“You can have both,” he said.
“I like what I have,” she replied.
He gave her hand another squeeze. “Babe, what I’m trying to say without saying it is that today, when we left the phone store, you tripped and then went funny on me. I don’t know if that’s why you went funny, could be you’re not used to riding in cars and you weren’t looking forward to getting back in mine. But whatever it was, I noticed it, and whatever it was, I want you to know I’m here to look out for you. So let me do that.”
She didn’t say anything and this lasted so long, he glanced to her from the GPS he’d programmed, something he needed because a week in NOLA was not near enough to know how to get around.
His eyes went back to the road and he noted gently, “Nothin’ to be embarrassed about, Frannie. Again, just lookin’ out for you.”
“I know,” she murmured.
“You wanna keep the heels, I am not gonna complain. You look great in them.”
She was silent a moment before she said, “It isn’t about the shoes.”
“Right,” he replied. “Then you’ll get used to being in cars. Seeing them. Hearing them. The speed they can have. The number of them there are. Coupla weeks, it might help if I take you somewhere open with no one around and show you how to drive. You’re in control of the car, you’ll understand it better and maybe be better sitting in the passenger seat.”
“It’s not about your vehicle either, Noc.”
That caught her another glance. “Then what was it about?”
She didn’t answer.
“Frannie, you shut down on me for a while there. You bounced back at lunch but I’ve been in your world. I know how freaky it is when everything around you is new. It can be overwhelming. And I can’t look after you if you don’t share what’s on your mind.”
At first she didn’t say anything and Noc was about to prompt her when she spoke.
“Is it safe, having a discussion while you’re operating this machine?” she asked. “All the lights, knobs, wheels, levers, it seems a lot to look after.”
He gave her hand another squeeze, but let it go thinking that maybe she’d feel more comfortable if he was using both of his to drive until she got used to riding around, doing this while he answered, “I’ve got a lot of practice. Been driving a car for twenty-two years, officially. This is not counting my dad teaching me how to drive at fourteen, with my stepmom having a conniption that he did it, and me joyriding with the guys numerous times before we got caught and Dad put a stop to it.”
“Joyriding?”
“Taking a car out without permission and driving it around. Legal age to drive is sixteen. We were not legal.”
“You’re thirty-eight years of age?”
She sounded shocked and that bought her another glance.
“Yeah,” he confirmed.
“Odd how I didn’t know that,” she murmured.
“Babe, we’re off the subject. To confirm,” he said with a grin in his voice, “I can have a discussion while operating this machine.”
Even after he confirmed, she didn’t say anything.
“Frannie,” he pushed.
“I know,” she said softly.
But she didn’t say anything else.
“You know what?” he prompted.
He felt her eyes on him when she stated, “About you and the Circe now in this world.”
Fuck.
He didn’t have to ask what she knew.
He knew what she knew.
Fuck.
He glanced at her again. “How do you know?”
“I saw you…that night, I…” There was a long hesitation and then, “I was coming down the hall. You were both in her door. It was obviously, er…after. I could…well, I could tell what had occurred. I retreated. Not much later, you walked into the sitting room and…” Another long pause before she finished, nearly on a whisper, “You know the rest.”
After they got their phones, Josette had mentioned going out to dinner with Circe and Franka had tripped. Clearly, she did this not because she wasn’t used to her heels. Clearly she did it because this was on her mind.
“I…well, I…” she went on uncertainly. “I considered this often when we were parted. Of course, I could not know what would happen upon our reunion. I will admit, as I’m sure you can gather, that I was desirous of that being the path we took and you’re very aware that I’m happy that we’ve taken it. But I couldn’t assume it would be what would happen. What I knew was that you’d been intimate with Circe. You two, well…you suit. She’s here. You’re here. And I’m—”
Noc cut her off with words he hoped would set her mind at ease. “It was a one-time thing. We had that one time. Now it’s done.”
Again with the silence before, very quietly, she shared he had not come close to setting her mind at ease.
“Noc, what we have, it’s very new. I understand I have no claim on you. You need give me no promises.”
Fuck.
That time, it was him that was silent and he was that way looking for a place to pull off.
He found it, indicated, swerved carefully into an open parking spot at the side of the street, put the truck in park and turned to her.
She was holding tight to the door grip and staring with big eyes through the windshield.
Apparently, he hadn’t swerved carefully enough.
“Frannie, look at me.”
Slowly, she tore her eyes from the window and turned her head his way.
And before he could even open his mouth, she opened hers and the words suddenly spewed out, but this time they came without hesitancy and they came fast.
“I just want you to know that isn’t why I agreed to do what I agreed to do with Valentine in regards to Circe. To take her from you. To create a clear path for me. That was not my intention at all. Those are no longer my ways. Well, they are, obviously with what Valentine and I are planning. A little intrigue. Some conniving. But not for sport. And not to harm. Our meaning is kind. It’s actually the natural order of things, in a way. But if you intend to continue on with her or, have, well…” she swallowed and it looked painful, “already started things up again on your return, that’s not my business. Or it is, in the sense that I should know so I can tell Valentine and we can stop doing what we’re doing so you can have a chance or, erm, whatever…with what you intend with Circe. And I will just…you and I will simply—”
“Stop talking,” he gritted.
She did as told and looked relieved to do it.
Noc took a deep breath and endeavored not to lose his mind and fuck up like he did the night before.
When he got his shit together, he stated, “Okay, I’m gonna make this crystal clear right now, Frannie, so we don’t fall into this again. That means I want you listening close, baby. Are you listening?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Right. Good. Here it is,” he began, took a big breath and gave it to her. “On a night months ago, after me and a bunch of folks I did not know saved a world, no matter what happened just before, I sat down to wine and whiskey with a beautiful woman and by the time I watched her walk out of that room, she had me wrapped around her finger.”
He heard her intake of breath but he kept talking.
“She didn’t know it and obviously still doesn’t know it, but since that day, it’s all been about her. That her being you.”
“Noc.” His name came husky and sweet, it was gorgeous, he loved hearing it, but he still kept at her.
“And now I’ll take the time to share that I’m not that guy. When I’m with a woman, I’m with that woman. I expect her to be with me too. If I have a woman in my life, it’s about her, getting to know her, seeing where things are gonna go and focusing on only that. It’s not about playing the field, being sure to keep myself open so I don’t miss anything or getting as much pussy as I can. It’s about her and me. Right now, I’m with a woman. Very with her. And in that current scenario, Frannie, I’l
l repeat, that her is you.”
“All right, darling,” she said soothingly.
“I’m not done.”
By the dashboard lights, he watched as she closed her mouth.
He did not.
“So what I do with my time is your business and what I do with my dick is definitely your business, is that understood?”
A quick nod with her “Yes.”
“And I expect the same from you. I’m in your business and that beautiful body of yours, Franka, is only for me. You still with me?”
Now her “Yes,” came breathy.
He loved hearing that too.
But he still kept at her.
“And to demonstrate what I’m talking about, no one has gotten what I’m gonna share with you, and no one is going to get it except you. When I say that, I mean I haven’t shared and I’m not going to share with anyone but you. I expect you to keep this between you and me as well because it’s only your business due to what you mean to me, who you are in my life, where I’m hoping what we got is gonna go. Other than that, it would be only Circe and my business.”
He gave her a chance to let that sink in, she indicated it did by slowly nodding, and then he kept going.
“She approached me. You could call it coming onto me, because mostly, in an inexperienced way, it was. I don’t know why she did. Maybe she was feelin’ it after helping to save the world. Maybe she was beside herself the world had been saved and she wanted to celebrate. Maybe it was just the time for her to do it. I don’t know what it was and I didn’t ask. That’s only hers. I did know about her. Valentine told me everything about everybody before she took me to that world. So I knew what her approach meant, how huge it was, and what an honor it was she picked me. Serious…and I am not saying this shit to make you feel better, it’s just true…she’s not my type. She’s gorgeous and we shared something that was intense and all good, but normally, I wouldn’t go there. I went there with her because I knew what her choosing me meant for her and I’d just put my life on the line to help save a continent. I was feelin’ in the mood.”
“Of course,” she whispered when he took a breath.
“That’s it,” he continued. “Before we took it there, she made it clear she wanted no more and I made it clear I was down with that because I felt the same. We parted friends. We’re still friends. She’s phoned since I’ve been home but I’ve been too busy to catch up with her. But again, she’s just a friend, that’s all she is and that’s all she’ll ever be. We got what happened between us in our history and it means something to me. It was a beautiful moment in my life, her trusting me like she did, and I hope I gave that beauty back to her. But then it was done. And by the way, to make something else clear, you are my type. That hair. Your eyes. That fuckin’ mouth of yours. Your neck, which is the most beautiful thing I’ve seen on any woman. The uppity cute shit you got going. Totally my type.”
When she got it that he was done speaking, she said softly, her words carrying a shit ton of feeling, “Thank you for sharing all of that with me.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Frannie. The gig is, you should expect that shit from me because that’s who I am to you. I’m yours. I’m your guy. And there’s nothing of mine that’s not yours to have.”
She leaned his way as far as her seat belt would let her and put a hand his knee.
“I, well…that means everything to me, Noc, and I wish you to know you should feel the same way about me.”
“I already do,” he returned.
He saw her lips tip up and he wanted to kiss her, looking at her face, the relief there she didn’t hide, the emotion she had for him she also didn’t hide, feeling her hand curl on his knee.
But they weren’t done.
“Now we got that clear, what are you and Valentine planning to do with Circe?”
Her hand disappeared from his knee and she leaned away.
He caught it before it was out of reach and pulled her back, resting both their hands on his thigh.
“You just told me there was nothing of yours that’s not mine to have, sugarlips, so spill,” he demanded.
He watched her bite her bottom lip.
“Frannie…” he warned.
He watched her let her lip go and she drew in a deep breath.
On the exhale, she said quickly, “The Lahn of this world lives in this city.”
Noc’s eyes went directly to the ceiling of the cab as his lips muttered, “Christ.”
“It’s the natural order of things,” she defended.
He looked back to her. “The natural order of things would put me with the Cora of that world.”
Her upper lip curled.
She knew of Cora of the other world. The woman made the shit Franka pulled all her life to keep people distant look tame. Cora of the other world wasn’t just a bitch. She was a cunt.
She was also dead and Franka knew that too.
“Well, that doesn’t bode well for our futures,” she murmured, her eyes drifting away. “And I must say, I have thought on this before last night and quite often today and it troubles me.”
“Babe,” he called.
Her attention came back.
He studied her face.
Then he said, “You don’t know.”
“What don’t I know?”
Shit.
He released his belt so he could get closer to her, curved her fingers around his thigh and lifted that hand to hold her at the side of her neck.
“You…the you of this world, sweetheart, she passed years ago. A boating accident when she was seventeen.”
Her gasp was audible.
“Yeah,” he said gently. “Valentine told me last week.”
“That…I…” She shook her head and it took her time to get it together. “This news…it’s peculiar. Before, I was concerned about running into her and how awkward that might be. But now, knowing this, all I feel is sad.”
“That’s because it’s sad, knowin’ a girl had her life cut short before she even got a chance to start living it. Fucks with my head, knowin’ that girl looked just like you.”
“Yes,” she agreed quietly.
“As sad as that is, Frannie, it still balances shit out.”
“Pardon?”
“You and me. My destined mate of that world is dead. The you of this world is also sadly passed. Think Valentine told me this just so I’d know, because of that, there’s balance.”
“Oh,” she whispered, and that was all she gave him after that mammoth piece of news.
He grinned and teased, “Yeah. Oh.”
“Well, that’s one thing we don’t need to worry about.”
He kept teasing. “Yeah, strike that off the list of non-existent shit we should worry about since this just works between us, what we got, so we really don’t have anything to worry about unless you make it up.”
Her eyes narrowed.
He leaned close and touched his lips to hers.
When he pulled away he ordered, “Leave Circe alone.”
She drew both of her lips between her teeth.
“Seriously, Frannie, let her live her life.”
She let her lips go. “Valentine thinks—”
“I don’t give a shit what Valentine thinks.”
“But, I agree and—”
“Then you’d be wrong.”
Her eyes narrowed again.
“You’re interrupting me, Noc,” she warned.
“Babe, this is serious,” he returned.
“You are correct, it is,” she retorted. “Very serious. And being serious, I wish for you to explain to me, right now, why Circe is not allowed her happiness. Of the players in this game of universe hopping, Finnie and Frey have found their bliss. Circe and Lahn of Korwahk. Tor and Cora. Maddie and Apollo. And I daresay, when you aren’t being vexing, you and me. So what of the Lahn of this world and the Circe of the other? Are they not to find their bliss?”
“If that’s gonna happen, let it happen.�
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“Even if it were to happen without intervention, by the time they get together, Noc, the Circe and Lahn of the other world will have at least three children, that being if Circe doesn’t deliver twins on her husband again, making it four. The Circe and Lahn in this world already have to catch up. There’s no time to waste.”
“You tell yourself that and Valentine tells herself that so you can meddle, seein’ as you’re both addicted to it.”
She pulled away from his hold, saying archly, “And let us see, Valentine has meddled in precisely three relationships, my clothing and shoes yesterday being not an unintentional fashion selection in the slightest. She planted me where she planted me the way she planted me knowing precisely what the results would be from her machinations. You may disagree, for reasons unknown, but from the results…including Finnie and Frey, Maddie and Apollo, and you and me…I would estimate she’s quite skilled at what you call her meddling.”
Shit, she had him there.
“And do you think for even a moment that Valentine or I would wish Circe harm or do that first thing to harm her?” she demanded to know.
“Frannie, calm down,” he urged. “Of course not.”
“Then I fail to see your problem with our plan.”
He didn’t like it. But she was right, which meant he had no choice but to live with it.
“Just, whatever you plan to do, be careful,” he muttered.
She pulled away even further and snapped, “But of course!”
“Baby, she’s spent her entire life being used and violated by men. I’m the only man she’s ever chosen of her free will. I’m protective of her and it’s partly because of that, partly because I’m human, and lastly because I’m a man and I fuckin’ hate that my kind has put her through a lifetime of shit. You say you’re gonna fix her up with a huge dude that I can’t imagine looks any less scary in this world than the other, I’m gonna react. Cut me some slack.”
“And cutting you some slack would mean allowing you your erroneous reaction, which was insulting, and forgiving you for it even if you haven’t admitted you were in the wrong and apologized,” she returned.
Noc fought a grin. “Yeah, that’d be what cutting me some slack means.”
“All right, Noctorno, I shall ‘cut you some slack.’”
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