at her. “You don’t owe me or anyone else any explanations. It’s one date, not a marriage proposal. So, what do you say we grab a couple of beers, take a seat in one of those booths back there, and just talk for a while? No expectations. Just wildly attractive people socializing in a totally platonic way.”
“Wildly attractive, huh?”
His grin turned all kinds of wicked. “Well, I’m wildly attractive. You’re not too bad yourself.”
She snorted. “Easy on the charm there, pal. I can handle your attractiveness, but when you turn the charm on, my knees get weak.”
He gestured to one of the booths and offered her a hand. “So, that’s a yes?”
“It’s a yes.” She took his hand, but added, “You’re buying, though.”
He brushed a quick kiss across her knuckles. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, little red.”
Forty minutes and three drinks later, Haven was on the dance floor with Levi, laughing until she snorted as he told her stories about how he came to run with his pack of young wolves, most of whom had been kicked out of other packs for generally being dumbasses.
In fact, she was enjoying herself so much, she didn’t notice the aura of angry darkness brooding behind her until Levi said something about it.
He pulled her in closer and whispered in her ear, “Your demon is over there with fire in his eyes. Literally.”
Haven sighed. “I have no idea why he’s here.”
Levi chuckled. “I do.”
“He insists on making everything in my life more difficult,” she grumbled.
“Judging by the look on his face right now, he’s getting ready to clear things up for you...or fuck ‘em up way worse. It’s hard to tell.”
She pulled back and frowned at him. Hard. “That’s not encouraging, Levi.”
His grin was 100% unrepentant. “Aw, don’t worry, little red. Something tells me you’re gonna be just fine.”
“Go away.”
Haven shivered as Roan’s rough voice skated over her skin. The fucker always did have an amazing voice.
Levi shifted his gaze up to Roan’s. “I think the phrase you’re groping for there, bud, is, ‘can I cut in.’”
She didn’t look back at Roan, but she’d heard that tone before, and Haven had to give Levi credit for not wilting beneath it. Lesser men had pissed their pants when that tone was directed at them. She’d seen it happen. Levi barely reacted at all. He was either really dumb, or really brave. Probably a smooth, creamy blend of both if she hadn’t missed her guess.
“Cutting in,” Roan said through obviously clenched teeth.
Levi sucked in air through his teeth. “So close. But I get it. Words are hard.” He glanced down at Haven. “What do you say, babe? You good with him cutting in?”
Haven let out a deep breath. “It’s OK. Thank you, Levi.”
With that, Levi gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head, earning a growl from the annoying demon at her back. Levi chuckled and raised his hands in surrender. “Good luck, man.”
Not on her watch. No luck would be had. None whatsoever. Haven crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to face her new dance partner. Because fuck him.
She couldn’t hold back a yelp as Roan spun her around and yanked her up against him. She slapped her hands on his chest to keep from face-planting into his pecs. He took advantage of her shock by lifting her arms so that she had no choice but to put them around his neck.
“We need to talk,” he said.
Oh, that was fucking rich. “Dude, we’ve needed to talk for two years.”
He leaned in so close his mouth brushed her ear. A hot shiver ran down her spine. “I’m here now.”
Yeah, she noticed. “So, let me see if I’ve got this straight, Roan. You don’t contact me outside of stalking me and ruining my career for the past two years. I had to track you down like a lost dog. You proceeded to tell me you plan to never see me again once my case is closed. And now you’re here, wrecking the only date I’ve had in…I can’t even remember how long. So, is this an I-don’t-want-you-but-I-don’t-want-anyone-else-to-have-you-either thing, or do you have alternate personalities that I’m not aware of?”
He frowned down at her as they began moving in time with the music. “I never said I don’t want you.”
She frowned right back. “You never said you did , either.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Since I came to this dimension, you were the most important person in my life, even more important than my own brother. You were my best friend, and you’re the most beautiful woman on this godforsaken planet. I can’t breathe when you’re not around. Of course I want you, Haven.”
Her breath stalled somewhere between her nose and lungs. Did he just admit… “How am I supposed to believe you when all you’ve done for the past two years is push me away?”
Faster than she could process, he grabbed her hips and yanked her closer. “Feel that? Is that proof enough for you?”
Sweet. Merciful. Fuck .
Either he had a giant summer sausage in his pants, or he was very happy to see her. Her throat went dry. Other parts of her?
Not so much.
“Then why?” she asked, ashamed of the way her voice shook on the question.
“Because I’m not an idiot. I know you deserve better than me. Better than someone who got you killed.”
She wanted to scream, but after what happened in that cave, she was half afraid she’d accidentally level the bar if she did. “I’m going to need you to get over the whole ‘got me killed’ thing. It was no more your fault than it was my parents’ fault for assigning me to that case, or the rest of the team’s fault for not completely clearing the area, or my fault for stepping in front of that demon. It was an accident. Accidents aren’t anyone’s fault. That’s why they’re called accidents .”
“You don’t know the whole story,” he said quietly. “You don’t know what I did.”
“Then tell me , for fuck’s sake. There’s nothing you’ve done that I can’t forgive.”
His gaze shifted to her lips, almost like he was trying to read on them if she was telling the truth. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” he murmured.
She waited for him to clarify. And waited. Then waited some more. His mouth remained stubbornly shut. Annoyingly shut.
“Talk now , Roan,” she hissed through gritted teeth.
“It’s not?—”
Haven planted her hands on his chest and shoved. He moved maybe a millimeter back, which just pissed her off even more than she already was. Where was all her new power when she really needed it? “Go ahead. Tell me it’s not that simple again. Avoid telling me anything of substance. I fucking dare you. Do it and see how I react.”
He glowered down at her. “I’m just trying to protect you.”
The scream of frustration she let out was backed off to half volume, but it was still enough to draw every shifter eyeball in the place. She didn’t care. She didn’t care that she was making a scene, or that Roan was looking at her like a half-exposed roadside bomb. “I’m so sick of you and everyone else trying to protect me like I’m made of glass. I’m a legacy demon hunter, for fuck’s sake! I’ve had more martial arts and self-defense training than anyone on the planet. I’m a dhampyre with roughly ten times the strength of a regular human. And still you, Lane, my parents, hell, even my aunt Seven treats me like I’m a wilting Victorian child with the plague. Why the fuck won’t any of you just admit that I can take care of myself?!”
Flames flared in his eyes, and she was glad to see them. It was about time someone else got angry for a change. “You don’t get it. You never have,” he hissed. “Everyone knows you’re capable. Everyone knows you’re strong and talented and smarter than you have any right to be.”
“Then why do you keep trying to bubble wrap me?”
“Because you’re my fucking sun , Haven. My entire existence in this dimension has amounted to nothing except orbiting around you .”
Her jaw dropped. But he wasn’t done yet.
“I was raised in hell,” he went on. “Tortured for years. Since then, I’ve traveled to dimensions that were even worse. And through it all, the only thing that scares me now is imagining what this world would be like without you in it.”
They were nearly nose-to-nose now. Her chest brushed against his with every ragged breath they took. Her brain was an utter clusterfuck of potential responses. What the hell was she supposed to say to you’re my fucking sun ? Should she tell him she loved him, too? Should she demand he take her home and fuck her until she was too tired and weak and dehydrated to move for the next week? Should she…
Whatever she was going to say (which, let’s face it, could’ve been something really embarrassing or inappropriate) died in the back of her throat when Roan snaked a hand around the nape of her neck and slammed his mouth down on hers.
Well, this was certainly an unexpected turn of events…