T is for Temptation (47 page)

He scooped her into his arms, walked to the bed, sat, and rested his head against the window frame. “Do you think fresh air might help?”

“It’s worth a try.” She flashed him a wan smile.

He flicked the latch and opened the shutters. A slight breeze sent cool air over his shoulder, and the fresh, clean smell of pine filled the room.

“Why are we at Brodick?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” He brought a handful of her tawny locks to his nose and sniffed, comforted by the familiar mixture of rose, lavender, and musk.

“You were going to meet us for lunch and tell Dad we were dating.” She cupped a hand over her mouth. “Oh my, did I say that aloud?”

He grinned, everything now right and shining in his world. Tracing the soft swell of her cheek, the regal line of her nose, he marveled at how crucial she’d become to him, how being able to touch her, hold her, made him content, made him complete.

“I died a million times while you were missing.” Jake leaned his forehead against hers. “I kept thinking about all the things we haven’t done together. Like taking a shower, like waking up next to you, like kissing you last thing at night.”

“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 delightful 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.