Safe Haven: Born In Hell Book 1

by Bella Claire

  “I can’t do this, Haven. There is so much you don’t know about me, so much I can’t tell you, because if you knew, you’d be running away from me as fast as you could.”

  “Help me to understand. I know I don’t know you that well, but surely that can change. I feel connected to you somehow. I can’t explain it, but I know this is right,” I pleaded. He shook his head and stomped to the door. With a slam, he was gone. My heart felt broken, which was pretty sad since I barely knew him. Add in the fact that until tonight he had been an asshole, and I may have just won an award for most pathetic girl on the planet. I’d give him his space and lick my own wounds for the night, but I knew there was more to Easton than met the eye, and I intended to find out.

  The next day Tank and Gage showed up bright and early to help me just like they said they would. We found a small field behind my apartment building that was a good walk away and sheltered by surrounding trees.

  When we got to the middle, I was consumed with excitement, which completely dissipated after two hours of trying to bring forth my gifts. What started off as calmness, quickly turned into frustration. I had no clue how the men stayed so patient with me, because I was ready to pull my hair out. I threw my hands out in front of myself, palms up, for the thousandth time and watched as nothing happened. My hands fell to my sides as I screamed in annoyance.

  “If you’re going to do this, angel, you have to calm down. I can practically feel your heart beating a mile a minute,” Gage said as he moved to stand in front of me. “Just follow my lead.” I watched Gage, mimicking his movements by holding my hands together out in front of me. “Now take a deep breath, close your eyes, and let the calmness take over. Once you feel calm, focus your energy toward your hands and let the magic flow freely.”

  I huffed. Easier said than done. Everything felt the same now, so I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be feeling. After a few more tries with no success, I was done. “Can we just try again tomorrow? I’m not in the mood anymore.”

  “Sure. Why don’t we have a seat and have some lunch?” Tank surprised me as he pulled a basket and blanket from behind one of the trees. He spread the blanket out for all of us to sit, then passed out sandwiches and fruit. I was impressed that Tank had a sweet side to him.

  My stomach rumbled reminding me I had skipped breakfast this morning, so I dug in. “This is great, Tank, thank you.”

  “I figured you would be famished after practice, it’s no big deal.” He tried playing it off, but to me, it was a big deal. No one had been this sweet to me in such a long time.

  “So, where do you guys stay when you’re not here? Are you in Heaven, or do you just stay on Earth?” That question had been troubling me. I wanted to get to know them, and I was probably getting too far ahead of myself, but I was hoping to be a more permanent part of their lives.

  “Well, we are here and there. We don’t normally stay in one spot for too long. Our father can be kinda hard on us, so we tend to stay away from home if we can,” Gage answered with a shrug of his shoulder.

  “Your father? Is he another angel?” I guess he would have to be if they were all angels, so I kind of felt stupid about asking.

  “Yeah, you could say that, although he’s quite rebellious,” Tank answered with a smirk, before looking to Gage to find him laughing. Obviously, there was some type of inside joke I wasn’t aware of.

  “What about you, where’s your family?” Tank asked hesitantly. Gage quit laughing so he could listen.

  “What about them? My foster parents were fantastic; we were one big happy family until my dad died from a heart attack. My mom started drinking and going to bars. It got to where I never saw her. I would just hear her stumble through the door at night, running into anything and everything trying to hold herself up. Then the abuse started, and I had to get out of there. I haven’t seen her since.” I felt a tear land on my hand before I was even aware I was crying. Tank leaned over to wipe my escaping tears away. “I’m sorry, you guys, I don’t normally show my emotions. It’s just been so long since I’ve thought about those memories. I don’t like to remember.”

  “It’s okay, angel, we know how it is. I like to think our dad loves us, but it’s hard because he never shows it. Some people don’t know how to love, I suppose. At least you have some happy memories to hold onto.” Gage smiled sympathetically. I felt pity for them knowing that I had some memories I cherished, while it sounded like they had none. I quickly stopped thinking about it; they didn’t need my pity, just like I didn’t want or need theirs.

  “We’re here for you now, Haven. I hope you know that and give us a chance. We won’t let you down.” Tank grabbed my hand and kissed the top of it. It felt nice to know someone could relate to what I’d been through. I felt closer to them, like I could trust them. I only hoped they were there to stay and wouldn’t abandon me like everyone else in my life. When dusk began to fall upon us, they packed up their things and walked me home, each giving me a kiss on the cheek as we said our goodbyes. I went to sleep that night with a sense of belonging.

  Nine days later, I had still made no progress. “This is useless. We are on day ten, and still nothing is happening, not even a fucking spark. I’m pretty sure you have the wrong girl.” I pouted. My frustration probably wasn’t helping. I hadn’t heard a peep from Easton since that night, so that hadn’t done anything to make the situation better. I couldn’t stop thinking about him, that is until Tank or Gage touched me. The sexual tension between us had escalated in the past few days. On a scale from one to ten, it’d be safe to say it was at a hundred.

  “Oh, come on, angel. Turn that frown upside down, please. Let’s try again.” This time, Gage came up behind me. His hard chest pushed up against my back as he wrapped his arms around me. He gently placed his palm underneath the back of my hand to hold it out in front of me. “Remember, breathe in and out, calm your nerves, and just picture the magic coming to life in your hand.”

  I closed my eyes to focus and attempted to calm myself. I breathed in deeply before releasing the air in my lungs. I kept doing this till I felt the calmness settle over me and opened my eyes to see the shock of my life.

  My angels were in awe. Tank was smiling from ear to ear, which did wonders for his already handsome self, while Gage smirked like he knew all along that I was going to do it.

  Raised slightly above my hand was a small, white glowing ball. It felt almost alive and shimmered with so much beauty. I couldn’t believe that I was able to produce such a glorious sight. My calmness wavered when the adrenaline started racing through my veins, causing it to vanish. I felt like a part of me had just been ripped out of my chest. I’d found a piece of me, and somehow, I knew that it was a one time thing. At least till I could figure out how to unlock the whole piece. It was just a preview, a tease, to show me what I could have.

  “That was beautiful, Haven.” I hadn’t realized Tank was standing beside me till he’d whispered in my ear, making me jump.

  “It was, wasn’t it?” I asked, but it came out as more of a statement. My shoulders dropped, and I could feel depression settling in.

  “Let’s try again. I want to see what that thing can do if you try to throw it.” Gage tried to wrap his arms around me once more, but I quickly side stepped him.

  “I can’t. I feel it just under the surface, but it’s not going to come back till I find a way to unlock everything at once. It’s like someone just wanted me to see what I’ll be capable of. I’m sure practice will keep helping, but I feel like I’m done for the day.”

  “Haven, let us help. Why don’t we take you out tonight? We’ve been going at this for a week and a half now and you’ve finally made some progress. That’s something we should celebrate,” Tank said sweetly. When he sounded like that, it made me want to jump him, and not in a bad way.

  “Okay, we can do that since I have the night off work. What do you have in mind?”

  “That’s for us to know and you to find out, pretty girl.” Gage plac
ed a kiss on my cheek before heading off, while Tank stayed an extra minute. He eyed me suspiciously. “Are you going to be okay? Do you need me to walk you home?”

  “No, I’ll be fine. Just pick me up around seven. I’ll see you then.” I tried to sound more cheerful than I felt, and apparently, it was good enough for Tank since he nodded and followed after Gage.

  My walk home felt like it took ages since it was, once again, just me and my thoughts. The crisp air and empty path did nothing to help my mood. I was so thrilled to have made some sort of progress, but I still felt like something was missing. I needed to shake this feeling, and I knew that Tank and Gage would be just the two angels to help with that. I couldn’t help but think of the possibilities of what we would be doing tonight.

  Making it home, I quickly showered and got ready. I threw my hair up into a ponytail so I wouldn’t have to deal with it tonight and applied a little lip gloss before walking to my closet. I wanted to wear something comfortable but cute. My oversized white sweater and black leggings were the first things I noticed. I quickly put my outfit on and decided to pair it with my black boots, then I was ready to go.

  I didn’t have to wait long for the knock at the door. Gage was the first to greet me with a bouquet of gorgeous red roses. “Roses for my lady.” He leaned forward and unexpectedly, brushed his lips against mine. I bit my lip to keep me from going back for more. Gage pushed past me to put my roses on the table, giving Tank room to come forward.

  “Hey, Haven, this is for you.” Tank placed a huge pocket knife in my hand. I had to use my other hand to cover my mouth to keep from laughing. It didn’t work. “What’s so funny? It may not kill something from Hell, but it will at least slow them down. You need to be able to protect yourself in case one of us aren’t with you. If I thought you could fit a machete in your purse, I would have gotten you one of those.”

  “Well, I love it. It’s just funny because Gage brought me roses and you bring me a pocket knife. Two completely different things, but both very fitting for the two of you. I love it, thank you.” I rose on my tiptoes with the intention to place a sweet kiss on his cheek, but at the last second, he turned his head, and my lips landed on his plush ones.

  I paused for a brief moment since Gage had just kissed me not even a minute ago, but quickly let go since it felt natural. I opened my mouth to let his tongue in to explore. His lips were soft, and his kiss tasted sweet. If he kept this up, we wouldn’t be going anywhere. I guess Gage had the same thought since he had no problem interrupting. “All right, kids, we can do this later. We have places to go and things to do.”

  I reluctantly pulled away from Tank. The pout on his face let me know he was disappointed that our first kiss was cut short, but he quickly smiled to let me know everything was okay. I would be a liar if I said I didn’t consider just staying home and not going out, but then they both grabbed a hand and we headed out to start our night.

  _____________________________________________

  I had completely forgotten about the festival in town. Since I normally worked Saturdays, I didn’t bother to try and remember when it was coming. Tonight was the only night it would be in our town since it wasn’t big enough for it to stay all weekend.

  I was happy to be enjoying it with these two men. It was funny to see their reactions to the games and rides. We had stopped at this one game stand called knock down, where they threw a ball at three bottles. One was stacked on top, between the two on the bottom. They were both so certain it would be easy to win that when they both lost I thought they were going to strangle the guy running it.

  Tank snatched him up by his shirt, while Gage demanded that they get another try to knock them all down so they could win me a stuffed animal. The worker was so frightened that he let them take turns until they both finally got it, which happened to be twenty-six times for Tank and thirty-four for Gage. Men and their pride. I didn’t mind, though. I got to watch their muscles flex in their tight t-shirts every time they threw a ball. I even caught myself standing behind them just so I could check out their asses. Their tight jeans made me want to pinch their ass cheeks. I knew I was starting to have strong feelings for them, but I wasn’t sure how it could work with all of us, especially not knowing how Easton felt.

  We continued our journey through the festival, stopping to play almost every game. Tank and Gage had won so many stuffed animals that I started giving them away to kids as we passed by. It made my heart melt watching their eyes sparkle with joy when I’d hand them one. I did keep a small stuffed giraffe to remember this day.

  We walked in front of a food truck causing my taste buds to water when I saw the sign for cotton candy. After unsuccessfully trying to explain to them what it was, I decided to just go ahead and order some for us to share.

  “How have I not had this sugary pink substance before,” Gage gushed, as he shoved another bite into his mouth. I loved that they even the smallest things pleased them.

  “It’s also really sticky.” Tank licked his fingers getting the residue off. As I watched his tongue clean his hands, I had the faintest thought of him licking me in all the right places. These men made me feel things I hadn’t felt in so long. I wanted them all to myself.

  “How about the ferris wheel?” I suggested, knowing they would enjoy the view of the festival.

  “Sounds good.” Tank agreed. I was up and out of my seat the next second, but before I’d even taken a step forward, Gage slung me over his shoulder.

  “What are you doing? Put me down!” I tried to hold my giggles in, but I just couldn’t help myself. I smacked the hell out of his ass and gave it a firm squeeze. That was not something I would normally do, but I was loving that they brought the playful side out of me.

  “Haven baby, don’t start something you can’t finish,” Gage playfully said as he smacked my ass in return.

  I always did love a good challenge. “Who said I couldn’t finish it?”

  Gage stopped dead in his tracks before turning toward Tank. “I think it may be past Haven’s bedtime. We should be gentlemen and escort her home, don't you think?"

  “Only if she’s ready to go home...” Tank trailed off in question. I silently nodded my head in response against Gage’s back so he could feel my answer. Oh hell, what was I getting myself into? I was excited at the thought of what was to come but also a little nervous. Now was not the time to get self-conscious or second guess myself.

  Gage put me down on my feet. Once the world was right side up again, I smirked before pointing toward the exit. “How about we blow this joint?”

  I thanked God, well my father, that I’d remembered a jacket since I could see my breath. I had forgotten my gloves, but those two wonderful men each held a hand to keep them warm. The walk home was quiet, but filled with lustful touches and looks. My nerves spiked as we walked up the steps. I could feel their intense gazes watching my every step, so I put a little more sway in my hips.

  I unzipped the tiny pocket on the breast of my sweater and pulled my key out to unlock the door. We waltzed through the threshold before Tank slammed the door shut behind us. I stopped beside my side table and dropped the key onto it. My awkwardness was killing me.

  “Um, can I get y’all anything to drink?” I couldn’t take the silence anymore. The only thing they did was shake their heads before making their way over to me.

  Tank slipped my jacket off from behind me then kissed the top of my shoulder. He placed a hand on each hip, rubbing circles lazily with his thumbs causing a soft moan to slip through my open lips. Tank then eased a hand under my shirt and journeyed upward to massage my breast, using his other to press me firmly against him.

  Gage came to stand in front of me before bending down to devour my mouth. His hand surprised me as he touched the outside of my leggings and began rubbing my core, the barrier doing nothing to numb the pleasure.

  I felt myself about to come unhinged, so I broke our kiss and stopped Tank's exploration. I motioned to my bedroom, and we stumb
led our way there since it seemed none of us wanted to let go of one another.

  Blinking a couple times so my eyes could adjust to the darkness as we entered my room, I could see Tank’s gorgeous blood-colored eyes staring at me with an unspoken question as he came to face me. A slight nod of my head was all it took before his lips crashed onto mine. At that moment, there was only us. No demons, fallen, or pressure to save the world, just Tank and Haven.

  A fire had been lit between us, one that I hoped would never get extinguished. I knew Tank was my protector, and I knew he would be until the day he took his last breath. He made me feel safe and wanted.

  I grabbed the bottom of his shirt and broke our kiss just long enough to yank it over his head. Once his lips returned to mine, I threw his shirt and let my hands roam freely over his bare chest. His sculpted body felt amazing against my fingertips as they made their way lower to skim the top of his jeans. I could feel myself getting wet with need.

  Suddenly, another set of hands were on my shoulders. One hand made its way to the front of my shirt, while the other traveled up my neck. Gage tugged my head toward his, breaking my kiss with Tank, and brought his lips down on mine.

  He and Tank switched places, and in the next moment I heard the sound of clothing being ripped. Tank tore my sweater wide open, and I shook my shoulders to let the remnants fall to the ground. He unhooked my bra and pulled the straps down my arms, his fingertips grazing my sensitive skin. Once it was off, he tossed it somewhere across the room leaving me bare. Hands started to knead my breasts while pinching at my nipples, making them perk up.