"Who is he? I'll have him strung up and you can throw rotten fish at him."
The image made her laugh. "He's the rotten fish. No, it's all well over and done with. And let's face it, not everyone wants a ready-made family, do they? And to be honest, better then than later. Meryl and I got on well, and things worked fine. I had the odd affair." She felt her face warm. "And well, you know, I, er, got on with stuff."
Dylan raised one eyebrow. Damn, I wish he wouldn't do that, it makes me drool.
"Stuff?"
"Yes, stuff," Mia said. "Use your imagination. Or look, surely you can just do that and spare my embarrassment?"
Dylan nuzzled her neck. "I want you to tell me. If I look, how will we know if you meant to share?"
He has a point. Mia realized how much she appreciated his honor. She took a deep breath and swallowed. His touch and his warm breath on her skin gave her a cosseted feeling. I could get used to this.
"Okay. I had a few lovers, not many, and decided I'd never let my heart get involved with anyone ever again. Other people talked about their dreams and fantasies, and I told myself it was stupid. No point in them. Then Meryl got involved with a guy who dropped her without any reason. She was distraught, and then she swore he was nothing to her, and she was upset for being taken in by a pretty face. I'm not sure I'd call him pretty myself, but there you are. I thought she'd gotten over him; now, I'm not so sure. This trip was sprung on me. She'd gotten the chance for us to have a week on a dream island with some friends, and I'd love it. She said no way was I going to chicken out, and even if all I did was sit and read for the week, I was coming." Mia giggled. "Well, I've done that all right. Meryl said I needed to live a bit and climb out of my rut. There's climbing and jumping, and by god, I've jumped without a parachute."
A clit-tightening tingle danced down her spine, and Mia felt her thighs dampen when Dylan moved his hand to caress the curve of her breast.
"Do you mind? Are you still sacred of flying with me?" His voice was even. Too level, Mia decided, to be natural. He was trying hard to show he wasn't worried, but she'd bet if she could read his mind she'd know differently.
Come on, Mia, open up, and take that first step.
"Not of flying, but of flying too fast, too far. Oh, Dylan." Mia twisted and took his face in her hands. A shiver rippled over his skin, and transmitted his worry to her more than anything else had. "Dylan, I want to. I need to. But I have to be sure. For both our sakes. I've known you for bugger all time. It's been weird and wonderful, and you know damn well I fancy the socks off you." She glanced down to his bare feet. "Literally. So, one step at a time. No great leaps or anything. I'm only here for a week." She choked back a sob. "Bugger it. I knew Danny for three years and he was a perfect gentleman 'til he was thwarted."
Instead of firing up as Mia knew he could do, Dylan sighed. "So I have to atone for his sins then? No." He put a finger over her lips. "I hear you, without even looking. You're right to be wary. You don't know me from Adam, except I part own an island where fantasies and dreams come true, and am being asked to take over as head of all those who create things such as we do. I can read your mind and give you a screaming good orgasm. Not enough of a recommendation for a life together. I accept that. But enough of a testimonial for a let's take it one day at a time and see?"
Mia had never thought of herself as fanciful, but now she was certain the air stopped moving to listen to her answer.
"How? You said you need to decide whether to take over from your father. That's a big decision. Isn't it enough to worry about without me in the equation?"
Dylan stroked her breast and Mia's pussy clenched as the invisible string from boob to clit stretched and reverberated through her body.
"Without you in the equation, it would be so much harder. If there's a chance I might have you by my side, then any decision we make together will be the right one. But myself?" He shrugged. "Who knows."
That's one hell of an onus to put on me. However, Mia relished the fact that Dylan was open and honest with her. "Where?"
"Eh?"
Damn it, I thought he'd understand. "Where do we learn to lo . . . er, know each other?' I hope he isn't looking in on my mind now. Talk about almost a Freudian slip.
"We can start here and now this week. Then I'm back in the U.K., so we'll carry on there? I work in the city and have a house in Hertfordshire, but it's amazing what you can do by video conferencing. I'll be with you whenever possible, if you let me. I'll move wherever you want."
"Scotland."
"Eh? Oh yeah, well, why not? I can shuttle down if I need to and we'll have Hertfordshire as a weekend place. Then, if you're happy, want to be with me and we decided to take over for Papa, we move here. If, and I know it's a big if. Each step is up to you, and I don't say that lightly. I'm used to being in charge, so if I fall by the wayside, you'll need to forgive me. However, I know, and I tell you now, love. Mia McKenzie, you are my completion, my other half, and my future. If you go, I'll accept it, and be half a man. But it's up to you. We'll go at your pace. Well, I'll do my best."
That sounded more like it. Mia was under no illusion that Dylan would keep to his no coercion rule. It was as clear as the sun in the sky that he'd push and shove and do his best to move things along. Mia was no fool. She ran her fingers under the edge of his t-shirt, found his nipple, and nipped it. "I think that sounds perfect," she said sedately, knowing fine well she'd like to punch the air and shout yee-haw. Dylan understood, and was happy to let her set the pace—sort of. "So can I start like this?" She 'tiptoed' her finger down his chest and slid it under the waistband of his jeans.
"You can start however you want," Dylan answered. "In this, I'm more than willing to let you set the pace."
Mia leaned into him, pulled his t-shirt over his head, and traced the swirls of hair on his chest. He gave a strangled moan and his cock swelled under her ass.
"So, we have the rest of this week?" She feathered a line of kisses from his neck to his nipple.
Dylan groaned. "Ah, Mia, you're killing me. We have as long as you need. Oh fucking shit, no." He ran his hand through his hair. "Bugger."
Mia pulled back, and bit her lip to stop herself crying. Or kneeing him in the balls. "Pardon?"
"Shit, not you, love. Not you. But someone shoved their way into my senses, and you're not going to like it."
Goosebumps appeared all over Mia's body and she shivered—not in anticipated pleasure. "Meryl?" She knew the answer even before Dylan nodded. "Tell me."
"She's demanding to leave now. Says not to tell you, but she wants away. No reasons, no tears, and no tantrums. 'Just please tell Mia I have to go, and to follow her heart'. Any clues why?"
Mia's heart sank. Were her hopes going to end there?
"And she says 'tell Mia not to follow me, this is her time'. No, I'm not reading her, Papa sent this to me. He's the only one who's able to break into me like this." Dylan stood up and held Mia close. His heart beat in a steady thump next to hers, and his strength filled her and helped her make her mind up. "Your heart, Mia, no one else's." Dylan reminded her.
Could she cast off the feeling of responsibility to Meryl after all these years? Something Meryl had said to her years before slipped into her mind. At least I tried. She made her mind up. Why on earth was she being so arsy? This was her time to do as Meryl advised, and she had to try. Mia realized she was punishing Dylan for Danny's behavior and it had to stop.
"Let her go," she said softly. "Let's get ourselves sorted out. I know I love you and trust you, and I'm sure I'll still be saying that in ten, no, thirty years' time. Mum met dad at the fair. She said by the time they got off the dodgems, she was in love. Dad said it was even quicker. He says before they got on them. They took their time, though, and didn't get married for two years."
Dylan groaned and put his hand to his head as he rolled his eyes in a theatrical manner. Mia poked him. "Give over. I didn't say we'd have to. And as I was born before they were married it sure
wasn't platonic. And they were in love until the day they died. That's what we'll have, and I want Meryl to have. Let her sort herself out, she needs space now. Because you see, I know only too well what this is all about. And neither you nor I can help."
"I was afraid of that."
Mia nodded. "Marloth Ducaine. He's got a helluva lot of explaining to do."
She was sure she heard a tiger roar somewhere, but Dylan kissed her, and she didn't pay it any attention. Dylan was much more important.
Raven lives in Scotland, along with her husband and their two cats—their children having flown the nest—surrounded by beautiful scenery, which inspires a lot of the settings in her books.
She is used to sharing her life with the occasional deer, red squirrel, and lost tourist, to say nothing of the scourge of Scotland—the midge.
A lover of reading, she appreciates the history inside a book, and the chance to peek into the lives of those from years ago. Raven admits that she enjoys the research for her books almost as much as the writing; so much so, that sometimes she realizes she's strayed way past the information she needs to know, and not a paragraph has been added to her WIP.
Her lovely long-suffering husband is learning to love the dust bunnies, work the Aga, and be on stand-by with a glass of wine.
You can find out more about Raven at the following links:
Website | Blog | Facebook Fanpage | Facebook Profile | Twitter
To UCW and that first 'oh lets all write a story' brainstorming session. Without you all, Impulse would never have been written.
To Doris, my harshest—and nicest—critic, and wielder of the red type.
To Leona and Jinxie for getting Impulse from me to you, with the gentlest of pushes and prods.
And, of course, to Paul, and his understanding . . . and the release day champagne.
Although Isola Dei Sogni isn't based on any specific island I've visited, it has a little bit of you all in it.
Wallflowers Don't Wilt (Rogue Scandals #1)
To Please a Lady (Rogue Scandals #2)
A Most Unusual Mistress (Rogue Scandals #3)
A Rose Between the Thornes (Rogue Scandals #4)
Silver Silk Ties (The House on Silk Street #1)
A Shimmer of Silk (The House on Silk Street #2)
La Bella Isabella (Ladies of London #1)
The Best Man's Bridesmaid (Ladies of London #2)
The Perfect Gift (Ladies of London #3)
Will You Dance, Miss Laurence? (Dance Studio #1)
Almost Entente Cordiale
Ana Do You Hear Me?
Deck Mac Hall
In The Recess of Her Soul
Rian's Return
Riding Ryder
Taken Identity
Teaching Teacher
The Baronet's Blackout Bombshell
The Price to Pay
The Wager
To Catch a Fox
Virgins Behaving Badly
Where There's a Will
Anthologies
Ad-Dick-tion: Vol. 2
Evernight's Naughty Nibbles
Freaky Flashes
Keyboards and Kink
Serviced, Vol. 1
The Eclipse of the Blood Moon
The Protectors
Vanilla-Free Christmas
Wine and Nine
With Love, From Val and Tyne
Coming soon...
Dance to a Different Beat (Dance Studio #2)
Cecilia's Claim (Behind Closed Doors, #2 in collaboration with Lee Brazil)
Master
A Matter of Faith
YA as J. Lilley
The Shalean Moon Series... Discovered, Renounced, Accepted, United, Threatened, Resolved
Temptation
By
Raven McAllan
Dare she? Meryl stared at the brochure her friend Freya handed her. Across the top in a flowing script were the words—
Isola Dei Sogni makes your dreams and fantasies come true.
Yeah, I wish. She sniggered and she dropped the booklet on the table before going to make coffee. There was just enough time for a caffeine intake and a bun before she tackled the next task on her list. Running a successful catering company was fun, but hard work. Which was why she supposed Freya had suggested the holiday.
"Lots of us," Freya had said as they'd sat in the sauna after a session in the gym. "We're all busy and need to chill. Exploring a fantasy or dream could be the very way. Hey, you could bring your sister. She's cool."
Meryl pondered Freya's last comment. Her sister could do with a holiday, but this one? She grabbed her coffee and picked up the leaflet again, to flick through the pages. And sniggered again. It seemed almost every fantasy and dream as long as it was legal would be catered for. The island looked idyllic, and the photos showed pale sands and an impossibly blue ocean. Meryl thought over her schedule as she turned the pages, it sounded so enticing.
The last section showed a yacht sailing toward a tiny atoll, with a tall golden haired man at the helm. Something about the way he stood made her lift the brochure closer—and spew coffee all over the table.
Other Books from Just Ink Press
R.C. Murphy
Enslaved
N.L. Gervasio
Nemesis
The Dracove
Gods & Vampyres
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Impulse (Isola dei Sogni) Page 7
