Temptation (8 page)

“Women have to be well-prepared,” Blaine said as he swung behind the wheel of the golf buggy. “They are. All set?”

Christophe jumped off the boat and climbed in next to him, leaving the other three to hold onto the back. “Let’s go and sort this out.”

* * * * *

“Okay, so over to Dylan.”

Dylan grimaced and touched Mia’s arm as he stood up and leaned against the table in the guest lounge.

The cancelling of guests had caused some problems, but it had been done for the best reasons. Citing a plumbing emergency, Christophe had promised free visits at the guests’ convenience, and appeased everyone. To sort out all the problems surrounding the present occupants, Christophe had decreed no guests, and only those few of them who were directly involved. The other staff had a welcome holiday.

As they all gathered in the lounge, the general mood seemed upbeat. Only Faran seemed solitary and wistful. He got up from the chair he’d occupied and went to stand next to Dylan.

Dylan touched his arm.

“I’ve asked Faran to help me out in places. Between us all, we seem to have sorted most of the worries out, though there are still some things we don’t know. So to start, I’ve always known I’d be next in line after Papa. To use my skills as a witch and a seer for good. To take over as our leader, and for Blaine to help me. And if I took a wife, she’d have to accept this and know there would always be some things I couldn’t share. Oh, and that our kids
would
share it. I have until the end of this year to decide. It’s been well-known I was swithering, but I think everyone thought ultimately I’d say no. My thoughts on Isola Dei Sogni were never hidden. Then I met Mia, and we can safely say—” He grinned at Mia and blew her a very theatrical kiss. She blushed. There was a ripple of laughter around the room. “I’m working on it. I wasn’t sure if it was what I wanted. However, the knowledge that she’s happy to stand by me, is a great help. As is knowing that if I turned it down, the right to rule could be challenged by someone who I don’t think worthy. Yes, I know that’s a bit up myself, but seriously. Due to fate and a stupid mistake by a person I won’t name, it’s scary to know who is next in line. So those facts decided it for me. I will be next in charge. I hope with a non-witchy, seeing woman.”

“So, we come to my group of families of shifters,” Faran said. “This bit involves Marloth. He met and wanted to marry someone not of our blood. It seems his ideas were thwarted because it had been decided by others that he should marry into their family, strengthen the ties, and increase the power of that group. I think you could say, as they seemed to be thwarted at every turn, they were determined to win by fair means or foul. False stories were given to Marloth, and it was only by chance they were stopped.”

Marloth sniggered to himself. There had been little chance about sending the brochure to Freya and Meryl. He thought about Freya, who he knew was back in Britain. Faran was miserable, and often could be compared to a tiger caught by the tail. Something needed to be done there as soon as possible. Maybe it was up to him to get the ball rolling? But not just then. He turned his attention back to Dylan and Faran. Beside him, Meryl stirred, and he took her hand in his. She leaned against him. The warmth of her body and the squeeze of his hand told him more than anything, things would work out. He’d got his second chance, and the strength that gave him couldn’t be measured.

“We know it’s Semper and his family behind all this,” Dylan said. “What we don’t know is how to join everything up.”

“I do.” Blaine and Atalanta spoke up together. The look that passed between them could have set paper alight.

“Tally and Blaine?” Meryl murmured in Marloth’s ear. “I’d sort of got the idea you sent her to me. She let slip you’d been at uni together.”

“I did, but no idea what this is.”

Dylan frowned at them, and Meryl and Marloth exchanged glances. Marloth felt like a naughty kid found with his hands in the sweetie jar. He half expected his knuckles to be rapped with a ruler. It was unnerving, and he forced himself not to squirm.

“Go on, then.” Dylan looked at his cousin. Blaine walked over to Tally and helped her to her feet. Dylan moved to Mia and lifted her to sit on his lap. “Over to you,” he said to Blaine.

Blaine cleared his throat. “Well. Years ago, my dad had a fling with a woman called Dorothy. Understand this was before he met mum. Once he did, there was no one else for him. Anyway, to get back to the story, unbeknownst to him, Dorothy had a child—and didn’t contact dad to tell him. This all came out very recently, and to say we were gobsmacked is an understatement. That child was Semper. Dorothy was from a powerful shifter family, and her powers passed to her son. But he’s older than me, and our people don’t insist on legitimate children of males to inherit. He’s next in line if Dylan choses not to take on the mantle. Therefore, he was determined to do his best to get the power if he could. You need to combine that with the fact that, if his family aligned with Marloth’s, then they would become all-powerful. Okay, Faran’s family is absolute, but there are rules forbidding marriage between groups only one step away from each other. Hence, Marloth was the ideal choice. So when Marloth met Meryl and seemed serious, Semper stepped in to destroy the relationship. Marloth was called away on a spurious pretext, and then told lies about Meryl’s behavior.”

Meryl gasped and leaned into Marloth. Even though Marloth had told her the basics, it sounded harsh and ugly coming form someone else. He was certain she muttered something about rusty shears and balls.

“Emails were intercepted, and it wasn’t until this holiday was arranged that things came to a head,” Faran continued, and scowled at Meryl. As far as Marloth could see without turning his head, the look she gave Faran in return was enough to freeze hot water.

“But however much we searched, I couldn’t find out who Semper wanted to marry to Marloth.”

“Me.” Atalanta swayed, and Blaine put his arm around her shoulder. She smiled at him, and as Meryl said later, it was like the sun had come out.

“Semper’s mum married my dad when I was three.” Atalanta explained. “And I was told all along; I was destiny for the family. I was not impressed. The shitebag always creeped me out. At one point, I had an awful suspicion he thought I was the one for him, but thank god he didn’t.”

“Amen.” Blaine said soberly. “Because you’re the one for me.”

Atalanta burst into tears. Marloth glanced at Meryl out of the corner of his eye and spoke between half closed lips. “And on that note, I reckon this meeting will be reconvened later. So I think we need to find something to pass the time. Look.” He nudged her to look in the direction of her friend.

Blaine had Atalanta in his arms, and Dylan held the door open for him. As they left the room, and Faran followed them, Marloth turned to Meryl. She stood up and pulled him to his feet.

“Any suggestions?” Marloth asked her.

She tugged him in the direction of the door. “Plenty, stop rushing, smell the daisies—”

He stopped her by putting his mouth over hers and thrusting his tongue between her parted lips.

“Oh lordy, not again.” Dylan’s humorous voice filtered into Marloth’s brain. “Get a room.”

He lifted his head and grinned. Mia stood beside Dylan and to his surprise, she gave her sister a discreet thumbs up. Meryl giggled and teased the back of his neck with shiver inducing swirls of her fingers.

“We’re smelling the daisies,” she said, and Mia snorted.

“Like that?” Dylan sniggered. “Well, I guess it’s better than looking at his etchings.”

“Don’t worry, we intend to get a room,” Marloth assured Dylan. “Don’t we, love? After the daisy-scenting expedition. Er, where are they?”

“Not on your tonsils, anyway.”

“How do you know that?” Meryl said with a laugh. “He might have hidden depths and all that in with his shiftering abilities. I’m happy to find out, whether its flowers or etchings . . . or . . . oh my.”

Marloth slipped the ring he’d bought with hope and intention so long before onto her free hand. He gave a sigh of relief when she’d tickled him with her right hand. Mia glanced down and her eyes widened. He held his breath. To his joy, she nodded with approval.

“Oh, I’m going to cry. I love you.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes with her hand. “Definitely a room, for a day or two, or a month or a year.” She wriggled her fingers to show the diamond solitaire. “I need asking now, and I reckon it might take a lot of practice. The down on one knee declaration and stuff. Oh, and a poem by Wordsworth, or a Shakespeare sonnet or two, and well . . . ooft.” Marloth shut her up by the simple expedition of a kiss. When he drew back she laughed out loud. “Yes, well, anyway . . . Mind you” —she made a show of cupping her mouth so Marloth couldn’t see it— “I do intend to say yes.”

Raven lives in Scotland, along with her husband and their two cats—their children having flown the nest—surrounded by beautiful scenery, which inspires a lot of the settings in her books.

She is used to sharing her life with the occasional deer, red squirrel, and lost tourist, to say nothing of the scourge of Scotland—the midge.

A lover of reading, she appreciates the history inside a book, and the chance to peek into the lives of those from years ago. Raven admits that she enjoys the research for her books almost as much as the writing; so much so, that sometimes she realizes she's strayed way past the information she needs to know, and not a paragraph has been added to her WIP.

Her lovely long-suffering husband is learning to love the dust bunnies, work the Aga, and be on stand-by with a glass of wine.

You can find out more about Raven at the following links:

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To Leona, Doris, and Jinxie for all their hard work. And the staff of a very special island in the Indian Ocean. It might not be Isola Dei Sogni, but it was fantastic!