Intend To Seduce(21)

He wasn't sure which surprised and delighted him more – her reply or the kiss. It had been so spontaneous, it had to have come from Mac, not her mermaid persona.

"Mr. Wainright! Mr. Wainright, sir…"

Glancing up, he saw Yancey, the young pool man, hurrying toward them and waving Mac's duffel bag. Lucas could cheerfully have murdered him. He released Mac, but used his arms to keep her caged against the side of the lagoon.

"Your cell phone has been ringing and ringing. I finally figured I should answer. Good thing too. A Mr. Tracker is trying to reach you. He ordered me to bring you the phone, so he can call back." Dropping the duffel at the edge of the lagoon, Yancey squatted to hand Lucas the phone. "Was your Mr. Tracker by any chance in the military? There's such a note of command in his voice," he asked, eyes bright with interest.

The cell phone rang.

"And he's so prompt too."

"Yes?" Lucas said into the phone.

"Are you okay?" Tracker asked.

"Of course."

"It's the first time someone else has ever answered your cell phone."

The amazement and concern in Tracker's voice had him frowning. For the first time since he'd followed Mac into the lagoon, reality was setting in. The truth was, he'd left the damn phone in the cabana along with his wallet and clothes. He hadn't given them a thought once he'd seen Mac in that swimsuit. And he hadn't been thinking of anything but her a moment ago when he'd taken her against the side of the lagoon.

He might have taken her there again if Yancey hadn't interrupted them. What was she doing to him?

"I'm inside," Tracker said.

"Inside?"

"The Serenity Spa. Look, am I interrupting something? If you and the doc—"

Lucas dragged his attention back to the phone call. "The doc and I are swimming. That's all. You can report."

"It's going to take me a while to verify that Sophie's here. I don't want to sneak into her cabin until she's asleep."

"You know which one it is?"

"Not yet. As soon as the coast is clear, I figure I'll be able to find her cabin number in the main office. Then I'll wait until everyone is asleep. I also have an updated report on the Falcones."

As he listened to Tracker give him a rundown on the two men's movements for the past twenty-four hours, Lucas found his attention refocusing on Mac as she retrieved her wallet from the duffel and gave Yancey a bill.

"I brought a couple of towels for you," Yancey was saying, "just in case you want to go into the hotel by the ocean-side entrance."

"You're a lifesaver. I'm going to tell the management to give you a raise," Mac said.

For someone who said she'd never gone on vacation with her family or stayed in a big resort before, she certainly had a knack for winding his staff right around her finger. First Waldman and the three bellhops in the main lobby and now the pool man. And, of course, the owner of the hotel. She had him forgetting his money, his cell phone and even the clothes off his back!

Pocketing the bill, Yancey gave them another three-fingered wave before he turned and strode away.

"You still there, boss?"

Dragging his attention back to Tracker, Lucas said, "Let me know the minute you verify…" He paused to watch Mac pull one of the towels into the water and fasten it around her waist. He thought of how easy it would be to pull it off of her once they got to the room. And there was that Jacuzzi. It would provide a much more private environment for a mermaid fantasy. They wouldn't be interrupted.

"The good doctor is very distracting, I take it," Tracker said.

"No. Yes." He had to get a grip. And the best way he knew how to do that was to put a stop to the fantasies she seemed bound and determined to ensnare him in. "Call me as soon as you can confirm anything."











Chapter 10

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The sun had moved nearly an hour closer to the horizon by the time Lucas let himself out onto the balcony of his suite. He'd urged Mac to use the larger of the two bathrooms, then taken his own shower in the smaller one. It had been a test – to see if he could stay away from her.

He wasn't sure he could pass it.

And that worried him.

The time he'd spent with Mac in the lagoon should have sated him. Making love to her in the cave had been risky enough, but what had happened afterward in the lagoon… He couldn't prevent his gaze from drifting down to the blue ribbon of water that snaked its way around the hotel. Even now he couldn't believe what they'd done, what might have happened if Yancey had come upon them a few minutes earlier. Never had he been that desperate, that reckless, not even when he was a teenager.

No other woman had ever driven him to do something that … crazy. For the life of him, he couldn't think of another word to describe it.

And there'd certainly been other women. He'd been quite young – only midway through his teens – when he'd discovered women were attracted to him. The realization that this had a lot to do with the Wainright name and wealth came later. By that time, his father had gone through three of his five marriages.

Lucas had no intention of ever following in his father's footsteps. He'd always made sure that he was in control of any relationship he had with a woman.

Until MacKenzie Lloyd. And it wasn't just his control that she was sapping. Each time he made love with her, he was losing parts of himself. Maybe forever.

A ripple of fear moved through him. Then, dragging his gaze away from the lagoon, he paced down the length of the balcony. No woman had ever frightened him before either.

How could she have that kind of power over him? She might believe that he was buying into the fantasies, but he knew better. It was always MacKenzie Lloyd he was making love to, whoever she was.

A kaleidoscope of images poured into his mind. The shy, young girl he'd met at Sophie's party was only one facet of MacKenzie Lloyd. There'd been nothing of that woman in the way she'd looked on the tarmac when he'd demanded to know where Sophie was. That MacKenzie Lloyd had met his eyes with her chin lifted, determined to shield Jill Roberts from his anger. And she'd been yet another woman on his boat. He could still recall the excitement in her eyes and the recklessness of her laughter as the wind snatched it away.

And there was the doc, so intent and focused, aiming one of her killer serves across the net, or giving him that slow appraising look as if she were going to smear him on a slide and figure him out no matter how long it took.

Stopping suddenly, he stared back down at the lagoon. Then there were the fantasy women she'd created for him – the shy Lania, the exuberant and fun-loving Sally, and the brave and determined Fiona. They were all facets of MacKenzie Lloyd.

How many more women did she have inside her? He wanted to know – and he wanted to learn how to handle each one of them. To do that, he needed to get to know them better.

Turning, he looked back at the sliding glass doors he'd just stepped through. Not here. He knew exactly what would happen if they stayed in the suite. Incredibly, he felt fresh desire ripple through him. All he had to do was open the door and go to her.

She was probably stepping out of the shower, pulling a towel around her and tucking the ends in at her breasts. He could slip his hands beneath the towel. There'd be no chance for her to think. He would make sure of that. Then he could lift her onto the vanity and gently separate her legs to make a place for himself between them. There would be no time for her to slip into one of those fantasies. No time for her to pretend that they were anyone else but who they really were – not with their images reflected on two walls.

And there wouldn't be the pressure to rush. No one would interrupt them. This time he would take her very slowly, drawing out the pleasure for them both. His hand had closed around the door handle before he stopped himself.

Turning, he paced down the length of the balcony again. He'd come out here to distance himself, and the desire he felt now was just as fierce as it had been in that damn rock cave. He was caught up in it as surely as if he were caught in one of the dangerous riptides that lurked beneath the surface of those seemingly gentle waves pushing onto the shore.

It was just as he focused his gaze on the sea that the idea came to him. Of course. He would take the doc out on a date. That would be very familiar territory for him. Thoughtfully, he considered his options. It would have to be someplace she'd like, someplace that would keep that very agile mind of hers occupied so that she wouldn't come up with a new fantasy.

Keeping his eyes on the water, Lucas began to sift through the possibilities.

*

Using a towel to wipe steam off the bathroom mirror, Mac finally faced her reflection. As far as she could see, she looked exactly like the old MacKenzie Lloyd. But she certainly didn't feel like her. She felt wonderful, wild and frightened, all at the same time. Pressing a hand against her stomach, she drew in a deep breath.

Wonderful and wild, she understood. She'd done it! She'd brought three fantasies alive for Lucas. And his response had been more than she'd hoped for, more than she had ever imagined.

So why wasn't she feeling satisfied, the way she did in the lab when an experiment went even better than she'd hoped it could?

Why was there a bubble of fear in her stomach instead?

Foolish question. She knew exactly why it was there. It had to do with what had happened when they'd come out of the rock cave. She couldn't rid her mind of the way it had felt when he'd kissed her underwater – as if he was determined to know every secret she had. And she was sure she'd given them all away. Any kind of defenses she'd managed to build up had streamed away in the water. She'd felt parts of herself slipping away too.