Impulse (Isola dei Sogni) (10 page)

Easy, he'll jump. Hold on love, you're being so brave, not long now. And open your eyes.

It sounded like Dylan, but for the life of her, Mia couldn't fathom out why she was imagining him talking to her. But then, she couldn't get her head round the fact she was riding in a tiger's mouth, either.
 

 
I'm going to wake up on the settee, in front of the fire, at home in Scotland. It'll be dreich and dismal weather, the fire will have gone out, and I'll be late for work. Go figure.

The tiger shook his head and Mia opened her eyes. He was scaling the cliff as if it was a gentle incline, not a one-in-three gradient. Before she had time to worry about all the 'what ifs': what if he slipped and lost his footing, what if he opened his mouth and yawned, what if—
oh stop it, woman.

If it's my time, it's my time. I just hope someone knows my favorite flowers, and plays Cabaret as my coffin comes in.
To her relief, they reached the top, and the tiger bounded over the rim and onto the rough turf. He set off at a run toward a cottage near some trees. The stride was smooth, but the ground wasn't.

"Oh lord." Mia didn't know she'd spoken—squawked—until the animal shook his head, and she bobbed about like a plastic duck in a bathtub. That was a definite chastisement. "Look, I can't help having motion sickness, okay? It's just me, my quirk. So build a bridge and get over it, whoever or whatever you are." She swallowed several times. This seemed to have gone on for hours.

Tiredness or something like it rolled over her in waves, and Mia gave into it. Whatever was going to happen would happen regardless of if she were awake or not.

Dylan sensed Marloth's presence. Was it the cottage that made him use his gift more, be more accepting of his powers? Or was it meeting Mia? He thought Mia had a lot to do with it, but for now, he wasn't prepared to analyze his actions. That could wait.

Within seconds, Marloth was there with him. He lay down on the thick carpet, his pelt almost merging into its luxurious depths, and gently put Mia on the floor next to him. Dylan nodded his thanks, and put a bowl of water next to the shifter. If tigers could be said to grin, the look on Marloth's face was just that, before he bent his head and lapped at the water. Dylan lifted Mia and carried her upstairs into his chosen bedroom. After making sure she was comfortable on the bed, and knowing he had a few minutes reprieve until she became aware of her surroundings, he returned downstairs to where Marloth was waiting.

Seeing him, Marloth stretched, shook, and returned to his 'human' form.

"Thanks, mate, though how come you drew the short straw?"

Marloth snickered. "Faran wussed out, said he needed his cock more than I needed mine. I think he has a woman somewhere. God, I so wish I could say that. Well, yeah, maybe one day, if I'm honest. Oh god, shoot me now, and forget that statement."

"My pleasure, rifle or shotgun?" Dylan laughed. "Or hand you over to a certain lady to do the deed?"

Marloth shook his head and grimaced.

"On second thought, don't bother. I want to watch the rugby. And your lady, Dyl? She's a keeper, I tell you. Poor woman she was bricking it at times. Especially when we came up the cliff. I tell you, if she can cope with what I put her through, she can cope with anything. You need to keep her. Use your witching spells on her or something."

"Who said I'm a witch?" Dylan asked lazily. "Blaine is a Dream-maker, Papa is a Grand Master, and me? I have to choose and soon, to accept or deny my gifts." He shrugged. "If I accept, then I'll eventually take over for Papa, at his time of choosing, learn secrets and the old ways, and mediate; therefore, be above all arguments and hatreds."

"And if you choose not to accept?"

Dylan shook his head. "Life will never be the same again."

There was a crash.

"
What the hell?"

"Mia," they both said at once.

Marloth stood and shook his head. His tawny hair streamed out around him and shimmered as he began to shift. "Over to you, Dyl. I'm out of here. Er, security round and all that. Good luck." His shift completed, he loped to the door and disappeared.

"Coward." Dylan muttered to Marloth's back. He turned toward the stairs. There was no point in putting it off. He had to go and face Mia.

He sensed her angry muttering long before he saw her.

'What asshole is responsible for this crap? A bloody coward, that's who. Not even bothering to face up to me. Yeah, this whole island is a fucking joke. Wind up animals, stupid people getting into my head, and that asshole Marloth messing with my sister. As for Dylan . . . words fail me.'

 
He could only hope she stayed that way whilst he explained.

He opened the bedroom door. She was off the bed and three vases flew at him in quick succession. They all missed.

"Rats, I knew I should have concentrated in P.E. Well? I need answers! What the hell is going on? I might have known, though. If I'd the sense I'd been born with, I'd've known. Moron. Ignore me for as long as you felt like it and then get that super toy to kidnap me and bring me to God knows where. What next, Asshole? Have your wicked way with me? Huh!"

"I've already had my wicked way with you—several times," Dylan remarked as he leaned against the doorjamb. Was it his natural reflexes or his gift that made him swiftly move to the left and dodge the vase that missed him by inches and shattered on the floor? Her aim seemed to improve the angrier she got.

"Now, Mia," he began and dodged in the opposite direction from the bedside clock. Then the phone and a notebook. When he saw Mia eyeing up the dressing table stool, he thought he'd better make a move. While there was still some of the bedroom left.

"Don't you 'now Mia' me, you moron. I am a person. A guest here. I have rights and oof—"

He lifted her and silenced her in the manner of all romances—with a kiss. Though he was quick to make sure her arms were pinned to her side and she couldn't move her feet to aim a kick.

"Ah, Mia, love, I've done this all wrong, haven't I? I thought you'd find this romantic. I wanted to sweep you away with a grand romantic gesture to show you I can do romantic. That I'm not a bean counter or a dry as dust behind the scene man. That I want you quite desperately. And yeah, that I take the risk you might blow me off."
And you may well just do that when I tell you the rest.
He picked up her hand and kissed her wrist in a tiny romantic gesture.

'Oh lordy. I
am
in a romance novel. So what next? Do we walk away together into the sunset?'

She pulled back from him and traced his lips with her fingers
.
It was a tender gesture, and each feather-light touch sent tingles through him. His cock responded and stretched the denim of his jeans to its limit.

"We can if you want." Dylan ran his fingers through her hair, and stroked the nape of her neck. The little shiver she gave was as welcome as a win on the lottery. "I'm game."

"Shit, I must stop saying my thoughts out loud." Mia sighed. She leaned into him and rested her head on his chest.

"No, don't. I like it." He didn't bother to say that if he chose to he could read them anyway.

It was time for explanations. Dylan lifted her into his arms, pleased when she clung around his neck.

Her thigh brushed his cock and she giggled. "Someone's pleased to see me." She dropped one hand and stroked him through his jeans.

"Shit, woman, do you want me to drop you? That is one stroke too close for comfort. I'm about to break out as it is." Dylan tightened his grip.

Mia winked. "That'll make it easier for me to have my wicked way with you once you've groveled enough."

If groveling was needed, Dylan decided he'd grin and bear it—and grovel.

"Mia, I'm sorry. I
was
an asshole. But I have a lot to think about, to decide on. And . . ." he shrugged. "I fell like a ton of bricks for you. And that is weird. Not because you're not fall-worthy or—" He stopped mid-sentence as Mia rolled her eyes.

 
"Dylan, I'm well over forty, overweight and no oil painting. Okay, my teeth are my own, and I don't use a hair dye, but come on. I'm not the sort of woman a younger fit guy falls for. That's in novels, not in life."
'But how I wish it were. I'd be a happy bunny then, and I could jump his bones and know he'd let me.'

Dylan considered her. "You think so? Well, lots of things are in life and we don't realize it. And you, my love, can jump my bones whenever you like. Before you ask, you didn't say that out loud. You actually don't talk out loud as often as you think."

 
She looked at him as if he'd sprouted horns. He guessed it was a lot to swallow. Tigers, thought readers, and heaven help them if he revealed everything about his family.

"Er, so, what exactly are you trying to say? You read my mind?"

He was pleased that she looked more intrigued than horrified. He nodded. "It's one of my gifts."

 
'Along with making love so superbly I'm still tingling?'

Dylan laughed. "If you say so."

"Bollocks. I need to watch my mind. Okay, so if I believe that, what is this place?"

Dylan led her to a settee set against one wall, and pulled her down to sit next to him. "Somewhere to set aside your ingrained ideas and open your mind to all possibilities." He hesitated. "Hell, Mia, it's so complicated to explain. And I'm shit scared I'll frighten you away before we discover what we might become."

 
"Oh, for heaven's sake, Dylan." Mia struggled to sit up. "I'm in my forties, not my teens. Try me and see. I've suspended belief so much this last day or so, I'll go with the flow. I do believe you can read minds, because if I didn't, I'd be on my way to the funny farm. The tiger is a bit harder to swallow, but I got here somehow, and it doesn't sit well to say it was a robot or something."

 
"No, that was Marloth, and before you go off on whatever else he might be, he's a shifter. He's new, young, and sometimes over-eager, but his heart is true." He wondered what Mia's reaction to that would be.

She stiffened but nodded. "Of whom we will discuss later. Go on."

Well, at least she had an open mind—sort of.

"Er, well, Faran, our head of security, is also a shifter." Dylan wondered when she'd hold her hand up and say enough already. "Marloth has been his protégé for a while. He was in a bad mindset when he arrived here. He's changed out of all recognition since he arrived."

"Hmm, I bet. Pity he didn't help other people before he bolted here. A shifter. After what's happened tonight, I guess I can go with it. So you're not?"

 
"Nope, not one of my talents. I'm a witch. So are Papa and Blaine." Was this it? Mia had stiffened.
 

"Hmm, a gang of three?"

 
"Not at all." He knew he sounded stilted. "We are individuals with different skills. Until this week, I had never become involved with anything other than the legal side. I came to help out this week as a favor to Papa. He said he needed me. A special lady needed me. I don't know if he was right or not, but I need that special lady."

Would she believe him? Dylan had never heard his blood pass through his body before, but he could swear he heard it now. The pulse in his neck throbbed, like the time he'd hit his fingernail with a hammer.

"So you say. You're good with words, Dylan. And reading minds, it seems. Are you reading me now?"

He shook his head. "No, this is too important."