Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Morgan
“Do I look alright?” Morgan came out of the bathroom and spun around as Asad looked up.
She’d changed from the sundress she’d been wearing for the car ride to a more fitted but more modest eggplant dress.
The keyhole in her neckline was small, only a couple inches tall, so it didn’t show even a hint of cleavage.
The skirt went down to about an inch above her knee and flared out just enough that it didn’t need a slit for her to walk.
Her friends had claimed it was a great ‘meet-the-parents’ dress.
She looked like she was trying to impress, but it was still casual enough that everyone else could be wearing jeans, and she’d only seemed a little overdressed.
They’d assured her that, especially in that scenario, overdressed would be fine and probably seen as a compliment.
Asad blinked, his eyes sliding over her body while she stood before him with her hands held out to her sides, fingers spread. Nerves rattled through her, but she managed to hold her position.
It didn’t hurt that he was giving her a lot to look at.
Although he was wearing jeans, he was also in the process of putting on a crisp, white button-down shirt with long sleeves.
Seeing what he was wearing did help her a little.
She would look appropriately dressed next to him.
He was doing the buttons, so the shirt hung open, showing off his muscled chest and stomach, which was a very nice distraction.
Her body stirred as the fact they were alone together in this hotel room hit home.
Since she’d had to go to the bathroom and touch up her makeup, it had just made sense to change in there, but now she kind of wished she’d put on her dress out in the main room. She’d missed a show. And missed giving him one.
That could have been fun.
On the other hand, she didn’t want to make them late for dinner with his family, so maybe this was for the best. She could give him a show when they got back and didn’t have any more plans for the evening.
Excitement thrummed through her.
Intellectually she’d known she was going to be alone with him for a week, and she’d been looking forward to it, but that didn’t compare to how it felt to realize they really were alone in each other’s company.
No Doms looking over her shoulder and watching to make sure not one foot was stepped out of line.
No well-meaning friends hovering protectively, always watching.
She hadn’t realized how much their anxiousness had added to her own until this moment when no one was watching.
It was incredibly relaxing.
“You look fantastic,” Asad said after a long moment. He gave his head a little shake. “Way out of my league.”
Morgan laughed, dropping her hands back to her sides. “I doubt it, but thank you.”
He grinned at her, doing up the rest of his buttons and hiding the view. Morgan sighed inwardly. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen it before, but it had been a while since they’d last scened together and—more importantly—the lack of anyone else in the room watching made everything feel different.
Sharper.
More exciting.
Anticipation fizzed and bubbled in her, but she pushed it back. Now wasn’t the time.
Shrugging his shoulders to settle his shirt properly on his frame, Asad tugged on the bottom of his shirt, which he apparently wasn’t tucking in. Morgan rather liked the look of something associated with formal wear worn casually. Her parents would have called it sloppy.
“Alright.” Taking a deep breath, he moved over to her and put his hand on the small of her back.
Morgan felt her skin tingle, where she could feel his palm through the fabric of her dress. Yup, this was going to be a fun week.
Though, first, she had to get through meeting the parents as his fake girlfriend.
“Should we go over our story again?” she asked nervously as they headed to the car.
“Sure,” Asad said easily, his hand moving slightly on her back as though he was rubbing it to reassure her.
She took a deep breath. Between her excitement that they were alone in the hotel room and her anxiousness over meeting his parents and pulling off being his fake girlfriend, she was feeling a little overstimulated. Every touch of his hand rasped along her skin, though not in an unpleasant way.
It was just a lot.
She was almost relieved when they got to the car, and he had to stop touching her to let her get in. But then, as soon as he got in, he took her hand again, the same way he had during the drive. It was just pretend, just practice for being in a fake relationship, but it still made her heart jump.
No one had ever held her hand. Not even Master Jason.
It’s not a big deal. It doesn’t mean anything.
She knew that, but there was a part of her that wanted to pretend it did.
Just for a little while. To fall into the ruse and enjoy being in a fake relationship, a romantic relationship like she saw other people have.
Even though, technically, she’d been in two sexual relationships previously, she had no idea what it was like to be in a romantic relationship. And wasn’t that sad?
Mistress Julie would tell her it wasn’t her fault, and she’d be right, but Morgan was still right that it was sad.
Did she want a relationship like the ones she saw her friends in?
Yes, but she wasn’t sure she was capable. Not with a past like hers.
Sometimes, it seemed like even people who thought she’d been through something traumatic weren’t any better at getting their personal lives together than she was.
Brian was constantly worried about what she was doing and who she was doing it with.
Meanwhile, he was pining over a woman who didn’t want him.
Mistress Julie had cackled when Morgan had made that observation during one of their sessions.
She knew Mistress Julie thought this week away would be good for her, but she wasn’t sure what her therapist would say about actually pretending the relationship was real for the duration of it. Would she think that was healthy? Or that Morgan was delusional?
“Okay, so our mutual friend Patrick introduced us at a party, right?” Asad said, giving her hand a little squeeze as he maneuvered them out of the hotel parking lot. It took a moment to realize he was going over their story the way she’d requested, and she made herself focus.
She could call Mistress Julie later if she really wanted to talk through things.
“Right,” she said.
They spent the rest of the drive going over their backstory. Asad winked at her several times, helping to ease her nerves as he made her laugh. It wasn’t until they pulled up in front of a huge house with a perfectly manicured lawn and a half-circle driveway, she realized how tense he was.
The smile faded from his lips as he looked up at the house, and he didn’t look all that excited to go in and see his family.
He’d called himself the ‘black sheep’ and made jokes about it, but clearly, he was more affected by it than he’d been pretending.
Now, it was Morgan’s turn to squeeze his hand.
“We could pretend I got sick and can’t go in,” she offered.
Asad huffed a laugh.
“No, we’re not going to do that.” He shook his head.
“Besides, I can guarantee my mom already knows we’re here.
Even if it wasn’t for the security cameras, I bet she’s peeking out one of the windows as we speak.
” Sighing, he gave her fingers a squeeze back, then let go so he could unbuckle his seatbelt.
“We’ll be spending all week with them. Might as well go ahead and get the party started. ”
Asad
“Mom, Dad, this is Morgan. Morgan, these are my parents, Lena and Darius.”
“Hello.” Despite the death grip Morgan had on his hand, her greeting was cheerful and warm.
His parents looked a little shell-shocked.
He wondered what kind of girl they’d been expecting him to bring.
To be fair, the last girl they’d seen him with had been eight years ago, and Molly had been deep into the goth scene.
She’d had spiked hair, black lipstick, and rarely wore anything that wasn’t ripped to hell.
They’d had a good time together, enjoying each other’s company without ever getting serious, until she’d moved to New York.
He hadn’t formally introduced her to his parents, of course, but they’d seen him and Molly together out in public.
His mom had done her best to cover her horror when she’d questioned him about the ‘young lady’ they’d seen him with, but she hadn’t entirely managed it.
It had been funny as hell, and Molly had thoroughly enjoyed playing her part.
Now, his parents were staring at Morgan like they were waiting for her to explode.
“Hello, dear, it’s so lovely to meet you.” Seeming to have gotten over her trepidation, his mom stepped forward and wrapped Morgan in a big hug.
Only Asad knew that Morgan had rocked back for a moment before his mom got her arms around her. Giving him a glance, as if looking for approval, Morgan gingerly hugged his mom back, patting her shoulder with the hand he wasn’t holding.
“Um, hi, Mrs. Khan.”
“No, no, Lena, I insist.” Was his mom blinking back tears as she pulled away?
Asad was acutely aware of how uncomfortable he felt under this parental scrutiny.
He hadn’t grown up with his parents much caring what he did.
They hadn’t needed to because he’d been a good kid, so they wouldn’t have to worry about him and Cyrus, up until he’d hit his rebellious years, which his parents hadn’t appreciated at all.
This show of emotional approval from his mom was weirding him out.
“Come on in. Cyrus and Anna should be here any moment.”
“Ah, the boy wonder is running late,” Asad joked, earning himself a ‘look’ from his mother. His dad frowned at him. That was more like it. Now, they were back in his comfort zone.
“It is his wedding week. It’s expected they’re a little busy,” his mom replied in a repressive tone. Criticizing the boy wonder was a no-no.
“Of course,” he replied mildly.
“You have a beautiful home,” Morgan said, interrupting what was sure to be a devolving conversation where Asad made general remarks and his parents leapt to his brother’s defense.
“Is that a family portrait?” She was looking up at the painting that hung in the back of the foyer, underneath the double staircase to the second floor.
His mom brightened. Turning so she was standing on Morgan’s free side, she linked her arm through Morgan’s, pulling her away from him.
His hand felt suddenly very empty.
“It is. We had it done when Asad was ten and Cyrus was eight. Aren’t they adorable?”
What his mother wasn’t saying was that they’d had it done when Cyrus had been going through a particularly bad period, and they hadn’t been sure he was going to beat the cancer.
The artist who had done the painting had taken a lot of artistic license when it came to Cyrus’ appearance, working more from photos than from what Cyrus had actually looked like at that moment in time.
Asad’s gut tightened as he remembered how gaunt his brother had been, how unnaturally pale, with huge shadows under his eyes.
He'd spent every night terrified that he was going to wake up in the morning to the news that his brother was gone.
But Cyrus had pulled through. And now the boy wonder was getting married. It was the happily-ever-after all of them had hoped for.
Which was why the bitterness Asad tasted in his mouth was so hard to swallow. He didn’t want to feel this way about his brother, but sometimes, it was hard to push the resentment down. Cyrus had gotten better, yet somehow, the family dynamic had never changed.
“Let me show you around,” his mom said to Morgan before glancing over her shoulder. “Asad, dear, do you want to join us?”
That resentment buried in the pit of his stomach flared again, and he wasn’t sure why. This was good. This was what he’d wanted.
Yup, for my mom to only approve of me once I brought a girl home, that’s exactly what I wanted.
Asad squashed the thought. It wasn’t as if he’d acted like he wanted his mom to approve of him otherwise. He’d hit a point in his life where he’d stopped being her good little boy and started doing the opposite of anything she and his father asked of him. Looking back, he realized that.
He just wasn’t sure how to shake off the emotions surrounding it. So, he pushed them down and away instead.
“Coming, Ma.” The casual ‘ma’ made her wince because she hated being called ‘ma,’ which was exactly why he did it. He hadn’t even done it consciously; it was just what came out of his mouth. Behind him, his father sighed that deep-deep sigh of disappointment he was so good at.
Asad felt tension roll down his spine, but he shook it off again and sauntered after his mom and Morgan.
He might feel it, but he’d be damned if he let them see it.