by Celeste Hall
Chapter Eleven
Morgan woke slowly, cuddling closer to the warmth at her back. Despite spending every moment together the previous day, it had actually been harder for her to accept Leo’s company that night.
She no longer saw him as a cat which occasionally took human form. Now he was a man, with a dark past and a secret half-life that he spent in an alternate shape.
Having a cat in bed with her was no big deal. But having a man, especially one like Leo, was an entirely different matter.
Every minute she spent with him, she fell a little bit deeper in love. But he was no longer her pet. She couldn’t just lock him in her home and keep him forever. He had his own home. His own life.
How would their lives change once the threat of Craig hurting her was gone?
Lost in dark consideration, she didn’t realize that he was also awake, until Leo’s fingertips began to feather over the curve of her hip, sending a rush of heat through all of her nerve endings.
“Will Heidi be making another early morning appearance today?”
“Probably,” she moaned.
When Rachel had shown up the night before, Morgan was out to dinner with Leo. The girl had sounded shocked and disbelieving when Morgan had told her that she wouldn’t be needing a babysitter that night, because she'd be bringing her date home with her.
Both Rachel and Heidi knew that she wasn't the kind of girl to bring a stranger home, so of course Heidi called less than five minutes after Rachel hung up. And Morgan had to explain all over again that, yes it was the naked man from the kitchen. And yes, she liked him. And yes, he knew about Craig. Among a hundred other questions.
Once she hung up with Heidi, Rachel called again asking if the girls could come by and meet him that evening.
“They worry because they care,” Leo grinned when Morgan finally convinced both of her friends that she was safe, sane, and would disown them if they crashed her evening.
Unfortunately, she knew that wouldn't stop them from showing up early this morning.
Right on cue, she heard the front door bang open and Rachel's panicked voice.
“Heidi, wait! They're probably still asleep!”
But nothing was going to slow the redhead down.
Leo grunted in surprise when Morgan abruptly reached behind her to verify that he had indeed worn his boxer briefs to bed… and he was sporting some pretty impressive morning wood.
Then Heidi was bursting into the room with Rachel hot on her tail.
“You're both getting flaming paper bags full of dog shit for Christmas.” Morgan stated calmly. “You know that, right?”
“I'm sorry,” Rachel rushed breathlessly, her wide eyes glued to Leo's bare chest. “Heidi said she wouldn't believe it until she saw it with her own eyes. We were worried.”
“I told you I was fine.” Crawling out of the bed, she didn't miss the suspicion on Heidi's face when the red head saw that she was not actually naked, but wearing a short night slip.
“Show's over,” Morgan growled, collecting both of her friends by the arms and leading them to the stairs. “Now that you're here, go make breakfast, we'll be down in a minute.”
Closing the door behind them, Morgan waited until she was sure they were headed downstairs before turning.
Leo was sitting up in the bed, grinning at her.
“What?” She demanded, “Did you expect me to just sit there and let them ogle you?”
“Actually, I was waiting to see if you'd come back to bed and finish what you started.”
“Huh?”
He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and she blushed.
“That was an accident. You have a bad habit of being naked every time I turn around.”
He chuckled. “I suppose it's a good thing I wasn't naked when you grabbed me, your face might have spontaneously combusted.”
Her cheeks were so hot just talking about it, he was probably right.
“What are we going to do?”
“About what?”
“Them!” She gestured towards the bedroom door and the nosey duo currently banging around in her kitchen.
“Relax”, he soothed. Catching her by one arm, he pulled her into a hug, despite her weak protests. "This could actually be a good thing."
She stared at him in disbelief.
"Okay, Mister The-glass-is-half-full, explain."
"We're going to see Craig today and we want to look like a legitimate and happy couple. If we can fool your friends, I'm sure we can fool your ex."
Morgan's blood turned to ice. She'd forgotten that he intended to take her to the jail today.
"Leo, I don't think..."
"Stop," he commanded in a gentle tone, reading the fear in her eyes. "You know that this is the only way. It may not even work, but we have to try.
"I spent half the night thinking of a way to pull this off without forcing you to have any direct contact with that asshole, and I think I've come up with a pretty good plan. Just trust me, okay?"
She gave him a martyr's nod, then gasped as he brushed a quick kiss over her lips.
"See, that reaction right there. That's what will give us away. You have to at least act like you enjoy having me around."
Morgan blushed, but forced herself to meet his gaze.
"I do," she admitted hesitantly. "I think I like it too much."
In an instant, his playful manner vanished. His fingertips rose to stroke the soft curve of her cheek and his eyes took on a hungry heat that threatened to consume her.
With incredible tenderness he pulled her closer to his body, molding her smaller form to his, allowing her to feel the tremble that whispered through him.
This time, when he lowered his mouth, it was achingly slow.
At first, she felt only the warmth of his breath. Then his lips touched hers.
Softly, sensually, he nibbled and tasted, tempting her to open and invite him in. When she did, he slipped inside like a thief in the night. He plundered the shadows of her mouth, stealing past her defenses and awakening a symphony of passion and desire.
When at last he broke the connection between them, Morgan trembled and curled herself into his arms. The world was still reeling and her legs were too weak to support her, she needed the strength of his embrace to steady herself.
Leo murmured something soft and tender against her ear, but she was still lost in that fuzzy daze of pleasure.
Then Heidi was shouting up at them from the bottom of the stairs and Leo was stepping back to let her go.
"They'll be up here again if we don't hurry," he growled, fetching the slacks and shirt he'd worn the night before, he quickly pulled them on. "If you'd like to take a shower, I'll go on down and hold them at bay."
He cast her a broad smile as he stepped out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him, but it was several long moments before she felt safe to walk on the jelly legs he’d left her.
Yeah, she wanted a shower all right. A nice and cold libido killing ice bath. But as she headed for the bathroom, she remembered what Leo had planned for today, and the ice bath was no longer necessary.
How was she ever going to face Craig after all the pain and fear that he'd caused her? She wasn't sure if Leo's courage and determination would be enough to dissuade someone so mentally unbalanced.
By the time she was she'd dressed and headed downstairs to scold her friends, she's almost talked herself out of following Leo's plan.
Heidi and Rachel met her near the stairs.
"I'm sorry sweetie, it's time for work," Rachel gave her a quick hug which allowed her to add in a whisper... "I love him. He's perfect for you."
Heidi was less sleuth in the matter.
"Thank God it's Friday. Your boyfriend has already promised to spend Halloween with us, so I hope the sex was good."
Morgan gave her a sour face.
"Flaming dog shit, in a paper bag. I'm not even going to put a bow on it."
"I love you too," Heidi called, flouncing out t
he door.
Leo was in the kitchen filling up two plates with fluffy scrambled eggs and crisp bacon. He grinned at her as she entered.
"Sometimes they act more like annoying sisters than friends," she growled.
"You're lucky to have them," he replied.
"I know. It's hard to imagine where I'd be today if not for those two." She hesitated. "Heidi was actually with me, in the library, with Craig. I don't know if I could have survived it without her."
Leo put down the spatula and turned to collect her in his arms. It was getting easier and easier for her to just snuggle up against his chest and let him chase some of the shadows away for her.
"I'm scared of what he might do," she admitted, and Leo knew exactly who she was taking about.
"I won't let him hurt you," he promised again.
"You won't always be here to protect me," she reminded him.
"The first step is showing him that you've moved on. That someone else has taken his place in your life. If that doesn't stop him, we'll start talking about step two."
He still wasn't willing to tell her what step two actually was. But from the hard look that entered his eyes every time that he mentioned it, she guessed it must be something even more frightening than going to see Craig at the jail.
"We'll do it just like we discussed," he assured her. "You'll never need to talk to or even get close to him. Let him think that I'm an extremely possessive and obsessive asshole that needs to publicly stake his claim. That kind of a display of dominance will resonate with him. All you need to do is show up and walk to the visiting room door with me. I'll kiss you there, in front of him. Then I'll go have my talk one on one while you go back to the lobby and wait for me."
"I don't like the idea of leaving you alone with him."
"I won't be alone. There are always guards monitoring the visitation area."
"But..."
He silenced her with a kiss.
It wasn't the tender caress of that morning, or the devouring kiss from the day before. This was a playful nipping and pecking at her mouth that made her want to giggle, despite her lingering fears.
"Stop worrying and eat your breakfast," he grinned when at last he freed her. "The only thing I want you focused on, is what sort of costume you plan to wear tomorrow. Heidi and Rachel apparently have a big night planned, and I've been ordered to make sure you are properly attired.
"Heidi and Rachel can go jump in a cold lake," Morgan growled, but less than an hour later she would have given anything to have the girls beside her.