Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (127 page)

“Are
you serious?” She took the phone from his hand and looked up
and the devilish grin on his face. He was absolutely serious.

“Time
is ticking...” He lowered his head quickly, and took one of her
nipples in his mouth again. She held the phone away from her and
Tanner saw she wasn't going to do it. “Answer it.” He bit
down hard and she slapped the back of his shoulder.

“Ow!
Fine!” Morgan brought the phone up before it ended and hit the
answer button, just as Tanner's mouth took in her hard bud once more.
“Uhm..” She moaned her greeting, then quickly covered.
“Angel...hi.”

“You
didn't give a bitch one second of mothafuckin' warning, and I...,”
Angel heard the phone drop, then the rustle of Morgan putting it back
to her ear, “are you sleeping? You just texted my beautiful
ass, how are you going to be...,”

“I
need to call.... hmmm....,” Morgan's eyes closed as Tanner's
tongue moved down her belly.

“You're
not sleeping! It's Tan Man, isn't it!? He's...oh...he's up under,
isn't he? Get off the mothafuckin' phone, Stick! Damn!” Angel
ended the call, and both Morgan and Tanner laughed as he reached up
and grabbed the phone from her hand. It was quickly turned off and
dropped to the floor, and the Tan Man continued to move
up under.

“I've
missed you.” Tanner's words were spoken so softly that Morgan
almost asked him to repeat them, but it sunk in before she could ask.
His warm breath felt wonderful against her thigh, and his words felt
even better. She had missed him as well, and her fingers brushed the
side of his face as she watched him move closer to her center.

“Tanner.”
He looked up, his eyes glazed with desire. She crooked one finger,
telling him that she needed him closer, she needed more. He moved
back up and his lips met hers gently. He kissed her for so long that
Morgan was all but lost in those beautiful moments. His touch was
familiar, and perfect.

Her
legs moved along the outer sides of his body, and easily wrapped
around his waist. He allowed her to pull him inside of her, and he
gently pushed his hands under her shoulder and held her tightly as
they moved together. Yes, she felt like home.

*****

Mendez
had just tracked Morgan's flight, but had yet to find out where she
was staying. He could easily follow her trail if she had booked a
hotel in her name, but clearly, she hadn't. His next step was to
track her movements again, and to find out who she was traveling
with, or at the very least, who paid for her room.

His
job had been easy, and he handed Morgan almost directly to Carlos. He
would have walked away from it all, considering he did what he had
been paid to do, but the thought of someone getting away from him
lured the man right back to Morgan's trail. No, he had never failed
to deliver, and the young blonde girl from America would not be his
first. “I'll find you, Morgan Holland.” He held her photo
in his hand and ran his tongue across his thin bottom lip.

Chapter
Seven

“My
gosh, I never realized it would be so beautiful here!” Morgan
quickly removed her flip flops and held them in her hand as she ran
to the ocean. Tanner let go of her other hand, but grabbed her phone,
and watched her splash knee deep into the water.

They
had enjoyed a large breakfast in which they both easily relaxed and
took their time with their meals, and conversation. Morgan learned
about Tanner's renovations on Lady Godiva, and Tanner discovered that
Morgan had grown even more independent over the last few months. It
wasn't anything that she said, or anything that they had talked
about, but he could see it in everything she did. The way she walked,
sat straight in her chair, made direct eye contact with everyone
around them, were all signs of a woman growing into her own skin.
She was by far the most interesting person that he had ever met, and
his love for Morgan grew by leaps and mounds with every moment that
they shared. His only reservation was that Morgan was going to change
too much, and he silently hoped that she never stopped loving life in
the way that she did.

Tanner
dropped to the sand and continued watching Morgan as she looked down
to spy on a small crab by her foot. He took several photos of her,
hoping that when she discovered them on her phone later, she would
enjoy the fact that he'd captured a few of her happy moments.

She laughed, and moved her toes, letting the little guy go on his
way. He shook his head at her love for any and all creatures that she
came across, and was just about to yell towards her that he wanted
crab for dinner when her phone sounded in his hand. It was too bright
to read the screen, but he knew who it probably was since Morgan
hadn't spoken to Angel since their awkward conversation the day
before. He brought the phone to his ear as he clicked the green
button.

“No
worries, mate.... she's not naked at the moment.” Tanner
laughed at what Angel would say, but his smile faded instantly.

“Good
ta' know. Could she get on the phone, then?” Finlay wasn't
amused. Tanner's heart pounded in his chest at the sound of Finlay's
voice, and all he wanted to do was end the call. Finlay, on the other
hand, wanted to explode with questions.
Why the hell are ye with
her?
He, however, remained silent until Tanner spoke again.

“She's...well...she
can't right now.” He knew how easy it would be to tell Finlay
that she was in the water, or that he could call for Morgan to get
her phone, but he didn't. “I'll tell her ya called.”
Tanner waited for a few seconds for Finlay to reply, but when it
remained silent, he ended the call.

“Hey!
Who was that?” Morgan ran to Tanner's side before he even knew
she was returning. He took a deep breath to tell her, but they were
loudly interrupted. “Oh shit, look at that!” She stated
the obvious as both of them watched enormous dark gray clouds move
quickly over the cliffs, in their direction. Tanner had seen his
share of storms over the water, and he knew they had less than ten
minutes to find shelter. He grabbed her hand and stood.

“I
think it rains every time I see you!” Morgan yelled as they ran
through the sand. “And stop flicking sand on me!” Tanner
was running so fast, she was having a hard time keeping hold of his
hand, and his heels kept throwing sand at her face.

Tanner
stopped abruptly and turned around, forcing Morgan to run right into
him. Both of them laughed as Tanner turned her around and wrapped one
arm around her chest. “See that?” He stretched one arm
toward the west, where the storm clouds were congregating, and Morgan
nodded.

“Obviously,
that's why we're running.” Morgan lifted her head up and looked
at him over her own head. She laughed and tried to figure out his
point.

“Okay,
now,” he kept a hold of her and turned them to face north. “You
see
that
?” A cold gust of wind came upon them and Morgan
shivered hard. She nodded slowly. Morgan could see the rain pouring
from the dark clouds and watched the lightning dance above.
That
was what they were running from.

“As
we were,” Morgan giggled and twisted out of Tanner's grip and
ran ahead of him. Her lead didn't last long and he was at her side
quickly. By the time the two of them were near the hotel, the first
of the big raindrops were starting to fall, but they took shelter in
a small restaurant next to the hotel instead of going into the lobby.

“You
know what this reminds me of?” Morgan handed Tanner her bag,
phone, towel and camera as they walked inside, and he shook his head
as she pulled a yellow tank top over her head.

“No,
but do you have enough stuff?” He tucked her camera and phone
into the beach style bag and folded the towel over his arm. She tried
to give him a stern look, but ended up giggling instead.

“Probably
not. I could use a jacket right now.” Morgan shrugged her
shoulders as if she were shaking away the cold air.

“It's
fucking hot,” Tanner pulled out a chair for Morgan as he spoke.

“Whatever,”
Morgan took a line from Angel and sat down in her chair, still
giggling. “But, this place, it reminds me of us. Well, our
first day together. We went to that little restaurant...”

Tanner
knew exactly what she was talking about. It was at that restaurant
that he first fell for Morgan, where he first
saw
her. The
full of life, young at heart, carefree woman who he had grown to
love. Tanner smiled at Morgan and looked around for a waitress, then
flagged one down.

“We'll
have a pepperoni pizza, and two of your cheapest beers.” Tanner
could easily afford every single beer in that restaurant, but
something about drinking cheap beer with pizza took him back to that
special time. He looked back to Morgan, her smile could light the
whole place. “But I also broke my fucking ankle that week.”

“Still
had amazing sex,” Morgan pointed out.

“Yeah.
We did.”

Over
dinner, the two of them drank their cheap beers, more than a dozen
between them. They ate their pizza, which really wasn't that amazing
either. Most importantly, they talked. They talked like they had done
that first week. They laughed until their sides hurt, and they told
stories, mostly ones they had shared together.

Morgan
leaned far back in her chair and rubbed her belly. Her loud moan,
telling Tanner and the surrounding tables that she had eaten far too
much, reminded him that she was due for another pain pill.

“But
I'm fine...really.” She felt great, and the last thing she
wanted was to end their day feeling too tired to enjoy his company.
Tanner, on the other hand, wasn't going to take no for an answer.

“For
me? Please?” Tanner's tilted head and pouting lip did the
trick.

“Fine.
Big baby.” Morgan laughed and dug through her purse. “Shit,
I left them in the room.” She pulled everything out and placed
it on the table, to make sure they weren't there. “Okay,”
she shoved everything back inside the bag, “I'll run back to
the room and get them, you think of where we're going for dessert.”
Tanner laughed and shook his head, but agreed to figure out their
next move.

“If
you're not back here in ten minutes, I'm leaving and finding my own
dessert.” Morgan gave him a soft whack to the head, then left
the restaurant and started the two minute walk back to the front door
of her hotel.

*****

“She's
in Costa Rica.”

“That's
it? It's been more than two fucking days and that's all you've got?
What hotel?” Carlos kept his voice low as he threw his cane
into the taxi and climbed in beside it. “I need some solid
information, now.”

“I
don't have it
now.
I need more time.” Mendez wasn't
going to argue with Carlos. He had already told him that it was going
to take a little longer, and that Carlos was going to pay extra for
him going to Costa Rica to find out. The fact he was already there,
didn't matter.

Mendez
hung up the phone and rolled down the tinted window of his rental
car. He had been sitting outside of Morgan's hotel for two hours, and
finally, something caught his eye.

Morgan was walking out of the small pizza parlor, digging in her bag
with no concern of the world around her. “Found you, bitch.”
He took a drag of his cigarette and narrowed his eyes at the
beautiful blonde. His phone was removed from his pocket, then Carlos
was notified through a quick text. His movements were fluid, as a
snake would circle his victim before squeezing the life from its
body.
I found her. Again. I'll send the information soon.
Nothing more could be said over a text, or even a phone call, but it
was enough to send Carlos to the airport and on his way to Costa
Rica.

*****

Morgan
met Tanner on the sidewalk, outside of the pizza place and shook her
head as she approached his side. “You know what? I think I've
changed my mind about that dessert.” Both of them laughed as
she grabbed her belly and he agreed.

“Did
you get everything taken care of?” Tanner took her hand in his
and pulled her around to face the opposite direction of the hotel.