Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (49 page)

“For
now, it's all I need.” His lips came down on her hard and he
pressed his growing desire against her, only as a reminder of what
she would be able to play with later. “Ready to eat?”

Morgan
nodded slowly. “Yes.”

Chapter
Nine

Once
the two had finished breakfast, at least a
proper
one to Luis,
he'd told Morgan to get ready for them to go, and of course, he
wasn't telling her where.

“I
can take my camera though, right?” He nodded and she made sure
it was in her purse, then pulled the long strap over her shoulder
before following Luis back down the stairs. It was the right side
that time.

“I
had Luis grab your jacket as well, you may need it this evening.”
Morgan giggled at Luis talking about Luis. She knew, if she lived
there, she would never tire of it either.

“Morgan
appreciates you thinking of her and her warmth.” She nudged him
with her shoulder and he gave her a loud and sarcastic laugh.

“Funny,”
he mumbled, then walked through the tall front door and into the cool
air outside.

“Morgan
thinks it is chilly and she's glad Luis asked Luis to grab her
jacket.”
“Alright, that's enough.”

“Morgan
wants to know where we're going.” She continued joking, even as
he ushered her into her seat.

“Really?”
He huffed, even though Morgan could tell he was trying hard not to
show the fact he was amused. When he was situated into his side of
the car and was pulling out of the driveway, it was clear to him that
she wasn't going to stop.

“Morgan
thanks you for seeing her to the car.” She brought her hand up
to her mouth to hide her devilish grin.

“Are
you going to do this all day, then?” Luis reached across the
car and brought her hand down to her lap to force her to release her
giggles, and he held her hand prisoner with his own.

“Morgan...”
Laughter. “Would....app....appre.” She couldn't even
speak because she'd made herself laugh so much and seeing someone
with a serious look on their face when she was laughing always made
things even more humorous. “Morgan would appreciate if.... if
Luis.... turned on.... the..... heat!” Morgan doubled over, her
head between her own knees and the tears she'd been holding back
began to flow.

“You
find yourself rather amusing, don't you?” He finally broke and
laughed right along with her. In fact, that's all the two of them
managed to do for the whole way to their destination.

“Oh!
This is that Royal Palace, isn't it? The one we flew over? Morgan is
very pleased!” She pushed at Luis' arm excitedly and he bobbed
back and forth with each light blow to his arm as he fumbled with his
seat belt.

“Yes,
Senorita. Palacio Real de Madrid.” He climbed out of the car
and fanned his arm out in display of the colossal structure in front
of them. “And the tour begins in,” he ducked his head
back into the car and tapped his expensive watch, “eight
minutes.”

“Shit!”
Morgan opened her own door and slammed it behind her, then waited for
Luis to get to her side and she grabbed his hand. Quickly, the two
ran though the courtyard, leaving Morgan no time to capture any
photos, but he was quick to assure her they'd have time later.

They
laughed and ran all the way to the entrance, and was met with a
nervous man who introduced himself only as their guide. He opened
the door, then quickly walked through first while Morgan and Luis
laughed at his odd behavior.

They
stepped quickly to keep pace with their leader, and Morgan
immediately lost focus on following the man. The beauty that
surrounded her had left her feet frozen in place, and her eyes darted
to every fascination that they moved across. “It's
amazing....,” her words were but a whisper in the ancient
brick structure, and Luis was quick to pull on her wrist in a
reminder that her camera was still being gripped tightly in her hand.
Morgan looked down and smiled, then brought the camera to her eye
and snapped photo after photo of the foyer, before finally agreeing
to continue the tour.

She
marveled at the many statues that were meticulously placed along the
wide corridors, and atop antique tables that were just as beautiful.
Morgan captured every wall tapestry as her mind raced, already
looking forward to putting the images in her scrapbook with detailed
descriptions that their guide had fed them along the way. The
stories themselves about the royal families and battles that were
sewn into the fabric had fascinated her to the point of imprinting
every detail into her memory.

The
tour took them through several bedchambers, three kitchens, a library
that would rival any that she had ever seen before, and hall after
hall that adorned even more of her favorite sights, tapestries.

“They're amazing.” She stared at a scene before her,
wishing to know more about the party that rode through the
countryside, fearless in their expressions and prepared to fight for
all that they loved.

“Want
to know what's even more amazing?” Luis wrapped an arm around
her waist and waited for her eyes to meet his. “Knowing that
we only have five minutes left in our tour, and knowing that your
little boots are going to start tearing across this floor in three...
two...,”

“Five?!
No!” Morgan pulled away from him and did just as he had
suspected, she ran. There would be no way to see the entire palace
in one tour, it couldn't even be done in a full day, but the ballroom
was something that she wouldn't leave without seeing. Their guide
shuffled his sensible shoes across the floor quickly, trying to keep
up with the blonde woman that he was supposed to be leading. He
finally caught up to her as she had stopped in the center of the
famous room and was already collecting photos as fast as her fingers
would click.

“Excuse
me.. uh... I'm sorry, what's your name?” She wanted their
guide to take a few photos of her and Luis in front of the
elaborately decorated table, and she felt rude by not asking him by
name.

“My
name, Senorita, is Luis.” Morgan's eyes rounded, her top lip
twitched, and her client put his own hand over his mouth at what was
about to come.

“Lu....
Lu.... Lu... I can't!” She doubled over in laughter, her voice
echoing loudly throughout the elegant room, and Luis the client
joined in as well. Their guide, on the other hand, put his hands up
quickly in an attempt to calm the cackling couple. “Luis,”
she leaned against her date and barely caught her breath in between
snorting fits of laughter, “Luis needs us... to... be...
quiet.” Her face smashed against his arm as she tried to
muffle her uncontrollable hysterics, and her client nodded at the
confused Luis as she was led through the building quickly, both
laughing to the point of nearly tripping over one another in the
process.

Morgan
did get to take her pictures of the courtyard as promised and before
nightfall, the two were headed back to Luis' mansion. On the trip
home, Luis asked if Morgan wanted to go eat at the place that
tasted
like Spain,
and although she did want to eat out, she still
wasn't really feeling like she wanted five star dining.

The
younger of the two Luis' called the elder and told him that they'd be
returning soon and he was to have the other employees prepare dinner.
It was a surprise to Morgan because she had seen so little of the
staff, with the exception of sharing her first meal with them, but
it made sense because Luis looked like he was old enough to be her
great grandfather. If it were up to her, she wouldn't have allowed
him to even pick up a sock, but she didn't imagine the younger Luis
asked him to do much either.

By
the time they got back to his estate, it was dark and the air was
much cooler, but it felt refreshing from having the hot air on in the
car for the whole trip. Inside the home, the familiar scent of stew
enveloped Morgan's senses and she was pleased to find that stew was
exactly what had been waiting for her. She had no idea what the meat
was, but it was fantastic.

It
was also nice to have another meal with the two Luis' and having the
opportunity to hear more stories. She got to hear more about what
younger Luis did for a living...or lack of what he did, actually. His
grandparents, then his parents, and finally Luis, all took part in
operating a plane part manufacturing company, one generation at a
time. The family operated another company that actually did some of
the assembly with those parts, but that was run out of Italy and his
cousin dealt more with that.

Of
course, Luis had never actually touched a plane part in his life. At
that point, he basically collected the money and let the business run
itself, with the help of hundreds of employees, and well appointed
CEO's, that is. The business had been given to him when his parents
passed and although he'd been prepared to take on the responsibility,
he still had a mindset, much like Sean's in the sense that he'd do
what he wanted, when he wanted. He had been brought up in the life of
big business and high dollar living and nothing much impressed him
anymore. He did his best to avoid a monotonous lifestyle and found
things to keep him busy. Luis traveled a lot, not because he had to
for his work, but to avoid absolute boredom. That's also where Morgan
found out how she came into the picture.

Since
his parents had passed, he'd been around nearly the whole globe. He'd
eaten dinner in Japan, then had flown over to New Zealand. He toured
a castle of Scotland, then had dinner in Wales. It's what he wanted
to do with his time and he did it. With that though, came the
inevitable loneliness. No time for anything but a one-night-stand
here and there and of course, even for the most experienced bachelor,
that gets old rather quickly.

The
real reason he'd put himself on Julianne's database wasn't for just
sex. In fact, Morgan had been more than correct in her silly
assumptions. He
did
want to hold hands, he
did
want to
cuddle and he did want to take his time pleasing a woman or even
having a nice dinner, sitting at his own kitchen table. He didn't
plan on slowing down any time soon, so having a steady woman in his
life still wasn't an option, but having a nice week with one fit
perfectly into his lifestyle.

His
explanation worked for Morgan and her thirst for knowledge about her
purpose of supplying companionship was quenched. She thought about
his reasoning as she helped clean up their meal It was nice, the
fact he knew exactly what he was doing and why she was there. A man
admitting he wanted to cuddle was rather impressive too, even though
he hadn't used those exact words.
As long as you're loving life
and you know what you want, it's all that matters. Whatever you do,
live life like you mean it.
She shook her head as Tanner's words
of advice entered her mind.
And I still have to talk to you,
Mister.

After
dinner, Luis suggested stretching their legs and the two of them took
a walk around his property, Luis had wrapped a thick blanket around
Morgan's shoulders for the occasion as well. The two talked more
about the things that Madrid had to offer and Morgan enthusiastically
told him that she planned on seeing all of it. She also reminded him
of something else she had not seen yet.

“Well,
it's kind of cold, but if you want to,” Luis wrapped his arms
around Morgan's shoulders and brought the blanket over her head,
forming a makeshift tent around the two of them. It was so dark,
Morgan could barely see two inches in front of her, but there was no
mistaking the sound of a zipper from below her field of vision.

“Well,
that's not very fair, I can't see it,” Morgan giggled and
slowly lowered her hand, hoping she could
feel
it instead, but
again, she heard the zipper of his jeans and he was locked away once
more.

“You're
serious aren't you?” He lowered the blanket from their heads
and he watched Morgan nod slowly, the way she was biting her lip made
his heart race. He didn't ask anything else, his hands went to the
blanket and he lowered it from her shoulders, and watched it fall to
the grass in a silent heap. Immediately, Morgan began to shiver, but
he planned to...

“What
was that?” Morgan's sweater was over her face and her arms were
stuck in the air in mid shirt-removal as both of them froze and
looked toward the home. Of course, Morgan could only see blackness,
but she quickly lowered her arms and pulled her sweater back down
over her stomach. “Did you hear that?”