Fantasyland: Midnight Soul Part 57

Franka went on, "We're here for telephones. As illuminating as this is, perhaps we should move on to that part of our expedition."

"Right this way," he said quickly and moved even quicker. He started his spiel before they got to the phone section. "We have a wide selection, a number of plans, different data options, our coverage is the best in the country and-"

"I'll take that one," Franka declared, pointing at a rose-gold iPhone.

"Yes, pink!" Josette exclaimed. "I'll take that one too." She whirled to Franka. "We'll have twin telephones, Franka! Won't that be divine?"

"Indeed it will, my dear," Franka murmured, again sounding amused.

The salesman stood in the midst of a sea of phones and looked to Noc.

"Let's just go with that, yeah?" Noc suggested.

"Right," the guy mumbled.

"To make this easy on you, they're probably not gonna need more than three gigs on the plan," he told him. "They're also not gonna need the larger storage capacity on the phone."

"Gotcha," came the reply. "I'll go get 'em now."

And he took off.

Fast.

"Well, that's somewhat rude," Josette muttered, eyeing him as he went and looking put out.

"My a.s.sumption from his earlier reaction is," Franka started and Noc looked to her, "regardless of the fact that the women wear far less clothing, as do the men on some occasions, the s.e.xual mores here are more stringent than they are at home, am I correct?"

Since he still had her in his hold, Noc curled her into his front, enjoying watching that slim, gorgeous neck of hers arch further back to keep hold of his gaze as he answered, "Not sure I can answer that question accurately. Didn't go on the prowl in your world, sugarlips."

She nodded smartly, sharing, "Josette told no tales. In our world, it's not unusual for a young woman, or man, to approach someone they find attractive and offer to share their bed. Flirting is sometimes utilized, but it's also often abandoned. No use wasting time when you can discover quite quickly if both parties desire the same thing. Is this not done here?"

He fought a grin as he shook his head and added, "Nope."

"Oh dear, was I rude?" Josette asked, sounding horrified.

Noc looked to her. "I figure he's never gonna forget today, not in a bad way, and right about now he's trying to decide if you saw his wedding band so he can take it off, come back out and take you up on your offer."

"Wedding band?" Franka asked.

He looked down into her beautiful face, still unable to decide if it was more beautiful made up or not.

When he did he thought of seeing that face for the first time in months the night before.

He also thought of all the brilliance that came after.

Especially the brilliance of what she'd said right before she drifted to sleep in his arms.

He then forced himself to stop thinking about this because, if he didn't, he'd drag Frannie to his Suburban, take her to his new place and not give a s.h.i.+t they were leaving Josette behind. And that would not only not be cool, Josette was not like a babe in the woods.

She was like a kid in a candy store.

And that was worse.

"The band on his left ring finger," he shared. "If a man has a band there, that means he's married."

"How marvelous!" Josette cried. "And what an excellent idea." She turned to Franka. "If our men wore bands, a woman would know and she wouldn't have to walk into a pub and unexpectedly have some wench accost her, tearing at her hair and clothing and spitting in her face."

Clearly, this was something that had happened to Josette.

Christ.

Franka, already relaxed into his body and his hold, relaxed deeper while noting, "I never did quite understand the impulse of the wronged wife going after the lover. If the lover knew about the wife, all's fair and I bid her strength in every pull and as much spittle as she can produce. If she didn't, why tear at her hair and spit in her face? The lover was wronged as well, perhaps not as wronged as the wife, but she was wronged. The wife should be tearing at her husband's hair and spitting in his face." She tipped her head back and looked to Noc. "Do you agree? Or are vows of fidelity not practiced here as Cora and Circe shared they were?"

"They're practiced," he replied. "And I agree. A dude cheats, his wife cuts off his d.i.c.k, my thoughts, he's got no place to complain."

A sweet, happy light lit in Franka's eyes at his words.

"His d.i.c.k?" Josette stage-whispered to Franka, she turned to her girl and Noc lost that light.

But he'd had it, he liked it and he was good with that.

Midnight soul.

Not even f.u.c.king close.

"I do believe, with that term, that Noc's referring to a man's member," Franka stage-whispered back.

And Noc was again fighting laughter.

"They vow fidelity here?" Josette asked.

"They do," Franka told her.

"Odd," Josette mumbled.

Noc was surprised. "You don't in your world?"

Frannie looked back up at him. "As they speak an ancient tongue, no one actually knows what the Vallees are saying during the marriage ceremony, even, in some cases, the Vallees. But my understanding is, no. Fidelity is not vowed in the Dwelling of the G.o.ds when a man and woman are officially wed. Expected by the lower cla.s.ses, definitely." Her mouth tightened. "Expected from the females of all the cla.s.ses, also definitely. Expected from the males of the Houses, no."

"I take it you don't like that much," Noc observed.

"What's expected for one should be expected for all," she replied.

Noc again beat back laughter as he curled her closer and dipped his face to hers. "Listen to my Frannie, just a few months ago you were all about cla.s.s, conservative to the core. Now you sound like a socialist."

"I've no idea what that means but the teasing light in your eyes and the grin on your lips I have seen on a variety of occasions. As such, I do know what they mean and they make me think I should be finding you annoying right now," she returned.

"Not today, baby," he murmured, giving her a squeeze. "Today started great, it's going great, and it's going to keep going that way so let's get along."

"With delight," she agreed. "But only because you called me 'my Frannie' and it's the first time you've called me anything, outside Franka and sweetheart, that I like, so it's put me in a good mood."

Noc liked that she liked that.

And he liked that she looked almost as good in jeans and a designer tee as she did in that unbelievable dress she'd worn last night. He liked that she wasn't letting the heels beat her and she had on another pair (or it could be that Valentine had only supplied those and she had nothing else, Valentine wasn't at her place when they showed that morning and didn't return before they left-not that he'd ask about Frannie's shoes, but he would express his grat.i.tude).

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 Cafe 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 f.u.c.king 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 f.u.c.kuva 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 s.e.xy 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, pa.s.sports 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 s.h.i.+t 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 resume, 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 att.i.tude 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 cafe 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 pet.i.tes homards are almost as flavorful as home."