Page 8 of Making Haven (Haven #1)

Lawrence

“There you go. A new home made just for you,” I whisper, watching as the queen bee moves away from the old beehive I stole and into the homemade hive I made.

I gently lay the old hive on top of the new one so the swarm of bees huddled onto this piece of hive can follow their queen into their new home.

I continue my humming, trying to soothe them all as they transition into a new place.

A couple of bees are still on my fingers and I carefully guide them into the hive instead of further up my arm.

Once I’m bee free, I take a step back, checking out my handiwork. They’re already buzzing into their new home. Soon enough, they’ll be making their own cells, making honey, and making the hive their own.

My chest warms with pride. My humming grows a bit more jovial as I step away from the hive. When I turn around, my smile falls away and my body freezes. Devin is leaning against the house, watching me.

If I was capable of blushing, I think I would be. My humming fades and my shoulders tense without my permission. I’m not embarrassed. I have nothing to be embarrassed about, damnit! I’m making this place better by having these bees here!

“That was impressive,” Devin says, nodding towards the homemade bee hive. “Did you get stung at all?”

I lift up my hand, turning it back and forth. “Not once.”

“And you made that box yourself?”

“No one else around to do it,” I say with a shrug.

“Fair enough.” Devin pushes off the wall, leaning on his walking stick.

“How’s the ankle?”

“Hurts but doing alright. I can put a little weight on it without feeling like I’m going to fall down. I found something to wrap it up to give it some extra support.” He sticks his leg out, twisting his ankle around in a circle, showing off the bandage.

There’s something different about this interaction than the others we’ve had.

It takes me far longer to realize it’s because Devin doesn’t have his walls up, guarding himself.

He isn’t purposely antagonizing me. Something has changed.

I have no idea what, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it brings me a bit of excitement.

There’s a tentative peace building between us and I want to do what I can to protect it.

If I’m stuck with Devin for a while, the least we can do is not try to fight each other around every corner.

“I’m really glad,” I tell him, giving him a small smile, one that he easily returns. I’m struck not for the first time by how handsome Devin is. I clear my throat, quickly looking away.

“I was wondering,” Devin starts to say, his voice drifting off.

“Yeah?”

“How do you bathe?”

The question startles a laugh from me. “It depends on how adventurous I’m feeling. If I want to stay here, I pull water from the well, fill a giant tub I keep outside and bathe like that. I also tend to just use a washcloth on my stinky bits.”

Devin snorts. “Your stinky bits?”

“Yeah,” I explain, nodding my head. “You know, pits, crevices, and cracks.”

“Oh my god,” Devin says, full on chuckling now. Huh. His laugh is lovely. I wish he’d do it more often.

If I’m not careful, I’m going to start sounding like I’m developing a crush on this guy and that’s the last thing I want. Or need.

“And when I’m feeling more adventurous, I wander down to a little creek nearby. Obviously I have to be more careful outside the walls of this place but it’s super rare a zombie wanders near the water. No idea why.”

Devin bites at his bottom lip for a moment before his eyes finally flick up to meet mine. “And today? Are you feeling adventurous? Could I persuade you into taking me to the creek so I can bathe?”

I look up at the sky, gauging how long the sun will still be down. “It’ll be cool during the night,” I warn.

“That’s okay,” Devin assures me. “Let me grab a towel and some clean clothes,” he says, turning away and stepping into the house he’s claimed. I watch him go, shaking myself from my staring when he’s finally inside.

I quickly run into my own home, grabbing a bag and filling it with clean clothes and a towel along with some shampoo and soap I’ve managed to scavenge from various places.

It’s not often that I actually use them, not wanting to waste them but on occasion, I like to treat myself.

Tonight seems like one of those nights. Why not treat both of us to something special?

Why not add to the tentative peace we have going on?

At the last second, I toss a razor, some shaving cream, and a candle lantern into my bag as well.

When I get back outside, Devin is already waiting for me, his backpack slung over his shoulders, his walking stick in hand. His sword is strapped to his back, ready in case we run into trouble out in the wild. I doubt we will but it’s always good to be prepared.

It’s the apocalypse, we’ve gotta be ready for anything.

“Do you want a piggyback ride?”

Devin gives me an unimpressed look. “I can walk just fine,” he says right away. Then a moment later, he lets out a breath and adds, “plus, I might need one on the way back if my ankle starts acting up. Save your strength for that, just in case.”

We walk down the road that leads to the giant gate at the bottom of the hill.

I let my senses widen, making sure to listen for anything suspicious, for any movement or groans of the undead.

Once we’re outside the gates, I lead us to the right, past the road that leads to my cul-de-sac and instead into the woods nearby.

I’ll never stop marveling at how perfect my location is. I’m surrounded by wildlife that shields me from the worst of what the world has seen. I can live off the land, I can hunt, I can hide while also having the comforts of a home up on a hill.

The walk to the creek is mostly quiet, only disturbed by the sounds of nocturnal birds and animals scurrying around. Devin seems tense, waiting for a zombie to come running any moment but I’m relaxed, knowing I would hear them from enough distance away to warn us.

Before long, the sound of the creek hits my ears.

The stream moving is rhythmic, like a lullaby, mixing with the other sounds of nature that surround this place.

For a moment, it’s easy to forget all the shit happening outside of this little bubble.

When I’m here, I feel like it’s not the end of the world and that I’m not a vampire.

I feel like I’m just a guy enjoying a bath.

“Here we are,” I say, nodding forward. “The creek is just past these stumps.”

“Convenient,” Devin murmurs, stepping over the stump and sitting down on it.

“That wasn’t too far but I think I was right, I might need a piggyback on the way back home.

” His face does something funny when he says home, like he can’t believe he just called the cul-de-sac home. I don’t call him out on it.

“I’m willing and able to be your trusted steed,” I tell him, giving him a grin that makes him roll his eyes, only this time I can tell it’s a playful display rather than annoyance.

What the fuck has changed?

As much as I want to question it, I let it lie, enjoying it while it’s here. Who knows how long it’ll be before he’s back to hating my guts.

I sit down in the grass, carefully pulling my socks and shoes off. Then I take off my hoodie, folding it and making a little pile of my clothes on top of my shoes.

“I’ve brought the good stuff,” I tell Devin, pulling out the soap and shampoo, handing it over to him.

Taking it, Devin stares down at the labels. “Fuck,” he hums, turning towards me with wide eyes. “I don’t even remember the last time I’ve properly cleaned myself like this. It’s been a long ass time.”

I touch my nose and playfully say, “Yeah, I can tell.”

Devin snorts. “Asshole. Like you smell like daisies.”

Shit. I like this side of Devin, when his teasing isn’t filled with barbs meant to hurt. I like seeing this side of him.

If I’m not careful, I can see myself falling. Which would only complicate things. Especially because he’s planning on leaving as soon as he feels well enough. Better to not gain feelings at all.

Standing up, I lift my shirt over my head.

I fold it up and place it on top of my hoodie.

Then I shuck off my jeans, adding them to the pile.

I can feel Devin’s eyes on me, but I do my best to ignore him.

I do my best not to show my emotions, the way my stomach is buzzing with butterflies, wondering if he likes what he sees.

Finally, I take off my boxers. Completely naked, I walk over to the creek and slowly step inside, hissing at how cold the water is.

“Jesus Christ,” I get out through clenched teeth. “I wasn’t expecting it to be this fucking cold but this is better than nothing I guess.”

I hear some rustling behind me. I step into the creek until the water is at my waist before I chance a glance over my shoulder at Devin. If I needed to breathe, I know it would be stolen from me in that moment.

Devin is beautiful. Dressed down in just his boxers, I find my eyes roaming toned, pale skin. He has a treasure trail that leads down into his boxers and a dark patch between his pecs.

It’s been so long since I’ve seen another naked person and I’m struck by the novelty of it. It’s intimate, to be bare with another person. But that’s not what this is. We’re just bathing. Nothing more.

I shake my head as I turn forward once more, sinking into the water further until I’m neck deep.

The chill of the water helps to clear my head.

Thankfully it’s been a few days since I’ve had any blood in my system, keeping me from getting an awkward erection.

I have a feeling something like that would absolutely ruin this tentative truce we have going on.

A moment later, Devin is stepping into the water.

He curses at the temperature before he’s breathing out a sigh, sinking completely in.

I turn around, watching as he ducks his entire head under the water straight away.

His skin pebbles and his nipples harden.

I lick my lips, imagining warming them back up with my mouth.

Fuck. I need to rein in my thoughts.

Devin tosses the soap at me as he shampoos his hair. I quickly get a lather going, washing myself quickly and efficiently, doing my best not to linger anywhere.

God, now that I think about it, I don’t even remember the last time I’ve come.

Maybe after that time I took down a bear and drank it dry?

One of the side effects of being a vampire is I can only get myself hard when I’ve recently drunk fresh blood and I try not to indulge too frequently, mostly living off animal products such as fresh eggs.

Someday I’d like to find myself a milk cow so I could live off that as well, but that’s more of a pipe dream.

Where the hell am I supposed to find a cow around here?

“Here,” Devin says, pulling me from my thoughts.

“What? Sorry, I was miles away.”

“I could tell,” he says, “you had this dreamy look to your face.”

“Was thinking about how hard it would be to find a cow,” I tell him honestly, completely skipping over the whole ‘making myself come’ part.

“A cow? Why?”

I take the shampoo from him and pass over the bar of soap.

“To drink from. Blood isn’t the only thing that I can drink to keep me going.

Anything that’s close to blood also works.

That’s why I have the chickens, I can essentially drink their eggs and it’s similar enough to blood that it keeps me alive. ”

“Seriously? Eggs and milk?”

I nod my head, getting a lather going through my hair before dunking myself under the water. “Weird, right? Not at all what the horror movies would have us believe,” I add on with a smirk.

Devin gives me the tiniest smile before rolling his eyes. Without my permission, my eyes follow the path his hands take over his body. Droplets slide down his stomach before finding their way down into the creek. They snap back up to meet Devin’s eyes and I realize he’s watching me watching him.

My stomach flips but this time it’s a pleasant feeling. I didn’t even know I was capable of feeling like this anymore. I thought vampirism had stolen this desire to be with another person or that the apocalypse had stripped it from me, the same way it had stripped me of hope.

But here I am, desiring Devin.

The look in Devin’s eyes mirrors the feelings swirling around inside of me. A tentative hope, that just maybe things could be more.

He reaches out towards me. I take a step in his direction only to have him pull away, turning away when something moves behind him. He curses, his body tensing. His footing slips and he starts to fall. I move without thinking, keeping him upright.

Our bodies are flush, his back against my front. Fuck, he’s so warm that I almost whimper.

I make sure he’s okay before taking a step away, not wanting to overstep any more than I already have.

“Sorry,” I murmur, “it was just a squirrel being curious. I heard it a bit ago. I should have warned you.”

“It’s fine,” he says under his breath. “I’m done. I’m gonna get out.”

“Okay,” I say slowly, cursing myself for ruining a perfectly good moment. I should have been faster to reach back. I should have warned him about the stupid squirrel. I should have said something to tell him that I’m okay with him reaching for me.

I dunk my head under the water one last time before making my way out of the creek. I can feel Devin’s eyes on me again as I step out and grab my towel. I feel like my body is heating up, blushing under his scrutiny despite knowing that’s impossible. Once I’ve got my pants on, I turn around.

“I have one more thing, if you want.”

“What’s that?”

I hold up the razor and shaving cream. “Would you like to shave?”

Devin touches his own cheek. “I would love that, but I don’t trust myself to shave without a mirror.”

Before I can think better of it, I offer, “I can do it for you.”

I watch as a wide array of emotions play across Devin’s features before, finally, he nods. Sitting down on the stump, he pats the ground between his legs. “Alright, but if you cut me, I’m going to kill you.”

I smile at him, wondering how it’s possible to feel like my heart is skipping a beat when it doesn’t beat at all. “You have a deal.”