Midnight Soul

by Kristen Ashley

  The mortification.

  “So, to end,” Noc said, and I kept my face buried in his chest, feeling his voice rumble even as I heard it, “I don’t know what this pennyrium stuff is but an easier fix is to get your ass on the Pill so I can be inside you without a condom. In other words, I’m down with that until we decide no birth control is needed and whenever that happens, I’m down with that too.”

  I tipped my head back and gazed upon him with watery eyes.

  “I love you,” I whispered.

  “Thank fuck,” he whispered back.

  “I’ll cut tomatoes for you,” I shared.

  I watched his wavy mouth smile as he stopped stroking my back and tightened both his arms around me.

  “No need to make that great a sacrifice, sweetheart,” he muttered.

  “I have a golden soul,” I told him softly.

  His arms flexed so powerfully they pushed all the air out of me before it seemed he forced them to relax.

  “Yeah you do,” he finally replied.

  “I have a golden soul,” I repeated.

  “I know, baby.”

  “I have a golden soul,” I said again, and he opened his mouth to speak but I carried on. “I know this because the gods in my world and the God in yours would never tether a soul that was anything less than golden to the perfection that is you.”

  “Fuck,” he growled, rolling me again to my back with him on me.

  “I love you, Noc,” I breathed as his weight pressed it out of me.

  “Fuck,” he growled again.

  And then he kissed me.

  We had need of several condoms that night for our avowals commenced the belated sexual marathon Noc had promised days before.

  And dawn was kissing the sky when, exhausted, sated and deliriously happy, I let all my weight settle into the man who lay under me, holding me close, taking my weight, my worries, my demons, my dreams.

  The man who showed me my golden soul in a way I knew truly I carried it inside me.

  The man who loved me.

  * * * * *

  The next evening, I stood at the back of Valentine’s foyer, arms crossed on my chest, giving my best forbidding stare to the intensely handsome (I had to admit) Glover as he put a hand to the small of Josette’s back to start to lead her out the door.

  He smiled at me and shared, “She’ll be in good hands.”

  “She better,” I retorted, moving forward and catching the door before he could close it so I could continue to glare at them as they moved down Valentine’s walk in order to be absolutely certain I’d made my point.

  He nodded, his lips now just quirking, and I moved my gaze, my face softening, when Josette looked back and said, “’Night, Frannie.”

  “Good night, my sweet,” I bid.

  She looked ahead as Glover moved them both forward.

  I knew he did not intend for me to hear it but I had honed exceptional eavesdropping skills in my lifetime so I heard it when he spoke after he had her halfway down the walk.

  “Your sister’s kinda protective, yeah?” he asked.

  “Er, well…we’ve been through a lot together,” Josette replied quietly. “And she loves me.”

  “Right,” Glover returned, not sounding disgruntled, sounding pleased.

  Although I quite liked the fact that Josette understood my feelings for her, and the fact that Glover was not put off by a protective family member, I harrumphed.

  “Shut the door, sugarlips,” came from behind me.

  I turned to see Noc leaned against the wall at the side of the entry to the hall appearing like he didn’t know whether to come fetch me or let loose his hilarity.

  “I’ll see them safe in his car,” I returned.

  “Shut the door, baby,” he said softly.

  I liked his soft so I stepped out of the door and shut it.

  Only then did Noc come to me.

  Putting his hands to my hips, he pulled me close and tipped his head down.

  “So, my guess, we’re hanging here until you know she’s home all right,” he noted.

  “Yes,” I confirmed.

  He grinned and murmured, “Momma bear.”

  “You say this as a tease you think might get a rise out of me when I have no issue you think this way at all.”

  “Just to say, not teaching you how to use a gun considering you’re like this with Josette, it’ll be you and not me the boys will have a problem with when our daughters start dating.”

  I could actually feel myself blanch.

  Noc burst out laughing, hauling me into his embrace as he did it and putting his mouth to mine.

  “Christ, I love you,” he said there through his mirth.

  “Thank fuck,” I replied and lost Noc’s dancing, happy eyes.

  I did for he was kissing me.

  Obviously, I kissed him back.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Creative

  Franka

  “We have little time, Josette,” I warned as Josette handed over money to the friendly gentleman with the odd accent he said he had because he was from “Ay-tee.” A gentleman who was the driver of what Josette had told me was a taxi.

  A boon.

  While I was spending time learning the fullness of my love for Noc, and his love for me, Josette had been watching the television and fiddling with her telephone.

  Noc had been correct three days previous. I knew little of this world.

  But Josette was a quick study.

  “Just a minute, Frannie,” Josette replied, sounding like she was concentrating. “I need to work out the tip.”

  “The what?” I queried.

  “I’ll explain later,” she muttered.

  I looked to the watch on my wrist that I had purchased the day before when Noc had been driving Josette and I to a vacant parking lot where he could safely begin to teach us how to drive, and through the window of his Suburban I’d seen a jewelry store.

  Of course, I’d demanded he stop immediately for I had not seen an entire store in that world devoted to jewelry (that wasn’t in a mall displaying paltry offerings) and obviously this was something we needed to experience without delay.

  My watch was thin, with a black strap and what the sales lady explained was an “art deco,” white gold and diamond face. Whatever “art deco” meant. I simply thought it elegant.

  Josette’s was white and rose gold with a mother of pearl face. It was not trim but quite big, almost like men’s watches, but even so, it was most attractive.

  Both watches cost over fifty thousand dollars, at which Noc shook his head and said (not to anyone, certainly not me), “Way she’s going, she’ll be out of treasure in a month.”

  “No I won’t,” I declared. “Valentine says the this-world value of my treasure equals nearly half a billion of your American dollars. If this is so, I could buy Josette and me ten watches and not run out of treasure.”

  Noc gave me a look that said without words I should cease speaking.

  The sales lady made a noise that sounded like she was choking.

  I thought my best play at that juncture was to smile at her, and, of course, hand over my credit card.

  Our driving lesson was not as successful as our trip to the jewelry store.

  It was not me who was having difficulty mastering the controls of the car. In fact, it all seemed quite intuitive. Noc had even given me a pleased kiss after my lesson and declared me a “natural.”

  No, Josette was quite erratic, went too fast and her turns, even watching while standing outside the big vehicle and well away, were terrifying.

  Noc said I could probably start practicing on real streets after a few more goes “behind the wheel.”

  “Sorry, Jo, but it’s gonna be the parking lot for you for a while,” he’d told her.

  She didn’t seem to mind. She was just happy to be learning.

  And regardless, her head was in the clouds due to the fact that Glover was attentive and amusing and “oh so clever, Fr
annie, you wouldn’t believe!”

  I didn’t believe.

  I would have to see for myself. Something, I noted, I had not been invited to have the opportunity to do as yet even though they’d had their second date last night, dinner and Josette’s first movie.

  So I wouldn’t feel left out, Noc took me to my first movie as well (though he had not, as I requested, taken me to the same exact movie as Josette and Glover’s movie).

  It was insanely loud, the sound seeming to beat into my body.

  Regardless, it was a rather interesting way to tell a tale, inflating images so they were humongous and all you could pay attention to.

  In the end, I got used to the incessant loudness and quite lost myself in it.

  Though I was still peeved for it was played in the dark, which meant we could have easily gone to the same one as Josette and Glover and done this without detection.

  But Noc had no time for my pique, ordering rather firmly, “Just let her enjoy herself, Frannie, and keep out of it.”

  It was hateful to admit, but I had no choice but to do just that.

  Now, we were in a vehicle sitting at the curb outside the building where Dax Lahn had his office, and our time to see to what needed to be seen to was short.

  “Right, good, thank you,” Josette said to the driver and looked to me. “We can go.”

  I threw open my door and stepped out.

  Josette followed me, slammed the door and wasted precious moments being friendly and waving at our driver as he drove away.

  I took her waving hand and pulled her with me.

  “Come. We must make haste. This staff meeting they have has already started. It can last upwards of an hour but I’ve no idea how much time we need, though I fear the more the better and it’s ticking away rapidly.”

  “All right, all right, I’m coming,” Josette murmured, flipping and flopping behind me while my high heels clicked on the pavements, my thighs straining the most becoming, but quite tight skirt I was wearing that hit me at my knees, my filmy blouse billowing with the swiftness of our gaits.

  I had hit on the perfect plan, for when they had this meeting, all working there attended so the office was practically deserted, save the big room where they sat, and we could easily reach Dax Lahn’s office without them seeing us.

  As we entered, I did not take time, as I had done often, to admire the fact that Dax Lahn had selected an older, rather handsome building in which to house his offices.

  No, guiding Josette with me, we quickly moved to the elevators, called one, it whooshed us to the appropriate floor and let us out.

  Outside the elevator I took in a deep breath and let it go, turning to Josette and advising, “Deep breath, Josette. Calm. Serene. The key to being somewhere you aren’t supposed to be is behaving like you have every reason to be there.”

  She nodded.

  “Deep breath,” I repeated, noting she hadn’t taken one.

  I watched her do that, gave her a small, reassuring smile, and turned in the direction we would need to take to get to Lahn’s office.

  Since I was very good at this, we had no issues entering the rooms that housed Lahn’s business nor getting to his office. It was as I’d known it would be, deserted with everyone in the meeting. We hadn’t seen a soul all the way to our destination.

  We entered his personal office and went immediately to the large desk that was carved attractively and made of beautiful wood.

  I stood at its side and looked to Josette, sweeping an arm toward the contraption lying closed on its top.

  “There it is, Josette, let us find his schedule quickly so we can just as quickly leave.”

  She looked to me then to the contraption then to me.

  “It’s closed,” she stated.

  I examined it even though I’d just seen it.

  “It” was called a “laptop.” Noc had one. I had requested he show me how to use it just last night, but he’d grinned and shaken his head asking, “You know I’m not stupid, right?”

  My reply had been a heated, “Of course! How could you ask such nonsense?”

  He’d simply shaken his head again and said, “We’ll get into computers after Lahn bumps into Circe on the street somewhere and they fall in love at first sight.” And after delivering that, he’d walked away.

  Most irritating.

  Though, he’d walked away to get the wine bottle and refresh my glass so my irritation couldn’t last long without it becoming mulish.

  Which was also irritating.

  In Lahn’s office, I turned back to Josette.

  “It is, indeed, closed,” I confirmed.

  “On TV, when they close it, that means turning it off,” she explained. “Always when they’re finished doing something of great import on it, they slap it shut and sit back contentedly.”

  “Well, we shall open it as we have yet to do what we need to do that’s of great import. We’ll shut it again when we’re done.”

  “No, I mean, if I open it, it’s like turning it on. And a lot of the time, when people on the television are doing what people like us are doing now, they open the ones that have been closed and they’re immediately foiled in their activities because they have to get by the password.”

  I stared in shock at the computer, asking, “Does it speak?”

  “Not that I know,” Josette answered.

  I looked to her. “Then how can it ask for a password?”

  “You tap it in.”

  Of course.

  I’d seen Noc tapping on his own.

  “Right, well, we—”

  It was then, I sensed it.

  I stopped speaking and froze, not including my eyes which I felt grow big.

  Then I stepped close to Josette and whispered, “Keep quiet.”

  “What the—?” A deep, perturbed voice came our way. “Can I help you with something?”

  Josette made an “eep” noise as she turned to face the door.

  I was already facing the door and thus I saw Dax Lahn walk through it and stop.

  I had forgotten how large he was.

  Oh balls!

  We were going to be arrested before we’d even managed to open his laptop and now Noc was going to have to retrieve us from jail.

  He’d said he’d spank me if this was to occur and I might not be averse to a spanking from Noc on certain occasions, but I suspected the one he’d wish to deliver after liberating us from a cell would not be the kind I would like.

  “Again,” this came as a growl as the large man took a threatening step toward us and stopped, “can I help you with something?”

  This was what I did and did well.

  So this was what I needed to do.

  “You can indeed,” I declared, lifting my chin. “You can explain to us why you’re so late for our appointment, Mr. Lahn.”

  His head tipped slightly to the side and that was threatening too.

  In Korwahk, the sight of Lahn doing this might cause someone to relieve themselves immediately and maybe run for their lives.

  The repeated “eep” Josette made gave me the understanding this same reaction could come on this world too.

  “Sorry?” he asked.

  I stepped forward. “Franka Drakkar. We were to meet at ten. It is not ten. It is,” I looked at my watch irritably, “twenty passed ten.”

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Drakkar,” Lahn stated, glancing at Josette then back to me, “I didn’t have a ten o’clock appointment today.”

  “You certainly did and it was with me,” I retorted.

  “I’m afraid I didn’t,” he returned.

  “I’m afraid you did,” I rejoined.

  He took in our positions in the room and again caught my eyes.

  “Is there a reason why you’re standing so close to my desk, Ms. Drakkar?”

  “Since we weren’t even greeted, we’ve hardly been invited to sit,” I snapped in full affront.

  He seemed to examine the top of his desk before again retur
ning his attention to me.

  “If you weren’t greeted, how did you make it to my office?”

  “I do know who you are, since I made an appointment with you,” I declared. “I also know you’re the founding partner of this firm. When we were not seen to upon entry, where else would we go and look for you but the biggest office? I can’t imagine you’d give it to an underling,” I noted with disdain and finished, “And I see I was correct.”

  “All right then, you’re Franka Drakkar, may I ask who this is?” He tipped his head to Josette.

  “Josette Aubuchon, my assistant,” I told him.

  “And maybe you’ll explain to me what our appointment was to discuss,” he pressed.

  I sighed with impatience but answered, “My donation to First Mother House.”

  That took him aback even if I could only barely see the slight jerk of his chin.

  “First Mother House?” he queried.

  “Yes, as I explained over the telephone, I’ll be donating one million dollars to it and you were going to assist me with this as their legal counsel.”

  I was hoping that was a dramatic enough amount to take his attention from finding us in his office, and I was hoping I was using words I’d heard while observing him correctly.

  “One million dollars?” he asked low and disbelieving, answering my question about the amount of my donation.

  “Yes,” I confirmed.

  “First, Ms. Drakkar,” he stated, moving a step further into the room but doing so, I noted with some alarm, still blocking the door. “My assistant would not make a meeting during this day or time because this day and time is always blocked. Second…”

  He took another step and I felt the fear start wafting from Josette.

  I wished I could put a hand to her or give her a glance to calm her but I needed to remain in my play, for if I did not, I was afraid the results would be disastrous.

  Lahn continued speaking.

  “I would remember any possible meeting with a woman who intended to give one million dollars to First Mother House. And last, your donation does not require legal counsel.”

  Drat.

  I needed time and sought it.

  “If the fullness of our meeting was communicated to you, you would know this was not true.”

  “The fullness of our meeting wasn’t communicated to me so perhaps you’ll explain how I can assist you in giving a donation to a charity when you can simply write a check and put it in the mail?”