“Right, so, I guess we’re engaged now.” Morgan joked weakly, trying to get herself back under control.
“What!” Adrien said, sitting bolt upright in the stool.
“Pretend. Pretend engaged.”
“Oh, right. Of course,” He still stared at her, his gaze dragging heavy between her eyes and her kiss swollen mouth. “Pretend.”
She took a step back and it seemed to jolt him out of his haze.
“Okay, so the thing is, we have an engagement dinner tomorrow that my tri…my friends are throwing for us.”
Morgan’s eyebrows rose as he spoke. “Wow, they move fast.”
“Yeah,” Adrien forced a laugh, “yep, they certainly do.” He stared at her one more time before finally rising to his feet. “So, I’ll pick you at your house tomorrow night? Around five-ish?”
“Five-ish it is.” Morgan said, still not quite believing what she was agreeing too. But that wasn’t the only unbelievable thing of the night. She thought again of what she’d thought she had seen. His skin moving, actually changing as he fought the other man. The way his eyes had changed. Even his features had shifted. Morgan shook it off, telling herself she was being ridiculous.
“Listen, why don’t you take off. It’s already past your shift. I can clean up here.” Adrien said as he grabbed a plastic bin and started clearing off the tables.
“Are you sure? I can stay and help.”
“No, no. I’m sure. Just go home and get some rest. And practice being fiancé-y.”
Morgan just looked at him with an arched brow, fighting a smile as she clocked out for the night. It always seemed that no matter what happened, no matter how bad she was feeling, he could always make her smile.
“Goodnight, Adrien.”
“’Night, Morgan.” All she could see were his shining golden eyes as she walked out into the night.
*
“Hey, Harris,” Adrien said when the old bear finally answered his cell phone. He continued to wipe down the last table, finally putting the bar to rights after the long, riotous night.
“Uh, Adrien! I wasn’t expecting to hear from you.” He could hear the snicker in Harris’ voice and it set his teeth on edge. It also made it so much sweeter when he replied.
“Yeah, I’m sure you weren’t. Listen, I just wanted to know what time me and Morgan should come by for that engagement dinner you wanted to throw for us.”
Harris was silent for a long moment and he could practically see the smoke billowing out of his ears as he answered.
“Your fiancé, huh?” Harris growled, “Morgan was it?”
“Yep, Morgan Fevereau.” Adrien almost grinned. Harris would just have to come up with some other dupe for whatever scheme he was planning. “Does six work for you?”
“Fine.” There was a snap of teeth following the word as Harris spit it out and Adrien felt like giggling.
“Great then, tomorrow at the lodge. Six o’clock.” He did laugh out loud when Harris hung up the phone without another word. A wave of relief hit him as he put his phone back in his pocket and finished closing down the bar. Finally, everything was working out exactly the way he had planned.
Chapter 6
He was kissing her. They were back in the bar, and he was kissing her like his life depended on it. And maybe hers too. Morgan could feel his lips, soft and then hard as they moved across hers in a wave that had her bold body going up in flames. He crowded even closer to her, drawing her up his muscled chest, angling her head for better access as he speared those long fingers of his through her long hair.
Sensations like a million tiny electric charges swept through her body, quietly at first but then building and building upon itself until it was a roar that she couldn’t ignore. She couldn’t get enough of him. Couldn’t get close enough to him. Their clothes were keeping them apart. They would have to go.
And just as quickly as the thought occurred they were gone as if they were never there. She groaned in pleasure at the feel of his warm skin sliding over hers, driving her crazy, driving her ever higher as they moved against one another.
She pulled back, gasping for air and bit back a shriek as his face began to change form right in front of her. It shifted and morphed, the features melting and fur emerging even as she stood there, frozen with shock.
Suddenly he was kissing her again and she tried to move her face away. Wait a minute, not kissing, licking. Big, wet strokes. And his breath was terrible. Morgan choked back another gasp as the smell hit her. Oh my god, it was really terrible.
Morgan woke with a sudden jerk, annoyance and ire and humor all flooding through her as she shoved at the eighty pound mutt that was currently slobbering all over her.
“Kingsley, get off of me!” She said groggily as she shoved at him, barley budging him at all as he continued to wag his tail happily and licking the side of her face in joyful contentment. She tried to push him again, but was unsuccessful as before as Kingsley determinately stayed in place.
“Get off of me you big lug!” Morgan shifted her whole body this time, throwing the covers over her face in an attempt to stop his voracious and friendly attack.
“You want to go outside? Who wants to go out?” she said desperately as a last ditch attempt. She could feel the mutt go still, and then let out one bark of excited agreement as he leaped off of the bed and wiggled excitedly on the hard wood floors of her apartment. She could hear the rhythmic thump of his tail hitting the floor like a metronome.
Finally, she threw the blanket off and turned her head to glare at the excitable puppy. He was practically vibrating with anxiousness as he watched her with his big brown eyes.
“Oh, okay. You win.” Morgan rolled out of bed, running her hands through her long auburn tangles as she stretched in the morning sunlight streaming through the windows. It was one of the reasons she had picked this apartment, not that she’d had a lot of options when looking. There weren’t really a lot of options for much of anything in a town the size of Kingston, but the view that this apartment had was spectacular, staring out over the Nevada valley. The trees shooting up into the sky like spears and the birds darting, playing, singing in morning. It was her own perfect slice of paradise.
Kingsley let out a soft pleading whine that had her looking back with smile.
“Alright, you big oaf. Let’s go.” Those were the magic words. The only two he knew, even though she’d been trying to teach him other tricks since she’d adopted him almost six months ago now. He bolted to the door, standing stock still until she opened it and ran with him down the stairs. Mostly he ran, and she was dragged along behind him, but they were working on it.
There were three other apartments in the complex but no one else was out in the fenced in back yard so she let him off the leash and watched as he ran and jumped at bugs and butterflies, soaking in the summer sun. Morgan did the same, closing her eyes for a long moment as she just felt the warmth and life seeping into her skin.
She loved this area, the wildness of it, the rough, uncivilized beauty of it. She had been born and raised here. Her parents had retired and moved to Florida, but she could never imagine leaving this place. It was her home. Not that she planned on waitressing at a bar for the rest of her life. Her real passion was art. Painting, drawing, sculpting. It didn’t matter what it was as long as she could create, and the nature surrounding her was a constant source of inspiration.
Morgan knew it wasn’t the first thing people would think about her. She had one main color in her wardrobe. Black, black, and more black. Sometimes she would spice it up with a touch of gray but black jeans and biker boots, and t-shirt or blouse and her leather jacket were her normal uniform. When she thought of artist’s that painted nature she imagined long skirts and tie die, but at the end of the day, it was what she loved more than anything.
Kingsley ran back towards her, barking happily as he got momentarily distracted by a passing bird, and then finally collapsed at her side, panting in content.
“Come on, you goof ball. Back inside.” She hooked back on the leash and dragged him inside, trying to keep him on track as they passed bushes and patches of grass and all of the things that served as even more distractions for him.
They finally made it inside and Kingsley immediately collapsed in blissful exhaustion and she couldn’t help but laugh softly as his tongue lolled out of his mouth as he rolled onto back on his dog bed.
“You’re just lucky I don’t come over there and jump on you while you’re trying to sleep.” She taunted, but he just ignored her as he began snoring in puppy bliss. Morgan shook her head and walked over to the counter, grinding fresh coffee beans and pouring in fresh water before starting the coffee pot. She stood, shuffling from one foot to the other in impatience as the delicious, life giving liquid slowly dripped into the carafe.
Morgan inhaled deeply of the rich aroma and sighed in relief when there was enough to pour a cup. She didn’t even wait for it all to brew as she took her half full mug to her two person kitchen table and sat, finally allowing herself to wake up as she drank deeply of the delicious coffee.
She was just sinking into the chair when the jangle of her cell phone made her jump, breaking the peaceful silence. Still not quite awake, she grabbed for the phone and jammed her finger against the answer button.
“Hello?” Morgan said, her voice groggy as she spoke.
“Hi, is this Morgan? Morgan, uh, Fevereau?” A deep voice answered her and something about it had her sitting up, instantly alert.
“Yes, this is she.” Morgan said slowly.
“Morgan, hi, I’m a friend of Adrien.” There was a stiffness to his voice that had her sitting on the edge of the kitchen chair.
“Uh huh.”
“Well, I heard that, um, you were engaged?” It was a question, rather than a statement, and suspicious started to make its way through her mind. Something was off about him but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
“Yeeesss.” She drew the word out, but at the same time she couldn’t deny the thrill that shot through her at admitting out loud that she was Adrien’s fiancé, even if she knew it was just pretend.
“Oh, okay. And you guys have been together for how long?” The deep voice was a little more hostile and she was silent for a long moment.
“Listen, I thought you were a friend of Adrien’s? Wouldn’t you know that?”
“Right, right, of course.” She could tell the answer was spoken through gritted teeth.
“I’m sorry, what did you say your name was?” Morgan finally asked, that feeling of wrongness growing as he cleared his throat and hastily replied that he had to go and hung up on her, all without answering his question.
With a shake of her head she ended the call, setting down the phone and trying to dispel the uneasiness at the strange call and regain some of the peace that she had felt before. With a sigh at the lost moment, she grabbed her coffee and headed to the couch, simultaneously picking up the remote and turning on the morning news.
Her stomach sank as she watched the helicopter footage of the forested area just miles away from her own apartment on the edge of the small town. Finally, the solemn faced reporter came back on the screen and Morgan choked back a cry as the report began.
Another local girl had been found just at the edge of the tree line, mauled to death by some wild animal. Morgan shook her head. There had been a rash of animal attacks over the past years, but this year had been the worst. Over twelve deaths already and it was only July.
She waited for them to share the name of the girl that had been attacked but Morgan didn’t recognize her. She offered a prayer and gave a guilty sigh of relief at the same time. It was a small town and she had grown up there. She knew a lot of the people in the area, but this girl was a transient, traveling through on break from college.
It saddened her, and the oddness of it had her scratching her head. Animal attacks did happen in an area this close to wilderness, but never so many, and almost none were fatal. These attacks seemed almost premeditated. Purposeful. With a shiver, she turned the television off again, finishing her coffee and listening to the birds sing as she thought about the events of the night before.
She still couldn’t really believe that she had agreed to Adrien’s plan, but after that kiss, she had to admit she was excited to see where it led. With a small smile, she jumped up and headed back down the short hall to her room to pick out her outfit for their date tonight. Because she knew, even though Adrien said it was just pretend, there was something real burning between them. She could feel it.
Chapter 7
Adrien was surprised at how nervous he was as he pulled up in front of Morgan’s apartment early that evening. Nervous. Hah. He was freaking terrified. Shaking like a leaf. Like he was a cub on his first date. He glanced at the clock flashing red at him from the dash of his jeep. Four forty five. Damn, he was early.
He grabbed his phone to call her and let her know he was there but stopped himself before he dialed her number. He didn’t want to seem too eager. He fidgeted in the seat, then looked at the clock again. Four forty six. He groaned, and then determined that maybe it would be better to be early. He didn’t want to be late, he knew that would be bad.
“Get a grip, Adrien.” He whispered to himself as he sat in the car, hating the feeling of uncertainty. Something about this girl just tied him in knots, and he wasn’t sure why or what to do about it. Especially after kissing her the night before. He knew he shouldn’t have. It was all just supposed to be pretend and then he goes and throws in a major mixed signal. But he just couldn’t help himself.
She had been standing there, looking so sweet and answering his prayers. Grant hadn’t been able to find anyone to help him out and he had been out of options. Come to think of it, he wasn’t sure what he would have done if she’d said no. He shook the thought away. He would never have to know, now. Because she’d said yes.
He felt a tiny jolt of emotion thrill through him at the thought and he tried to push it away.
“It’s just pretend.” He reminded himself again, this time trying to make himself believe it. Finally fed up with himself he climbed out of the jeep, stomping determinately up to the door, searching out the button next to her name, and buzzed it.
“Hello?”
“Morgan, it’s Adrien!” He yelled over the crackling intercom as he stood nervously on the front step of the building.
“I’ll be right down.” Morgan’s voice floated back at him and he nodded before realizing that of course she couldn’t see. True to her word the door opened just a bare minute later and he was struck dumb as he stared at her. She stood there, framed in the doorway in a gorgeous dove gray dress that hugged her curves in all the right places, and brought out the green in her eyes, making them look like gemstones staring back at him.
“Hi.” He said finally. The only word he could get out. She grinned at him as she passed by.
“Hi back.” She threw over her shoulder and as she passed him he though he might choke as he saw the back of her dress. Or the lack of it. There was a big triangle cutout from in between her shoulder blades and stopping just at her lower back. His brain shut down for a long moment as he stared at the expanse of creamy skin. It looked incredibly soft and he could think of several unpleasant things he would do to get a single taste.
“Are you coming?” Morgan said and he noticed that she was waiting by his jeep for him to catch up. He didn’t know if that was possible. He didn’t even know if he could take a single step his body was suddenly in so much pain. Adrien forced himself to look away, trying to get himself back under control.
With a deep sigh he shuffled after her, quickly getting in the car and turning on the engine as he tried not to look at her again. He sighed again. If this was any indication, it was going to be a very long night.
They drove for a long time, or at least it felt that way to Adrien. Morgan’s scent filled the car making his animal half restless the entire drive, and he was worri
ed he might accidentally shred the leather of the steering wheel as he drove.
Morgan was unusually silent, seemingly content to watch the passing nature as they drove further into the forested valley and every closer to his old home. He realized that it had been almost ten years since he’d last seen a lot of the clan that would be there, even though he still kept touch with Grant and the Fishers. Every one else had been happy to let him leave, to let him feel like an outcast after his father’s accident and he wasn’t honestly sure how he would feel to be confronted by his past again.
He cast a sideways glance at Morgan. He also didn’t know how he was going to keep the secret that was gnawing at him from Morgan. After so many years of living in civilization he was used to keeping his animal half hidden away. Had adapted to living life more as a human with special abilities, rather than the shifter he had been born as.
He felt a pang of regret, as he always did when the thoughts arose, of what could have been. What might have been. But he also knew there was no use living in the past. He had to look toward the future, and that future definitely did not include calling that old bear Harris ‘dad’.
He had never confessed what he truly was to anyone outside the clan. He had heard plenty of horror stories and he’d always thought it would just be easier to keep it a secret, a part of himself that he never shared with any of his lovers, girlfriends, even friends that he had known for decades.
But the thought occurred to him, maybe for the first time, how nice it would be to date someone who truly knew him, who knew all of him. Not just the part he could share, but really all of him.
“So, where exactly are we going?” Morgan’s voice startled him out of his thoughts. He’d almost thought she’d fallen asleep in the passenger’s seat, she’d been so quiet for most of the drive.
“We are going to my old home, where I grew up. It’s this place called the Lodge. It’s a…meeting house, of sorts. It’s not too much further now, maybe fifteen or twenty minutes.”
BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) Page 54
