Temptation Island (33 page)

Truth was he didn’t like the sight much more than Carm did, but he sure enjoyed watching her squirm.  Set the morning off right.  And it showed him that the usually collected Carmen was indeed flappable. 

Locking his eyes on the fat orange tabby Marek muttered, “Give me the damned bird, Sunny.  I really don’t want to touch it, but the lady behind me is a tiny bit upset over your display of affection.  So, why don’t you put it down like a good kitty?”

The cat must have understood him because she growled loudly and backed further away.  With a sigh Marek stood up and pushed the door open all the way and stepped out onto the patio.  Looked like he was going to have to corner her to get the little yellow bird from her. 
Merde, the lengths a man will go to for the love of a woman, mon.  Pathetic.

As soon as he closed the door behind him on Carm demands to pry the bird from Sunny, the cat turned around and darted off the patio across the grass.  He’d figured she’d do something like that.  No way was she going to give up her breakfast.

Marek followed her trail down off the patio onto the damp grass and stopped.  Inhaling deep the intense aroma of green grass, salt air and spicy flowers he glanced back at the kitchen and found Carm standing at the glass doors.  Her hands still crossed her chest and a combination of disgust and disappointment covered her pretty face.

He lifted his hands out, turned the palms up and shrugged.  No way was he chasing after a cat with a dead bird.  He had better things to do with his time.  Like get Carm naked.  His faded blue shirt skimmed the tops of her curvy thighs, tantalizing him with the sexy view.  He wanted her with a need that almost overwhelmed him.

And after her declaration last night he found that he needed her desperately as well.  After he’d dismissed her with the butt pat he’d gone outside and walked down the trail to the ocean.  For over an hour he’d sat and watched the moon mirror off the calm water of the cove.  The silver moonlight had sparkled across the glassy surface. 

He’d used the time to think about what he really wanted, really needed.  And he’d come up with one simple answer: Carmen. 

Fears still remained and knawed at him this morning, however, and whispered in his ear.  Marek knew he had to come to terms with them before he could offer Carm what she wanted most.  It was becoming increasingly clear to him that he wanted the same thing. 

It was a hell of a situation and one only he had the power to change.  He just needed a little more time to come to terms with it all. 
Merde
, so much had happened in such a short amount of time, his head was still spinning.
And he thought he was handling it pretty damned well on the whole.  It’s not an easy thing for a man comfortable with his life, with no plans to fall in love and marry, to have all of those things happen to him in such a short duration of time.

It’d drive most men to drink.  Or it’d drive them away, period.

He wanted to hang in there.  Whatever issues, whatever hang-ups he had, he wanted to be with Carm.  It’s all just a whole lot to swallow for a mere man.  And he needed a little breathing room to get up to the task.  A man had the right to come up for air, didn’t he? 

Carm’s voice invaded his thoughts, jerking him out of his musings.  “Did she run off with it?”  Marek gave a quick nod.  “Well, hell.  That poor baby bird.  I don’t suppose there’s any chance of saving it now.”

Marek shrugged again and apologized, “Sorry, Carm.  Looks like she got this one.”  He turned and started walking back toward the house, his toes sinking into the dense grass as he glanced at his Rolex.  “Landon should be here any minute, sugar.  You might want to put some pants on, unless you feel like greeting him in that.  I’m fine with that, but Landon might get the wrong idea.”  His attempt at humor did the trick.  Carm’s eyes went wide as she glanced down at the old shirt.

“Shit!  Why didn’t you say something when I first walked in this morning?”

Marek reached the doors and looked down, amusement twinkling in his eyes.  With a grin he stated, “Because I liked the way it looked, cupcake.  I’m a visual kind of guy.  And you’ve got fantastic legs.  All long and curvy.  Makes me want to get naked.”

Carm slapped a palm against his chest to ward off his advance. “Uh-uh, bucko.  There’s no time for hanky-panky—“

“There’s always time for hanky-panky---“

“
And
I need to get dressed.”

She said no, but he saw the glimmer of interest flash in her bright blue eyes.  It did his heart good to know that even though she’d been pissed at him last night she could move past it and still want to be with him.  Those were good qualities to have in a wife, because he was bound to piss her off from time to time.  Forgiveness was a very, very good thing.

Hmm, and maybe he should do a little something extra for that forgiveness.  Like lick her body from head to toe, stopping for a while right in the middle until she came so hard it brought tears to her eyes. 
Bloody grand idea
.

Snaking an arm out, Marek grabbed a fistful of t-shirt and reeled Carm in close.  She sputtered and tried to form a refusal but it got lost when his mouth came down hot on hers.  He groaned deep when she plastered to him instead and rubbed against his instant erection.

Whirling her until her back was to the wall, Marek trailed a blaze of wet kisses down her neck and nipped her below her ear.  Her intake of breath and raspy moan fueled him and spurred him on until his body quaked with the need for release. 

Small, slender hands clawed at this zipper and closed over his hard length as soon as it was freed from his pants.  He growled viciously as she squeezed him, gave teasing little strokes.

The need to fill her consumed him, pushing aside everything until there was only her.  The warm scent of her, the satin feel of her skin, the breathy sounds she made when he lifted her shirt and slipped a finger inside her slick folds.  She was everywhere, everything.

Marek placed a raw, needy kiss on her plump lips then sank to his knees before her.  “I wanted to do dis last night, but you were too sleepy and I didn’t have da heart to wake you.”  His tongue whipped out and glided across the moist entrance.  “Now you’re mine.  Lift your leg.”

Carm’s eyes were closed and her head was tilted back against the wall, but Marek saw her tiny nod and felt his blood pressure spike when her long, curvy thigh lifted to rest on his shoulder.  He drunk her in, the sight of her, the smell until he could hold back no more and placed a intimate kiss on her very core. 

              She tasted so sweet, so hot.  His mouth moved over her, sucked on her peak the same way her kissed her mouth.  Openly carnal and deeply passionate, until he felt the leg on his shoulder shake with impending release.

Needing to push her over the edge, hard and intense, Marek slipped two fingers inside her and stroked her, added pressure to her vaginal wall until he felt her sheath begin to pulse around him.  Her cry of release echoed off the walls, the hands dug into his hair.  She came like a tidal wave, the force of it rocking her against him then away in a swaying motion.

The bright tropical sun streamed through the open French doors, birds sang to the glorious morning high outside in palm trees as Marek lowered her leg and stood up.  He wanted to see her when he exploded inside her, watch the desire on her face in the brilliant sunshine.

So he lifted her sated body to his, kissed her deep and thorough as he circled them out the door onto the patio.  Marek didn’t stop until they reached the steps.  Then he lowered them both until he sat on the step with his elbows on the landing behind him and she straddled him.   

Carm laughed and threw back her head, the balmy breeze stirring her tossled hair.  His heart clutched hard in his chest at the sight of her in the morning light flushed from his loving, her eyes sparkling with delight.  His erection throbbed almost violently with need for release.  Marek thought he’d explode if he couldn’t be inside her soon.

Leveling her blue eyes on him, Carm shifted and came down in one smooth motion on him until he filled her completely.  Marek threw back his head exposing his corded throat and groaned with pleasure.  The feel of her tight and slick around him almost drove him over the edge right then and there.

They didn’t speak, had no need for words, and let their bodies do the talking as Carm rode him outside in the salty air under the blaze of the early morning sun.  Their eyes stayed locked on each other in silent understanding as they rocked together.

He climaxed with her eyes on him, a soft smile playing on her lips, the sunshine turning her blonde hair to a golden halo.  And thought he’d died and gone to heaven and she was his angel.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Carm watched Marek and Landon drive down the narrow lane still surrounded in warm afterglow.  Loving Marek this morning had been different, more tender.  A look she’s never seen before glimmered in his eyes as they’d made love on the back steps.  The way he’d rocked with her slow and gentle was so different than their normal passion.  Usually they wanted each other so desperately it was an almost violent coupling. 

But, this morning Marek had watched her with that special something in his hooded gaze until his head dropped back and his eyes closed in orgasm.  Carm suspected that she knew what that special something was.  And he knew it too.  It was up to him to decide if he had the courage to give voice to the emotion or not.

Because Marek was damned well going to admit he was in love with Carmen if she had to hog tie him down and threaten it out of him. 

A sound from the drive caught her attention and Carm focused on the narrow gap in the foliage just as a small red car shot through the opening.  It was Marek’s housekeeper Mrs. Carrins. 

Carm watched as the short, plump woman wiggled out from behind the wheel and slammed the door behind her.  Without a glance in Carm’s direction the middle-aged woman gathered her equipment from the trunk and headed toward the front door.  Once she reached the porch where Carm stood the housekeeper gave a curt nod and pushed the door open.

Did I detect a sniff of contempt
? 
Did I not pass approval
?  Carm narrowed her eyes after the short woman and bit back a grin
.  Well, that’s just too bad.  Get used to me, sister, because I’m not going anywhere. 

It was cute--in a rude sort of way--that the housekeeper apparently didn’t think Carmen was good enough for her Marek.  It presented a challenge to Carm to win the protective Mrs. Carrins over.  And Carm loved a good challenge. 

Raking her hands through her loose hair as she strode back into the house, Carm decided it was time to give her sister a call.  Time to give Kate the address so she could overnight her birth certificate to her.   Marek was due for a push in the right direction, and being able to leave Tortola any time was definitely a big push. 

Carm considered herself a patient woman, but it was quickly running out.  As was Kate’s pregnancy.  It was coming down to the wire and she and Marek needed to make some decisions. 

Well, she’d made her decisions.  He needed a good prodding to make his.  It was times like this that Carm remembered the electric cattle prod her father had used for their cows to get them to go where he wanted.  The thing was darned effective on those cows.  Made a girl think fondly how wonderful it could work on a reluctant, dragging-his-feet male. 
Zap!  Make a decision, boy! Oh, not quick enough.  Zap!  That’s what I thought.  Good boy.

Carm laughed at her internal musings and the mental picture it provided.  In a wrong, sick sort of way, the image of zapping Marek on the butt to get him moving held a certain kind of appeal.  There was something inherently frustrating to a female about a reluctant, s-l-o-w man.  Just about every woman could relate to her cattle prod fantasy to get a man’s rear in gear.

Carm made her way down the hall toward the office and continued her musings as the sound of pots banging and clanging came from the kitchen.  The truth of the matter was that women have a time frame for things.  A certain period of time for things to progress and flesh out in a relationship. 

And Carm’s was getting shorter by the day. 

Sighing as she entered the cool, welcoming room, Carm walked around to the thick leather seat and sat down.  Letting out another breath on a puff that feathered her hair around her face, she reached for the phone.  And stopped.  This call would put a cut-off date to her time on the island with Marek.  She was pretty certain they’d passed some milestone this morning, but that instinctive fear that lives in every woman in love had her gripping her hands together to keep them from shaking uncontrollably.  It crept up her throat, closed her airway, and made it hard to breathe.

“Get a grip, Carmen.  It’s only a phone call.”  But, it wasn’t just a phone call.  It was the end.  As soon as she received her proper identification she was free to leave the island. 
Had
to leave the island.  Family was family—and Kate needed her.  This call was her ticket back home, to Kate and to everything normal.