Focus (The Crescent Chronicles, #2) (23 page)

“
This is it?”

“
It’s where we’re staying.
It might not look like much on the outside, but the inside’s nice.”
He got out and came around to open the door. “Come on.”

I unbuckled, and took my backpack and
purse. Levi already had our other bags.

He unlocked the front door, and I
followed him in.

“
Wow.” I put down my stuff
and walked around the open room. Exposed rafters went with the
rustic look of the place, but plush couches, hardwood floors
covered by several large area rugs, and a huge fireplace gave the
room a really comfortable feel.

“
I love this place. It’s
probably the smallest of our homes, but sometimes small is
better.”

“
Smallest?”

“
It’s only one bedroom.
Originally, there were two small ones, but Dad combined
them.”

“
One bedroom?”

“
Yes, love, one
bedroom.”

“
So you’re sure you can
stand more time in bed with me without sex?”

“
I think that’s a question
you should be asking yourself.”

“
I already know the answer,
and at least there’s a couch.”

“
Those couches aren’t as
comfortable as they look.” He grinned.

“
So are you going to show
me this bedroom?”

“
Of course.” He took off
down a narrow hallway and opened the door to a large room. Sparsely
furnished, a king sized bed stood in the center of the room with
bed stands and a dresser finishing off the space.

“
Nice.”

“
Isn’t it?” He crossed his
arms, leaning against the bed post.

“
What time is our dinner
tonight?”

“
It’s at seven, so we have
some time to explore if you want.”

“
Explore?”

“
You brought your hiking
shoes, right?”

I shook my head. “Umm, no. You never
mentioned hiking.”

“
I’m sure you brought
sneakers. That’s all you need.”

“
Fine, give me a
minute.”

“
Absolutely, I’m going to
check out the wine selection. The caretaker should have stocked it,
but I want to be sure.”

“
Wine? Won’t alcohol be
served at the dinner?”

“
Yes, but I want to pick
out something nice for tomorrow night.”

“
Tomorrow
night?”

He smiled. “Yes, for when I make dinner
for you.”

“
You’re making me
dinner?”

“
Yes, and since you can’t
possibly have any other plans, you’re not getting out of
it.”

“
Okay…”

“
Find your sneakers and do
whatever you need to do, and then let’s head out.”

I dug out my sneakers from my bag and
used the bathroom. I brushed my hair, pulling it back into a
ponytail.

Levi was waiting for me in the kitchen.
“You ready?”

“
Sure, let’s
explore.”

He grabbed my hand, towing me out the
door.

We walked silently into the woods. I
let him lead the way as we moved so far in that it got dark. “Are
you sure you know where we’re going?”

“
Of course. This isn’t my
first time here.”

“
This might sound like a
weird question, but where did you sleep when you came, since there
was only one bedroom?”

He laughed. “I slept where we’re
sleeping.”

“
Then, where did your
parents sleep?”

“
The main
house.”

“
So we’re in…”

“
The guest house. I just
like it better.”

“
Oh…”

“
When I was a kid I stayed
with my parents, but I started staying in the guest house at
sixteen or so. I’d drive out here to get away.”

Every time I learned anything about
Levi’s childhood, it surprised me. He always seemed so polished. It
was hard to imagine him as a teenager trying to escape his
parents.

“
I get that. I’m sure there
was a lot of pressure.”

“
That’s putting it
mildly.”

“
This is a big deal,
right?” I didn’t take my eyes off the path in front of me. I was
usually well coordinated, but coordination did nothing when it came
to tree stumps.

“
Presiding?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Very. Dad letting me take
over a session means he’s testing me, seeing if I’m ready for more.
If this one goes well, he’ll hopefully let us do some in cooler
places.”

“
You say that, but you like
it here.”

He smiled. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t mind
seeing other places with you…”

He stopped walking and put his hands on
my waist. “There are so many places I want to take you.”

“
What places?”

“
All over the world…but
most of our travel will be in North and South America—our
territory.”

“
So someone else runs the
other continents?”

“
Yeah. My dad’s second or
third cousins or something run Europe, and I’ve met the family in
Africa, but I don’t know much about the others. It’s hard enough to
deal with all of the families in our territory.”

“
Like the
Blackwells…”

He leaned in closer. “You don’t need to
worry about them, Al. You know I’m going to keep you
safe.”

“
I know.” I tried not to
think about how close I’d come to getting held hostage by them or
worse just a few weeks before. I knew it wasn’t Levi’s fault, but
it definitely made me doubt my safety—at least when I wasn’t with
him. Somehow, being tucked in Levi’s arms made me feel like nothing
could ever hurt me. I might have gotten annoyed at Levi a lot, but
I didn’t doubt his strength or devotion to protecting
me.

He leaned down and kissed me gently on
the lips. “Do you want to keep going?”

“
Sure, I’m not usually a
woodsy person, but this is pretty cool.”

“
Want to fly a little?
There’s somewhere I want to show you.”

“
Do you even have to ask?”
I doubted I’d ever get tired of flying. It was a high like no
other.

“
I guess not.”

Seconds later, we were airborne. The
trees moved under us in a blur. I quickly stopped looking at them.
It was easier to just look straight ahead. Levi landed on the rocky
shore of a river.

I understood why Levi liked the spot.
It was straight out of a postcard. The river rushed by quickly, the
running water the only sound other than the occasional bird
chirping.

“
This is
beautiful.”

“
It’s one of my favorite
spots.” He sat down on a rock, making room for me next to
him.

“
You have favorite spots
that don’t serve alcohol?”

“
Low blow.”

“
Just saying.”

“
I happen to like ‘woodsy’
stuff.” He made air quotes as he said woodsy.

“
You can’t blame me for my
lack of exposure to the outdoors. My dad didn’t exactly take me
camping growing up.”

“
Is it something you’d want
to do?”

“
Go camping?”

“
Yeah. I promise, I’d go
easy on you. We wouldn’t have to rough it too much.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this
side of Levi—it was so different. Where was the teasing guy who
always dressed impeccably, and picked out the fancy wine? It’s like
being out in the woods had changed him.

“
Maybe.”

“
I’ll take a
maybe.”

We sat watching the river for a while.
After a half hour, he actually managed to teach me to skip rocks.
Granted, I could only get one or two skips, where as he could get
twice as many.

My stomach rumbled.

He turned to me. “All right, let’s get
back.”

“
Do we have to?” I smiled
at him. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who loved being in the middle
of nowhere. It was nice to escape from everything else. I realized
I hadn’t even brought my phone on the hike. It was the farthest
from the device I’d willingly been in years.

“
We can come back tomorrow,
if you want.”

“
You promise?”

“
I promise.” He stood up,
giving me a hand to help me up.

“
Thanks for
this.”

“
My pleasure. It’s nice to
share it with you.” He leaned down and kissed me gently. I kissed
him back, wanting more. His arms wrapped around me, and I got so
lost in the kiss it took me a moment to realize we were flying. I
pulled away. “Levi!”

He laughed. “Unlike you, I can do two
things at the same time.”

We got back to the house in no
time.

“
Do you want to shower
first, or should I?” Levi asked as soon as we took off our muddy
shoes and had some water.

“
What, no third option for
taking them at the same time?” It wasn’t like Levi to pass up the
opportunity for sexual innuendo.

“
I didn’t want to push my
luck.”

“
Too bad. I would have
chosen that option.” I put down my glass and headed down the hall
to our room.

He coughed. Some water probably went
down the wrong tube. “That option is definitely on the
table.”

“
No thanks. I don’t want
you to think that I’m pressuring you.”

“
You’re going to kill me,
girl. Kill me.”

“
I know,” I called behind
me as I closed myself in the bathroom. I had to take a minute to
slow my breathing. I let the water run, filling the room with steam
before pulling out my toiletries and getting in.

I shaved, and enjoyed a few more
minutes in the warm water before getting out.

Levi was waiting in the
bedroom.

“
Your turn.”

“
Thanks.” He kissed me on
the cheek, and then my neck. “If you change your mind, and want to
join me, I won’t hold it against you.”

“
Have a good
shower.”

He turned the water on, and I started
getting ready. I’d gone for a simple, black strapless dress,
figuring you could never go wrong with a little, black
dress.

I zipped it up most of the way, but
couldn’t get it all of the way up.

Levi had turned off the water, so I
knocked on the door once. “Can I come in?”

“
Be my guest.”

I pushed open the door and almost
closed it again. He was standing by the sink, a towel tied around
his waist. He looked way too good with his hair wet.

He was definitely amused by my
appraisal. “Need some help with that zipper?”

I looked over at him again, a few drops
of water trailed down his chest, and I was undone.

“
No, I don’t think I need
help with it after all.” I let go, letting my dress fall down to my
feet.

I looked down at the dress before
stepping out of it and making myself meet his eyes.

“
The dress looked pretty,
but I like you better this way.”

“
Really? I thought you’d
like this better.” I took a deep breath, knowing that there would
be no turning back from what I was about to do. I reached around
and unclasped my strapless bra.

His eyes widened. “You’re right, I like
that even better.”

He closed the space between us, his
lips claiming mine with a fierceness I wasn’t expecting.

He carried me over to the bed, and
somewhere between the bathroom, and laying me down, he’d lost the
towel. “I like this side of you, Al.”

“
The naked side, or the
take-charge side?”

“
Both. Definitely both.” He
pulled off my panties, before laying down next to me. “I really
hope this isn’t another dream.”

“
Am I usually like this in
your dreams?”

“
You’re usually
naked…”

“
What a coincidence, you’re
usually naked in mine, too.”

He smiled. “I knew you dreamed about
me.”

“
Enough dream talk.” I
pulled his face to mine. “Kiss me.”

“
Yes, Ma’am.”

He kissed me again, letting his hands
wander, reminding me of just how much I’d been missing.

Chapter Eighteen

“
Maybe we should skip the
dinner.” Levi pulled me tighter against him.

“
We can’t, can we?” I
asked, never wanting to leave the bed. The last time we’d gotten
out of bed after having sex had been the beginning of the end. I
didn’t want another end.

“
Technically we can, but we
shouldn’t…”

“
Yeah, it wouldn’t exactly
leave a good impression.”

“
But, we can pick right
back up where we are after dinner.”