Around the World in 80 Men Boxed Set 31-35 (27 page)

Finlay's hands gripped tightly into large fists that
needed to be contained. He'd had the worst few months in not seeing
Morgan, and when his nightmare was finally ending, he was denied the
one thing that he looked forward to.

“
Fook
it.” He stood from his bed and stumbled to the bathroom. “I'm
going to Morocco!”

BOOK
THIRTY-THREE

MOROCCO

Chapter
One

The
lighting in the tiny bathroom was terrible, but Morgan was making the
best she could of the situation.

“
There
are
other people on this plane who have to use the bathroom!”

“
And
there
are
other bathrooms!” Morgan took a brief second
to glare at the door being knocked on, then got back to her lip
gloss. Another knock, and Morgan's hand slipped, making a bright red
line of gloss down her chin. “Just a minute! Shit!”

“
Ma'am,
the plane is landing, everyone must return to their seats.” The
voice was much nicer than the first, and Morgan nodded to herself in
the mirror, as if the flight attendant could see her.

“
Landing.
Got it. Just... one... second.” She wiped the red stain from
her face and fluffed her hair for the tenth time. It wasn't going to
get any better. The beautiful, full spirals she had started with at
the beginning of the trip now laid in limp curls that strayed in
every direction. There was no controlling the friz, and there was
nothing she could do about the dark circles under her eyes, but she
was pretty pleased about the rest.

“
Ma'am!
Now!” The attendant was more stern and Morgan knew she was
about to be pulled out of that bathroom by her blown out hair.

“
Alright,
alright!” Morgan brushed a quick layer of blush on her cheeks
and swept all of her makeup back into her bag with her arm. One last
check in the mirror, and she quickly returned to her seat as the
fasten seat belt lights kicked on. “Never again.”

An
older woman next to her heard Morgan's mumble and looked in her
direction as Morgan was pulling out her mirror to double check her
chin.

“
I
used to hate it,” Morgan replied quickly. “Funny,
actually. It terrified me. Now, I don't mind. But I can tell you I
don't think I want to do a thirty-five-mothafuckin-hour trip ag...I'm
sorry.” Morgan quickly clasped her hand over her mouth as the
nearby passengers all turned in their seats to look at her. “I
uhm...excuse me.” She looked back down to the mirror as the
woman shook her head, and it took all of her being not to burst out
in laughter.

This
will have to do.
She slid her
mirror back into her bag and sighed quietly as she looked out the
window. Morocco was such quick notice, that Morgan hadn't even cared
to look at the travel time. Three layovers, and twenty-three hours of
fly time had her exhausted, and she was convinced knowing that
information may have persuaded her decision to go to Morocco.
I'm
here now.
She was thrilled it
was coming to an end, but a little upset that she wouldn't be
bringing her best performance to the show.

Fifteen
minutes later, Morgan was stepping off the plane as her phone began
to vibrate in her jacket. “Hello, my beautiful, Love!”

“
Sticky
Boo Boo, please tell me you did not just text me that this
mothafucka's name is Mufasa?”

“
I
didn't,” Morgan giggled as she threw her purse over her
shoulder and walked though the first hallway of the airport. “His
name is Mustafa.”

“
Mufasa.”

“
No,
still not Mufasa.”

“
Baby
girl, all I'm saying is you better make that tiger roar! Ride the
stripes off that mothafuckin' beast!” Angel tucked his phone
between his ear and shoulder as he folded a pair of Gio's silk boxers
into a perfect square.

“
Mufasa
isn't a tig.. .”

“
I
did not say a mothafuckin' word to you!” Angel flapped his hand
toward the direction of the owner of said boxers, and Morgan heard
Gio's laughter and the tap of Angel's shoes in the background. He
knew immediately who Angel was speaking to, and decided he would
actually fill his own iced tea for once. Angel waited for Gio and his
girlfriend to pass by his doorway before speaking to Morgan again.
“Boo?”

“
Yeah?”
Morgan was still giggling when she replied.

“
I
have never hated a woman until this mothafuckin' thundercunt came
into my life.” He stuck two finger boners into the air, and
waved them dramatically toward the direction the couple had walked,
and they were still in the air when Gio stuck his head back into the
room. Morgan's outburst of laughter was nearly deafening and Angel
dropped his phone as he quickly pulled his hands back to his sides.

“
I
saw that,” Morgan heard Gio say. She didn't know exactly what
he had seen, but it was enough to send her into another fit of
laughter. Angel's phone was still on the ground when he replied.

“
I
was stretching. My fingers.” He interlaced his fingers and
pushed them forward, popping several knuckles at a time.

“
Right.”
Normally, Gio would have given him the riot act about not
disrespecting his woman, but it was clear the two were never going to
get along, so he dropped it. “Will you please make some more
tea when you get a moment?”

Morgan
didn't hear the rest of the conversation. In fact, the only thing she
could hear for several seconds was the beating of her own heart. As
she made her way to baggage claim, there he was. Mustafa. He was
standing just outside the door, and he wasn't alone. “Angel, I
have to go.” She absentmindedly brought her phone down and
ended the call while Angel gave a reply about making tea. “Is
that a camel?”

She
stood, openly staring at the man, and his ride. He saw her the moment
he walked through the front door, and their eyes remained fixed
without a word spoken until he was directly in front of her.
“Morgan?” Mustafa took her hand and gently raised her
fingers to his lips. Still, Morgan didn't speak. “Don't worry,
the camel is here for your reaction, not to ride.” Morgan's
mind slowly began to function, and her face warmed at how ridiculous
she must have appeared. Still, being greeted by a beautiful man, with
a camel, near Casablanca was almost too much.

“
I'm...
I'm sorry. But... seeing you next to that camel just caught me off
guard. It looked just like a movie I saw when I was a kid... and...”

“
It's
alright. Come with me.” Morgan tightened her rambling lips and
scolded herself mentally as he grabbed her bags and led her outside.

“This,”
he rubbed the front leg of the enormous animal, “is Bonnie.”
Morgan's hand moved instantly to her neck, and felt the thick fur
move between her fingers. Bonnie looked down briefly, then took her
gaze to the traffic to her side. “Her brother,” he
pointed off in the distance, “is Clyde. You'll meet him as
well. Yes, we watch movies too.” Morgan looked up at the humor
in his eyes and smiled.

“
Gold.”
The word left her lips without thinking, which certainly wasn't
unusual for Morgan. “I mean... wow!” She stared into his
bright brown eyes and knew that she had never seen that color before.
At least, not in person. “Sorry, it was another show I watched
years ago. People were melting gold to make a private coin collection
and your eyes...wow...they're the same color as that bright liquid
gold in the pot...in the show...I'm... I'll shut up now.”
Mustafa's head went back and he laughed loudly. Yes, he thought, he
was going to have fun with the awkward young American girl. Not to
mention, he noticed, a very beautiful one.

“
Okay...
we're not riding, Bonnie. Why is she here again?” Morgan
refused to ramble any longer, but she had to know about the camel
that he'd brought with him. Mustafa smiled and walked to her other
side as he kept his hand across the camel's chest. He watched as
Morgan rubbed her neck, then her side, and smile up to Bonnie's face.

“
To
see how you took to her. Some people are afraid of camels...you,
apparently, are not. That's a good thing.” Morgan nodded, she
certainly wasn't afraid of Bonnie. Then again, she asked with her
eyes, why would he have to find that out. He quickly picked up the
unspoken question. “We're going to spend the next five days on
them, that is, if you're agreeable?”

Five
days? On a camel? In the desert?
“Uh..
sure. I mean...if that's what you want.” She searched her mind
for any of Julianne's etiquette lessons on how to handle a client
that wanted to do something that sounded...
exhausting.
Mustafa smiled again and nodded. It was settled, he had his date for
the week, and he was ready to get started.

“
This
way, Morgan.” She grinned at how he said her name. She wasn't
sure what kind of accent he would have before arriving, but she could
easily hear his Spanish tongue. Her time in Spain had taught her the
dialect, and he was most certainly not from Morocco. She eyed his
long dread locks that were thick and appeared soft. His slight beard
reminded her of Finlay after a few days of neglect, and it was sexy
as hell. He was taller than Tanner, and thin. Still, she wondered,
what kind of body is on that lean frame?

Morgan
peeled her jacket from her sweating body before climbing into his
oversized black Jeep. It was hot, and she was regretting jeans,
boots, a sweater, and the jacket that she'd tossed into the back.
“Don't lose that, you'll need it tonight.” He motioned to
Morgan's jacket as he climbed in, and she cocked her head to the side
in question considering the heat that she was experiencing. “Trust
me, pretty lady.”

Trust.
No, Morgan didn't trust many people...but something told her that she
might want to keep her bags close in case she needed more layers.
“We'll take some time for you to pick a few outfits from all of
those bags back there,” he pointed behind them, “and
we'll get started.” He was far too happy to inform her that she
had to leave her bags behind.

“
I..what?
I can't take my bags? My make up? Clothes? I don't... I'm not
sure...”

“
It's
alright, you'll still have some luxuries. I promise.” Morgan
wasn't sure if she could do it. Her time with the man had started
off far too quickly, and Morgan was still trying to make sense of the
situation when they arrived in front of a large tent. Surrounded
by...

“
Camels.
I..suppose that's Clyde?” Morgan pointed to the largest camel
in the group, the one that was staring directly at her as she jumped
from the Jeep. Mustafa smiled and told her that it was, and pulled
her bags to the end of the vehicle so that she could start going
through them.

“
You'll
need clothes for six days, and only the bare essentials. We leave in
ten minutes.” Mustafa walked away quickly and disappeared
inside the tent where Morgan noticed two other men that were waiting.
Before she could begin to think, the two men left the tent again, and
began to approach her. Morgan turned back to her luggage and began to
remove all she could think would be needed. A few tank tops, two
sweatshirts, another pair of jeans, underclothes, and three pair of
shorts. Also, she ran back to the side of the vehicle and grabbed her
jacket.

“
If
you think I'm going anywhere without a mothafuckin' cosmetic, you've
got the wrong American.” Morgan spoke to the back of the Jeep
as she zipped up her bags, and tucked her small make up bag into the
pant leg of her jeans. “And a bitch isn't going anywhere
without a brush.” She shoved her hairbrush, toothbrush,
deodorant, and toothpaste along side her cosmetic bag. “I guess
that should do it.” The two men grinned at the girl who was
talking to herself, and waited patiently for her to close the back of
the Jeep and walk towards the tent. Morgan hadn't even walked through
the front flap when she heard the Jeep leave. “Damn, I hope I
didn't forget anything.”

Mustafa
met her in the entrance of the tent and handed her a small bag. “For
your things.” Morgan crammed all that she had inside, and tried
to keep up with her client as he left her again. She stopped beside
Bonnie, who had just arrived to the camp via trailer, and waited as
Mustafa secured her bag. “Okay... that's enough. We need to
slow down a little here.” Morgan stepped back and folded her
arms across her chest. “I'm dying of heat exhaustion already...
I have no idea where we're going...and you seem to be in a pretty big
hurry to ride across the desert. What's going on?” Mustafa
stopped moving and leaned his entire weight against Bonnie as he
began.