Frostbite & bruises

As he entered, his eyes had involuntarily searched for Morgan, and when their eyes had met, her gaze had slowly changed from surprise to recognition, and he had watched her turn white.

“OHHH!!! Holy fuck! Without all that excess hair, you look incredibly handsome!” Reah’s surprised exclamation caught his attention, and he immediately saw the others’ gazes shooting his way as well.

“What were you thinking, Frog? If my brother dares to change, I should too?” Steve let his eyes slide over the tall man who had entered.

“Where did this change of heart come from, little brother?” even though Shane couldn’t see his brother’s transformation, the surprised tone of Reah and Steve’s voices spoke volumes.

Before Nox had a chance to answer Shane, he saw a quick movement out of the corner of his eye.

“Sorry! May I pass, I... I’m going to feed the dogs!!!”

Morgan felt her head spin and began to sway on her legs at the sight of the man she had been thinking about no more than five seconds before.

Older and greyer, but otherwise unchanged, the Commander she had spent an explosive night with walked into her living quarters.

Now that Nox had shaved his hair and beard down to the last millimetre, his face was clearly visible and his grey-blue eyes were once again prominent.

As quickly as she could, she grabbed a coat from the wardrobe, which of course got caught behind something again. With a hard jerk she pulled it towards her, vaguely aware of the tearing sound, and hurried out of the living room, slamming the door behind her.

“What’s going on?” Angrily, Steve looked at Nox.

When the tall man did not answer, but kept his eyes fixed on the door through which Morgen had just disappeared, the old man got up from his chair by the fireplace in a state of irritation. “I said... What’s the matter, Nox? What’s going on between you and Morgan?”

Annoyed, Nox turned to the old man. “Mind your own business Steve! This is between me and Morgan!”

His eyes swept over the small group of people who were staring at him with their mouths open in astonishment. Except Shane. His brother looked in his direction with furrowed brow and pursed lips.

With an irritated snarl, he reached for his coat, which, to his surprise, was no longer hanging there. Cursing, he flung the door open again and disappeared into the factory, just as Morgan had done.

“MORGAN!!!” Nox shouted as he marched down the stairs. “Morgan! Where the hell are you?”

But there was no answer. Not that he expected one... On a whim, he made his way through a shortcut to their indoor garden.

As he expected, the door was unlocked and ajar, allowing warm air to flow from inside to the cold plant. His thick coat was thrown to the ground and he shook his head in annoyance at the sight of the large hole at the back of it. Since he wasn’t wearing a coat, he didn’t have to get rid of it and slowly made his way through the adjoining door.

With her back to him, Morgan stood with her hands on the tables and he saw her shoulders tremble slightly.

“Morgan?”

As if stung by a wasp, the woman turned and looked at him with a white face and tear-stained eyes.

“You knew it! You recognised me and thought you could use me!” Before Nox could answer, Morgan had walked up to him.

Smack!!! Her hand came down hard on his cheek.

“You fucking bastard!”

As she was about to slap his face again, Nox grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him with a jerk, holding both her wrists firmly behind her back.

“Cut it out, Morgan!” he said, bending his head closer to her.

“I didn’t recognise you! If I had, I would have said so!” Seeing the tightening around her lips, he sighed deeply.

“All right. I won’t deny that I saw something familiar about you when you entered our living space and had taken off your coat... But...” He chuckled when she tried to kneel down in frustration and grabbed her wrists a little tighter, eliciting a cry of pain from her.

“Listen to me!” he said, loosening his grip on her wrists slightly. He didn’t want to hurt her.

“It was only last night during sex that I realised who you were. You have changed quite a bit, you know... Instead of half-long red hair, you now have short blonde hair and without all that junk on your face, you look completely different!”

Morgan’s eyebrows shot up at his words. “You... you asshole! You act like I was ugly back then and I should be thrilled that you wanted to sleep with me!”

Annoyed by his words, Morgan tried with all her might to wriggle out of his iron grip.

Fed up with her resistance, Nox turned the enraged woman around, wrapped his arms around her and held her hands tightly crossed over her chest. “You’re putting words in my mouth that I didn’t say, Morgan!” He snapped at her, his mouth pressed to her ear.

“I never said you were ugly! Yes! You look different! Not prettier or uglier, but different! And for the record, you! invited yourself to go with me and were gone the next morning before I woke up, not the other way around! If anyone should have felt used, it was me! As the feeling of knowing you grew stronger, I knew I had to get out of our deal. Hell, I didn’t want to make this agreement in the first place, the words just slipped out of my mouth!” Nox felt her muscles relax and although he gave her wrists a little more room, he did not let go of her.

“I... You’re right...” Morgan’s voice sounded embarrassed. “I have no reason to be angry with you, but it was such a shock when I recognised you! I...” She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry...”

“Sorry for what?” His voice sounded hoarse and dark, and a tingle began to form in the pit of her stomach.

For a moment, Morgan was silent. Yes, that was the question, wasn’t it? What was she sorry for? Her cheeks still wet with tears, she turned her face slightly towards his mouth. “...That I left without saying anything...”

Nox released one of her wrists and slid his hand behind Morgan’s head, pressing his lips hard against hers. Without a struggle, she opened her lips to him and his tongue found its way into the warm hollow of her mouth. A deep moan escaped her throat and Nox grinned against her mouth.

Morgan moaned softly as his tongue began to play with hers. Now that his beard was out of the way, his mouth tasted even better than last night.

“Morgan? Nox? Where the hell are you?” Steve’s angry voice sounded nearby, and before Nox could let go of Morgan, the door to the kitchen garden opened.

The old man’s eyes shot from one to the other and he squeezed them to slits. “Now I definitely need a very good explanation!”