Temptation (2 page)

He ran his hand over her heart, and Meryl felt his heat burning into her. She melted as he kissed her, and his hand lifted her t-shirt and stroked her breast over the top of her bra. Her skin stung as arousal zipped through her and Meryl crossed her legs to stop the shivers of excitement she felt from being too obvious. She was on a plane for heaven’s sake. Okay, she’d heard of the mile high club, but it was so not her. Was it?

He grinned, and tingles danced down her spine. “Ah, my lovely Meryl, just let yourself go. Purr for me.” He nipped and sucked her shoulder, and at the same time moved his hand to creep under the top of her jeans and touch her clit. Meryl groaned at the sweet sting he gave her, even as she arched into his palm. His breath was warm on her neck. “Oh sweet, I’ve so missed touching you. Come for me now.” As he stroked and petted, it was the perfect feeling of love, care, and being needed.

She shook, and he drank her sighs and mewls of pleasure as his mouth covered hers in a long lingering kiss. With a silent scream, she shattered. As she came down from one of the most exhilarating climaxes ever, his hands stroked her hair in a long soothing caress. If she were a cat, she’d purr.

 
Hold on. Cats? Purring? What the hell is going on? Her sleepy, sated state disappeared in a second.

Meryl opened her eyes. All thoughts of her climax disappeared as she saw where she was.
Sheesh, did I really make myself come with a dream? Hell, I hope no one saw or heard me.
She checked—the blanket still covered her.

There was no one around. The noise of the engines droned in the background, her video screen showed static and the lights were dimmed. Next to her, Mia was now fast asleep and most of the other passengers were in the same state. Nowhere could she see that golden-haired man with the amber eyes.

Worried, she made her way to the loo, and stared in the mirror. There on her shoulder was a deep red mark.

Marloth Ducaine was worried. Deep down, hold on to your balls worried, and he didn’t like the feeling one little bit. What on Earth had compelled him to get a brochure for the resort sent to the woman his boss fancied, he’d never know. But he had—and she’d shared it—and now Marloth was going to suffer the consequences. Faran had growled incessantly since he found out, and Marloth feared for his fur. It was the last time he tried to do anyone a good turn.

Even if it did work in
my
favor. Maybe. And I can’t lie to myself and pretend I didn’t know who else might see it.

He shook his head and his fur rippled out in waves of gold and black. Marloth had a nasty feeling he was in for a bollocking and knew he deserved it, even if he could say he acted in other people’s best interests. The fact it was in his own as well, he ignored. Just for once, he’d like to look honorable.

“
Marloth to the control room. As a human.”
The call over his radio did nothing to reassure him. The addendum ‘as a human’ just pissed him off. Why couldn’t he have the choice?

“Now.”
Well, that was clear enough. Faran sounded as annoyed as Marloth felt. Maybe he’d just better do as his boss requested. Marloth began the transformation from Tiger to human. As usual, his golden hair was the last part of him to shift. He ran his fingers through it and unsnagged a couple of knots, and wondered if he aught to have it trimmed.

“
Have you fallen asleep?”
This time it wasn’t over the radio, but straight to his mind. It was time he moved. He dragged his hair back with a thin leather band and left his quarters to jog to the control room. As he reached it, the door opened and Dylan slipped out.

“Snarky and peed off,” Dylan murmured. “Papa isn’t much better. Go do your soothing the savage beast act, eh? My lovely cousin has screwed things mightily.”

And that brought Dylan here?

“Not by choice,” Dylan assured him. Marloth started, he’d forgotten Dylan’s ability to read minds. “Papa insisted, and well, I was at a loose end.” The words ‘more’s the pity’ could be heard echoing around in his head.

“Yeah. You have my sympathy.” Marloth punched Dylan on the shoulder and walked past him into the control room. The two people in the room turned to watch his progress.

“About time.” Faran scowled and looked from the screen in front of him to Marloth and back again. “Where were you?”

“I’d done a security circuit, and just got back.” He didn’t add, ‘as you requested, I’m duty security guy,’ though he could have done. “I was going to shower as a human when you asked me to come here.” He didn’t add, ‘and I didn’t have time.’ He reckoned the whiff of damp big cat was a giveaway.

Faran grunted. The other occupant of the room grinned, and opened a window. Faran rolled his eyes.

“If you can’t stand the stench after all this time, Christophe, I worry for you.”

Christophe laughed. “I can stand it without a problem. But why, when I don’t have to? Right young man, what have you been up to?”

Marloth bit his lip. Which indiscretion was Christophe referring to?

“Er . . . .”

“We seem to have several women here who’d rather be anywhere else,” Christophe said. “That’s not a good advertisement for us. I’ve got Dylan helping one; you better do your best with one of the others. Meryl wants a boat trip to a deserted atoll with a good book and a bottle of champagne. You need to drive the boat. You have an hour to get things ready.” He turned back to the security screen, his mind no longer on Marloth.

Marloth hesitated, but it was clear neither Christophe nor Faran needed or wanted to say more.

Faran gestured with his thumb toward the door, and bared his teeth for a brief second.

Marloth hid his grimace, and with a courteous dip of his head, he spun on his heel and left the room. Faran and bared teeth was not a good sign. When he did that, everybody ducked. He closed the door quietly and with care. Dylan was waiting for him.

“And?”

“Huh?” Marloth shook his head. “Baby-sitting the one woman who’d like my balls on a platter.”

“Serves you right. I get to take care of a woman who has no dreams or fantasies.” Dylan rolled his eyes. “Mind you, maybe I’ll catch up on my reading.” He laughed.

Marloth grinned, with Christophe in the mood he was in, there wasn’t much hope of that.

Dylan punched Marloth on the arm. “Stay cool, and for all our sakes, no unnecessary shifting please. I couldn’t cope with freaking out women who think they’ve seen big cats and worry what they’ve been drinking or what’s been put into the food. Not after everything else.”

“Yeah.” Marloth walked away from Dylan and along the corridor toward the kitchen. He reckoned he’d need more than a bottle of Champagne to make Meryl happy. He didn’t have long to plan, either. There was no time to try to evade his responsibilities, which he guessed was Christophe and Faran’s intention. He’d screwed up; he would pay. It was Faran’s way of keeping him in check. He glanced at his watch, there was just time to grab anything of his own he wanted before he sweet-talked the chef.

Condoms or no condoms?
Even though there was as much chance as a snowball’s survival in hell, he shoved a handful of foil packets into his pocket. He could dream.
Er, no I can’t. This is not my dream or fantasy, but Meryl’s.

Of course, he mused as he rummaged through the giant larder fridge, after promising the chef he wouldn’t mess the contents around, maybe Faran wanted him out of the way for another reason? If he was off the island, then that was one cat less. Faran was well aware that Marloth could and would shift on a whim if he were in the right mood. And, Marloth admitted to himself, those moods were becoming ever more frequent. He had to sort himself out. Unfortunately, the one sure way of soothing the savage beast was the last thing likely to happen.
I must keep my muzzle out of other tigers’ business
. He grabbed the picnic basket and the cool box, and exited the kitchen. If he wanted to beat Meryl to the boat, he needed to get a move on.

* * * * *

In the end, he had a good half an hour after he’d checked the boat over, refueled and taken it around to the guest dock. By the time Meryl sauntered along the planking jetty, he was snarling under his breath.

He stared at her with narrowed eyes, but stayed silent. If he spoke and she replied in any way except polite, he’d end up shifting, and there’d be hell to pay. Shifting in front of guests—even those who knew you were a tiger-shifter—was a big no-no. He wondered if any guest had asked for a fantasy where they were faced with a shifter shifting. If they had, he’d never heard of it.

Meryl reached the side of the boat and waited until he leapt onto the jetty beside her to help her aboard. Her perfume surrounded him, and Marloth wanted to howl at the sun. She was his; nothing had changed there.

She smirked, took his hand, and paused before she stepped on to the boat. “Thank you.”

He bit back what he wanted to say—
why are you here—
and nodded.

“Cat got your tongue?”

That was it. He snarled aloud, and his teeth showed very much tiger-style. “It might get yours if you don’t behave. You came; you asked for the fantasy. So, by god, you’re getting it. Get on.” He held his hand out and after a long moment when he thought he might have to manhandle—or cathandle—her on board, she nodded.

“Yeah.” Meryl let out a long sigh. “Sorry. I’m a bit stressed out. I saw the picture, but decided I was hallucinating. After all, the last time I saw you, you were loping across the field behind my house, and I was shit scared you’d be shot as the big cat of the Trossachs.”

Actually, the last time you saw me was much more recent than that.
He chose to keep his mouth shut about that meeting.

“That could have been difficult, I admit. But we were somewhat overtaken by events. Visitors as we were about to say goodbye. Shit timing. Your expression was to tell me to scat-cat, and I had no chance to shift. No.” He put his hand over her lips and felt her soft, warm breath feather over it. “It’s over now. Let’s try and move on as best we can.”
Damn, if it doesn’t hurt to say that.
It wasn’t true, not for him, and if he were honest, he had no intention of letting it be over. He
would
sort things out; he had to. “Why don’t you sit down and let’s get off to your atoll. It’s about twenty minutes.” He didn’t say he could do the trip faster if he tried. The less time she was on the atoll, the less time he would have to concentrate solely on her, and Marloth wanted to think and plot. Then concentrate on her.

Meryl nibbled her top lip, and then nodded. “Okay.”

Marloth opened a small fridge and gave her a bottle of water. She took it, and twisted it between her hands.

“Thank you.”

“Welcome, keep your liquid intake up. It’s going to be a scorcher. Do you have cream on?”

Meryl rolled her eyes. “Duh, I might come from the land where most tans are of the spray variety, but I’m not stupid. I do know how many beans make five. Factor forty actually.”
And put that into your pipe and smoke it, smart-ass.

“Good girl.” It seemed she’d either forgotten his gift of hearing her thoughts or wanted to tell him what she thought.

Add patronizing ass to that.

He chuckled. “Yeah, whatever. Lifejacket under your seat, life raft’s next to me. So, let’s go.” He moved swiftly, and cast off the boat. Meryl watched him without moving her head. He was very conscious of the way she used her eyes to follow his every move.

“You know, you’re really graceful, aren’t you?” She sounded surprised. The admiration in her voice sent a shock wave of hot splinters into his cock.
Oh shit! All I need, to be turned on by her so easily.
But it had been like that before. One look from her, and he was hot, hard, and raring to go.

“I’m a tiger; we are.”

She looked bewildered.

“Graceful,” he elaborated.

“Oh, right.” She looked anywhere but at his face. Her gaze skittered over his crotch, and he watched the blush flare over her chest and cheeks. Well, his prick was pushing against his linen trousers and turning them into a tent.

“You do that to me.” He tried to sound casual and failed dismally. “Turn me on with a look. I could, all so easily, drop anchor, drop trousers, and drop you onto the deck.” Her eyes widened. “But I won’t. You want me, you tell me.” He checked the compass and altered direction slightly. “It’s over to you now. I know damned well I could persuade you to make love, but I’m not going to. When we make love again, it’s going to be because you instigate it. Your chance to show me what you want and how you want it. And I’m going to lie back and let you.”

“Hell, you’re awfully sure of yourself, aren’t you? What if I say never?” Meryl spoke so casually, how on earth could he think she had feelings for him?

Because I need to. I need to have faith and hope.
He laughed, though he felt like crying. “Then I’ll be single, sad, and alone.”