Temptation (5 page)

The look on her face was enough to freeze sun cream.

“You what?”

Damn.
But he needed to know. “You were pregnant. With my child.” The look she gave him could’ve melted ice—or broken balls. It made him want to protect them, but he pressed on. “And then, nothing happened. So?”

The last thing he expected was the table lamp heading toward his head.

“Bastard. Fucking lying, cheating, bloody lying fucktard.”

He stretched his hand out and caught it with a precision any goalkeeper would admire. “Now, Meryl, you know—” He didn’t get any further before the pillow hit his head, and it was much harder than he expected. “Ooft.”

“I’ll
ooft
you. How dare you accuse me of, of—”

To his horror, Meryl began to cry. Huge racking sobs that shook her body. Marloth tried to hold her, but she pushed him away. He’d never felt so helpless in his life. Had he got it all wrong? He contented himself with stroking her arm, and was glad she accepted that small gesture. For long seconds, he waited as Meryl wept, until at last, she took a deep breath and shuddered. She didn’t look at him, and half turned away and looked around. Marloth understood and reached for the box of tissues on the bedside table. She took one without a word and blew her nose. Only then did she turn and face him.

“Why did you think something as awful as that?” Her tone was cold, and her eyes were dull.

It was only then that Marloth realized what he’d done, and what she thought he’d accused her of.

“I think,” he said slowly, trying to find the right words to express himself. “I think I’ve gone about this the wrong way. After I left, I thought you found out you were pregnant. You never contacted me, but . . . Oh hell, I had someone make sure you were okay. No, not Mia. She’d be more likely to make sure I never heard anything ever again. Just someone who watched over you from a distance.” He took hold of Meryl and pulled her toward him. At first, she was stiff, and resisted, but Marloth persisted. “Someone told that watcher you were pregnant. Someone they trusted. Oh love, I’m so, so sorry. Please let me hold you. I need to be close, and try to explain. Will you let me?”

Even the air seemed to wait for her answer. Outside, the house a bird called and another one answered. Meryl sighed, but gradually her rigid body softened. She didn’t melt into him, but neither did she pull away. He decided that was as good as it was going to get.
Me and my big mouth, but something happened and I need to know what.

“It better be good.”

He hoped so. “It’s a long story. Are you happy here or do you want to go somewhere else?”

Meryl struggled to sit up, and shrugged. “As in where? Back to Isola Dei Sogni? I think if we do that, we’ll never talk. Damn and blast. Half an hour ago I was on cloud nine, and a happy bunny. Yes, okay, you hate that expression but—”

“I never said a word,” Marloth protested.

“You didn’t have to. You rolled your eyes. Anyway, like I said then, I was happy and now I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut and betrayed. How could you think A, I was pregnant, and B, think I’d do anything to jeopardize a child of ours. Oh, and C, who the fuck was stalking me?”

“No one was stalking you, not really. Shit, let’s go and have a drink and something to eat. Then sit on the patio and talk. It’s a long story, and I’ve a nasty feeling some things didn’t happen as they should. Just one more thing, though.”

Meryl raised an eyebrow in query.

“I do love you, never doubt that,” Marloth said. He helped her into a sitting position and held her against him. “And that, I think, is part of the problem. Oh, not for me, but for other people.”

“Nor for me, although I think Mia would doubt your sincerity. She had to help me pick up the pieces after you went.” Meryl gave him a swift kiss on the nose and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Oh hell, how did it all come to this? I thought I was coping. Damn it, I
was
coping, and now? Shit. I don’t know what’s happened, what’s going to happen, or why life is so bloody complicated. Yeah, let’s eat and talk.” She stood up and stretched. The sight of her body was enough for Marloth to tingle and his cock did its best to respond.

Meryl looked down at him and for a brief moment, her eyes brightened. “Willing spirit and weak body?”

He laughed. “Yup, that’s about it. The shower is through there. I’ll go and use the outdoor one and then sort out food.”

Meryl started to walk to the door and turned to look at him. “So, in words of one syllable. How far are we from the boat here?”

“About a minute. There’s a direct route from the beach. You wouldn’t find it unless you knew where to look. I reckoned if you wandered along the beach you’d not find it. Not that I didn’t want to show you what I’d always hoped would be our house. Whoa.” He jumped off the bed and grabbed Meryl as she swayed. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head. He realized it wasn’t a negative shake, but more one to clear it.

“Say that again. Our house? Like how? And after knowing me for a month? And then buggering off? Yeah, that’ll be right.” She looked at him as if he’d just escaped from an institution.

Marloth tamped his frustration down. How could he explain things he didn’t fully understand himself? “I met you. I fell in love with you. I was forced to leave you. I built this with us in mind. In the hope that, one day, it would be ours. And yes, we were only together for a few weeks, but I knew you were mine. The only one. And you’ve just said you love me, so?”

Meryl nodded. “Ton of bricks. I know. I was the same. So how, after you left, did I get the ‘all over but fun while it lasted’ email?”

He blinked. A rushing noise filled his head and the hairs on his arms stood on end. “Pardon?”

“The dear Jane email you sent me.”

“I didn’t send you a dear Jane email. I sent one and asked you to be patient, and I’d be back as soon as I could. You never answered.”

“Something stinks.”

He nodded. Something did, and he was damned sure he’d find out what and why. “And we’ll get to the bottom of it somehow. Shower and food. I’ll bring your bag back with me. I’ll be ten, fifteen minutes, tops.” He didn’t wait to see if Meryl agreed or not. He needed to get out of the house, shift, and run off his anger.

He started to shift the minute he left the building. Her words of ‘take care’ floated after him, and he was thankful. Within seconds, he’d changed into his tiger self and ran toward the beach. A swim to the boat and a full out sprint along the sand should help him. His pace increased and he hit the sand at full speed before rushing into the water and diving underneath. He surfaced and shook his head. Water dripped off his pelt as he rose up and swam strongly toward the boat.

A few yards before, he turned and swam to the beach, to leave the water and shake himself. Droplets of sea spun in every direction and splattered the sand like raindrops. He padded over the sand and watched his paw prints leave a trail. It was as well, this was his island, and few people ever came here. If a trespasser did, then those footprints would either send them screaming away, or bring the world’s press running. Neither scenario was appealing. Marloth snarled and ran as fast as he could along the narrow strip of land between the shore and the palms.

His lungs filled with the salty air, and suddenly, he knew things would be all right eventually. He slowed his speed and turned back toward the jetty. Once he reached it, he shook himself once more and shifted. As usual, he’d forgotten the small problem of clothes, or rather lack of them. Well, it was his island, and only he and Meryl were there, so as far as he was concerned, his nudity was nothing to worry about.

Except sunburn.
He didn’t think a burned cock would be much use to him. Whistling, Marloth went onto the boat and found a pair of shorts, and then he picked up the food and Meryl’s bag. He took the direct route back to the house.

He could hear Meryl singing as he reached the shaded patio. She’d set the table there and he smiled at the way she’d set their chairs at right angles to each other. He remembered her saying it was the perfect way to sit at a table. Close enough to touch, and to be able to see each other’s faces. He knew they’d need both of those things before the day was over.

He unlocked the cool box as she walked through the open windows, a jug of water in her hands. She’d tied a towel around her like a sarong, and Marloth itched to undo the knot, and taste her once more.

“Oh no, down boy. I need food.” She recognized his hungry look and interpreted it correctly. “I’m not on the menu.”

“Yet,” Marloth said and started to take out the food.

“Yet? Maybe never, who knows. Boy, that looks good.” Meryl sat down and put her elbows on the table and then rested her chin in her hands. “I could eat a horse.”

Marloth put the cool box onto the floor and sat in the other chair. “Not a tiger? I’m gutted.”

“Well, you would be if I ate you, now wouldn’t you?” She put food onto her plate.

Trust her to be literal.
Marloth sniggered to himself and copied her actions.

As they ate, Meryl realized they were chatting like old friends with no worry or constraints, even though they both knew there was a lot of talking to be done. Eventually, she put down her cutlery. Marloth gazed her.

“What? Do I have lettuce in my teeth or something?”

He shook his head and smiled. “No, I’m just looking at you because I want to. Because I can. And because I want to know what went wrong, and why. Not for one minute do I think it was down to us. However, someone, somewhere didn’t want us to be together, and I need to find out who and why. Are you up for that?”

He needs to ask that?
She realized he waited for her answer and looked worried as hell. “Of course. Where do we start?”

“Before I met you.” Marloth stood up. “Shall we go and sit on those loungers? Then at least we’ll be comfy before what I tell you makes us uncomfy.”

It sounded worrying. However, Meryl was of the school that it was best to know what you were up against and fight accordingly. “Lead on, oh wise one.” She let him take her hand as they moved toward the long soft seats set on one side of the shady patio, near a sparkling pool.

To her delight, Meryl noticed a clever gap in the bushes that gave a glimpse of the sea. If this were her home, she’d be more than delighted. She wondered if it would ever be likely.

“So where do we start? Or I guess where do you start, because I’m assuming it all ties in with who you are and what you do?” She waited as Marloth turned a piece of fruit over and over in his hands. It wouldn’t be worth eating, but the action seemed to help him. He took a deep breath.

“I think so. To get things clear in both our minds, maybe I’ll go back to when I realized I was different and I discovered what my life was due to become.” He coughed, and Meryl got up to grab the jug of water and their glasses. She poured him a glass, and handed it to him.

“Thanks.” Marloth took a deep swallow. As ever, the ripple of his throat made her body tingle. It wasn’t the time to get hot and horny. Meryl followed his actions and drank.

“So, let’s go back to my twenty-first birthday. When my father told me my history. It’s a strange thing in my family, but you don’t shift until you come of age. That is twenty-one. Oh, and by family, I mean it more than a mum, dad, grandparent sort of thing. I guess other sorts of shifters will have clans, and packs, and stuff. We have a family. Each to their own. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah. I have no idea how or why it happens like that, the being twenty-one stuff, but it does. So, the night before that date, you’re invited to meet up with the council, for your coming-of-age ceremony. It’s all very hush-hush and no one
ever
talks about it afterward. Even now, I’m not going to explain things to you, except to say, I was told what would happen, and how. I had to pledge certain things, as well. Of course, at twenty-one, and in front of all these people you’ve known as friends of your father, it was scary. I couldn’t help but wonder about mafias, or mason-type things. Overawed and overwhelmed was an understatement. Not only that, one of those things indirectly involves you.”

He shivered. Meryl squirmed. She was uneasy and didn’t want to show it. A sheen of sweat beaded on Marloth’s skin, and Meryl herself felt clammy. Tentacles of fear were once more busy and crawling over her body, and she had to know more. It wasn’t something she did very often, but Meryl prayed that Marloth would be able to explain without breaking any oath he’d taken. “It does? How?”

“Let me do it all in order, ‘kay? Then I think you’ll see things better.” He hesitated, and then picked up her hand to play with it, stroking the back, and rubbing her fingers with his. If that connection helped him, no way was Meryl going to tell him that each feather-light sensation was making her hot, needy, and wet.

“So, after the big day, I was told to go back to university, and finish my last semester. Then once I’d graduated, they’d begin my . . . my education as a shifter, I guess. The first time you shift is not easy, not comfortable, and damn well not something you can talk about over a pint. I guess if you learn from an early age it might be different, but we don’t.”

“And do you know who else is like you? You know, have meetings and things?” Meryl was interested in the mechanics of it all. When she’d known him the previous year, and inadvertently walked in on him as he shifted, she hadn’t freaked out, as he seemed to think she would. Instead, with his permission she’d watched, fascinated as he changed from man to beast, and then later, back again. Now it seemed something sinister was tied up in his abilities, with her entangled in it.

“Not as such, but yeah, I guess you could say like senses like. And of course, you do know some people. Those who guide you, for instance, like Faran does for me. He’s my cousin, and powerful in our families. Also, you know some, but not all those earmarked to be part of your life.” He sighed and his hold on her hand tightened.

“Like a wife?” Meryl guessed. “And we met, and I put a spanner in someone’s works?”

“Something like that.” Marloth kissed each finger of the hand he held. “You see, I was at, well, not a loose end because I knew what I wanted, but I wanted to paint. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. Put a canvas in front of me, and I’m away in my own world. I worked like an idiot for a few years and then said I needed a gap year.”

Meryl giggled. “I thought most people did them immediately before or after uni?”

“Well, I like to be different. No, honestly? I wanted enough money as a cushion so I could paint. When I came into your coffee house, I’d been in Europe and worked my ass off in a painting frenzy. I headed back to Scotland to check out some of the country’s scenery. Then I saw you and knew I needed to check out your scenery instead.”

“That a new way of describing it? My contours, you mean? All the lumps and bumps?”

“All of them, perfect,” Marloth assured her with his own form of reassurance—a series of tiny nibbles up her arm. “I love every tiny dip and hidden valley of you. Every. Single. One.” He finished off with a long sensuous kiss that had her tingling to her toes. Damned, if he couldn’t make her a heap of mush in two seconds flat.

Meryl returned the kiss with enthusiasm, and her tongue met his thrust and swirl for thrust and swirl. If she was going to be hurt or worried by his revelations, she might as well enjoy this and have something positive to think about.

They were both flushed and panting when Marloth finally drew his lips away. Meryl could feel the frustration and tension that reverberated from him. His eyes were dark, a deep pool of heat that seared her, and made her dream of all things hot and needy. She shuddered and he kissed her nose.

“Yes. I feel it as well. All I really want to do is wrap myself around you and never let you go again. Instead, I’ve got to finish this sodding awful story. Right, so I met you, fell like a ton of bricks, and knew you were my soul mate. Nothing’s changed there. And praise be, you seemed to feel the same.”

“I did, and heaven help me, I still do.” Meryl leaned against his shoulder. “And I need to know the rest.”

“Well, it seems that I’d been let loose on a long lead, so to speak. Someone, and I still don’t know who, had followed me to make sure I kept within the boundaries of what the family decided was acceptable. Meeting and falling for you wasn’t. Letting you see me shift was evidently the last straw. That, and the way I’d been eyeing up rings in the jewelers. So I was told to return or face the wrath of the family. Even I knew what that meant.”

“So you told me it was over and buggered off. Without explaining. It was that that hurt. To be told you thought it was best we part. Just that. I felt like some cheap worthless heap of nothing.” Meryl shivered as she remembered that awful feeling of worthlessness and despair that she’d had to fight to get over. If it hadn’t been for Mia, she had no idea what would have happened. “And now you think I was pregnant? Not in a million years. And if I had been, I wouldn’t be here now. I’d be at home loving our child.” She got up and walked to kneel in front of him. “What next?”

His somber expression scared her. “I don’t know, except I don’t want to lose you again. Not now I’ve glimpsed heaven. I need to find out things. Like why, once I’d gone back to the council to say I’d found my love, and you weren’t a shifter, I was told you cared so little for me, you aborted our child. I was even shown a paper with the dates of your admission.”

“What?” Meryl was shaken. All this time, she’d felt he had thought so little of her, that she’d been no more than an easy lay, and some, some
asshole
had been screwing with them both. If she ever found out who it was, she’d screw
them
. Into the ground, using their cock or boobs as the tool
.
“To where? I’ve been nowhere. The last time I was in hospital was to have my appendix out. I was ten. Something stinks.”

He nodded and ran his hand over her hair and across her shoulders. “They were adamant it was true, but wouldn’t tell me where they got the information from. Then they made sure I was kept busy. I’ve got to get it sorted out, and know nobody is going to harm you. Faran warned me once I started on Isola that everything wasn’t as it seems. I think he has his own worries, as well. And he’s not talking about them.”

Meryl rested her head on Marloth’s knees
. So what do we do now? I’m damned sure not going to sit back and let you be offered up on some altar of shifter-sacrifices. You’re mine.

“I am, and ditto,” Marloth said, and pulled her onto his lap. “And yes, I read your mind. I think I need to be able to do that all the time now. Because if we’re serious—”

“Well, I am,” Meryl interrupted him.

“So am I. So we need to plot and plan. Find out what’s going on, and stop it. It’s not just Faran and me; I know Dylan has had problems as well in his neck of the woods. So, here’s how I think we need to play it.”

* * * * *

By the time they’d plotted to Marloth’s satisfaction, so much time had passed that Meryl’s tummy rumbled. Not that she minded. Being able to sit on his knee and know that he hadn’t forgotten her, or left because he didn’t love her, was a great help in stopping her need to murder someone fast. Unfortunately, it did harden her resolve in vowing if she ever found out who was behind it all, she’d make sure somehow they died a slow and painful death.

“Why are some shifters such shits?” she burst out as she put her hand over her tummy. “I mean why go to all the trouble of painting me black? Why not just tell you that you have to take a shifter as a partner, and it was x or y.” Her tummy growled loudly, and she rolled her eyes. “Damn it, you’d think worry would make me not want to eat, not the opposite.”

He chuckled as she meant him to. Marloth was grey with worry and once more, Meryl wished she could do serious damage to whoever was behind all the hassle. It wasn’t fair.
Damn, I sound like a two-year-old who can’t get another lolly to suck. Not that that’s what I want in my mouth, but still . . . .

“Let’s feed you, and make sure we both know what we’ve got to do. It isn’t going to be easy and I have no idea how long it’ll take, but I promise you, we’ll get there. We’ll go to the boat. There’s more food there, and we’ll need to set back soon.” He stood up, and Meryl slid to put her feet on the floor. It was a pity they had to go. She could have stayed as she was—on Marloth’s lap—and on their island forever.

She sighed and her shoulders lifted. “I guess. Okay, lead on and let’s get the action started. Do you have any idea at all what’s behind this?”