T is for Temptation

by Jianne Carlo

  “I thought about you too,” she whispered and outlined his mouth with a finger. “What happened, Jake? Last thing I remember was eating that breakfast you ordered from room service and then feeling sleepy and lying down.”

  “I didn’t order room service, Tee. I wish I had now. Somehow, Inspector Flood hooked up with Graziella and the caretaker, who happens to be her stepbrother, and they sent that room service cart to you. The orange juice and the coffee were drugged. After you passed out, they kidnapped you, put you into a wheelchair, and escorted you out of the hotel.”

  “Pardon me?” She knuckled her temples. “Eight Bells’ caretaker is Grazeilla’s stepbrother? Oh no. The three of them, Tony, Graziella, and the caretaker, they knew each other, didn’t they? Am I a complete idiot? I never, ever suspected.”

  “It came as a complete surprise to me too. It appears that Graziella, Tony, and her brother all grew up in the same village in Uruguay, so there’s a childhood connection. What Alex and I can’t figure out is how Inspector Flood got involved with them.”

  “What does this mean? Is that why Flood detained me at Heathrow? Does Sir Arthur know of this?”

  “He seems to be as shocked as we are about his nephew’s involvement. Tee, how well does your father know this man? Could Sir Arthur be the person behind all of this?”

  “Damn. If you’d asked me that a couple of weeks ago, I would’ve said no in a heartbeat. But then again, I’d never have believed Graziella and Tony knew each other from childhood, and I certainly hadn’t a clue she and the caretaker were related.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m confused, and this headache isn’t helping. Explain things to me.”

  Her expression underwent a series of transformations at Jake’s summary of the events while she was unconscious. During his narration, those cat eyes flashed fear, temper, and a strange determination.

  “I want them in jail,” she gritted. “All of them. I can’t believe they played me like that. From the damned start. How’s Dad taking all of this? Have we been on the news?”

  He explained the press conference, the hotlines, how they’d come to find her, and why they were at Brodick in the past.

  “We can’t stay here forever.”

  Trailing a finger down each vertebra, he lingered at the small of her back, smoothing the skin there, feeling it ripple under his touch.

  “I’m well aware of that. Tonight, when I check in with Alex, we’ll figure out our next move.”

  Tee jerked onto her forearms, pushing off his chest. “And I don’t get a say in this? It is my future we’re talking about.”

  “Of course you do. I didn’t mean it that way. Hell, Tee, I don’t want you going back unless we know it’s safe.”

  “But, I won’t be safe until they realize I don’t know anything about the passcodes for this bank account. How’re we supposed to convince them of that? I’m damned sure Graziella isn’t going to take my word on it.”

  “You’re on the mark there. And truthfully, I’m out of bright ideas. At least here you’re safe, and we don’t have to watch our every move.”

  “Now I’m pissed,” she said, and those amber eyes blazed defiance. “I want to nail each and every one of them, and I wish Tony was still alive so I could hurt him. And that other man, the one on the plane, I want him in jail too.”

  “So you were on a plane? Two eyewitnesses put you there, but we found you at the old cottage on your old boarding school’s ground. What happened?”

  “I woke up, and I was pretty groggy. Everything seemed hazy. I thought I saw Graziella and another man, didn’t get a good look at him, but it could have been the caretaker. I knew I was in a plane because of the engines’ noise. Then I saw the other man, and Graziella started walking to me with a hypodermic in her hand. I remember seeing a drop at the tip of the needle and thinking this wasn’t good.” She looked around the room. “And then I woke up here.”

  “The police told us that if you’d drunk all of the coffee and all of the OJ, you’d have been out for four to six hours.”

  “But, I didn’t. You know, I wondered about the coffee ’cause you know I prefer tea.”

  “Thank God for that. You must’ve reached for safety during those brief moments you came to, knowing instinctively something was wrong, and conjured yourself back to the cottage.” He stroked the sleek curve of her shoulder.

  “How did you know about the cottage? It used to be our secret clubhouse.”

  “Called Dee and asked her what would happen to your powers if you were drugged. She said you’d reach for something or someplace comforting and gave us a few suggestions, including the cottage.”

  “What an ass I am. Life is too short for this damned crap, and I’m not letting anyone cheat me out of happiness. I’ll move in with you, Jake, tomorrow if you’d like. I don’t want to miss another moment.”

  “Shssh,” he said and placed two fingers on her lips. “I’ve decided to make the Trinidad office my new headquarters.”

  “Pardon me?”

  Something warm and fuzzy coated his brain and other organs at the astonishment lighting her features, the wonder-filled glow in those amber eyes.

  “It makes sense,” he said, backtracking. “You could still work with the kids, and you wouldn’t be all alone in a strange country. Of course, we’ll have to find a way to deal with your mother, but hell, that’s a problem no matter where we are.”

  “Jake?”

  Her turn now to silence him, but he kissed the fingertip pressuring his mouth and smiled, happiness giddying rational thought.

  “Tee?”

  “I love you.”

  And her light brown eyes misted, one lone tear listing across a high cheekbone, dripping right into his soul.

  “Say it again,” he demanded, and his words surprised him into silence.

  “I,” she said and kissed his chest. “Love.” She gnawed on his nipple. “You.”

  “Thank God,” he stated, reverence and gratitude spurring a fevered trail of hot, wet, open-mouthed touches up her slender neck, across eyebrows, around her earlobe, and the saccharine curve of a ridged cheekbone. He rested his mouth on the life pulsing at her throat.

  Her wary amber eyes examined him, the question she didn’t voice straining the silence.

  “I think I fell in love with you the moment I met you.”

  “Oh my,” she said, and her hand gravitated to his cheek. “You say it again.”

  “I love you.” The words not only didn’t choke him, but they felt right and certain and perfect. And he wanted to shout it to the world, scream it from a mountaintop, proclaim it on one of those plane banners.

  “I love you,” he said and brushed his lips against hers.

  “Oh my.”

  Her fingers twirled in his hair, kneading, caressing, and she tugged his head down and opened her mouth over his, licking her way in, tangling tongues, drinking souls together.

  She drew away and flashed him a molten caramel smile, one shoulder lifted in a feminine gesture as old as civilization and unmistakable in its invitation. He surrendered.

  “I wish I met you first,” she murmured. “I so hate that Tony happened.”

  “Shssh,” he said. “I love you. You love me. It all worked out.”

  “But, what about Scotland Yard and Interpol and all the rest? If it hadn’t been for Tony, you and I wouldn’t be in trouble.”

  “Hell, Tee. I don’t care. All I care about is that we’re together, and I do owe Tony Trent for bringing you into my life. Now that I think back on it, I think he must have suspected how I felt about you, and used it to his advantage to keep me off my game. I underestimated him completely. There’re not too many people who can dupe me, but he sure did.”

  “You almost sound like you admire him,” Tee murmured, her eyelids drooping.

  “Credit where credit’s due, babe. Round one to Tony, but I never make the same mistake twice.”

  Cupping a hand over her mouth, Tee yawned, making a delightfu
l squeal at the top of the movement.

  “Sorry.”

  “How’re you feeling? Nausea gone?”

  “Hmm. I’m beat. I guess it must be the aftereffects of the drugs they gave me, but I don’t feel sick anymore, just sleepy.”

  “Why don’t you nap? When you wake up, I’ll take you to meet my family.” The word thickened his tongue, the foreignness of the concept sending uneasy shivers across his neck.

  A tiny snort captured his attention, and he glanced down to discover Tee’s lashes fluttering against her cheeks, her features slackening into a peaceful repose. For long moments, he watched her sleep deepening into a steady rise and fall, her breath tickling his chest, a soft sigh threading down his belly.

  Assured of Tee’s safety and comfort, Jake edged out of her embrace and the bed. Dressing in silence, he shot one last look at his woman smiling in her dreams and snuck out of the room.

  Tiny lounged against the far wall.

  “Were you waiting for me?”

  “Aye.”

  “How did you know I was here?”

  “Is pretty boy with you?” One of his golden eyebrows arched.

  “No, but Tee is. Back off. How did you know we were here?”

  “’Tis the room, Laird. It changes depending upon who’s in it. The last time you were here, the walls turned pink. Look.” Tiny pointed to the wall.

  He inched into the hallway and rubbed his chin. “So it is. What color is it when it’s empty?”

  “Gray.”

  “Were you passing by?”

  “No, the pink is on the outside too. Everyone knows you’re here. Your mother ordered us not to disturb you.”

  “Yet, here you are.”

  “I owe pretty boy a riding lesson.”

  “Alex didn’t come. Don’t look so disappointed. He’ll be back, I’m sure.” He cuffed Tiny on the shoulder. “Where is everyone?”

  “Your da and brother await you in the hall. Your mother’s arranging a feast to celebrate your return. Lady Elaine’s anxious to meet your betrothed.”

  Uh-oh. Jake massaged his neck, thumbing an aching spot. Hard enough to say those three words, yet asking her to marry him proved a fate worse than death.

  She hadn’t wanted to move in with him.

  She loved him.

  She said the words.

  More than once.

  From a business standpoint, this was a no-brainer. So why did his pulse race at the thought of the question? Why did guilt plague him?

  He knew why, but that didn’t make anything easier.

  Following Tiny down the hall and the stairs to the banquet room, he never noticed the rising sun showering stained glass windows with rainbows and casting figures and forms over the bare stone floor.

  Jake found Stephen, Elaine, and Kieran in the enormous great hall. Kieran and Stephen wore identical bemused expressions. Elaine stood on the dais, issuing orders commando style. Servants bustled about.

  Elaine spotted him at once and motioned him over. Standing on the dais, his mother stood eye to eye with him, and she patted his jaw, delicate little fingers stroking his stubbled skin. “Jamie, love, I’m glad you’re back.”

  She kissed first one cheek and then the other. “I expected you two days ago, son. What happened?”

  Jake’s mind whirled. His mother had the ability to make him feel as if he’d stumbled off a spinning fairground ride. “You expected me?”

  “Of course. Now that I’ve found you again, I’ll always know when you’re coming and if you need me.” Elaine’s forefinger feathered over his cheekbone. “Now, where is your betrothed? I am anxious to meet my new daughter.”

  “She hasn’t actually agreed to marry me as yet,” he warned. “So please don’t call Tee that when you meet her.”

  “She will, Son, no mind.” Elaine paused to issue an order to two maids carrying a brace of candles. “We’re having a feast to celebrate your visit tonight.”

  “We don’t feast every time I return from abroad.” Stephen’s droll voice startled him.

  “Stephen, you know that’s not true. Do not bait your brother.”

  “Little brother, you’ve deigned to honor us with your presence. I hear your leman is with you. Tiny says she’s a fetching thing. All brothers are supposed to share. Are you willing?”

  Jake’s hands fisted at his sides, and he glowered at Stephen. “Tee is not my leman.”

  “Good.” Stephen’s lips turned up in a nasty leer. “Then you won’t mind if I make her mine.”

  “Boys, behave. Stephen, stop teasing your brother. He’ll think you’re serious.” Elaine swatted her diminutive, pale hand at Stephen’s shoulder.

  “And why would I not be serious?” Stephen’s left eyebrow arched.

  “Take your brother to your da.” Elaine shook a finger in their direction. “If I hear of any squabbling, both of you will answer to me. Do you understand?”

  “Ah, Mother dearling, I’m prodding the poker. Jamie is too serious for his own good. He has no sense of humor. I’ve decided it’s my duty to teach him how to laugh.”

  “Once there’s no quarreling, I don’t care what you do. Now off to your father. He’ll be wanting to spend time with both his sons.”

  Hours later, a bruised and battered Jake made his way up the stairs to the attic, wishing fervently for an elevator. Every muscle ached. Somehow, they’d persuaded him to join the rest of the men in practice. After an hour of swordplay, they’d taken up archery.

  It looked so easy. Between wielding a heavy-as-lead weapon they called a claymore and twanging an impossibly taut bow string, his right arm was ready to fall off. Stephen’s and Tiny’s snickers echoed in his mind. When he got back to the future, he and Alex were going to become proficient in swordplay and archery before they showed their faces again in 1501.

  He met his mother on the second floor landing, and she requested a few minutes of his time. To his delight, she spoke with him about his visions, termed the second sight in this time. Elaine promised to give Tee a tool that would help both of them with their special abilities and seemed to know an awful lot about Tee even though she’d never met her. He marveled at the easy acceptance of supernatural powers by the inhabitants of the sixteenth century. Would that it were so in the twenty-first century, but prejudice seemed to run hand in hand with progress.

  He found Tee singing in the shower. His tiredness evaporated. He shed his clothes and slipped onto the wet tiles.

  “What happened to the bathtub?” He winked at her. “I liked that thing.”

  “I had to wash my hair. It’s much easier in a shower.” She flashed Jake a saucy grin. “Any objections?”

  “Noooo, witchy woman. I can think of any number of wonderful things we can do in a shower.” Jake surveyed the enticing woman in front of him. She had shampoo in her hair, her hands tangled in a mass of white froth on top of her head. The action arched her breasts upwards. Foam drifted onto her chest, around her navel, and down to the curls between her legs.

  His arousal strained at his belly. He dropped a kiss on her shoulder and took over the job of shampooing her hair. She leaned back, wriggling her bottom against his cock.

  “I wished for you,” she admitted. “That feels so good.”

  “I can’t wait to make love to you on the beach. You do realize we seem to have a thing about water.” He angled the showerhead onto her hair and washed the soap out of her long curls.

  “Mmmm.” She tucked her hands behind her bum and found his thick, smooth hardness.

  “Feels wonderful, my sweet little witch. Don’t stop.” His hands dropped to her breast, and his eager fingers circled the peachy-pink areolas.

  She spun around in Jake’s arms and draped her hands around his neck. “It’s my turn, darling. Last time you were in charge. This time I get to practice chapter one. I’m doing the honors.”

  His shaft twitched on her stomach, and he melted into the impish, sensual light in her eyes. “Do you see me protesting? By the way,
I like the darling bit.” He held up his hands. “Go ahead, my lovely witch. Have your wicked way with me.”

  “I have at least a decade of fantasies to try out, darling.” She pushed his chest and pointed to one side. “Sit.”

  “What?” His head shifted to the right.

  She had conjured up a wide marble bench against the tiled wall. Steam filled the shower stall. Jake sat. His penis jerked in gleeful anticipation.

  “Have I ever told you how much I love your hair?” She lathered his locks. “It’s so black and curly. It looks coarse, but feels like silk. Close your eyes.”

  “Don’t want to,” he muttered. “The view from here is the second best one in the world.” He reached out to fondle the breasts dancing so close to his mouth.

  “Uh-uh.” She edged away. “Only when I say so.”

  His mouth burned, and his lips twitched, aching to taste her, lave those rosy nipples..

  She washed the shampoo out of his hair and then placed open-mouthed kisses down his wet temple. “On that very first night you came to Trinidad, the minute we were introduced.” Nibbling her way down Jake’s cheek, she whispered, “I knew you were dangerous to me. My whole body tingled, and I couldn’t think straight.” She stared into his eyes. “Do you remember when I gave you that glass of whiskey?”

  So mesmerized he couldn’t speak, he nodded.

  “Your fingers touching mine scorched my skin.” Smudges of pink color stained her cheekbones. “You started a fire in me. By the end of the night, my panties were soaked. I could hardly walk I ached so badly.”

  She slipped her tongue along the seam of his lips. They parted immediately, inviting her in. She straddled his legs and let her heels rest on the bench. The move made his balls tighten, and his gaze fixated on the glimpse of pink folds amidst the tawny curls cradling his arousal.

  “Now that’s the best view in the universe. Wider, babe,” he pleaded. “Spread your legs wider, Tee my love.”

  She let her thighs fall apart, slanted her lips over his, and swept her tongue into his mouth.

  He groaned.

  Rubbing her smoldering center against his cock, she shifted her hips left and right. The kiss took on a life of its own. The honeyed, warm, fresh taste of her lit the fuse of their passion.