Tuck's Treasure (6 page)

“Do you think they’re following us?” She glanced back to where he stood near the wheel.

“Hopefully not. I’m hoping they didn’t realize we’d left the area, although sound will carry pretty heavily out here, since there’s nothing to stand in its way.”

She took a deep drink of her soda, then licked her lips. “Should I be worried?”

His silence unnerved her. “To tell you the truth I’m not really sure,” he said, his voice soft. “I don’t worry about Ives bugging me while I’m put in, or where I have people on board. But out here, in the middle of nowhere? With just the two of us? And the map? I don’t want to scare you, but I don’t want you to get too complacent, either. Keep your guard up, just in case.”

She was happy that he wasn’t treating her like a child. It would have bothered her if he’d decided that she was someone who didn’t need to know what was going on.

“Maybe we should make a plan, like what happens if they…” she let her words drift off, none too happy when he supplied the rest of the sentence.

“If they decide to point a gun at us?”

“Yes, if they decide to do that.”

She hoped they didn’t, but the more she thought about it the more she thought they might try something. After all they’d sat and watched them all day. Something told her that they were sailing along right behind them.

“How long until we reach the island?”

“I would say about another hour and a half,” Dylan replied. “I’m not sure we should go ashore once we get there. We should wait until first light, or right before. Hopefully that will catch them off guard, too.”

“Or maybe they’d expect us to go ashore in the light. Maybe we should do it in the dark.”

He was silent for a few moments and she was happy to think that he was thinking over her suggestion. When he spoke she could tell that he really had been pondering what to do.

“You know, that’s not a bad idea, except for the fact that we’re not really sure what’s on the island. Plus, in the dark, how will we really know we’ve found the right one. I have the coordinates, but I’d rather be able to check them by the light of day.”

“Maybe we should act like we’re turning back, and then find a way to get around them.” She glanced over at him. “I mean if we turned on the motor right now and sped back toward the Keys, they would be taken off guard. Then we could turn off lights, cut the engine and float. They would think that we were far ahead of them and go speeding after us.”

“You are Tuck’s niece,” he said with a laugh. “It’s perfect. We go speeding by them, then go far enough to leave a wake. By the time they start their engines I will have cut ours and let us drift off to the side. If they go back to the keys, we’re in luck. If they realize what we’ve done, then we’ve lost nothing and we actually will head back to the Keys and try to figure out another way to elude them tomorrow.”

“That sounds perfect.” And, to tell the truth, it was better than knowing they were following them and leading them right to the island. That would be a bad idea. When Dylan voiced those very same thoughts just moments later she was glad it was dark outside. That meant he couldn’t see the surprise on her face.

“Are you ready to go? Because once I start it up I’m hitting the gas.”

“Yes, I’m ready.” She said a silent prayer that they wouldn’t run into someone who happened to be lounging around in their boat while out for a nighttime sail. But then she thought it was probably not going to happen. Dylan was obviously a very talented sailor and he knew his way around a boat, and the ocean. If they ran into someone else it would be figuratively, and not literally.

“Here we go!” The engine roared to life and Charlene grabbed the side of the boat. When he turned on the low lights they caught the silhouette of a boat, which was much closer than she’d thought it had been. It was obvious from the crew’s shouts of surprise that they hadn’t expected Dylan to start his engine and take off. He went roaring past them, giving them a one-finger salute as he turned a bright light on their ship.

More cries of surprise and anger greeted them as they pulled away from the other boat and Charlene laughed. “Jerks!” she yelled back, waving as they went. They probably couldn’t hear her but that was okay. It made her feel good to scream at them.

The boat rocked over the waves, when the other boat was no longer visible Dylan cut the engine, turning the wheel right and cutting way from the direction they’d been going. He turned off the lights, then whispered, “Shush, sound carries,” to her. She nodded and they waited in silence as the boat rocked along. About five minutes later the second boat went screaming past and Charlene put her hand in front of her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

It had worked. They were free of their shadows. For now, anyway. It might not be too long before their pursuers realized they’d been duped and they started back, if they were smart. They might be idiots, however, and go all the way back to the Keys before they figured out Dylan and Charlene were no longer in front of them.

One could only hope that would happen, she thought. Dylan waited for a several long, drawn out moments. When no sounds of a boat coming back in their direction reached their ears he started the engine and turned the boat back in the direction they’d just come from.

*
*
*

Charlene felt the sun on her cheek and she opened one eyelid, looking up. The glowing orb that provided light was already up, and from its position she guessed it was around eight a.m. And Dylan was nowhere to be seen. Why had he let her sleep? Did he go onto the island without her?

She’d thought the plan had been for them to get up early and check things out. That way they could decide what their next move should be. But he was nowhere to be seen.

“Jerk.” She pushed back the light blanket she’d used to cover herself while she slept. He’d been right about one thing. Sleeping out under the stars was a wonderful thing to do. The light wind had caressed her cheek and she’d slept like a baby.

She’d taken one long pillow, and Dylan had taken the other. At first she’d been a little weirded out about sleeping across from a man she’d only known for two days. Then she decided it was fine. After all she’d be sleeping on the boat with him no matter whether she slept here or down below. And she wanted the experience of sleeping under the stars on a sailboat.

“Dylan?” He didn’t answer her call and she frowned and called out his name again. The words were met with silence and she wondered exactly where he was, and what he was doing.

She carefully went down the steps into the galley and called out his name, wondering if he’d gone to the bathroom, or the head, as he called it. Once again she received no answer.

“Fine, I’ll go to the island by myself.”

She started back up the ladder, angry with herself for believing that he’d wait for her. When his face appeared in the hold opening and he grinned and said, “Boo,” she lost her footing and fell back. At least she’d only taken one step up on the ladder.

“Where have you been?”

“I went for a swim while you were snoozing, Sleeping Beauty. I was going to wake you up in a few minutes. It’s time for us to go and play and see what’s what before our escorts get here.”

“Do you think they’ll get her that fast?” She took his hand as he helped her step onto the deck.

“I think they just might, unfortunately. I’m sure when they arrived last night they realized they’d been duped, and they knew the general direction we were coming in. Something tells me they left fairly early and should be here in the next few hours.”

She went to the side railing and gazed out at the island before them. She was never very good at judging sizes, but this one seemed to be pretty small. There weren’t very many trees, and the largest one seemed to be in the center of the island.

“I think that’s probably it,” she said, pointing. “You didn’t already go and dig out the treasure, did you?”

“Ow!” His heavy-handed smack landed in the center of her bottom, then he grabbed her arm and placed another one to match it on the other cheek.

She cried out as his hand came down several more times. No matter how hard she fought against him she couldn’t break his hold, however, and by the time he’d given her seven swats on each cheek she was cussing and screaming at him to let her go.

“Keep your hands off me you…creep!”

He pulled her close, his face right in front of hers. “Then don’t call me a thief. Understand?”

He didn’t seem angry, but then again he wasn’t very happy with her, either. She nodded, then gasped when he leaned over and kissed her, his lips claiming hers in a gentle press that seeped all the way down to her toes.

She should have pushed him away, should have yelled at him and told him to keep his lips to himself, or to find someone else to kiss, that she wasn’t interested. But her mind thought one thing and her body another.

While she screamed no inside her head she pressed back, savoring the fell of his warm, full lips on hers.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since yesterday,” he said, keeping his lips right next to hers. “You taste wonderful.”

“I haven’t even brushed my teeth yet.” She pulled back enough to put her hand in front of her mouth. Then she realized that she should be railing at him, screaming that he didn’t have the right to kiss her. Not yet, anyway. Maybe in a few more days.

She moved her hand and opened her mouth to tell him just that but before any words left her mouth he kissed her again. This time his tongue darted inside, licking at the top of her mouth and making the tingling feeling spread to her arms and hands.

“Stop that,” she whispered when he was done. “We’re not here to kiss. We’re here to find treasure.”

“Maybe this is treasure,” he said softly. “Have you ever thought of that?”

Oh how she wanted to say yes, that she’d thought that kissing him was like discovering treasure. But she didn’t want him to know that. She wasn’t here for a boyfriend; she was here to find that which her uncle had left for her.

She glanced back at the island, happy that he’d parked behind it and not in the area where the boat would be spotted by anyone approaching by way of Florida.

“We need to get busy,” she said, turning her head when he tried to kiss her again.

“You’re right, we do. We’ll find the treasure, and later we’ll talk about kissing. Let’s go. I’ll take the shovel. Is there anything else on the map besides the words under the largest tree?”

“No.” She shook her head to emphasize her point. “It’s not really a map, it’s more of a hand written direction. Would you like to see it?”

“Yes, I would.” She reached into her bag and pulled out the envelope the lawyer had given her. Then she handed the whole thing to Dylan. Better that he could see she wasn’t picking and choosing what she was showing here. There were four sheets of paper inside.

A two-page letter from the lawyer informing her of her uncle’s death and telling her of her “inheritance.” Then there was the actual map, which she had shown him earlier, and the written directions to look under the largest tree.

She watched him examine all four pieces of paper, and then put them back into the envelope and hand it to her.

“Looks good. Let’s go dig up some treasure.”

*
*
*

They swam to shore, and when they arrived and were brushing water off their skin, Dylan couldn’t help but notice how absolutely gorgeous Charlene was. He wanted nothing more at this moment than to lay her down in the sand and make love to her.

Of course he knew she wouldn’t go for that idea. Or would she? She’d kissed him back, despite her protests that he needed to stop and they needed to get to work, she’d definitely kissed him back.

Would she be open to a relationship? As much as the idea appealed to him he was pretty sure that it wouldn’t work out. After all, she lived in Atlanta and he lived in Florida. Most of the time, anyway. Sometimes life took him to many different places. As a teacher, she wouldn’t be able to travel around and work different ports for tourist expeditions.

She wouldn’t know anything about the areas, not the way that he did. Of course he could teach her. That would be great fun, for both of them. And it wouldn’t be a chore. Having her around him 24/7 would be a pleasure.

But how would he convince her of that? He was pretty sure that, if he said he wanted to initiate a long-term relationship with her she would come up with all sorts of reasons why it wasn’t a good idea.

And, what would happen if they started one and she was right? Right now he was very attracted to her, and what red-blooded male wouldn’t be? She was very pretty, with her bright red hair and gorgeous green eyes; and the way she’d reacted when he’d smacked her bottom had been absolutely wonderful.

She wasn’t thrilled about it, or so she said. If she’d really been pissed she would have turned around and slapped him. Part of him wondered if, secretly, she’d been shocked, but also just a little bit tantalized by the swats. They hadn’t been that hard, that was for sure.

If he gave her a real, nice erotic spanking what would happen? Would she scream and tell him to keep his hands to himself? Or would she moan and let him spank her until they were both highly aroused? Something told him it would be the latter. But he needed to find out. And that meant he needed to seduce her. Tonight.