Free Around the World in 80 Men Boxed Set 31-35 by Rebecca Ratliff

Morgan was grateful that there were only a
handful of people there at the moment. “Stop it.” Her
small hand came up and covered his lips, in which, he quickly licked
her hand. “Really?” Alrik wouldn't allow her to wipe it
off, and the slight struggle turned into Alrik holding her arm in the
air and licking Morgan's face. A full cheek lick, right in front of
the bartender.
    Morgan
stepped back. She narrowed her eyes and dropped her forehead
slightly. The look of danger took over her face, her body tightened,
it...was...war. Morgan broke free of his grip around her wrist, and
grabbed his face with both hands. Her ankle hurt, her ribs hurt, even
her face hurt, but she had more than enough strength to get on her
toes and run her tongue from his left cheek to the right. Alrik's
head moved back and he tried to dodge her, but she was too fast. The
lick was made.
    She
stepped back, proud of herself, and carefully climbed on one of the
barstools. Morgan was out of breath, and her whole body seemed to
throb with every beat of her heart, but it was the first time in days
she had felt alive. Alrik was still wiping his face when she
got her breathing under control, and she did her best to control her
facial expressions when he finally looked at her again. The
medication still wasn't in full effect, but it made her mind free
enough to enjoy herself.
    “ Hey,”
Alrik put a finger under her chin and softly rubbed her cheek with
his thumb. She closed her eyes at his touch, then opened them slowly
as he brought her hand to his lips. “You're okay?”
    Morgan
nodded, and smiled weakly.
    “ Really?”
He cared about Morgan, and after her outburst upstairs, Alrik knew
she hadn't been able to get out all of her emotions. As he assumed,
everyone was worried about her physical well-being, to the point,
they hadn't even told her about her attacker's whereabouts. She was
too fragile in all of their minds, and they believed she couldn't
handle it. From one man to another, he knew Finlay knew what happened
to Carlos, and to Alrik, that was bullshit. “You want to talk
about it?”
    She
loved his accent, the way his words rolled from his lips in that
Swedish wave. It brought another smile to her lips, and she shook her
head slowly back and forth. She wanted to talk about it. She wanted to get her feelings out. Not then, not there. All she
wanted to do was enjoy her moment of happiness with a friend she had
missed dearly.
    “ Okay.”
Alrik smiled back, and his sweet gesture of cheek rubbing, turned
into a finger in her nose.
    “ Ew!
You. Are. Disgusting!” Morgan swat his hand away and rubbed her
nose with a bar napkin, but it quickly turned into genuine laughter.
“You stuck your finger in my nose!”
    “ Yep.”
Alrick stood quickly, avoiding any retaliation. She was laughing, and
that meant so much to him. And even though she wasn't ready to talk,
it meant the world to her as well that he had offered.
    Finlay,
Angel, even Julianne...they all adored her and wanted what was best
for her, but Morgan wasn't a child. She was strong, she could handle
the truth and later, she would demand it. “I think you owe me a
drink for that one.”
    “ You
do realize it's nine-fifteen in the morning?” Alrik raised a
brow, but there was no judgement from his end.
    “ I
don't mean right now. Ass.” Her eyes went to the wide display
of alcohol in front of her. The bar wasn't open, but the thought of a
cold, hard, drink nearly made her mouth water. “I think coffee
will do for now. But later...when...when I'm better, I'll hold you to
it.” Alrik nodded in agreeance. He would be sure to hold to his
promise.
    Morgan's
mental state hadn't been noticed by anyone, not even by Morgan
herself. She was beginning to shut down when she was forced to feel or think about things. Her outburst that morning was the last one
that she intended to have. It was easier, she thought, to feel weak
and push it aside. She truly didn't want to deal with her thoughts,
and