Midnight Soul (Fantasyland #5)

by Kristen Ashley

  He also liked that she dug beignets so much, after she’d swallowed her first bite, she’d kissed him right at their table at the very crowded Café du Monde like they had their own private room. She did it long. She used her tongue. And she tasted of dough and powdered sugar when she did it, which made a fucking great kiss even better.

  Further, he liked having her curled close. He liked that not only because he liked her curled close, but because she was close and not half a continent away on a parallel universe so he could curl her close.

  And onward from that, he liked that he had his Frannie back so she could act uppity and cute, making him want to laugh, which he did right then.

  But more, he liked all that knowing she’d be in his bed that night, and after he did what he was going to do to her there, she’d sleep in his arms again.

  Oh yeah.

  He liked all that.

  A fuckuva lot.

  “I’ve heard you chuckle, of course,” she said, her voice lower, meant only for him, and as she studied him her eyes were warm. “But I’ve never seen that particular look on your face.”

  “That’s a happy look, sweetheart,” he told her. “Though, I’ve been happy around you so let’s just say it’s a seriously happy look.”

  One of her brows went up. “Happy to be home?”

  “Happy we’re both home.”

  His words made her melt into him, doing it lifting her hands from where they were sitting light on his waist to rest them on his chest and giving him a sexy smile that he took as her being happy too.

  “Here they are,” the sales guy cut into their moment, and Noc tore his gaze from Franka, feeling her turn slightly in his arms, but she didn’t take her hands from his chest nor did she turn in a way she’d lose contact with him at all.

  He liked that too.

  He also liked the glance he caught of Josette watching them with a look on her face that couldn’t be interpreted as anything but ecstatic.

  He had her best girl’s approval.

  He wouldn’t have cared if he didn’t.

  But it didn’t suck that he did.

  They set up the phone plans and got the phones, doing it using credit cards in Franka’s and Josette’s names that Valentine had left behind for them in envelopes that also included driver’s licenses, social security cards, passports and debit cards.

  The cop in Noc didn’t like that. But there was no way around it. They didn’t exist in this world and they were going to be living there. This meant it had to be done so they didn’t have to live off the grid like criminals.

  He still didn’t like it.

  Regardless, Noc wasn’t a cop anymore. Valentine had returned him to that world a week ago so he could get his shit sorted, find a place to live, move his stuff that was in storage into that place and start his life so he’d have all of that out of the way when Frannie showed.

  But when Valentine had brought him home, she’d given him a choice. She could pull strings to get him a job on the force or he could work with a private firm who she contracted with to do jobs for her. They’d seen his résumé, talked to his captain in Seattle and received a referral from a valued client (Valentine). They wanted to meet him.

  After he sat down with them, he had an official offer within an hour.

  All this was done within two days of arriving home.

  The pay was three times more than working for the city, he had a lot more autonomy, his hours were more flexible and he liked the two guys who owned the place.

  He took the job.

  He started in two weeks. Two weeks to get Frannie settled. Two weeks to settle them.

  And then back to life, one with Franka in it.

  All was good.

  Better, the plans he’d made to wine and dine Franka in order to talk her around to his way of thinking about where they should take what they had, he didn’t have to spend time doing because they took it that way the night before.

  Now he could spend his time wining and dining her and end that with her beautiful face, great hair, fantastic body and adorable attitude in his bed.

  Which meant all was great.

  They were walking out of the store, Frannie again tucked in his side, arms around each other when she asked, “What’s next for our day?”

  “I’d like to learn to operate one of these conveyances,” Josette declared, her attention on the cars parked outside the store.

  “Think maybe you should give it a few days before you get your first driving lesson,” Noc replied, saying a few days, meaning a few months.

  “I’d like a luncheon repast of pizza,” Frannie announced, and Noc smiled.

  His girl liked her pizza. That was not in question.

  And that was something else Noc liked.

  “Pizza? What’s that?” Josette asked.

  “You have to experience it to understand the wonders of it,” Frannie answered.

  Noc felt his smile getting broader.

  “Circe took me to what she called ‘a boil’ last night,” Josette shared. “She said it’s quite the done thing here. It was very unusual. After boiling the lot of the food, they drained it and dumped all of it on a table and you ate it with your fingers. The food was delicious and it made eating fun. Though, while consuming it, Circe said her favorite food from this world is tacos. She explained what they were to me and they sounded most odd but also most delicious.”

  Franka had wobbled on her heel when Josette started speaking.

  As Josette kept talking, Noc tightened his hold and, after she righted herself, murmured, “Good?”

  It seemed she wasn’t meeting his eyes when she replied, “Yes, good.”

  “What do you think for next?” Josette carried on. “I agree with luncheon. As delicious as those morsels were at the café this morning, I’m starved. So this pizza? Or tacos? And I should make it be known that I’d be happy again with a boil. The shrimp here are exceptionally succulent. And their petites homards are almost as flavorful as home.”

  “Tacos,” Noc decided, watching Franka’s profile, all he had since she was keeping her face averted.

  She didn’t only seem to be avoiding his eyes, she was also suddenly stiff, and he didn’t get it.

  “I’m happy with that,” Josette decreed. “Franka?”

  “Fine,” Franka said softly.

  Noc beeped the locks to his SUV and Josette skipped to it excitedly.

  She dug riding in cars, as in really dug it.

  Franka didn’t feel the same.

  He steered Frannie to her door but didn’t open it.

  He turned her into him in a way she had no choice but to look up at him.

  When she did Noc knew she was hiding something.

  “Everything okay?” he asked quietly.

  “Fine,” she repeated, moving to pull out of his hold and turn to the car.

  He curled her closer and her gaze that had skidded away came back.

  “Babe, you sure?” he pushed and added, “Cars are safe, sweetheart, and I’m a good driver.”

  She nodded but made no verbal reply.

  He looked into her eyes.

  She was totally lying.

  “Frannie, what’s up?”

  “Nothing, Noc, though I am hungry so perhaps we can move along to luncheon?”

  “We have that word, Frannie, but it’s mostly called lunch here.”

  “Ah,” she murmured, her gaze again sliding away.

  He didn’t like her weird change of mood, the suddenness of it or the fact she was lying about it. It could be she was nervous about taking another ride, she hadn’t taken to being in a vehicle like Josette had done. It could also be she was embarrassed by her misstep on her heels. Frannie didn’t make many missteps. She wore her dignity like armor and didn’t do embarrassment very well.

  It could be something else.

  But Josette was in the car. It was time for lunch. Then he had to get them somewhere they could charge their phones and he could teach them how to
use them.

  After that, he’d be leaving them so Frannie could get ready, and he could go home and do the same, because he was taking Frannie out to dinner.

  Noc decided to give her her space now and talk to her then.

  At that moment, he moved in and touched his lips to her temple.

  His touch got him her eyes again and the remoteness he’d seen a moment earlier wasn’t totally gone, but some of the warmth had come back and he knew it’d all be good.

  Franka could go into her head. He’d find a way pull her out.

  He reached beyond her as he shifted her out of the way of the door, muttering, “Climb up, sweetheart.”

  She did.

  He shut the door behind her, rounded the hood and took his two other-world girls to find tacos.

  Not surprisingly, tacos were a hit.

  * * * * *

  The door to Valentine’s place opened and Noc stood still, staring down at Frannie.

  Jesus, but Valentine had good taste.

  “Fuck, baby, you look beautiful,” he said quietly, staring at her dress.

  It was a little black one made of lace. One shoulder had lace over it. The other was bare. The material under the lace looked nude. And the fitted skirt was short so her long-ass legs went on forever, especially in those pumps that showed her toes and had bows.

  Her hair looked amazing, poofed out and falling over her shoulders in big soft curls.

  And she’d become a master with makeup in a very short time.

  “Josette is enamored with the gadgets called ‘curling irons,’” she declared when his attention fixed on her hair. “We have something like this at home, but of course they’re not heated through a string that’s pushed into a wall.”

  Noc shook himself out of it, moved into her, rounded her waist with an arm and shuffled her in, grabbing the door and throwing it to behind them.

  “Encourage that obsession, Frannie,” he advised, dipping his face to hers.

  “My hair is extremely…” she seemed at a loss for words but settled on, “large.”

  He grinned and dipped the half an inch he had left for his lips to hit hers.

  “You work it,” he murmured there.

  “I assume that’s good,” she murmured back.

  “Mm-hmm,” he replied then he pulled her close with both arms and took her mouth.

  He felt her fingers circle the back of his neck, but only vaguely.

  It was all about her tits pressed to his chest. The feel of his hips snug in hers. The smell of her. The taste of her mouth.

  Noc slanted his head and deepened the kiss, bending her over his arm, wondering if he was hungry or if he’d be good just feasting on Frannie.

  The thought made him break the kiss but he didn’t pull away too far.

  He liked to watch from close as she swam up from one of his kisses. She took her time opening her eyes like she was still lost to his mouth and didn’t want to admit it was gone. And her gaze—usually so sharp, alert, guarded, missing nothing—was open, vulnerable, giving everything.

  “Much as I want more from that sweet mouth of yours, sugarlips, we don’t stop, we’ll be goin’ right to my place and not the restaurant.”

  A flare of interest sparked in her eyes before she nodded, pulled away, ducked her head and smoothed her skirt along her hips in an agitated move that exposed the effects of his kiss.

  A move that was so fucking feminine and so goddamned hot, he felt his dick start to get hard.

  “Okay, maybe you should stop moving,” he said.

  Her attention shot to him. “But…why?”

  “Frannie, you’re making me hard and I’m not even touching you anymore.”

  He watched it move over her face, the smug satisfaction that softened her mouth, hooded her gaze.

  “Fuck, now just lookin’ at your face, I’m gettin’ hard,” he grumbled.

  “You need to control yourself, Noc,” she purred.

  “Think back, baby. Not sure those words would have come out of your mouth last night.”

  He saw the pink hit her cheeks even as her eyes narrowed. He liked both. Enough he didn’t even bother to try to control himself from reaching out a long arm, hooking her at the waist and pulling her to him for a quick touch of the lips.

  “Josette settled in for the night?” he asked when he lifted his head.

  “Yes, but I’d like to say farewell.”

  He nodded. “Let’s get to that.”

  “She’s watching the television,” Frannie told him, detaching from his hold. But the instant she did, she reached out a hand, captured his and took him down Valentine’s hall.

  “Way Valentine lives, looks like the witch business is good,” he observed, this not being the first time in the last week he’d been to Valentine’s place. One that looked expensive on the outside but it actually hid the opulence of the inside that managed to be both lavish and utter class.

  “She’s said that her secretary has set up some tours of homes for Josette and I over the next several days. I’m hoping she finds much the same for us as this is more than adequate.” She stopped and looked back to him. “I know you have a good deal to attend to yourself, darling, after having just returned home, but if you could find time to accompany us and give your opinions, I’d be grateful.”

  “I’m there, Frannie,” he promised. “But did you see Valentine?”

  She gave him a small smile at his promise, but at his question she only gave him a short nod, turned ahead and kept walking, sharing, “She was here briefly, thus our understanding of the existence of curling irons. She said she has much to do to catch up.” It was quieter and reflective when she finished, “She seemed very distracted.”

  Before he could ask after that, she was stopping them inside a door.

  Josette was on the couch in that room, shoveling popcorn in her mouth from a bag, her eyes glued to the television where Interview with a Vampire was playing.

  “Josette, my dear, Noc’s arrived and we’re about to be away,” Franka called.

  Josette turned her head to them.

  “This food says it’s flavored with cheddar but it’s not any cheddar I’ve ever tasted. That said, it’s the most delicious thing I think I’ve ever eaten, outside tacos,” she declared.

  After tacos, while they were waiting for the phones to charge, Noc had taken them grocery shopping. He’d bought them a cart and a half full of food. He’d also subscribed them to Netflix and showed them how to pull it up on Valentine’s TV so Josette would be set while he and Frannie were out for the night.

  He didn’t know if Netflix had Interview with a Vampire in their queue. Though, it being that movie, maybe local stations played it on a continuous loop.

  “The creatures in this program drink blood,” she went on. “It’s gruesome and wonderful.”

  “I’m delighted you’re enjoying yourself, my sweet,” Franka said with a smile in her voice. “Now, you have all our numbers in your telephone and remember how to use them in case you need anything, yes?”

  “Yes, Franka.”

  Noc put a hand to the small of Frannie’s back and started to move her out of the door as she bid her girl to “Continue enjoying your evening.”

  “You enjoy yours as well, and hello and goodbye, Master Noctorno!” Josette called.

  “It’s Noc, babe. And here it’s really just Noc,” he told her, giving her a smile even if his words were firm.

  “Noc,” she said on a huge return smile then gave a swift wave and looked back to the TV.

  Noc guided Franka down the hall. She stopped at a table to grab a black clutch. He nabbed the wrap that was thrown over a chair and draped it around her shoulders, kissing her neck while he did it, doing it to touch her, have her taste on his lips, but earning himself another look of soft satisfaction that he felt in his dick.

  When he had her ready, he took her out to his car.

  While they walked, she said, “You look very nice as well, Noc. Most handsome, or
more than usual.”

  He pulled her closer with the arm he had around her waist, murmuring, “Not surprised my Frannie likes me in a suit.”

  “What you’re wearing is called a suit?”

  “Yup.”

  “Clever, seeing as it suits you.”

  He chuckled, beeped the locks and helped her up into his Suburban.

  He’d learned the times she’d been in it to start it up and then take her hand.

  Even when he did, he felt her tenseness come fast, fill the cabin and he saw her other hand move out and latch on to the grip on the armrest at her door.

  “You’ll get used to it, sweetheart,” he said quietly as he hit the gas, not wanting to call too much attention to it.

  His Frannie, she had pride. She’d appreciate the assurance but not so much him pointing out she needed it.

  And he knew he was right when she said nothing but her fingers flexed in his hand.

  They were on their way when he brought it up.

  “We can get you different shoes.”

  He felt her gaze on him when she asked, “Pardon?”

  He glanced at her then back to the road before he answered, “Different shoes. Ones without high heels like all the ones you’ve been wearing since you got here.”

  “Do you not like these kinds of shoes?”

  “Oh yeah, I like ’em,” he told her, gave her a squeeze of his hand and dropped his voice. “But, baby, until you’re used to walking in them, you can wear other stuff. I’ll take you guys to a mall tomorrow. Josette’ll like that and I figure you will too. And since Valentine took some of your stash, converted it to cash and opened you both bank accounts, you got a shit ton of money to spend, so you can have some fun.”

  “I’m perfectly fine in the shoes Valentine bought me, Noc. I’m growing accustomed to them. And just to say, I had time this afternoon to go through the things she procured for me and there are five similar pairs in my chamber and they’re all very lovely. I’m looking forward to donning them.”

  He wondered if she’d lose the way she talked the longer she was in his world.

  He hoped she did, she’d fit in better and he didn’t want her to feel awkward.