During their outbreak of spontaneity, Jane and Levi, had ignored the fact that after 8 pm the city of Rome was practically dead.
Save for a few bars here and there every single thing in the city was closed. But it seemed the pair had taken to the challenge of the now desolate city, roaming here and there to find something opened late enough that would sell them authentic Italian gelato.
Well it was an all-night gas station and it may have not been authentic but they served ice-cream. Jane had also spotted a lamp-lit street bench amidst the quieted city that seemed good enough for their date. It wasn't the most romantic of dates, but Jane was undeniably content. For the first time in what felt like forever she was, somewhat happy. She could finally act like every other she wolf who'd met their mate and she could just be with him.
While she was here she didn't have to think about dying because of the insane curse that was put on Levi's family.
She didn't have to think about her insane, murderous mother, Clare, coming back from the dead.
She didn't have to think about the fact that Levi was trying to sacrifice himself in order for her not to get killed.
And she certainly didn't have to think about the fact that Levi was betrothed to his twin brother's mate – Anouchka Erin Bennett.
Jane laughed, unable to help herself as she muttered aloud, "Our lives are seriously messed up."
"Someone's caught on a little late," he teased harmlessly.
Levi shot her a playful smile, the force of it shaking her knees and she found herself glad to be sitting. It really was such a shame that every aspect of her life seemed to pulling her away from him because he was the most gorgeous boy she'd ever met and probably ever would. No matter what the outcome would be of their trip to Europe, if she lived or died, she was pretty sure there would never be another person who made her feel the way her mate did.
"Stop thinking so hard," Levi commanded of her, "I can tell by the look on your face that you're thinking about everything that's wrong with our lives and I'm banning you from thinking such things."
"Banning me huh?" Jane asked innocently as she took another bite out of her ice-cream. The flavour was absolutely incredible a sweet, creamy vanilla with butterscotch and honeycomb.
Levi nodded, "Tonight we're going to ignore all the really crappy stuff that's going on in our lives. Just for one night I don't want to have to worry about the curse."
"Agreed."
The more her ice-cream melted, the more Jane could begin to feel the struggle of not spilling it. She wasn't normally such a messy eater, but she couldn't concentrate properly with her mate smiling over at her like that. Suddenly, Levi's smile grew wider and he leaned in close to her.
Shocked, she held her breath as the smirking boy became merely inches from her face. Levi's thumb gently grazed against her bottom lip, his intense gaze holding her own as he drew back slightly and placed his thumb past his lips. She could feel her heart trying to run out of her chest as she watched him breathlessly.
Levi feigned an innocent expression to her reaction, "You had ice-cream on your lip Jane."
Jane nodded, not sure she could speak coherently at the moment. She felt as though she melted almost every time that Levi said her name. It was incredible how much he affected her.
Jumping to her feet, Jane was extra careful to keep her ice-cream from dripping everywhere and she began pacing in front of the bench that Levi sat on. He was making her feel like a heated livewire and the energy that pulsed through her from his powerful looks was enough to make her feel antsy.
She had to move, she couldn't just sit there any longer without jumping on him and she didn't want to do that out in the middle of the streets of Rome. As much as he was tempting her and driving her crazy she had to regain her composure otherwise she'd turn into a mess. She just had to get it together, if she didn't the night would come to an end and she wasn't ready for that to happen yet.
She hadn't gotten enough of him yet. Her pacing stopped and she clicked her fingers as she stared at Levi, "Let's play a game."
He raised his eyebrow as he raised his ice-cream to his lips, "What kind of game?"
Dear Lord he had a perfect mouth. And she knew that those soft, yet firm lips of his had a deft skill when it came to kissing. It set her toes on fire and made her body erupt into fireworks. And his addictive taste was already so potent, imagining it with the flavour of the chocolate ice-cream he was devouring before her and she was definitely starting to lose her mind.
"An easy enough game," she began to walk again trying to put all the bountiful energy in her body to good use. Something that wouldn't involve her breaking any PDA laws.
"I'll ask you seven questions," she said, "Answer them honestly, and we can see how compatible we are."
He tilted his head as he watched her nervous pacing with a knowing smile lit across his face. He knew that she was anxious because and he seemed to like that idea. But if only he really knew what was going in her brain. She wasn't nervous because of him, she was nervous because of the things she wanted to do to him.
"Isn't this game already got an obvious outcome?" He asked her slowly, "We are after all mated to each other, therefor we have to be compatible right?"
"Perhaps not, it could be a mistake."
Yeah right.
There was no such thing as mistakes when it came to your soulmate. And Levi was right they were supposed to be compatible, but she had to do something to take her mind of Levi's perfect body reclined against that park bench. Gosh what was happening to her? Maybe there was something in her ice-cream.
"Alright Tiny I'll play your game. Let's see how compatible we truly are."
Her body broke out into a shiver when he called her by the nickname reserved just for him. She waved off her reaction, blaming it on the wind.
She rubbed her hands together, "Okay. First question, a world without ice-cream or pizza?"
"Hitting me with the hard question to start."
She shrugged and watched as Levi frowned over his possible answer, "As much as I love ice-cream, I would suffer from pizza with drawls."
Jane couldn't help the large smile that broke out onto her face, she couldn't agree more.
"Have your own private island or a theme park?"
"That one's easy." He stretched as he stood up from the bench, "Obviously I'd have a theme park, but it'd be on a private island like Jurassic Park."
"Snapchat or Vine?"
"Vine."
"Woody or Buzz?"
"That's like picking your favourite child."
"Mash potato or mac & cheese?"
"Mac & Cheese."
"Marvel or DC?"
"Marvel."
As if she wasn't already half-way in love with the boy. He was answering all her questions correctly, well, almost but as much as she loved mash potato it wasn't a deal breaker for her. She could very well live with his preference of Mac & Cheese over mash potato.
He took a step towards her and they stood toe-to-toe and the breath whooshed out of her lungs. He shot her a dazzling smile as he asked, "How'd I go?"
"Five out of six so far. So not quite the required seven." She smiled up at him as she held up her index finger, "I have one more question of you Mr Jackson."
"Ask when ready Miss Archer."
He held eye contact with her and it took all of her will power not to melt before him, she met his heated stare head on as she spoke, "Your last twenty-four hours to live; how would you spend them?"
"On a rocket ship in outer space looking down on the earth," he reached for her hand and took it in his much larger one. Pulling so that her hand was hovering over the space where his heart was in his chest, "And you would be there with me."
*
Jane hadn't wanted their spur of the moment date to end. Their small outing had definitely quickly become one of the best nights of her life. She would never forget how long they just spent talking and laughing and being together without any of the added drama.
To her dismay Levi didn't kiss her again, but after he told her he would want to spend his last day alive with her he never dropped her hand. The small touch had had her elated and she'd been on cloud nine the entire date until it had started to get too late and the couple were forced back to the hotel.
Lying awake on her bed, Jane couldn't stop the images from reeling in her head; it was so much better than anything she could've hoped for. She didn't even want to close her eyes, since she knew that when she woke up in the morning all that had transpired last night would be nothing more than a happy memory.
It ate away at her knowing that their little date would be the one and only time they'd truly ever get to be together. It was perfect in every way and now that she knew exactly what she'd be missing out on, she ached for more. Now she knew without a doubt that she would do whatever – and she really meant whatever it would take for things to turn out okay for her and Levi, at least a scenario that didn't have a resolution of one of them winding up dead. Or if worse came to worse, then she would make sure she would be the one to save him. She would never be able to live with herself if Levi sacrificed his life for hers, it made her sick just thinking about it.
"We're leaving on a plane tomorrow afternoon."
Anouchka's voice startled her in the darkness. Jane had thought that the girl had been asleep in their shared room, but really she'd been just as awake as she was. Jane wondered if anything had happened between Anouchka and Luke in the absence of herself and Levi. It was possible. Luke still had the Wolfsbane simmering through his blood and keeping him from acting out as he was able to keep his deranged wolf at bay.
"What'd you tell Luke?"
In other words, how had she convinced him to let them go find the page from Vivian's grimoire that detailed about the spell before the boys could.
"Nothing," Anouchka answered her voice usually monotone, "I talked to him. He thought it would be a good idea for the two of us to fly out tomorrow. End of story."
Something about it all seemed too simple. She knew as well as anyone that Luke wasn't just going to let her and Anouchka supposedly just 'fly out' tomorrow. He'd do something to make sure they had their butts back on a plan to the US that afternoon. She should've voiced this to Anouchka, she should've started to pry to see if there was a flaw in the information she'd used to convince Luke to let them go. But Jane didn't want to start overanalysing anything just yet.
Not when she was still so happy about the wonderful night she'd just had with her mate. She was feeling more peaceful and content than she'd had in weeks and she was determined to stretch out that feeling for as long as she could. She wasn't a stranger to her mate's hot and cold attitude she knew that he may be sweet as a cupcake this evening and then frigidly cold towards her in the morning. She wanted to bask in her joyous mood for just a little while longer still.
Tomorrow, she promised herself, I'll start worrying about it all tomorrow.
"Well okay, if you say so."
Jane sounded totally dazed even to her own ears, never mind Anouchka's.
"So I take it you and twin 1 had a nice time?" Anouchka asked a hint of amusement in her tone.
Jane sighed, "Yeah, I guess we did. What about you and Luke?"
"Don't worry about us," Anouchka said dismissively, although Jane could hear the obvious hurt in her friends voice and she wondered what had happened in her absence.
"Luke and I already spent our time together when we children. I'm happy for you and Levi, just, be ready to say your goodbye's tomorrow..."
The obvious meaning of a last goodbye was written in Anouchka's tone, but Jane wouldn't let it deter the warmth and joy she felt all over. Not tonight. She deserved one night away from all the madness.
"Goodnight Anouchka."
"Night Jane."
As Jane faded off into her dream she was content that for once her dream self-conjured images of what her life would be like with her Alpha mate if there was no curse separating them.
~ * ~
A/N:
Keep on reading... it's a double update