Temptation (6 page)

“What is? Yeah, me telling the council once I was back that I only wanted you. Who is? Nope, not a sausage. I don’t even know
who
they wanted me to mate with. Or even who it was who wanted it. All I got was not you, and then lots of shit about how little you thought of . . . hold on . . . we both sent emails and never received them.”

Meryl nodded as she followed him along the direct path to the jetty. “Yeah, so someone must have intercepted them. If we can find out whom, then it’s one step closer. I bet not everyone can do that sort of stuff. Er, look, I just have to know something. Where is home? You know, where you had to go back to? You never ever told me, just that it was everywhere. I’d decided you had such a shitty home, you didn’t want to talk about it.”

Marloth turned to face her and laughed bitterly. “That’s one of life’s ironies, love. About thirty miles from where you live. I went to uni in St Andrews.”

Meryl would have fallen down if there hadn’t been a handy tree to lean against.

Marloth bent over the engine. His face was grimy and his expression grim. The swear words were earthy and explicit. After deciding he couldn’t do anything positive, he lifted his head and grimaced. “It’s buggered. Engine and radio. Not only that, somehow my power of transmission is like a dodgy connection. All fuzzy. In theory, there should be a way of letting Isola Dei Sogni know where we are or that we’re stranded. Someone wants to make mega problems for us. Not just waves, but a tsunami.”

“Well, won’t someone come for us when we don’t get back?”

If only it were that easy. Own up time.

“Well, if I’d taken you where I was supposed to, then yes. But I wanted to bring you here. No one knows that, not yet anyway. Not until I send a mind message to Faran. If it will work.”

Meryl stared at him for so long he got twitchy. Then she leaned back against the side of the cockpit and laughed. It was the last thing he expected.

“So we’re not supposed to be here, but somewhere else, and our engine is buggered. Accident or design?”

He considered her question. Every fiber of his being screamed sabotage. But why and how? “I think there’s as much chance as a snowball has in hell for it to be an accident. Why? I don’t know yet. Who, likewise. But it hints at someone on the island. So we follow our plan to the letter, yes?”

He watched Meryl’s face go white and then a steely determination showed in her eyes. “Oh yes, so one last kiss?”

Marloth sniffed the air, he couldn’t sense anyone, but dare he trust his senses? Why not. “Down into the cabin quick. Close the blinds and the curtains. Bend over the table and don’t make a sound.” Her glance was a puzzled one, but she gave a brief nod and clattered down the three steps into the cabin. He took once last sensing smell around. Nothing. With a kick to the engine housing, just in case someone somehow saw him, he followed her.

Meryl had done as he asked, and her bikini-covered ass faced him as he jumped the last step and swung down to the floor. The room was dim, and the lowering sun made little impact on the light. It was hot, airless, and very sensuous.

“Hold on to the far edge. Don’t let go.” He waited until she complied and made short work of pulling her bikini bottom down her legs and off one foot. With a grin, he knew she couldn’t see he blessed the fact the front and back was held together by tied ribbons, and undid them with his teeth.

“Spread your legs and don’t move.” He pushed her ankles apart until her legs formed an upside down ‘V’, and used each part of her bikini bottoms to tie them to the table legs. She moaned, a hot fuck me now sound that made his insides shake. Bent as she was over the narrow table, her pussy and clit peeked shyly between her legs to tease and tantalize. Marloth’s cock went from interested to down right needy in a half second. He took a foil packet from the pocket of his shorts and put it carefully on the table, within easy arm’s reach. Then he loosened the ties at the waist of the boardies and kicked them off. Meryl wriggled and spoke to him, her voice muffled by the cloth over the table.

“God almighty, I need you. This is making me wet and wanting.” She wriggled again. “I won’t let go, but my nipples are going to be mighty pissed at not getting in on the action.

“Clothes pegs?”

She chuckled, deep and throaty. “And with them hard up against this table? No thanks. The squashing is good enough to make them tingle. Clothes pegs would make me scream, and you said I’ve got to be silent. Nah, I’ll let them fight to be moved, and let you show them who’s boss. The weave of this cloth is creating enough friction to spark a match.”

He thanked the fact they’d not taken it off. It may not be much, but it might stop her having a copy of the wood grain on her cheeks and chest. He wasn’t sure if that was better or worse than the cotton print she’d end up with.

Marloth moved his hands between her legs and found her channel. She was correct. As he pushed his finger inside her, her juices coated it. The groan she gave as he pressed hard and deep into her core, made his own pre cum gather on the tip of his cock and cover the head.

He withdrew his digit slowly, enjoying ever last squirm and moan as she clenched her inner muscles around him. As much as he enjoyed admiring her spread out as she was, Marloth couldn’t wait any longer. He ripped open the condom packet and sheathed himself before he grabbed her hips with one hand and guided his prick into her with the other. He surged into her in one long hard thrust, and filled her. Then, with a haste he couldn’t slow, Marloth moved. His balls tightened as they slapped against her with ever-increasing determination. His cock hardened and his body sang with the joy of feeling her tighten around him. He pinched her clit and she gasped.

“I can’t hold on, I’ve got to come, I need—I must—” She pushed back against him. Marloth rubbed her clit and growled into her ear.

“Come now, come on, babe. Show me how you can splinter in silence.”

She shook and her soft mewls stopped as he saw some tablecloth bunch up. He could only assume that she taken some between her teeth to help her stay quiet. A quick glance proved it. Her head was to one side, her eyes closed and a fine sheen of arousal coated her skin. A thick wad of material was clamped between her teeth, as effective as any gag could be.

That erotic touch was all he needed and he came in one long mind-blowing thrust. His body was a mass of spine tingling, nerve end stings that rolled over him and danced on his skin. Marloth slumped over her back, and her warmth and sweat mingled with his. His arms shook with the effort of holding himself off her slightly. If he let go and fell onto her as his body demanded, her nipples wouldn’t be the only things squashed. He forced himself to move upright.

“I’m going to come out,” he warned her. Her muscles made a half-hearted attempt to hold him inside her, and she spat enough of the cotton out of her mouth to giggle softly.

“As much as I want to, I have about as much chance of stopping you as I have of playing for Manchester United. And as even after years of having it explained, I still don’t understand the off side rule that’s likely, not at all.”

He kissed the nape of her neck, and was well satisfied with the shiver that rippled over her skin. “Yeah, well if I don’t move, my legs will give way. That was bloody intense, my love, and I thank you.” His prick left the haven of her body and he moved back on shaky legs and with an aching heart. As he bent and untied her legs, he heard her soft answer.

“Yup, and now back to reality.”

“Oh love, that
was
reality. Don’t ever think different. It’s just got to keep us warm and remembering until we get the chance to do it again.”

She stretched, and turned to face him. “Who’d’ve thought a quickie could say so much, eh? Oh, Marloth, please say we can get this sorted?”

“By all the gods, I hope so.” He ripped off a few sheets of kitchen roll and disposed of the condom. A sudden unwelcome thought hit him. He’d not used one when they made love in the house. Had Meryl realized? She hadn’t said anything. Should he? Not that there was any chance of finding a morning after pill on the island without a lot of explanations, but he would do so if needed, even though the idea didn’t appeal to him. Macho posturing, maybe, but he’d rather take care of things. He’d talk to her as soon as they had time to discuss things in depth.

“If you want a quick shower, there’s enough water. I’ll dive over the side and then do the necessary.”

“I’m coming into the sea with you.” Meryl spoke firmly. “I’ll ditch the seawater hair when we get back. Anyway, it will make it more authentic. Er, will it be safe?”

He sniffed, and sensed nothing untoward.

“It’s safe, but if you get in there with me, I can’t guarantee to keep my hands off you. I don’t have another condom with me, and we’ve already run that risk back in the house. I got the damned things handy and forgot to use one. Some bloody responsible adult I am.” His disgust with himself was evident in his tone, and he heard it and squirmed. It was true, he could kick himself. Meryl was going to have a hard enough time as it was. So much of their charade rested on her shoulders.

“I’m on the pill, remember? Last one in’s a cod.” She giggled and darted past him to take the stairs at a run. “Coming?”

Ah, what the hell, another ten minutes won’t make that much difference.

Ten minutes might not have done, but another mind-blowing coupling and twenty minutes of horse play meant it was almost an hour before they were once more dressed and sitting in a tidy cabin. There was no sign or sense of the erotic lovemaking they’d shared there not that much earlier. The tablecloth was safely in Meryl’s bag. She’d said she needed it; it would be her way of feeling closer to him.

“Right, this is it. Let’s see if I can link to Faran and get things moving. Once I do, there’s no going back, and we need to be our new personas, not just act them. Okay?”

Meryl’s eyes were cloudy, and her lip trembled. “Yeah, okay.”

“Good girl, and remember I always love you, and if you follow everything I showed you, I’ll get what you’re saying.”

She nodded, and bit her lip. “I’ll do it, and it will work. But I’ll warn you now, once we get the bastard, if I go anywhere near him, well, my pruning knife is at the ready. And boy I’m a dab hand at pruning.”

Marloth laughed, and covered his cock with his hands as he guessed that it was her intention to lighten the dark atmosphere. She gave a very watery giggle.

“Okay, Marloth. I love you too, and right.” She took a deep breath, and swiped at her eyes with a hand that shook. “Go for it.”

It had all gone so fast, Meryl’s head spun. The small speedboat that collected them wasn’t as smooth as the boat they’d gone out on and it took very little to make her feel sick and act upset. The glares thrown Marloth’s way from Semper, one of the others on the boat, made her grit her teeth. Who the hell was he to be so dismissive? When he came and tried to comfort her, she shrugged him off.

Asshole.
The swift warning glance Marloth gave her reminded her that he was the one she had to be antagonistic toward. She bit her lip. “I’m sick of this place. I want to go home. Like now.” She glared at them all. As she reached Marloth, she did her best to clench her hands into fists and show she was itching to use them. Semper laughed.

“I don’t think you’re flavor of the month, mate.”

“Semper.” The one word from the last man on the boat made Semper redden, and scowl. “Okay, boss.” The tone was surly and not at all subservient.

“Exactly,” Christophe said in an even do-not-mess-with-me tone. “You’ll do well to remember that. Now get up top and help me guide this in.” He turned back to the wheel, after a brief wink at Meryl. She wondered about that wink. Was it a ‘good for you he is an asshole wink’ or something more? She had no way of finding out, so she sank back onto the cushioned seat and ignored them all. She really did feel sick and her head spun.

The boat rocked and she swallowed hard. “How much longer? I’m going to throw up. And no, don’t you come near me.” It almost killed her to say it, and only the knowledge that Marloth wanted this kept her going. Surely, it would be easier once she was well away from him?

“We’ve docked.” Christophe’s calm tones soothed her. “Let’s get you off and onto dry land. Your sister is waiting for you.”

Oh lord, she’d forgotten Mia. Meryl nodded and let him help her off the boat and onto the grass that edged the dock. One look at Mia and she didn’t need to act. She burst into tears and let Mia cuddle her. As much as she hated lying to her sister, Meryl knew Mia was so open she’d never be able to keep up the act that was needed. Mia’s muttered threats of cutting off balls gave her a few pangs. However, she rather thought the way the man at her sister’s side stroked her shoulder and looked at her with concern and something more would keep Mia from doing anything excessive. Mind you, she hoped he’d hide the scissors until her sister calmed down.

* * * * *

Later, as she washed the salt out of her hair, Meryl pondered about the last few hours. She thought they’d done everything they needed, but how could she tell? It was all well and good Marloth being able to read her, but it seemed she was going to be kept in the dark as to where they were in their conspiracy. She rinsed the shampoo away and added conditioner. There was no point whatsoever in worrying about things she couldn’t control. She’d be better to concentrate on what she could, and put the next part of their plan into action. She knew she had to wait a while and it wasn’t going to be easy.

As she sat on the edge of the bed and toweled her hair, Meryl let the details of the day flood her. Her body tingled as she remembered Marloth’s touch, and her juices gathered at the thought of how she’d responded. With a wry smile, she picked up her hairbrush. The memories might have to serve her well for goodness how long. Meanwhile, she was going to have to act upset, and refuse to leave her room until the time was right to start the next step in the plan she and Marloth had decided upon.

Her tummy rumbled and she grinned as she remembered what had happened the last time it had done that very thing. Well, now was the time to feed the body, seeing as she wasn’t going to be able to feed her soul, unless she did it all by herself. That would likely happen, but not there and not then. Meryl grabbed the room service menu and decided on her meal. If she was staying in her own space for twenty-four hours or so, then she might as well sample as many different foods as possible, take advantage of her pool, and try to get a tan before she went back to damp, dreich, Glasgow.

She did, and by the time the following evening came around, she felt cossetted and pampered. Of course, she hadn’t seen hair or pelt of Marloth, but she knew he watched over her. How she understood that, she had no idea. Was it the way a shadow passed just outside her security lights? Or the rose she found on her pillow when she came out of the bathroom the morning after their magical day together? Whatever it was, Meryl was happy, but impatient.

Now the long hours of waiting were over, she needed to move. She bit her lip. Would her acting be good enough? After one last swim, Meryl walked inside and had a swift shower. It was almost time to contact Christophe.

As she wandered back into the bedroom, there was a knock on her door. She tightened the belt of her dressing gown and went to the spy hole. Semper stood there. The look in his eye reminded her of someone, but for the life of her, Meryl couldn’t think whom. She swithered; should she open the door? The fact he gave her the creeps was no reason not to. This was Isola Dei Sogni, and she’d bet her bottom dollar someone would know where he was, and why.

“Hold on,” she shouted through the door as she dragged jeans on and added a strappy with a built-in bra. No way was she going to let him see her bra-less. “I’m just cleaning my teeth” She was sure she heard a suggestive snigger as she grabbed a hoodie and pulled it over her head. Only one idiot could think ‘sleaze’ over something as innocuous as that.

Asshole.

Meryl opened the door. Semper leaned on the doorframe and whistled softly. “Worth waiting for. I’m here to see what you need for your fantasy, Meryl. I’m at your command.” He brushed passed her, and managed to stroke her breast as he did. She shuddered. Not in a million years.

“Cat got your tongue? I bet he did.” He sniggered. “I’d get it better, honey, just try me.”

That was it. She saw red. How dare he! “Fuck off and go fuck yourself.”

He moved toward her, anger on his face. Meryl didn’t wait to see what might happen. She ran. Right into a body. There was a slight ooft, and then someone took her arms. She struggled.

“Hey, hey, stop that. You’ll hurt yourself. What’s going on?” Christophe stood in front of her.

Semper muttered something under his breath and pushed passed Christophe. To Meryl’s relief, Christophe let him go. What could she say? Was Semper just ready to be like that with her or was he a predator? Meryl had no way of finding out, but surely Marloth would be able to? She had to project to him and hope he understood and told Christophe. Meanwhile, it gave her the perfect way to move on to the next part of their plan.

“I want to go home. Now. Please arrange it and explain to Mia. I’ve had enough here. Sorry, but that’s the way I want it. Not tomorrow, not the end of the week, but now.”

Would it work? After a searching look at her, Christophe nodded. “I’ll arrange it for you. Where would you like to wait? It’ll take a short while to arrange it. Your room will be safe, on my oath.”

She trusted him. “Then there will be fine.” Meryl wanted to pack, and do her damnedest to get her thoughts to Marloth. Whether she’d manage or not was another thing. “Er, where is everyone?” She did her best to sound casual.

Christophe shook his head. “Now, you know better than to ask me that, don’t you? But I will say your sister is discussing her future, and Marloth is on a security sweep. So no one will disturb you, until I
personally
come to escort you to the boat, and take you to the airport. There will be a seat for you on the plane, so don’t worry. Also, there will be a car to drive you home. All right?”

“Yes, thank you. Very all right.”

He smiled. “Good. Do you want food?”

She shook her head. The thought nauseated her. “No thanks, I’ll just get my stuff all ready.”

“Thirty to forty minutes. Can you be ready in that time?”

She’d do it even if it meant shoving stuff into her suitcase and sitting on it to close the lid.

* * * * *

By the time Christophe returned, Meryl had sat as Marloth had shown her and sent, she hoped, a message to him, packed reasonably tidily, and dried her hair. The knock on the door made her jump. She checked before she opened it, but it was Christophe, along with a tall blond-haired older lady, who smiled at her.

“I’m Elizabeth. I thought you might like company to the airport.”

Meryl sagged. She hadn’t realized just how much that thought would comfort her. “Yes, please.”

Christophe picked up her case. Meryl grabbed her shoulder bag, and followed him and Elizabeth along the corridor to the main door. As they left the building, she glanced to one side—the dark shape was menacing. As they walked away, a security light flickered and the scowl on the face of Semper was clearly visible.

Elizabeth touched Christophe’s arm. “You need to sort him out.”

Christophe laughed, and it made Meryl shiver. It wasn’t a pleasant sound.

“Oh, don’t worry. I intend to.” His look toward Semper had so much ice and ire in it that Meryl trembled. She wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of it, or the tongue-lashing she thought was waiting to be given, even though it would be well-deserved.

“He’s been getting out of control lately, and thinks he’s above the rules and regulations of the island,” Elizabeth said. “He isn’t, and that will be pointed out to him in a no uncertain terms. Now, can you see all right? Christophe forgets that not everyone is gifted with his vision, and overlooks the need to switch the lights on.”

Christophe laughed, and Meryl watched as the moonlight showed how he waved his hand in the air. The low-level lights that illuminated the path came on. She giggled. “He forgot to say abracadabra.”

“I thought it,” Christophe said gravely. “That’s just as good.”

Meryl loved the way he could poke fun about his gift, because from the little Marloth had said, and the bit she’d understood herself, it was certain Christophe had more than normal skills.

“He’s a witch,” Elizabeth told her as they reached the wharf. “I could hear you wondering. As am I.”

“Wondering or a witch?” Meryl asked her as they climbed aboard the speedboat.

“I’m not wondering, I
am
a witch.” Elizabeth raised her voice to be heard above the noise of the engine. “And I can tell you now, don’t worry, it will work out. Have faith in your love.”

* * * * *

It was all well and good saying you had faith, something else to keep on believing it. As the days passed by, Meryl struggled. She’d returned to Scotland, and then after a few days, gone back to work. She told a startled Atalanta, she just hadn’t enjoyed herself. Atalanta had given her a searching look, but not questioned further. If anything, she’d kept a closer eye on her than normal. In the end, Meryl protested.

“Why are you watching me like I’m going to break any minute? And if you try and make me drink any more milk, I swear I’m going to throw up. What the hell is going on?”

Atalanta closed the door of the office and pushed Meryl into the chair. “Are you pregnant?”

Meryl looked at her as if she’d grown two heads. If she hadn’t been sitting down, she’d have fallen over. Where on earth had she gotten that idea from? “Am I what? Grief, no. Why do you think that? Just because the sight of whipped cream makes me green at the gills does not mean I’m pregnant. If you must know, I ate it on the plane home and now I feel sick when I see it. That flight was so not good.” There had been lots of turbulence and she’d been sick with worry, wondering what was happening with Marloth and his enemies. “I feel the same way about salmon, as well. They were both on the menu. I can’t stand the sight or thought of them now, though I reckon it will pass.”