Free Too Tempting to Resist by Cara Elliott

fall to the floor. A casual kick pushed them aside, and then he took up his candle and swung around for the bed, intent on turning back the counterpane and plumping the pillows before fetching his book.
    “What the devil…” The low, licking flame captured the flickering image of frothing skirts and tumbled curls.
    “What the devil…” he repeated, letting his gaze move up the long, lithe stretch of female limbs.
    “Elf,” squeaked Eliza. “Have you perchance seen my cat anywhere in here?”

Chapter Four
    A h.” Gryff slowly set his drink down on the corner of the dressing table. “It appears the little Imp of Satan has been up to mischief again.”
    Eliza nodded, her throat too tight with embarrassment to allow further speech.
    “Perhaps you should consider a leash for the little demon.”
    “F-felines don’t take kindly to such restraints,” she managed to whisper. “They are too…curious.”
    “Yes, well there is an old adage about curiosity killing the cat,” he drawled.
    “That’s why they have nine lives,” she replied.
    Gryff chuckled, seemingly unconcerned about the fact that he wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. “An excellent point.” He cocked his head, making a show of studying the swirl of shadows flitting around the ceiling beams. “I wonder how many lives females possess, for it looks like you might be stuck there for some time.”
    “That’s not humorous, sir,” she said tightly.
    “Food, water,” he mused, pretending he hadn’t heard her. “Dear me, that could be a terrible problem.”
    Eliza licked her lips.
    “Feeling a little thirsty?”
    She closed her eyes and exhaled a ragged sigh. “Go ahead and have your fun, sir. I suppose I deserve the ridicule for being so bloody, bloody stupid,” she muttered.
    Picking up his brandy glass, he took a long swallow of the amber spirits. The candle flame spun a thread of gold through the rippling liquid and suddenly her mouth felt very dry.
    “Would you care for a drop?” he asked, raising the cut crystal. Shards of light spilled across his torso, accentuating the chiseled contours of bronzed muscles, the dark peppering of midnight curls, the hard planes of flat belly, the…
    Her eyes widened. “Is that…”
    “A tattoo?” he finished. “Yes. A rather large one. Would you like a closer look?”
    No. Yes.
    He seemed to take her silence as an invitation to come closer.
    The feather mattress shivered beneath her knees as he climbed atop the coverlet. A golden glow dipped and danced over the sleek stretch of masculine limbs. How was it that he could look so impossibly graceful? He reminded her of the temple sculptures brought back from Greece by Lord Elgin. Divine visions of Warrior Gods, carved out of smooth, perfect marble.
    While in contrast, she had never felt so awkward and ridiculous in her life.
    Gryff rose up and slid his knees to a wider stance. “See, it’s a dragon.”
    “A-a very large dragon,” she whispered, trying to keep her eyes glued on the tattoo.
    “That’s because I was largely unconscious during the process. My friend Cameron paid the artist double the agreed-on price to enlarge the design.” He made a wry face. “So be assured, you are not the only one who has ever done something bloody, bloody stupid.”
    Eliza couldn’t help but stare. The intricate pinpricks of ink etched a swirling pattern of dark against the light hue of his skin. The dragon’s scaled tail twirled around his navel, while its lithe body uncoiled downward, the jaws opening wide to reveal curved teeth and a scarlet tongue that pointed…
    Eliza jerked her gaze up.
    “What do you think?”
    Her cheeks turned uncomfortably warm.
    “Of the art,” he drawled.
    Trying to sound as if admiring a man’s nether region was something she did every day, she replied, “Quite imaginative. Did it hurt?”
    “Like the devil. Especially here.” Gryff indicated a spot below his navel. “The skin around the area of the head is