Chapter 14: Chapter 14
For a moment, when he woke up, Charlie thought he was still dreaming. It was the only possible explanation for why Morgan's arms were around her waist, pressing every inch of her body against his, including the exposed part of her chest that the parted shirt revealed.
For as long as possible, which she would have stretched out into centuries, Charlie was frozen in place, afraid that any movement would wake Morgan and end that perfect moment. So she just remained relaxed, her cheek resting against his chest, and breathed in deeply of his scent, wanting to memorize how it felt to feel him so close. The only part of her that couldn't settle, of course, was her mind, and before long she found herself lost in a myriad of fantasies and scenarios where she could feel even more of his heat, run over every inch of his skin with fingertips and finally find out what his kiss tasted like.
Of course, sleeping with him for real would be fantastic, but it just wasn't what she wanted anymore. To be honest, it never had been. However, losing her last relative, even though she and Anthony had remained almost complete strangers until the last day of his life, had left her painfully sensitive to the fact that she was one step away from being completely alone in the world. Of course, there was also Vivian and even Jack, but… She knew she would never be as close to anyone as she was feeling with Morgan, at that moment. All she wanted now was for him to hold her like this forever, to keep the loneliness from swallowing her.
To her utter misfortune, however, at some point during the time that she was lost in thought, Morgan seemed to wake up and, very gently, his arms began to move away from her waist, as well as his chest from under her face. With a hurt grunt, she squeezed him as hard as she could in frustration.
“Are you trying to run away from me?" she questioned him, her voice muffled by his shirt.
"Never." even though she didn't look up, she knew he was smiling as he said it "I just wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed, to lighten your mood a bit. But we can keep it that way if you want."
"Hmmm..." she pondered silently "How will today be after... What happened?" she asked hesitantly.
"It's likely that Anthony's body will be released from the hospital soon, so it will go straight to the funeral home and the wake and burial will start to get ready. But don't worry, we'll only have to attend them in two or three days. You'll have time to recover a bit until then."
"And I suppose I won't be able to avoid running into Samantha in either of those two moments, will I?" She sighed, exhausted already.
“I'll make sure she doesn't bother you at all." was all he answered her, categorically, but the somber atmosphere between the two seemed to dissipate as a loud growl sounded from inside her stomach, making Morgan laugh "What do you say we get up for a bit, just to eat?"
"Well..." huffing, she wrapped her arms even more tightly around his neck, lifting her legs so she could also wrap her arms around his waist "I'll think about your case."
Still a little sulky that her stupid hunger was about to ruin that perfect moment, Charlie refused to let go of him, pretending to be getting ready to get up just so she could rub against his body like a cat. Lazily, she pressed her breasts against him, feeling the hardness of his chest and the muscles in his arms and shoulders, which seemed to be getting more and more tense for some reason. However, it was only when she lifted her legs a little higher, making her thighs level with his, almost encircling his hips, that Morgan suddenly pulled away from her completely, getting up from the bed in a jump, to stay back to her.
"What happened?" she gasped, confused. "Are you okay? If I had been a little faster, I would have fallen out of bed..."
"I am fine." he replied quickly, clearing his throat, but still not turning to her. "I... I just need a moment alone to... You know, do the morning routine."
Before she could respond, he practically bolted for the bathroom, locking himself in there before she could blink. Concerned, Charlie jumped out of bed, however, as soon as her feet hit the floor, Morgan yelled from inside the bathroom, looking slightly nervous, although she wasn't entirely sure.
"Why don't you go down first? There's another bathroom down the hall that you can use. I just need some time to... Take a cold shower. " For a moment, he sounded choked, like he was in pain, but his tone returned to normal as quickly as possible the moment she wasn't sure if she'd actually heard him right. "I'll be in the kitchen before you're able to miss me, I promise."
"Okay..." she agreed, even though she still didn't understand why he was behaving that way so suddenly.
Wanting to give him a moment of privacy, not even knowing what was wrong, Charlie went to the bathroom he had indicated so she could brush her teeth and wash her face. However, as soon as she got to the kitchen, she realized that he had lied: not only was he not in the kitchen yet, but she was already missing him. Bored, she just sat down on one of the chairs at the counter and began to spin around in it while she waited, looking at all the items stored in the glass-fronted cabinets of the refined and well-organized kitchen.
Everything about Morgan was elegant and understated, just like he was, but when it came to his kitchen, there was something different. Something warm and kind that was reflected in every spotlessly clean surface, every well-organized utensil, and every delicious food that had ever been baked in that oven. It was the manifestation of a side of Morgan that she had been slow to realize that only she knew. With others, she had never seen him be anything but cold and reserved, as with Anthony and Samantha, or, at most, polite and friendly, as with Vivian. But that affectionate and protective personality, welcoming and fascinating as that kitchen, he only showed when he was with her. He only cooked for her and only opened up to her.
Perhaps that was why she had fallen in love with him: he always made a point of demonstrating that she was an essential part of his life, just as he was in hers.
If only she occupies a part of his bed, too...
Shaking her head to dispel those thoughts, Charlie looked around the kitchen again, wondering what she could do to distract herself while she waited for him. That's when her attention ended up falling on the frying pans lined up near the fridge, serving as decoration. No more than a few seconds later, her mind had already formulated what seemed like the perfect plan: not only so that she could find something to do while waiting for him, but also a good way to repay, at least a little, everything he did. had done for her since the day before. For once, she wanted to take care of him a little.
Jumping away from the chair, she grabbed one of the skillets and hunted through the cupboards for a pot, fetching eggs and cheese from the fridge shortly thereafter. Her experience in the kitchen boiled down to fast food and warming up the frozen food Morgan sent over, true, but it was just a simple omelette with cheese. There was no way to go wrong.
Or so she had thought, until, after leaving the skillet to heat on the stove while she whisked in the eggs and grated cheese, the mixture made a loud pop as it hit the inside of the pan, spraying egg splatters all over the place. sides and starting to smell burnt almost immediately, as, startled by that result, Charlie had ended up bumping her arm into the handle, spilling some of the food directly into the high heat.
Perplexed and with her heart in her throat at this disaster, Charlie spent a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity, petrified in place, looking away from the stove and sink, wondering if she should fill a glass with water and throw in that principle of fire or risk your skin in the middle of that rain of scalding spatter. Hearing yet another loud creak inside the pot, she decided to face her fear and turn off the stove, to prevent Morgan's kitchen from being further ruined, when a panicked voice interrupted her.
“Charlie?" Morgan suddenly appeared in front of her, placing himself between her body and the stove "What happened?
However, he didn't give her the opportunity to respond, quickly going to the stove and putting out the fire, before moving the charred remains of egg away from the fire with the spoon she had used to mix the ingredients, opening the window that was open. over the sink shortly afterwards, so that the smoke that had started to build up would dissipate. Finally, despite the filthy stove and the smell of burning that seemed to have permeated the room, everything seemed to be ok and Morgan breathed a sigh of relief, before going back to where she was still petrified, wrapping her in his arms.
And it was only then that she realized he was shirtless and now her cheek was pressed firmly against his bare chest, the heat of him enveloping her.
She had thought she was in hell, but suddenly that kitchen had become heaven.
"Are you well?" He pushed her back a little, running his eyes down her arms several times before running his hands down them, lifting up the sleeves of his shirt, apparently to check her skin "Are you burn somewhere?"
Unable to pay attention to anything other than the work of art that was his abs, Charlie just nodded silently, wondering if she should seize this opportunity to run her hands over those muscles and risk Morgan suing her. for sexual harassment.
"Are you sure? You look strange..." he continued to study her, panicked, until he finally followed the direction of her eyes and seemed to realize what was wrong "Oh, I'm sorry..." Blushing, he started to walk away, his voice trembling with embarrassment "I heard strange noises and ended up leaving the bathroom before I even put on a shirt. Wait a minute..."