Hotel Key

Chapter 31

Like Morgan knew he would be, Jessica's husband was not only easy to spot. He was going to be easy to catch as well. It was the Thursday following his meeting with Jessica. The same day the man came into the city every week and stayed overnight. And he was at The Four Seasons Hotel. The same hotel that he charged a room to the last few weeks. Morgan parked his surveillance van in the parking garage next door to the hotel and left Jessica inside with strict instructions not to get out of the van for any reason. Then Morgan sat in the hotel lobby and waited for the man of the hour to show up. He sat close enough to the front desk that he was able to hear which room the man was assigned. Room 306.

"Is room three-oh-eight available?," Morgan asked the receptionist. "It's the room I always stay in." The girl smiled as she clicked at her computer. Then she nodded, indicating the room he wanted was available. Morgan didn't balk at the price of the room, though over five hundred dollars was more than he would personally spend on a place to sleep. Or to have sex. Often, his more affluent clientele would stick to cheaper places for their extra marital affairs. There was less of a chance that they'd be spotted by someone they knew there. But Jessica's husband either wasn't concerned about that, or he just didn't care.

Morgan headed for the elevator with his key card in hand. He swiped into the room he requested, taking a look around. The room was tastefully decorated in soft neutral tones, with a small sitting room and a wet bar. In the bedroom, there was a large bed covered in expensive looking bedding and piled high with fluffy pillows. And Morgan was distracted by thoughts of the beautiful woman that was sitting downstairs in his van. He found himself wishing Jessica was here at this posh hotel with him for another reason. Any reason besides the actual one.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Morgan popped his suitcase open. He pulled out the devices he needed and got them prepared while he waited for the sound of the running shower in the next room to stop. Morgan was prepared to bypass the electronic lock. But he got lucky. The room he requested was not only next door to the room Jessica's husband was in. The two rooms were the type that could be rented together as adjoining rooms. The lock on the door that separated them would be much easier to pick than the main room door. And since he was picking it from inside his room, there wouldn't be any chance of him being spotted. Morgan waited and listened. Finally, he heard the shower turn off. After that, the man only lingered long enough to dress.

Morgan cracked his door open, making sure Jessica's husband was headed down the hall towards the elevator before he sprung into action. The man might be easy to catch, but that didn't mean he would be easy to take in a fight. And even if he looked like an easy target, Morgan still wasn't interested in having any type of confrontation with him. He quickly jimmied the door between the two rooms open and entered the man's room. Morgan set up the small camera in a discreet spot, hiding it most of the way behind the television where it wouldn't be noticed and pointing it towards the large four poster bed. Just in case the man wasn't planning on taking his date to the actual bed, Morgan set up a second camera in the sitting room, pointing it towards the couch. Then he hurried out of the room, shutting the adjoining doors and flipping his laptop open to make sure the cameras were working. He turned on the automatic timer, setting it so the cameras would take a picture once every thirty seconds once there was movement inside the room. His laptop would relay the pictures to the equipment in his van. And before long, Jessica would be happily divorced.

Morgan felt his body surge with adrenaline as he hurried down the hall to the elevator. While he didn't like ruining people's marriages, he did love the thrill of catching these assholes in the act. And this guy seemed like a major grade A asshole. Morgan headed for the bar inside the hotel. And just as he suspected, he saw Jessica's husband on a barstool, sipping on a glass of whiskey over ice. Morgan headed for a table in the corner. One that was out of the way, but where he would have a good view of the bar area. He hated to admit it, but he was curious to see the woman that this man was making a fool of himself over. Morgan ordered a drink, sipping on it as he waited. Everytime someone entered the bar, his eyes darted towards them. But so far, the only people that had come in were an elderly couple and a few business men in expensive suits.

At this point in his career, Morgan had pretty much seen it all. He'd seen every variety of cheating. And probably wouldn't have even been surprised if Jessica's biker nazi looking husband started full on making out with another man at the bar. But Morgan still wasn't prepared for the woman that walked in. She was tall for a girl. And that was without the platform heels on her feet adding a few extra inches. Her blonde hair was long and full and hung down her back in rich golden waves. The shimmery gold dress she had on was short and cut low enough that it didn't leave much to the imagination. But most striking were the colorful tattoos that covered her from the elbows up. One of her legs was also almost completely covered. And the low back of her dress revealed more designs inked across her back. But what really gave Morgan pause was the rounded swell of her stomach. Holy shit! This man was not only cheating on his wife. He was cheating on her with a pregnant woman. One that, like his wife, looked far too pretty and too young to be wasting her time on him.

When the blonde woman took the barstool next to Jessica's husband and put her hand on his shoulder, Morgan remembered why he was sitting in this bar. He lifted his phone off the table, pretending to text as he snapped several pictures of the couple.

"I thought ya said ya weren't gonna meet me here anymore," Merle drawled, raking his eyes down the length of her tan legs. RickyJo tossed her hair back off her shoulders and laughed.

"Don't I say that every week?," she teased, leaning over to rest her hand on Merle's thigh. RickyJo sucked in a hard breath, pulling her hand back and resting it on the side of her rounded belly where she had just taken a rather hard kick. "I do think I'm getting a little too pregnant fer this bullshit though," she added with another laugh. Merle chuckled, rubbing his hand over her stomach before he rose from his seat and pulled her into his arms. She glanced towards the bar.

"I'll order ya whatever ya want to drink from room service," Merle assured her as he escorted her away towards the elevator.

"Can't have anything good from the bar anyway," she lamented.

When the elevator doors dinged shut behind them, she caught Merle's face between her palms and kissed him. The taste of the whiskey on his lips was like a drug she couldn't get enough of. And by the time the elevator opened three floors up, they were both nearly breathless from the intensity of their kiss.

A pair of pre-teen boys were waiting near the elevator doors, dressed in their bathing suits and on their way to the hotel pool. One of them laughed at the other as he held his hand across the door, leaning out to stare at the woman in the tiny gold dress. Her partner was sliding his hand up underneath it, exposing a flash of her taut backside as he tried to hurry her down the hallway to their room. She wrapped her arms around the man, kissing up his neck as he fumbled with the little plastic key card. And by the time they were inside the room, shutting the door behind them, the boy in the elevator had to hold his towel in front of his groin area.

"I missed you," Merle said, his voice just above a husky whisper as he sucked her earlobe between his lips. She hummed, twisting her body in her attempt to somehow circumvent the large round swell of her stomach and press her hips against his. Keeping one hand on her back, Merle leaned down and tucked the other arm behind her knees, lifting her carefully up into his arms and carrying her into the bedroom.

"Put me down before ya break yer back," she suggested with a giggle. Merle set her down, making sure she was steady on her feet before he released his grip on her. Though RickyJo seemed to be convinced that she was the size of a small bovine animal, other than her expanding stomach she looked about the same size as she was before she was pregnant. At least to him. And lifting her didn't take much effort. On the contrary, he loved the feel of her in his arms.

Kneeling down in front of her, Merle lifted her legs one at a time, pulling her heels off. When she was standing on the carpet in her bare feet, he ran his hands up her thighs. Reaching under her dress, he skimmed his hands over her hips, feeling for her panties so he could pull them down and whisk them away. But his hands encountered nothing but the bare skin of her hips and her taut muscular backside. A low moan vibrated up his throat, escaping between his lips. She wasn't wearing any underwear. Or a bra. And she had walked in from her car and through the hotel lobby that way. Just the thought of it had his dick straining against his zipper.

RickyJo gripped his shoulder to balance herself as he lifted her leg and positioned it over his shoulder. She tipped her head back, feeling her long hair brush against the bare skin of her back. When Merle buried his face between her legs, she came almost immediately. Not that she ever had a problem getting off before. But all the extra hormones rushing through her body had her in an almost constant state of arousal. And while she hated to admit it, the extra adrenaline that came with all the sneaking around and being naughty got her even more hot and bothered than she already was.

Rising back up to his feet, Merle kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss and enjoying the taste of her pleasure on his lips. He moved slowly, not breaking their kiss as he guided her over to the bed. When she felt the backs of her legs bump the mattress, he spun her in his arms. The front of her dress was the type that crossed in a wrap style over her chest. And he pulled the fabric open, roughly cupping her bare breasts with his hands. She was quick to lift her own hands, placing them over his with a whispering reminder to be gentle and that her breasts were tender.

"Sorry babygirl," he said, his breath ghosting over her neck. He immediately eased up on the groping, touching her softly and brushing his thumbs lightly over her hardened nipples until she was gasping for air and clawing at his forearms. When her body went rigid against his, he knew that she had come a second time. Once she hit her second orgasm, RickyJo would pretty much let him do anything he wanted to her. And she certainly didn't object when he bent her over the bed and unzipped his pants. He pushed the short skirt of her dress up, baring her ass and the colorful array of tattoos on her lower back. Grabbing his dick, he drug it across the length of her sex, finding her so wet that even her inner thighs were soaked with her desire. He repeated this maneuver until his dick was dripping wet. And then he pressed the head of it against her tight back entrance. She gasped, her body clenching against the unexpected penetration. He reached around, rubbing circles around her clit until he felt her body relax into his touch. When she rocked her hips he pushed his dick deeper inside her tight little rosebud, forcing her muscles to stretch in order to accommodate him. He held her in place with one of his hands on her hip. The other he shifted, pushing his fingers inside her slick opening as he slid his dick deeper into her ass. Finally he was able to break past her tight ring of muscle and bury himself completely inside her. Her fingers were digging into the bed. And she was making tiny little high pitched noises every time he moved. He knew he wasn't going to last long buried in her almost painfully tight hole. So he kept his hips still, using his fingers on her until she began to pump her hips in time with his thrusts. When he was sure she was teetering on the edge of her pleasure, he began to move his hips, penetrating both her slick holes hard and fast. She came so hard he could feel the spasms rippling around his dick as he shot his load off deep inside her. He came so hard himself that for a moment he lost all sense of space and time.

"Y'alright?," he asked, gathering RickyJo's mostly limp body into his lap and holding her against his chest. "Wasn't too rough was it?" She uttered a few unintelligible syllables. But since it mostly sounded like nuh-uh, he assumed that meant he hadn't hurt her in any way. When she was finally able to regain control over her body, RickyJo wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down onto the bed with her. They shifted their bodies around until they were lying comfortably with their heads on the pillows and their arms around each other.

"I think I've been fucked retarded," she announced. The feel of Merle's body shaking with laughter made her laugh right along with him.

"Weren't you already retarded?," he teased.

"I must be to keep sleepin' with you," she informed him with another round of high pitched laughter that increased in volume when he reached over and tickled her ribs. Merle waited until her laughing fit was over. Then he leaned over her and captured her lips with his, kissing her deeply. When he pulled back, he caught her gaze. He was distracted by the sheer beauty of her for a moment.

"How long are we gonna keep doin' this?," he asked.

"This was yer idea," she said, her voice soft and sweet. She reached up, tracing her fingers down the line of his jaw.

"I mean how long do we hafta keep sneakin' around?," he corrected. When her eyes turned sad, he immediately regretted his words. He told himself he wasn't going to do this. He was deathly afraid that if he pushed her for more than an affair that she would cut him off completely. But he couldn't help himself. Having only this little secret slice of her wasn't enough. The burning need to possess her was like a fire in the pit of his stomach.

"I can't leave Daryl," she said, her eyes already filling with tears. "I can't. Merle. I won't do that. I love him. I'm not gonna hurt him like that."

"Fuck," he cursed, burying his face into the soft blanket of her hair. "I'm sorry. Don't cry." He pulled her against him, holding her tight. The truth was, he didn't want to hurt his brother either. And he knew of all the shit things he'd done in his life, actively pursuing the only woman Daryl ever loved was by far the worst shit of all. This was don't pass go don't collect two hundred dollars go straight to motherfucking hell kind of bad shit. But despite knowing that, he was doing it anyway. Because he had no control over himself when it came to her. She was like a drug. And he was addicted. The whole situation was just beyond fucked up. And little did he know, it was about to get worse.

Jessica shifted her body over to the next small seat, making room for Morgan to climb into the back of the van with her. He cast a pointed look at the Starbucks cup in her hand, knowing full well that she must have disobeyed his instructions and left the van to get it. But since she only went for coffee and not into the hotel to confront her cheating husband, he decided to let it go.

"Did you get him?," she asked with eager excitement. "Did you get some good pictures?"

Morgan nodded, flipping a bunch of switches and turning on the monitor that would soon start displaying the photos from the hidden cameras he placed in her husband's hotel room.

"I got pictures of him in the bar with her," he said. "And there's two cameras in his room."

"Damn," Jessica said, looking over all the high tech equipment with awe and trying to pretend she hadn't noticed how good Morgan smelled or that he was wearing expensive cologne on a surveillance operation. "Lemme see her," she said, eager to lean in for a look at Morgan's phone. But instead of showing her that tiny screen, he clicked a few buttons and the images appeared on the larger monitor.

"I think he's sleeping with an escort," Morgan admitted. Despite the woman's obvious pregnancy, she was certainly dressed like an expensive hooker. And Morgan felt like she was far too attractive to be interested in the man she was sleeping with unless money was involved. Morgan clicked a button on the monitor. And then the first picture popped up. He heard Jessica's soft sigh. And he braced himself for the emotions that were sure to follow. But instead of crying, she started to giggle.

"That's not an escort," Jessica announced with another laugh. "That's my cousin. I don't think you caught him doing anything. They're probably just having dinner. Maybe his whore will show up after she's gone…" Morgan turned, looking at Jessica like she had gone completely nuts. Then he clicked through, showing her the pictures he took of them kissing. Then the picture of them leaving the bar together and heading for the elevator. Jessica stared at the screen with an expression of total disbelief on her face. And then the pictures from the cameras in the hotel room started to load through onto the screen. Her mouth dropped open. Even seeing them kiss and go up to the room together hadn't totally convinced her. She didn't believe it until she saw them in the actual act and the pictures got so graphic that Morgan switched the monitor back off. RickyJo and Merle were sleeping together. He wasn't having dinner with her and meeting some whore after. She was the whore. She was the one he was buying flowers for.

Suddenly, all the weird behavior Jessica had noticed from the two of them over the last six months made sense. How drunk and shitty Merle got at the rehearsal dinner. The way RickyJo started actively avoiding Merle when they'd been close friends for years. He got RickyJo expensive jewelry for Christmas and gave it to her in front of everyone. Holy fuck! Merle was in love with her. Maybe for years. And Jessica called him out to stay with RickyJo when she was all fucked up and upset over Daryl. Then RickyJo ditched him and disappeared for almost a month. And Merle went absolutely batshit over that. Something must have happened between them. Jessica felt like her mind was a crazy swirl, all the little things that she wrote off were suddenly adding up in her mind. She felt Morgan's hand on hers, grounding her. Bringing her back to reality.

"Why would she do this?," Jessica asked. She wasn't really expecting an answer from Morgan. But he offered his gentle opinion anyway.

"Maybe she wasn't as good a friend as you thought she was," he suggested. Jessica shook her head. It wasn't what RickyJo was doing to her. Though sleeping with Merle while he was still technically married to her was sort of shitty. It was what she was doing to Daryl. Jessica was just shocked and mildly annoyed by this assorted cheating nonsense. But Daryl would be devastated if he found out. This would wreck him.

"It's not that," Jessica said. "...She just got married. They're expecting a baby. She loves her husband to pieces. She's been in love with him for years. Why would she do this?"

Morgan didn't say anything else. He just put a comforting hand on her shoulder and let her feel what she needed to feel. Jessica turned towards him. She glanced at his hand. The one that was resting on her shoulder. He moved, pulling it away from her. But she caught his hand between hers, fingering the slim gold band on his finger.

"I bet you'd never even think about doing somethin' like this to your wife," she said. Morgan smiled. But the smile didn't go all way up to his eyes. They were full of sadness.

"My wife died last fall," Morgan said. "But you're right. Even after she died, I never had eyes for another woman." He paused, his dark liquid eyes raking over Jessica's curves and up to her full lips. "...until now."