Focus (The Crescent Chronicles, #2) (25 page)

Levi looked fantastic in his suit. He
always looked nice dressed up, but his excitement made him look
even better. I’d settled on a pair of black dress pants and a pink
merino wool sweater. I’d correctly assumed the court chambers would
be freezing—paranormals seemed to always run a few degrees warmer
than humans.

I was seated in a cushioned chair that
might be described as a throne. My chair was only separated from
Levi’s by a few inches, and it was weird to be sitting in such a
position of authority. I looked out at the crowded room. Every
chair was taken, and hundreds of people were standing in the
back.

A tall man who had introduced himself
as Ray had a long list written on parchment that, when unfolded,
went all the way to the floor. If it weren’t for the fact that the
guy was young, and in shape, it would have been like looking at
Santa with his naughty and nice list. I snickered, picturing Ray
with a hat and coat.

Levi looked at me. “What’s so
funny?”

“
Nothing.”

“
Tell me.”

It was hard to keep anything from Levi
after the night we’d shared. “I was picturing Ray as
Santa.”

He grinned. “A Pteron
Santa…interesting.”

“
So he is a Pteron… I
wondered.”

“
Yup, he’s our point man
here.”

“
Levi, are you ready?” Ray
interrupted nervously.

“
Of course.” Levi kissed my
cheek before straightening in his chair to face the front of the
room.

“
First up is Norman Taylor,
a Were.”

“
Very well,” Levi said
formally.

An older man with sandy hair approached
the elevated platform where we sat. He bowed slightly. “Thank you
for the opportunity to present my grievances.”

“
It is your
right.”

“
As you know, the Canton
pack has claim to the land directly east of Baton
Rouge.”

Levi nodded. “Yes, I understand you
have rights to the land.”

“
We’ve repeatedly caught
members of the Talbot Coven on our land. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t
find a need to address the royal court, but we believe they are
using spells against some of our men.”

“
What evidence do you
have?”

“
The words of the men
themselves. They’ve been waking up in the woods with only blurred
memories of what happened.”

“
Is that the only
evidence?”

“
No.” Norman turned
red.

“
What is it?”

“
I don’t know if I should
say it in front of your mate, Sir.”

“
You know it is proper to
have her present.”

“
Of course. I will
continue.”

Levi nodded.

“
The men have only vague
memories of engaging in activities with the women of the
coven.”

“
Activities?” Levi smiled
slightly. “Are you trying to say that the men have had sex with
coven members?”

“
Yes.” Norman looked down
at the ground.

“
Is there a member of the
Talbot Coven present?”

“
Yes, Sir.” Gloria, the
brunette from the night before, strode forward.

I watched, completely transfixed. This
was better than any soap opera.

“
Hello, Gloria. What do you
have to say to his claim?”

“
It’s true.”

“
You are admitting that
members of your coven trespassed on Were land and used spells
against them?”

“
No. I’m admitting that
members of my coven have had sexual relations with members of his
pack. The last time I checked, sex between paranormals wasn’t a
violation of any rule.”

Norman interrupted. “It is when it’s
coerced.”

“
Coerced? Do most men have
to be coerced into sex?” she purred.

“
Sir, I beg you to put her
in line. I run my pack traditionally. My men must find mates within
the pack, or join with women from other Were groups. They do not
fraternize with witches.”

A faint smile played on the corners of
Levi’s lips. “I don’t really have anything to say to that, so I’m
going to stick to the hard and fast rules. Gloria, do you admit
your members were on pack land without permission?”

“
Define permission.” She
smiled.

“
Answer the
question.”

“
Yes. But, I’m not aware of
any coven members using magic there. They were only after a drink
and a good time.”

“
A drink?”

“
Yes. Norman’s generation
might run things traditionally, but their sons don’t. There have
been some pretty wild parties lately.”

“
Okay. I think I’ve heard
enough. Gloria, keep your members off Were land, okay?”

“
Not a problem. But while
I’m addressing you, my coven has our own grievance.”

“
Is it on the list?” Levi
asked Ray.

“
Yes, she’s on the
list.”

“
Norman, are you
satisfied?”

“
Yes, Sir.” He looked away,
clearly embarrassed.

I was using all my strength to keep
myself from laughing. I couldn’t imagine a Were and witch orgy. Who
knew what was really happening in this world I had only recently
been introduced to.

“
Okay, Gloria, what’s your
issue?”

“
We seek a license for
unrestricted spell commerce.”

A hush fell through the crowd watching
the proceedings.

Levi shifted in his seat. “On what
grounds do you make that request?”

“
We need it. The current
regulations are too stringent.”

“
Is that all you have to
say?”

“
Face it, Levi. The economy
has ruined all of us. If we don’t expand our markets, we’re going
under.”

“
I’d prefer if you didn’t
address me so informally,” he said tersely.

“
Fine, Sir.”

“
I will take your request
into consideration and send a response within fourteen days, as
usual.”

“
Thank you, Sir.” She bowed
slightly and walked away.

At first I couldn’t take my eyes off
the proceedings, but as the hours wore on, I had trouble keeping my
eyes open. Hearing about land disputes between paranormal groups
got tiring after a while. I must have dozed off.

“
Ready,
sleepyhead?”

“
Hmm?” I blinked, trying to
remember where I was. I looked around and realized we were still in
the court room.

“
Wow, that’s
embarrassing.”

Levi laughed. “I would have done it
myself if I could have. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.
How about we head home? I did promise to make you dinner, didn’t
I?”

“
Oh yeah.” I got up,
stretched for a second, and followed Levi out of the now empty
chamber.

Back in the car, he turned to me. “So
what did you think?”

“
I thought it was pretty
cool at first. You were definitely very royal.” I laughed. “But,
obviously, the novelty wore off.”

“
Yeah, I bet. Thanks for
sitting with me though.”

“
It’s not like it
helped.”

“
Are you
kidding?”

“
No…”

“
First, I never would have
been allowed to preside if we weren’t mated. Second, the fact that
you came gave me so much more authority.”

I turned in my seat. “Why?”

“
A royal is only as strong
as his bloodline. Having a beautiful, young mate reassures my
subjects that the line is going to continue.”

“
They better not expect an
heir anytime soon.”

He laughed, but it sounded forced.
“Some probably do. We have some traditionalists that would have a
fit if they knew you were using birth control.”

I bristled. “Why would that be any of
their business?”

“
It isn’t, obviously, but
that doesn’t stop them from thinking it is.”

I looked out the window.

“
Let’s change the subject.
It’s nothing worth worrying about now. We have years.”

“
Good idea. So what are you
making me for dinner?”

“
Pizza.”

“
Please tell me it’s not
the frozen kind.”

We were just pulling into the gravel
driveway. “Of course not. Give me some credit, babe.”

It definitely wasn’t a frozen pizza.
With a glass of wine in hand, I watched as Levi tossed the dough
and made a spinach and chicken pizza. I was impressed he remembered
it was my favorite kind. We sat at the counter while we waited for
it to cook, and it felt so nice to just do something laid back
together.

While Levi pulled out the pizza, I
finished off the salad. We had a quiet dinner and ended up sitting
by the fire pit outside. Levi brought out some blankets and we
curled up together on a deep couch with plush cushions looking up
at the star-filled sky.

“
Thanks for
dinner.”

“
I’m glad you liked it.” He
played with a strand of my hair.

“
I’m glad I
came.”

“
So am I.” He leaned over
and kissed me gently on the lips. “So glad.”

His arms came around me as the light
kiss became so much more. I moved onto his lap, straddling him. His
hand slipped under my sweater and bra, cupping a breast. I sighed
and leaned into him. I put a hand up the back of his t-shirt,
running my fingers over the slightly raised bumps that lined the
slits that were the only evidence of his wings.

I broke the kiss. “Do you remember what
I asked you the last time I was in your lap like this?”

His lips turned into a smile. “Yes, I
do.”

“
Want to?”

He nodded, using his free hand to pull
off his t-shirt.

“
Wait, out
here?”

“
Why not? There’s no one
around for miles.”

“
It’s cold.”

“
You’re not going to be
cold for long.”

“
I won’t?”

“
I assure you, I’ll be
keeping you warm.” He let the blanket fall off my shoulders, and
moved his other hand to pull my sweater over my head. He unclasped
my bra, and wasted no time before letting his hands and mouth cover
the newly exposed skin. I was so distracted that I barely noticed
him removing the rest of our clothes before laying me down. He
hovered above me, just close enough that I could wrap my arms
around his neck.

My hands were twisted in his hair when
he took one and moved it onto his back. I felt the firm feathers,
and looked in awe at the beautiful black wings.
“Amazing.”

He smiled, and kissed me before
positioning himself over me.

I knew instantly something was
different. Sex was always incredible with him, but what I was
experiencing put each of the other times to shame. I dug my hands
into his back, needing him even closer.

“
I love you, Al. I love you
so much.” His lips attacked my neck, and I bit my lip to stop from
screaming out.

“
Don’t hold back, no one’s
here.”

I looked into his eyes, shocked to see
they were black. I couldn’t focus on them long and finally gave up
keeping quiet.

***

We’d been lying under a blanket for at
least five minutes before I finally spoke. “That was better than
flying.”

“
I agree with you
there.”

Levi’s wings were still extended, and I
reached out to touch one. “That was incredible.”

“
You were
incredible.”

“
Did you know you
transformed?” I asked tentatively. I really wasn’t sure what that
meant, if anything.

“
I know…I felt it. I didn’t
hurt you, did I?” He used a hand to move my chin up to look at
him.

“
No, not at
all.”

“
Good. I knew it would
probably be better, but not like that.”

“
How’d you
know?”

“
My dad.”

“
Your dad? You talked to
your dad about this?”

He laughed. “Not exactly. It’s more
like he talked to me about it. It was part of his speech about how
great it was to find a mate. That way you could actually be
yourself.”

“
Well, we’re definitely
doing that again.”

“
Are we?”

His hand moved down toward my chest but
I stopped it. “Not now.”

“
No?”

“
Nope. Right now, all I
want to do is cuddle. I’m still recovering.”

“
I can cuddle. You’ve given
me a lot of experience with that.”

“
Cuddling after sex is more
fun though, isn’t it?”

“
Much more fun. I prefer
getting those annoying clothes out of the way.” He pulled me
closely against him, and I closed my eyes, just enjoying how good
it felt to be naked in his arms.