Page 64 of The Mourning Throne
Lex didn’t answer.
Instead, he came back and dumped the contents of the bag onto the floor. Ollie’s shorts, boxers, and top came tumbling out.
And so did the wallet.
Lex caught it mid-air, flipped it open. Held the ID up to the light.
Morgan didn’t need to see it.
That dry, manic laugh told him everything.
“Holyshit. Who fucking knewcousinshad the same last name?”
Morgan slowly shut the laptop, moving it onto the bedside table. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took two deep breaths.
“They do when you’re the Sterlings,” he muttered. “I am never letting you choose someone again.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“No, but it still happened this way.” Morgan’s voice dropped, quieter than before. “We have no choice but to give our most sincere apologies and go about our lives.”
Lex whirled around. “Apologies? You want us to—toreturn him?Now?”
“Obviously.”
“But I’m having fun!”
Morgan let his head fall back against the wall. “And I don’t want to become a problem they need to deal with. We’ll have fun a different way.”
Lex let the wallet fall into the khaki like it burned. Then—too calm—he crossed the room and straddled Morgan’s lap without asking. Knees on either side of his thighs. Hands looped behind Morgan’s neck. His weight was deliberate.
A dare.
Lex’s mouth brushed Morgan’s jaw. Then lower.
“We’ve already gone this far,” he whispered against skin. “Ollie won’t keep his mouth shut. Plus,allthose bruises are your fault, Morgan… I say fuck it.”
His tongue touched Morgan’s pulse point. Slow. Wet.
Morgan closed his eyes and exhaled. Lex was impossible. Insufferable. But Morgan had built him that way.
It was just as muchhis faultas Lex’s at this point.
“Aren’t you concerned?” he muttered.
“Nope.”
“Kate said they have someone looking for him.”
“And? We’ll leave his body somewhere nice and safe before we leave. They’ll never know it was us.”
Lex’s hand slid beneath Morgan’s shirt. Those rough nails traced with no care, touching anything they could. Familiar and manipulative to a fault.
Morgan was used to the games by now, but that didn’t make him immune.
“You’re incredibly bad for my health,” he murmured when Lex kissed him again.
“I know.”
