“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.

Chapter Twenty

“Good morning, love.”

“Morning.” We were back in our bed inside. Levi must have moved us while I slept.

“What time is it?”

“Nine. I must have tired you out last night. You slept like a rock…mostly.”

“Mostly?”

“You did say my name one or two times.”

“Seriously? I need to stop doing that.” Surprisingly, it didn’t embarrass me.

“No. Definitely not. Keep those dreams coming. It means I’m doing something right.”

“You definitely did something right last night.”

“Did I?”

“Yes… it’s probably good I fell asleep so quickly, otherwise I would have kept you up.”

He laughed. “I wouldn’t have minded.”

“Did you sleep well?” I asked belatedly.

“Very well.”

“But you must have been up awhile if you heard me talking.”

“I slept more than usual. I usually only get three or four hours. I probably got seven last night.”

“Three or four hours? How do you function?”

“I technically only need to sleep a few hours a week…”

“What?” I sat up. “What else don’t I know about you?”

“Do my sleep habits really upset you that much?” He pulled me back down into bed next to him.

“No, it’s just that I wish I knew more about you.”

“Like what?”

“Do you need to eat?”

“Yes, I need to eat.”

I snuggled into the sheets. “But how much. Is it like sleep?”

“No, I need to eat as much as you. Scratch that—more than you.”

“What about—”

“Don’t ask about the bathroom, that’s the same too.”

“Levi.”

“What?”

“Okay, I know you can see well in the dark, but you don’t have x-ray vision or anything, do you?”

“Are you asking whether I can see through your clothes?”

“Maybe.”

“No, unfortunately not.”

“Good.”

“Good? Would that really bother you? I already know exactly how good you look naked…” He pulled away the blanket to look at me.

I pushed the blanket back down. “It’s not me I’m worried about.”

“Wow, that would make you jealous, huh?” He grinned. “Don’t worry, babe. Even if I could, no one would hold a candle to you.” Something about the way he said it, and the intense way he looked at me, made me believe him.

“We have to go back to school, don’t we?”

“We still have another few days of study break. We can stay another night.”

I sat up on an elbow. “But I need to study.”

“You can study here. Didn’t you drag all your books?”

“Maybe.”

His phone rang, interrupting our conversation.

“Hi Dad. Yes, it’s been fine.”

I figured it was going to be a long conversation, so I decided to take a shower. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when Levi joined me a few minutes later. “You made me shower alone yesterday. You’re not doing it again.”

“Well, then, make yourself useful.” I handed him the soap. Levi brought out such a strong and sexy side of me I never realized I had.

“Yes, Ma’am.” He grinned, and I was ready to agree to another night in Shreveport.

Those plans were dashed when he filled me in on his talk with his dad. He’d just finished drying me off. He insisted on doing it himself. “So, it looks like you’ll get back to study after all.”

I tried to hide my disappointment. “Oh, does your dad need you back?”

“Actually, he wants to see both of us.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he wants us at dinner at their place tonight.”

I hadn’t been to his parents’ house since the party in August, and then it was only the backyard.

“Don’t look so nervous. It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s a big enough deal that he wants us back right away.” I rifled through my suitcase for some clothes.

“I think he just wants to talk about how things went. He sounded happy with me though. This is a good thing.”

I forced a smile. “All right, do I get breakfast or are we leaving immediately?” I pulled on a sweater.

“Breakfast sounds good. What do you want?”

“Do you think you have pancake mix? I’m craving some.”

“I bet we do. Let’s look.” I followed him out to the kitchen. After rummaging through the cabinets, he pulled out the mix, along with the milk and eggs from the fridge.