Haven's Choice

by Tarah Knight

  The next evening Haven took special care with her appearance. She actually styled her hair instead of throwing it up in her usual ponytail. She wore her favorite jeans that made her butt look good and a yellow scooped neck t-shirt. She lined her hazel eyes with dark brown liner and smudged some dark green eye shadow in the corner. After two coats of mascara and some light peach gloss she was ready for work and whatever might happened after work. She smiled as she thought about the sexy lingerie she was wearing under her jeans and t-shirt. If Bryon made even the slightest move on her she was ready! Mary Jo gave a wolf whistle when she walked into the bar. “Wow! Look at you! You will be getting all the tips tonight! What’s the special occasion?” Haven smiled telling her about Byron. “I don’t know what it is about that man, Mary Jo, but he gets all my cylinders firing like crazy! I have never had anyone affect me like this, and he hasn’t even tried yet! God help me when he puts his mind to it.” Her friend fanned herself. “Oh yeah, ya’ll got what is called chemistry girlfriend the sex will be off the charts! I had a boyfriend like that once. He was a complete ass-hat except in bed, and honey he could do no wrong there! I would still be with him except you have to be able to actually get out of bed sometime and then I couldn’t stand him.” She paused then winked at Haven. “But I wouldn’t mind just one more rumble with him, if you know what I mean?”

  Haven watched the clock all night and even went over to make sure it was working, no way her shift should last this long. But finally it was four thirty and she could leave. She dashed to the bathroom to freshen up and spritz some fresh perfume on her cleavage. That was definitely where she wanted his attentions at tonight! When she walked out she saw him talking to Mary Jo who looked smitten. When he looked up and saw her he smiled that special smile that had all of Havens ponies pawing the ground… hard! He reached out slipping his finger though one of her curls that was lying on her shoulder. “You look stunning tonight. You take my breath away.” Haven just smiled back unable to form a response. She waved at Mary Jo who gave her thumbs up fanning her face behind Byron’s back as they walked out into the night.

  They walked the dark deserted streets talking and laughing like they had known each other forever. Haven had never felt such a connection with anyone before. She wondered if Byron could be the ‘one’. He touched her constantly nothing sexual, (unfortunately) but light caresses and brief strokes of his hand on her arm or back, just enough to keep her body humming with need. Haven was ready to tackle him in a dark alley somewhere she was so fired up! They finally stopped at a park where they had some privacy. Haven took matters into her own hands when they sat down at a picnic table surrounded by tall over grown bushes. When Bryon sat down she sat on his lap he pulled her closer as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He didn’t encourage her or discourage her he just waited. “So what does a girl have to do to get a kiss around here?”

  His eyes glittered in the near darkness but she saw a faint smile crease his sensual lips. “She simply has to ask.” Haven tilted her head closer to his then whispered. “Byron, please… please kiss me.” He reached up cupping her head with his warm hand pulling her to him. Haven felt like a mass choir of angels should have been rejoicing in song when his lips finally captured hers! He pulled her in holding her mouth captive with masterful strokes of his tongue against hers. Haven felt herself melting against him. He was the kiss master! What he could do with that tongue of his it was wicked, it was sinful, it was pure heaven, and she was now its willing slave! She felt a sharp pain in her lip, but he quickly swept his tongue across it and the pain vanished. Haven switched her position without releasing his mouth she turned herself until she was straddling his lap he pulled her deeper into the cradle of his body. She slipped her hands inside his shirt running her hands over his hard chest and ripped stomach. His hands gripped her hips rocking her against him setting up a motion that soon had Haven grinding on him in desperation. “Byron…” She whispered. “I want you, I need you.” He slowly unbuttoned her jeans then slid his hand inside cupping her as she rocked frantically against his hand. He whispered. “Release for me!” he commanded. She felt the sharp sting on her lip again and went tumbling over the edge.

  He never touched her again after that except for a kiss on her hand or forehead. Haven thought maybe he thought badly of her because of the wanton way she responded to him in the park. When she asked him a few weeks later, if that was so, he chuckled. “My sweet Haven, when you gave yourself to me so sweetly that night my world became complete. Never think that I think you are anything but a true wonder.” She tucked her hair nervously behind her ear. “Then why won’t you touch me again Byron?” He cupped her face in his warm hands. “Haven you may have noticed that I some very old fashioned ways. That night in the park your beauty and passion overrode my normal restraint that I normally have in such circumstances.” Haven grinned. “Really? I made you act out of character?” He smiled down at her. “You have no idea how badly I wanted to take you right there on that table and damned if I cared if anyone saw. But I have higher plans for you than a steamy tryst on a table Haven. I want you to be my bride… be my love forever.” Haven stepped back stunned at what he had just proposed. “Are… are you asking me to marry you?” She stammered out in disbelief. He nodded then said. “Tell me you will be mine forever, tell me you want to be at my side for all of eternity. Say it!” Unable to speak Haven nodded her head as Bryon swept her up in his arms and carried her inside his house.

  Haven clung to Byron as he carried her downstairs into what looked like a basement. That he was carrying her to a basement never even entered her mind as being strange, she was too caught up in the moment to notice where they were going. He placed her on a bare mattress that was on the floor kissing her until she was boneless under his skillful hands. He spoke to her in a strange language as kissed his way across her cheek and down her neck suddenly he clamped his hand tightly over her mouth then he rose up over her and in the dim light she saw what she thought at first had to be a joke. Wolf-like canines erupted from his gums as he muttered the words forgive me, he sank his fangs into the tender flesh of her throat! Haven tried to scream as a searing pain engulfed her body she struggled with every ounce of strength she had to knock him off of her. She begged and pleaded for him to stop that he was killing her, but her muffled words fell on deaf ears. Only after he had drained her to the point that she fell limp from his arms did he pull away from her. Through blurry eyes she watched him get to his feet and look coldly down at her. A trickle of her blood was running down his chin he swiped it off with his thumb sucking it into his mouth. He knelt down reaching his hand out to brush her hair away from her face. He said something but she couldn’t understand his words, as her body went still and cold the last thing she saw was his back as he walked away leaving her to die…

  Haven felt a burning in her stomach so bad that she thought Byron was back holding a blowtorch to her. She moaned as she rolled over and fell off the mattress that she was still lying on. The cold damp concrete floor actually felt good to her feverish body, so she lay there for a few minutes trying to decide if she were alive or dead. After a few minutes she decided she had to be alive, no way could she be in this much pain and be dead. She rolled over onto her back staring at the pipes that were running across the ceiling going up into Bryon’s house. Suddenly she remembered what had happened. “That bastard! He tried to kill me!” She reached up feeling for the torn flesh of her throat that surely had to be gaping open from his brutal attack. But all her fingers felt was smooth flesh, no hanging flaps of skin or bloody gore that she had expected to find. She got to her feet slowly and once she was standing on very unsteady legs she walked to the stairs that led out of the basement. About halfway up the burning started in her stomach again, she doubled over from the pain of it swearing a blue streak as she panted through the agony. “Oh, God! He probably gave me rabies or parvo!” She remembered seeing the huge dog-like fangs shoot from his mouth right before he bit her. She tried to rememb
er if rabies was fatal to humans, but all she could think about was taking her grandma’s twelve gage and filling his sexy ass full of buckshot! When a stronger even more painful wave of heat passed through her stomach she lost her footing and rolled back down the staircase landing in heap at the bottom. “Oh Lord, let me die…” She moaned right before she passed out.

  When she came to again she was sick, like throwing up everything but her memories, sick. She retched over and over until she was dry heaving and even then her stomach kept trying to empty itself. “God there is nothing left! Stop it!” She tried to reason with her rebelling tummy. As she swiped her arm across her mouth she felt a stinging pain. When she looked at her arm it had a long deep scratch. “How in world?” Then she felt a stinging in her bottom lip, when she touched her lip with her finger it was bloody. “What the hell?” She muttered. Again came the stinging in her bottom lip, like someone had stuck it with a needle. Suddenly feeling lightheaded she sat down on the bottom steps of the stairs. “There is no such thing as vampires.” She reassured herself, right before she lifted her hand and felt the needle sharp fangs protruding from her own gums!

  “So how did you learn how to feed yourself Haven? I assume that Byron was not there to teach you?” Haven brought herself back to the present with a small shake of her head. “What? Oh no, I haven’t seen him since he turned me. I have no idea where he is, but God help him if I ever do.” She promised darkly. “So how did you learn to feed?” Brooklyn asked again. Haven couldn’t look up she was very ashamed of how her first feeding happened. “I tried to ignore my hunger for a couple of days, but I could feel myself losing control, so I knew if I wanted to have any control over what I did I needed to feed soon. I had watched enough Dracula movies to have a general idea how to go about it, so I thought.” Verlon spoke up. “Did you know to trance your prey?” Haven looked at him from under her thick lashes. “Nooo… not exactly.” She admitted. “Then how did you get your prey to follow you? To be cooperative?” He asked. She shrugged. “Good old fashioned sex appeal? All I had to do was act drunk and helpless and a tad bit… needy. The guy all but dragged me out to the alleyway. I didn’t realize up until that moment just how strong I was, so I was as surprised as the dude was when I slammed him into the wall.” Barron got up suddenly. “I don’t think I want to hear this.” Then he left the room. Brooklyn leaned forward. “Well I do! Then what happened?” Haven suddenly looked a little sheepish.

  “Well I wasn’t going to hurt the guy anymore than what I had to, so I decided to kiss him and make him think he was going to get lucky, but my fangs kept cutting up his mouth and he started trying to get away.” Brooklyn chuckled softly. “Oh dear.” Haven looked at her in annoyance. “Yes, oh dear, is exactly right. So when I realized that I no longer had a willing captive I had to act fast and I’m afraid my aim wasn’t very good. I bit the guy everywhere except where I needed to, his shoulders, his chest the side of his face. Poor guy. He eventually passed out from pure terror and I was able to feed, and yes, I left him alive, but just barely.” Verlon patted her hand. “You did better than a lot of others that have been turned and left without counsel little sister, don’t be so hard on yourself.” She smiled her thanks at the huge man that patted her hand so gently. “Thank you. I did get better, eventually. But some tutoring would have been helpful. But I did alright.” Brooklyn got up and hugged her. “You did more than alright Haven. You should very proud of yourself! Why I have heard of people going stark raving mad when they realize what they have become! You adjusted and did what you needed to do to survive. That takes grit and determination. Well done Haven, well done!” Haven blushed under Brooklyn’s praise, but it did feel nice to get a pat on the back. She missed that more than anything from her granny. She was always quick with the praises no matter how small or insignificant the act was. She knew that her heart had to be broken into a billion pieces at her disappearance. But Haven couldn’t face her, not as she was. To dispel the gloom that was quickly entering her already bruised heart she asked what they were planning to do about the rogue vampires. “We don’t know yet. To turn someone then to leave them uncounseled is strictly forbidden. So forbidden it is an automatic death sentence.” Barron came in the room Haven offered him her cheek as was expected of her. He kissed it then squeezed her shoulder. “Sorry my love, I couldn’t stand to hear of your hands on another male, even to feed. Made my blood boil it did. Now what are we discussing?” Barron and Verlon along with Brooklyn discussed the problem at hand while Haven stayed silent. She was wondering what would happened if Barron ever found out about her “close call” with Deacon the night of the counsel meeting?

  ~ Chapter Ten ~

  It had now been close to a year since the counsel had decreed that she would be Barron’s Serah. No one had seen or heard from Deacon in all that time and Haven had finally stopped thinking or wondering about him. She decided he was a coward unworthy of her time or her heart! She had laid aside her foolish plan to run with Deacon if he ever showed back up. She knew now that would only get them both killed. Her life with Barron was happy… enough. He treated her decently and with respect. That was a lot more than a lot women got from their males both human and vamp. Of course the sex was off the charts, but that had to do with the stupid bonds. Haven had long since stopped fighting them. The only time she and Barron had any connection was in the bedroom, so he tried to keep her there.

  But she knew, and she was sure that he even knew, that their bond was not that of Serah’s. It wasn’t like Brooklyn’s and Verlon’s. Their eyes followed each other as if they were tied. When they stood near each other Verlon’s body was always slightly in front of Brooklyn’s offering her his protection. Verlon’s eyes always sought out Brooklyn in a roomful of guests and friends. He was always guarding her even from a distance. Brooklyn in turn submitted herself to his protection and his authority. That was one area that Haven still had not mastered. She hated being told what to do, even if it was for her own good. She bristled every time Barron tried to get her to do something his way. He grew frustrated with her lack of submissiveness. But she did warn him on that first day that she was stubborn and she reminded him of that today when they argued over some trivial matter that Haven wouldn’t agree to. “By God I bloody know that you did Haven! You have yet to cease reminding me of it. But just once I wish you would just do as I ask without fighting me on every turn.”

  She just shrugged. “Sorry Charlie, but this is what you asked for so this is what you got.” He strode over and jerked her to her feet roughly. “No. This is not what I asked for and you know it. I asked for a chance to make you happy, I asked for you to meet me halfway, but you won’t. Any little concession I have gotten from you I have paid for a thousand times over. Do you think that I don’t know?” She glared up at him. “Don’t know what Barron? Say it!” His furious eyes met hers. “I know that you are not my Serah! I know that you belong to my brother. Is that what you wanted to hear?” She nodded her head slowly. “It’s the truth at least. Now I ask you why? You have probably known from the very beginning, so why?” He let her go and walked away to stare out over the bright lights of the city below them. Their positions reminded Haven of her first night here except it was her that stared wistfully out into the night. “Why Barron?” she asked again. His eyes met hers in the reflection. “Because once I met you I could not imagine anyone else in your place. I know I was a selfish bastard, and I caused both you and my brother untold pain. But I truly did think I could make you happy, that I could make you love me.” She held his stare without mercy. “And now?” He turned to face her before he spoke his voice cold. “Now, I am less able to let you go than I was before Haven, even knowing that you will never love me. I will love you enough for the both of us.” Haven shook head as she walked to him placing her hand over his heart. “Barron, that’s not love. That’s ownership. True love wants the other to be happy even if they are not. True love will walk away from the very thing that makes their hearts sing if it will mean th
e other will be able to find happiness.” Suddenly she stopped and stared at him. “My God all this time I’ve hated him, and that’s exactly what he did. He walked away so I could find happiness with you!” Tears poured from her eyes when she finally recognized Deacons sacrifice. Barron frowned furiously at her. “So that makes him a hero now? That he wouldn’t stay and fight for you?” She looked at him with a small smile on her face. “No, Barron, that doesn’t make him a hero. It makes him my Serah.” Then she turned and walked from the room.

  The next day she told Brooklyn of her revelation. “So now what?” Her friend asked. Haven shrugged. “I don’t know. Barron said he wouldn’t let me go and with Deacon gone I guess things will go on as they have been. Once more I have no choice.” Brooklyn got to her feet walking the lush garden that Haven had created in Barron’s backyard. She suddenly stopped and gave her head a sharp nod. “Actually, that’s not exactly true Haven.” Haven looked at her in confusion. “What isn’t exactly true?” Brooklyn walked back over and sat down next to her taking her hand. “I was sworn to secrecy, so please forgive me, but I know where Deacon is.” Haven stared at her for a long moment not sure that she heard her correctly. “What? What did you say Brooklyn?” Her friend actually looked ashamed. “I know where Deacon is, well sort of.” Haven grasped her hand tightly. “Brooklyn, I really need you to start making sense ok?” Brooklyn nodded. “Let me start at the night of the counsel meeting. Deacon had come to me and told me that he knew the counsel would grant Serahship of you to Barron, because he was the firstborn. He knew he couldn’t fight that. He also knew that the only thing that made any sense in this situation was that you must have been born a twin and just didn’t know about it.” Haven shook her head hard! “I’m not a twin! I’ve told him that more than once! Why does he keep hanging on to that idea like a dog with a bone?” Brooklyn shook her head. “That’s where he has been all this time, searching for your twin. He knew the only way you could be together as his rightful Serah was to find Barron’s rightful Serah. It’s the only thing that makes sense Haven! Why else would you respond to both men and both men respond to you? Twins share everything right down to their DNA. When I checked on the other twins that have been born into Legend or turned they were always paired with other twins or at least siblings. Darling, you have a twin somewhere. Now, I don’t know why you were never told about her, but believe me its true.” Brooklyn left a few minutes later leaving a very confused Haven alone in the garden,