Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (49 page)

The house was set up unlike any
that she had ever been in, there were hallways and rooms in every
direction. “Hello?” She was lost, that much she knew,
and she limped down the longest hall until she came to another room.
“Oh...very nice!” She was standing in the doorway to
Vlad's room when he came down the hall smiling at her. “I'm
going to need a map.”

“You'll get used to it.”
He tried to explain the easiest route to the necessary rooms, and
the only one that she put to memory was the bathroom. “Here we
are.” Their return to the kitchen was met with a table set for
two, and large portions of roast pig, with some cheesy potato side
dish, and it all made Morgan's sore feet move even faster.

The
girl wasn't shy about digging in, and neither was he. They laughed
at each other as they shoved bites of food in their mouths, and Vlad
only left his fork long enough to offer a toast. “To new
friends, Morgan.” She smiled and nodded, then reached for her
glass. It was wine. Red wine.

Yuck.
She only hesitated for a
second before picking it up, but he caught her subtle reluctance and
took it from her hand.

“What do you like?”
He stood and waited for her answer. Morgan felt ashamed that she
had made it obvious, but she couldn't help it, they sprung the bitter
stuff on her without warning.

“No,
it's fine.” Reaching for her glass didn't do much, because he
snapped his fingers and Leader came in immediately. “The kind
I like...well..I doubt you would have it here.” She meant in
Russia, not his mansion, and she was just about to correct herself
when he asked again. “Moscato?”
I'm
so stupid. Why can't I keep my faces to myself?
Julianne's
words came to mind.
Always
be prepared.

Leader man returned, and held a
chilled bottle of her favorite wine above her glass. “Moscato.”
He said the world perfectly, and she had to giggle again. However,
when he took the glass from Vlad, he bent down and whispered, “shit,”
in her ear, in reference to the red wine. The giggles hit in full
force and all of them laughed as her new friend left, and her other
new friend joined her again at the table.

“Morgan,
there's nothing I can't get you. If you want it, just ask.”
He winked at her as he shoved another bite into his mouth.
That
was something that one didn't say to a travel weary, giggling Morgan
Holland.

“Well, if that's the
case, I'll take a hot bubble bath while being fed grapes, a horror
movie, popcorn is optional, a warm bed with a roaring fire, and my
favorite pajamas.” He was laughing at the 'thinking' face that
she had made as she thought of what else her magic fairy would bring
her. “Oh! And I want strawberry cheesecake in bed. I think
that should do it!” She took another bite and tried not to
laugh as she chewed, but failed miserably. Her youthful and very
unladylike behavior made her even more attractive to the man.

“Your wish, my lady, is
granted.” He smiled when her face revealed that she had no
intentions of him taking her seriously.

“No,
I'm just kidding! We can do whatever you want to do.”
Why?
Why do I open my mouth?
She quietly put another bite into the source of most mistakes that
she made, and chewed slowly to keep her tongue busy.

“Relax, and enjoy your
meal.” That's what he did, and Morgan followed suit, enjoying
the perfectly roasted meat and her very chilled wine.

Thirty minutes later, their
conversation was finally in full swing and Morgan was learning more
about the man. He said that he came from generations of wealth, not
that she knew what brought that wealth to his family to begin with,
and he spent most of his time traveling the world. Of course, Morgan
asked what he did while he traveled, but he simply told her, “many
things,” and she dropped the subject.

He did, however, offer a reason
for requesting companionship, and that, simply put, was that he
traveled far too much. There wasn't always time to entertain a lady,
and when he did, there wasn't always one in his life.

Vlad was certainly no
wallflower, and she didn't believe for one second that he didn't date
whenever he had the chance. Then again, that wasn't what he said, so
she let that go as well.

“So, what's with the all
the men that showed up at the airport?” That question, she
didn't regret, she had to know.

“For your protection, of
course. Is there not crime where you're from?” His look was
serious, and it almost made her laugh.

“Of course there's
crime.”

“Well, then you
understand, yes?” It seemed simple enough, but the protection
seemed a bit overboard. The thought behind it, however, was sweet.
He also told her that the men were around so often that he had homes
built for them on the property, so Morgan's question about the
buildings on his compound was also answered.

Morgan let out a very loud yawn
and tried to stifle it as much as she could. “Sorry, I guess
the flight is catching up with me.” She shook it off and tried
to get back to the conversation. It was no use, Vlad stood and left
the room again without warning.

While he was gone, it gave the
young girl time to think, which wasn't always a good thing for her to
do, especially when she was tired. After ten minutes, she had already
come up with a million possible scenarios that would explain the
money and the traveling.
Russian drug lord? Yeah, maybe those guys
really are his mob and they travel the globe getting...stuff. Or
maybe he's a Russian spy! Oh my God! What if he's looking through my
stuff and....

“Come now, my
lady.” The man surprised her from behind again. He always
seemed to just appear and her silly thoughts raced again.
Uh-oh,
he's found my scrapbook and now his henchmen are going to find them
all!
She giggled as she stood from the comfortable chair and took
his offered hand in her own. They went down the familiar path,
leading to the bathroom. When they got to the wide door leading to
the best bathroom ever, he told her to 'get in' and he'd be right
back.

Morgan nodded and watched him
walk out of the room, then went into the bathroom, in which a nearly
overflowing bubble bath and a fire were awaiting her. “Awwww!
How sweet!” She brought her hands to her chest for a moment to
basque in the wonderful gesture, then got down to business. Her
clothing was off in seconds and she was neck deep in the tub before
the man returned. “No way!” The tall man was carrying a
bushel of bright purple grapes, just like one might see directly off
the vine.

Vlad approached the tub slowly
and Morgan caught him trying to sneak a peek at her body through the
blanket of bubbles. “You're welcome to join me,” she
spoke softly in hopes he'd compromise.

“Relax your head,”
Vlad told her, not answering her question. Morgan inwardly huffed at
not getting her own way, then giggled as she did as she was told and
laid her head against the back of the tub. “You really didn't
have to do th...”

“Shhh.” He pressed
his finger to his lip, then brought a grape to her mouth. Morgan took
the fruit and closed her eyes as she enjoyed the sweet juice.

“I feel like a princess!”
she opened her eyes in time to have another grape fed to her. “Thank
you.”

The man only responded with a
smile, then gave her another grape before he stood and walked over to
the sink. Vlad set the bunch down on a small blue towel, then got
down on his knees at the side of the tub. “Put your feet up
here,” he told her.

Morgan smiled, then shook her
head back and forth slowly, only teasing him. She was already
learning who he was and if she was right he wouldn't take no for an
answer. Vlad smiled back at her, but she was right, he'd get his own
way. He sat up on his knees, then pushed the sleeves of his shirt up
to his elbows. “Now,” he warned again, but his smile made
his demand less intimidating. She shook her head again just to see
what he'd do.

Vlad nodded, then without a
word, he sunk his arms into the tub and grabbed one of her ankles,
then brought it over the side. Morgan laughed so hard, she nearly
sunk completely into the water, but caught herself just in time. Her
laughter ceased as soon as his strong hands began to massage her
tired feet.

“That feels so good...”
She closed her eyes for the fifteen delicious moments that he worked
miracles on her feet and calves. The calves part was almost as nice
as the tired feet part. His touch was strong, and deliberate, and
her body warmed at thinking he was probably the same way in bed. She
thought she was close to finding out. “Higher.”
Morgan's eyes opened right as he smiled again, and she sighed when he
shook his head.
Dammit, so much for wild naked gypsy time.

“Take all the time you
need. Your bags are right through the other door.” She looked
to the other side of the room where he was pointing, then turned back
with a knowing smile on her face.

“So, that's your room?”
When she walked down the hall earlier, it seemed as if his room had
been a hundred feet from the bathroom. She realized that his room
had to be massive if it was right off of the bathroom that she was
in. He nodded as he wiped the bubbles from his hands.

“Yes, and your fire
awaits.” She clapped her hands and bubbles went everywhere,
then the giggles returned as a laughing Vlad left the room.

“I'm in Russian
paradise!” She shouted after him when the door shut. His loud
laughter on the other side made her feel even more at home, and she
finally looked forward to her time with her gorgeous client.

Chapter Four

When Morgan had finally talked
herself into of getting out of the bathtub and wrapping herself in a
robe, she made her way into the large bedroom. It was glorious. The
room was dark, with the exception of the fireplace, but she could
make out the details perfectly. She also realized his favorite
color...red. The bed sheets were black, but the pillows, the
comforter, the curtains, the little lamp in the corner, as well as a
few decorative pieces, all red, just like the chairs in his dining
room. His room was so big that again, it worked. The walls were stark
white, which contrasted beautifully with the black and red sort of
theme he had going on. At first she hadn't even noticed the whole
night outfit that her client had laid out for her on the bed, but
when she found it, she couldn't help the second
aww
that
followed.

Vlad had gone through her
luggage until he found what he thought might be her 'favorite
pajamas' and set them on the bed for the girl. She picked up the long
sleeved pink and white flannel shirt and brought it up to her face,
rubbing the soft material against her cheek, then smiled at her
thoughts. If any of the other men had picked out her outfit, she was
sure they would have found the little number Alrik had purchased,
assuming it must be
her
favorite. The flannel night shirt was
something she had purchased during her shopping trip in London. She
thought it was cute that he'd matched a pair of pink shorts to go
with it, even though they were so short, they probably could have
passed for underwear.

“I wonder how long he'd
spent looking for the bottom half...” she giggled quietly to
herself. She hadn't purchased the matching bottoms that went with the
shirt, knowing they'd be uncomfortable and she'd never wear them
anyway. Her legs always got too hot when she slept, in addition to
the fact she hated an extra barrier over her legs when she wanted to
drape them over one of her clients.

Morgan carried her shirt and
shorts into the bathroom and put her pajamas on, then went back out
into the room where her client awaited. “You're ready, yes?”

“Ready for wh...?”
Her question was cut off by another 'come' command and he was again
dragging her through the house. What the girl really wanted to do was
go back in the bedroom and find out how nice that red comforter was,
but as long as Vlad kept speaking, she'd probably let him drag her to
the moon. She realized they were headed back to the kitchen and
Morgan placed her hand on her stomach as they walked, reminding
herself she was far too full for round two of the delicious dinner.
No more foo...

“Oh!” she
realized he was indeed getting them food, but it was something she
could definitely make room for in her belly. “Umm...” she
looked back and forth between the two bags of popcorn, then settled
on the one with the most butter.
He really is making my wishes his
command. I have some serious payback to do for this!

Morgan leaned her elbows
on the counter top as she watched the gorgeous man prepare the
microwave popcorn. Just as it was nearly ready, Leader man made an
appearance from the other side of the kitchen.
These
Russians....damn, they're sneaky. Spies. I knew it!

Morgan remembered she
was wearing her booty shorts and walked around the other side of the
counter so the man could only see above mid-waist. It was a good move
because he walked toward her, then stood on the opposite side of the
island and laid down what he'd been holding in his hands.