Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
Morgan
His house was beautiful. Beige walls, tasteful furniture, expensive art, and marble floors made up the three thousand five hundred square foot home.
“This is where the magic happens.” A smirk crossed his lips when we entered his bedroom.
“The magic?” My brow arched.
He gripped my hips and leaned in close to my ear.
“I think a lot of magic can happen here tonight.” The warmth of his breath swept over my neck.
“I didn’t come here for sex, Roman.”
“Perhaps you didn’t. But I know how I make your body feel.” His teeth nipped my earlobe. “I can feel your trembling skin beneath my fingers whenever I touch you. I feel the heat of your body on my tongue as it slides down your torso.”
My lips slightly parted as a breath escaped me. He was right. My skin did tremble from his touch. The information I found could have waited, but I came to his home anyway—subconsciously knowing that I’d sleep with him. It was being back here in Los Angeles: the trauma, the memories. I wasn’t only here to do a job for Roman. I was on a mission—a mission I’d prepared the last fourteen years for.
I pushed him down on the bed and removed my shirt. He lay there, propped up on his elbows, staring at me with fire in his eyes. After kicking off my shoes, I unbuttoned my pants and shimmied out of them. A gasp escaped his lips as his eyes never left my body. Grabbing his shirt, I pulled him so he was sitting up. Getting down on my knees, I undid his pants and wrapped my mouth around his hard cock. His sexy moans heightened my arousal while his hands fisted my hair.
“Fuck, Morgan,” he moaned, taking in the pleasure. “As much as I love this, you need to stop because I’m about to come, and I don’t want to yet.”
I removed my mouth from him and stared into his sexy blue eyes. He brought his hand to my face and softly stroked it with his thumb, sending shivers down my spine. Reaching around the back, he unhooked my bra and tossed it to the side, taking my breasts in his mouth. His hands roamed down my body and gripped my ass.
“Stand up and bend over the bed,” he said.
I did as he asked. After slipping on a condom, he gripped me from behind and thrust inside.
“Is this what you wanted?” He asked, grabbing my hair and pulling my head back.
“Yes,” I breathlessly spoke, forgetting about everything else in my life, except that I was standing on a cliff, ready to jump off into oblivion.
“I can feel your body getting ready to explode. God, you feel amazing.”
My body shook with desire as a howling noise erupted from my lungs. I’d jumped into the oblivion, and damn, did it feel superior .
“Yes.” His thrusting increased. Suddenly, he halted, moaning at the pleasure of his orgasm.
He pulled out of me, removed the condom, and went into the bathroom. Grabbing my panties from the floor, I slipped into them.
“You’re not leaving,” his commanding voice spoke.
“Excuse me?”
“It’s late. Stay the night, and let’s get to know each other better.”
The thing was, I didn’t want him to get to know me. He was right when he said I was a ghost. But he wouldn’t let up unless I gave him some information. I wouldn’t give him enough to really know who I was.
“Let’s go for a swim.” I smiled. “No suits needed.”
The corners of his mouth lifted as he held my gaze. “I’ll get the towels.”
He handed me a large white fluffy towel to wrap around myself as we went downstairs and to the patio. Dropping the towel, I dove in and went all the way under. When I came up, he stood in the pool, staring at me.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Because you’re beautiful, naked, and in my pool. What man wouldn’t stare at that? Who are you, Morgan Ashley, and where did you come from?”
I stayed in the water, my head only above the surface.
“You know I’m from New York.”
“Are you really, though?” He swam over to me.
“Yes.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“So, your parents live there also?”
“My father is dead, and my mother took off when I was eight. She resurfaced six years later when she finally got her meds straightened out.”
“Her meds? ”
“She’s bi-polar. She thought she could return and fix our relationship, which worked for a while. Then she took off again.”
“Do you talk to her?” he asked.
“Here and there, but not too much. I prefer it that way, and she knows it. She lives in Maine now in a cute little Cape Cod home with her husband, Phil, who is a doctor. I met him once. He seems like a good guy.”
“And your father? How and when did he pass away?”
“Fourteen years ago. I was sixteen. He had a massive heart attack at home, and it was too late by the time the paramedics got there,” I lied.
“If you were only sixteen, who cared for you?”
“My Uncle Louie. He’s not really my uncle, but he was my dad’s best friend. He was always around and helping out after my mother disappeared.”
“Tell me where you learned to hack. Because I don’t know anyone who can do the things you do.”
I needed to tread this conversation carefully.
“I guess you could say I was born with it.” A smirk crossed my lips. “My father was a technical genius. So, I guess I inherited it from him.”
“I see.” He sounded unsure if he believed me.
“I’m guessing you didn’t go to college?”
“I went to college.”
“Where did you attend?”
“Harvard.”
His eyes filled with surprise. “Harvard? What did you study?”
“Computer science and computer engineering with a minor in psychology.”
“Wow. That’s impressive. Damn. I had no idea I was sleeping with a Harvard graduate.” He smiled. “I have a friend who went to Harvard. His name is Miles Bradshaw. Perhaps you know him.”
My belly twisted in a knot.
“I never heard of him. I wish I could say I knew every student who attended Harvard, but I don’t.”
“Ah, that’s too bad. You would like him. He’s a great guy.”
I needed to turn this conversation around and fast.
“So, if you live in this seven-million-dollar home on the water, where do your two brothers live?”
“Down the street.” A smirk crossed his lips.
“You all live on the same street?”
“Yeah. We’re very close as brothers can be.”
“So, are you all like a year apart or something? Back in Turks, you said you weren’t triplets, but you all look the same age.”
“It’s a complicated story. I have an idea. How would you like to come to dinner tomorrow night and meet our father? He asked the three of us to come over because he wanted to introduce us to someone. I feel I may need your services to do some checking on her.”
“I don’t know, Roman. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Come on. It’ll be fun.” He gripped my hips under the water. “Besides, it’s a Saturday night, and I know you have nothing else to do. Do you really want to spend a Saturday night in the hotel room?”
“I guess I can go.”
“Excellent.” His lips pressed against my forehead. “But I do have one question for you.” His eyes stared into mine.
“Okay.”
“Why are you lying to me?”
I carefully narrowed my left eye at him. “I’m not lying to you. ”
“You are, Morgan.” He turned, climbed out of the pool, and dried off with a towel. “I know you were born in Los Angeles, not New York.”
“How do you know that?” I climbed out of the pool.
“I saw your passport in the hotel room in Turks and Caicos. It said the place of birth was Los Angeles, California.”
“You looked at my passport? What the fuck?”
“It was sitting right there, so I glanced at it.”
“How dare you, Roman. That’s an invasion of privacy,” I shouted.
“Not really. It’s just a damn passport.”
“It wasn’t yours to look at!” I opened the sliding door and went into the house.
As I stomped up the stairs in disbelief, he grabbed my arm and stopped me.
“Don’t be angry. I just want to know what’s going on with you.”
“Nothing is going on with me!” I jerked out of his grip.
“Then why did you lie?” he shouted, following me into the bedroom.
I grabbed my panties from the floor and slipped them on. He grabbed the rest of my clothes, opened the window, and tossed them out.
“What the fuck, Hamilton!”
“You’re not going anywhere. Get your hot ass in bed. I have to use the bathroom, and then I’ll join you. Please, Morgan. Don’t leave. Okay?” his voice calmed.
“Whatever, Roman.” I sighed, climbing into bed because I was too tired to drive home.
A few moments later, he climbed in next to me.
“We had a house in Pasadena where I lived until I was sixteen. ”
“When your father passed away?” he asked.
“Yes. After he died, my Uncle Louie moved us both to New York.”
“Why?” His brows furrowed.
“Because I couldn’t stay in California anymore. It was too hard after my father passed,” I lied.
“So your uncle just packed up his home and moved because you couldn’t stay here any longer?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, he sounds like he cares for you a lot.”
“He does.” I smiled.
“I’m surprised you accepted my offer to come and work on a case.”
“It’s been fourteen years, and I’ve matured.”
“You certainly have.” The corners of his mouth curved upward, bringing his hand to my cheek. “Why wouldn’t you just tell me the truth?”
“Because it’s embarrassing. Oh hey, I moved away from California when I was sixteen because my dad died, and I couldn’t handle living here anymore.”
“You have nothing to be embarrassed of. Everyone handles grief differently. Let’s get some sleep.” He leaned over and softly kissed my lips. “Good night, Morgan.”
“Good night, Roman.”
I lay there, his arm wrapped securely around me, while a shitshow was going on in my head. I was a master at controlling my emotions, but he made it very difficult to do that. I wasn’t worried. As soon as this case was solved, I would head back to New York to figure out my next move. My uncle was right. It was best to let sleeping dogs lie. But I wasn’t so sure if I could do that.