Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (52 page)

Chapter Six

The following day, Morgan had
awoken to the same beautiful voice she'd heard singing the night
before. It took her a moment to register where the sound was coming
from, but she realized her Russian spy was singing in the shower.

She thought about joining him,
but decided she would just enjoy the sound of his happiness, and
clearly, singing did that for him. After she heard the water shut
off, Morgan wrapped herself in a robe and made her way down the
stairs to make them both a pot of coffee, except, when she got to the
kitchen, the sweet aroma had already filled the room. “Dammit!
Can't I do anything nice for you?” She was reminded about the
pledge she'd made to herself in England...
okay, I'll start to do
more for him.

“I've got it!”
The girl took a deep breath and decided to try her hand at
breakfast...alone. It was the first time she'd given herself the
challenge, but she was up for it. After all, she'd seen Kole's mother
cook, Tyler's mom, Angela, Finlay made her eggs...
I've got this.
She giggled to herself as the memory of Tyler's mother crept into
her mind. The memory of her taking the bacon right out of her hands.
On a good note, Morgan had learned lots of lessons that day, and she
planned to utilize them.

When she opened the fridge, she
assessed her options. Sitting front and center was a huge package of
steak, but she wasn't quite brave enough to try to pull that one off.
Instead, she chose a pack of sliced ham and held it up in front of
her. The directions proved to be pointless as it might has well of
said nothing as opposed to the Russian words written across the
package. “Well, it's going in the pan anyway!”

She also got out the eggs and
cheese from the fridge, then navigated through the large kitchen
until she found seasonings. After finding a bag of potatoes, she
remembered she'd learned how to make those too, so that was going on
the breakfast menu as well. “Okay, so it's not a
huge
breakfast, but I can do this!”

The determined woman gathered
all of the items in front of her and got to work, starting with the
potatoes. As those cooked, she looked around for a bread option and
decided Vlad would just have to deal with toast. Biscuits definitely
weren't an option.

“Wow, it smells wonderful
here.” Vlad made his debut into the kitchen nearly twenty
minutes later, just as Morgan was flipping the ham for the last time.
She gave him a quick smile before returning to the toaster to collect
the warm bread.

“You smell wonderful,”
she smiled again, giving him another look as she buttered up the
bread.

“I did not know you
cooked,” he told her, then walked up behind her, placing his
hands on her hips. His touch made her pause as she tried to remember
what she was in the middle of doing.
Bread. Butter it.
She
nuzzled her head into his neck and stuck her ass out just enough to
meet his center and she felt his smile against her neck. “You're
trouble, girl.”

“No, you're just
enticing. And no, I can't cook, really. I just wanted
to....uhm...well, sorry if it sucks.” She giggled, then spun
out of his grasp to check the ham again.

“I'm sure it
won't...suck.” Morgan laughed again, realizing saying something
“sucked” probably wasn't something he was used to
throwing into his English vocabulary.

“Well, you're about to
find out. Sit,” she said as she pointed to one of the red
cushioned chairs. He hesitated for a moment, wanting to help her, but
the raised eyebrow she gave him warned him otherwise. She wanted to
do it all herself, down to serving him the meal, just as he'd done
for her. All of the efforts he'd gone through for her silly wishes,
even the muffins, breakfast was the least she could try to do.

Morgan plated his serving, then
one for herself and met him at the table, but then got up again to
pour them both a cup of coffee. When she sat again, she looked to
Vlad and noticed he was staring at his plate and hadn't even picked
up his fork yet. “Is something wrong? I didn't poison it, I
swear!” She tried to force a smile out of him, but he didn't
crack. She put down her own fork and looked at him questioningly.
What did I mess up now?

“No, no, no.
Nothing is the matter, beautiful. It's just, aside from my mother, no
woman has ever made a breakfast for me. It's very nice of you. I'm
touched,” he spoke softly, then reached out to grab her hand.
When they made eye contact, he told her thank you.

Morgan thought it was sad that
a woman had never made him breakfast. He was too sweet of a man not
to be pampered now and then, not that making a meal was exactly
pampering...
but jeez....really?
She smiled and told him that
he was more than welcome, not letting him know how shocked she was
with the information he'd given her. But then she added, “actually,
don't thank me until you try it.”

There it was, his sexy smile.
The man nodded, then finally picked up his fork and took a bite of
eggs. “Delicious, Morgan. Perfect.” His words made her
blush. Someone telling her she actually made a good meal?
That
was
perfect. She was happy she'd pulled it off, and was even happier when
she saw that he was enjoying every bite. Morgan happily dug in, but
realized very quickly that Vlad was even more nice than she thought.
Not exactly five star dining. Eggs are like rubber and the ham
is dry. You're quite a gentleman, Vlad.

“So, how often do you go
out and sing?” Morgan asked when they were finished and full.

“Depends. Sometimes, it's
only once in two weeks. Sometimes, up to five days a week. It's just
for fun, really.” What he meant by that was the fact it wasn't
for monetary gain. He paid for everything out of his own pocket, just
for the hell of it.

“That's very awesome,
Vlad! You guys really are great. Do you have anything else going on
this week?”

“No. I got us the show
last night, just to show you, but that's the only one I'll drag you
to. I've taken the week off,” he explained.

You can drag me anywhere.
“Well...
were
there any other shows you had planned
this week?” She was more than willing to tag along with the
group, Vlad permitting, that was. She could listen to that voice all
day long.

“There were,” he
admitted.

“Where?” she pried
again.

“One in St. Petersburg,”
he told her.
Petersburg. I remember that....it's in Russia.
“And
one in Stockholm.”

“Let's go! I mean...can I
go? Will you go?” Her rambling questions and excitement hadn't
even let herself register what he'd said.

“Yes? You really want
to?” He hadn't wanted to bother her by taking her to the
events, but it was too cold to do much in town anyway, and if she
wanted to go, he figured why not?

“Absolutely!”

“Alright then. I'll call
them up and let them know. We'll pack and get a hotel in St.
Petersburg tomorrow. Stockholm is Thursday. It was a weird name, that
one...big restaurant...the Fire Tavern? It was in Swedish, I don't
remember.

The name, it was familiar. Too
familiar. The girl gasped as it hit her.
Fire Tavern...Oh shit!
Stockholm. Alrik. Felix. That's the name of the restaurant we went
to! Shit!
She remember asking Felix what the sign had said, and
it was definitely Fire
Something.
She just hoped it wasn't
Tavern...

*****

“So, tell me, why did you
really want a girl for the week?” Morgan rolled to her side
and put both arms on Vlad's chest, then kissed him quickly while she
waited for her answer. They had already been awake for half an hour,
but the feel of lounging in bed after a long night of naked bliss had
left them both more than willing to take their time in getting up.

He was surprised by her
question, but just smiled and answered. “As I told you, I
travel quite a bit and I just...”

“No...,” Morgan's
fingers went to his lips, “I saw the women the other night,
they were nearly throwing their panties at you while you were on
stage, so finding a woman isn't an issue. Especially if you just
wanted a few days with someone. So, tell me the real reason.”
Morgan squinted, daring him to tell her the same story again.
However, the large smile on her face left her less than intimidating.
He took a deep breath, and shook his head, knowing that he wouldn't
get away with the story any longer.

“Ah, you are an
insightful young woman, Morgan.” He sat up and propped his
pillows behind him, and pulled Morgan up to wrap his arm around her
as she snuggled into his chest. “The truth is, one night
stands wouldn't be a problem, yes? Relationships aren't much of a
problem, I've had quite a few in my life. I'm not opposed to either,
but if I just want a woman's company for a week...well...I want the
best.” Morgan nodded slowly, not that she thought she was the
best at anything, but she understood.

“Well, I do hope that I
haven't disappointed you.” She looked into his almost black
eyes and sat up enough to kiss his cheek softly. He pulled her
closer and took her mouth before she settled back into her dark
Russian. He told her that she was more than what he expected, and far
from disappointing. It also made her think of one more question that
she had wanted to ask. From the little she had known about Russia,
the people were generally light skinned, with light eyes. Of course,
there were deviations from the norm, but she just had to know.

“Why are so dark?”
She wasn't one to think before she spoke, and the question, even to
her, seemed far too blunt. Fortunately for Morgan, Vlad enjoyed raw
honesty, and he laughed loudly before answering.

“I do have Russian blood,
of course, but my family is mostly Romanian.” Morgan knew it,
he was from beautiful gypsy blood, and she mentally congratulated
herself for an observation well done. She openly looked him over and
brought her leg up over his waist as she enjoyed every bit of what
she saw. His short black hair, something that she could never get
enough of looking at, his almost black eyes, and the skin of someone
that belonged somewhere hot and tropical. Or, she thought, in
Romania. Suddenly, she sat up and her eyes widened.

“Oh, a vampire! Vlad the
Impaler! You're a gypsy, vampire, Russian spy! Who sings!”
They were both laughing as they figured out how Vlad captured his
victims. Morgan had also just realized why Angel had told her to let
him bite her.

“Yes, I spy on my victims
before luring them into my lair. I keep them here, of course, by
mesmerizing them with music, works perfectly.” Right after he
spoke, he pulled her onto his lap and began to sing. It was
beautiful, and as Morgan listened to the song, she knew that she
would never forget that moment.

The song ended perfectly with
the sound of Morgan's stomach roaring and Vlad announced that it was
his turn to make her a nice breakfast.

“Oh, I want pancakes! Can
you make those?” Morgan climbed off of the man, allowing him to
sit up and he nodded.

“I think I can do that.”
He smiled and kicked his legs off the side of the bed, then stood and
helped her up. “Here.” Vlad did a turn-around motion with
his finger and helped Morgan into her robe, then helped her tie it in
the front. All of his gestures made Morgan feel so welcome, and she
felt like she'd known the man for longer than just four days. He was
kind by nature and she assumed he probably went out of his way to
help his friends just as much as he took care of her.
I doubt he
feeds them grapes while they're taking a bubble bath.
Morgan
giggled quietly to herself as she followed behind the man down the
long staircase.

“How long does it take to
get to St. Petersburg?” she asked him as he began gathering the
ingredients for blueberry pancakes.

“It depends. If we drive,
it takes roughly ten hours. If we take the train, three hours and
plane, even shorter. But the plane is a hassle with the equipment
sometimes,” Vlad explained to Morgan.

“Can we drive then?”
she asked. The train sounded very appealing, only because of the time
difference, but for the same reason, she wanted to take the car.
Spending as much time alone time with him as possible sounded better.
“But..” she thought, if the other men were going to cram
into the back like they had when she was brought back from the
airport, then she might reconsider. “Will the other men
be..uhm...riding separately?”

He looked at her and cocked his
eyebrow, knowing exactly what she intended if they were going to be
alone in the limo together. “Yes, we will drive. Yes, we will
be alone.” The way he said the second part told Morgan he
looked forward to their time together as well.

It would be a long day ahead of
them if they planned to take the limo, so the two ate breakfast
quickly, then Vlad helped the young woman pack her things. Since
they'd be in Sweden on Thursday, Morgan decided she would just fly
out from there.
Where ever it is that I'm going.
She hadn't
given much thought about where she would spent the following
week...
in a fetal position
...but when the time came, she
supposed she'd figure it out.

When her things were together,
Vlad excused himself for a quick shower, and Morgan did the same.
When she went into the bathroom, she realized her jeans and shirt
from the day before were still laying on the floor. She smiled to
herself at remembering the way Vlad had slowly taken the clothing off
of her body, then joined her in the bathtub. “That was nice,”
she whispered, then bent over to retrieve the outfit. She carried the
things back into the bedroom, gave her shirt a sloppy fold and shoved
it into her zebra bag, then went to do the same with her jeans and
realized her phone was still in the back pocket. “Oh, I would
have never found you!”