Free Temptation by Raven McAllan Page A

on her pillow when she came out of the bathroom the morning after their magical day together? Whatever it was, Meryl was happy, but impatient.
    Now the long hours of waiting were over, she needed to move. She bit her lip. Would her acting be good enough? After one last swim, Meryl walked inside and had a swift shower. It was almost time to contact Christophe.
    As she wandered back into the bedroom, there was a knock on her door. She tightened the belt of her dressing gown and went to the spy hole. Semper stood there. The look in his eye reminded her of someone, but for the life of her, Meryl couldn’t think whom. She swithered; should she open the door? The fact he gave her the creeps was no reason not to. This was Isola Dei Sogni, and she’d bet her bottom dollar someone would know where he was, and why.
    “Hold on,” she shouted through the door as she dragged jeans on and added a strappy with a built-in bra. No way was she going to let him see her bra-less. “I’m just cleaning my teeth” She was sure she heard a suggestive snigger as she grabbed a hoodie and pulled it over her head. Only one idiot could think ‘sleaze’ over something as innocuous as that.
    Asshole.
    Meryl opened the door. Semper leaned on the doorframe and whistled softly. “Worth waiting for. I’m here to see what you need for your fantasy, Meryl. I’m at your command.” He brushed passed her, and managed to stroke her breast as he did. She shuddered. Not in a million years.
    “Cat got your tongue? I bet he did.” He sniggered. “I’d get it better, honey, just try me.”
    That was it. She saw red. How dare he! “Fuck off and go fuck yourself.”
    He moved toward her, anger on his face. Meryl didn’t wait to see what might happen. She ran. Right into a body. There was a slight ooft, and then someone took her arms. She struggled.
    “Hey, hey, stop that. You’ll hurt yourself. What’s going on?” Christophe stood in front of her.
    Semper muttered something under his breath and pushed passed Christophe. To Meryl’s relief, Christophe let him go. What could she say? Was Semper just ready to be like that with her or was he a predator? Meryl had no way of finding out, but surely Marloth would be able to? She had to project to him and hope he understood and told Christophe. Meanwhile, it gave her the perfect way to move on to the next part of their plan.
    “I want to go home. Now. Please arrange it and explain to Mia. I’ve had enough here. Sorry, but that’s the way I want it. Not tomorrow, not the end of the week, but now.”
    Would it work? After a searching look at her, Christophe nodded. “I’ll arrange it for you. Where would you like to wait? It’ll take a short while to arrange it. Your room will be safe, on my oath.”
    She trusted him. “Then there will be fine.” Meryl wanted to pack, and do her damnedest to get her thoughts to Marloth. Whether she’d manage or not was another thing. “Er, where is everyone?” She did her best to sound casual.
    Christophe shook his head. “Now, you know better than to ask me that, don’t you? But I will say your sister is discussing her future, and Marloth is on a security sweep. So no one will disturb you, until I personally come to escort you to the boat, and take you to the airport. There will be a seat for you on the plane, so don’t worry. Also, there will be a car to drive you home. All right?”
    “Yes, thank you. Very all right.”
    He smiled. “Good. Do you want food?”
    She shook her head. The thought nauseated her. “No thanks, I’ll just get my stuff all ready.”
    “Thirty to forty minutes. Can you be ready in that time?”
    She’d do it even if it meant shoving stuff into her suitcase and sitting on it to close the lid.
    * * * * *
     
    By the time Christophe returned, Meryl had sat as Marloth had shown her and sent, she hoped, a message to him, packed reasonably tidily, and dried her hair. The knock on the door made her jump. She checked before she opened it,