by Dawson, Cam
For several minutes they frantically picked at the locks, to no avail. Drew was about to go to plan B when he heard the click from Sam’s cuffs.
“I’ve got it,” she said, smiling. She freed her hand from the cuff, rubbing it. “Let me see yours.”
“We don’t have time.” The water was minutes from spilling over the gunnels of the dinghy. “We’ve got to get the dinghy over to the boat or to the island.”
Drew glanced over the bow and saw that the boat had drifted further, now better than fifty yards away. Looking the other way, he eliminated the island as an option. Too far.
Sam jumped into the water and swam around to the bow of the dinghy, grabbed the rope, and started swimming. The dinghy hardly moved.
“What the hell are you doing? Drew knew she couldn’t do it alone, not in the few minutes left before the dinghy ended up at the bottom of the inlet. Sitting on the edge, he fell backward into the water.
“What are you doing?” Sam screamed as he surfaced. “Are you trying to kill yourself?”
Without wasting his breath, he grabbed the motor brace with his cuffed hand and began treading water with his free arm. The dinghy began moving. But would the remaining air in the dinghy be enough to give the engine enough buoyancy to keep it from pulling him to the bottom before they reached the sailboat?
Both swam frantically for the next two minutes until the engine began to sink. With his head barely above water, Drew called out.
“Forget it, Sam.” He was too winded to carry on much farther. “Swim to the island, get to safety, and forget about the boat.”
“No,” she shouted, and began crying. Her adrenalin must have kicked in. The boat was moving faster. He took a deep breath and his head went under with the rest of the engine. Below the surface he was surprised at how quiet it had become. He willed himself to remain calm, although he knew it was the end. There was nothing to stop him now from sinking into the abyss.
Samantha made a final surge toward the stern transom of the sailboat, as the end of the rope began pulling her downward. With a last effort stretch she reached out for the transom rail under the surface of the water and caught enough of it to keep from being pulled under with the boat and Drew.
The thought of Drew and his kiss spurred her on. With the help of a final hit of adrenalin, she was able to hoist the end of the line around the transom rail and tie a crude knot to keep it in place. She burst through the surface of the water, gasping for air. She pulled herself onto the transom and hooked the line holding the engine around her leg.
With one arm she held onto the transom ladder rail, with the other she began towing the line upward. When this wasn’t enough leverage, she held the line and stood on the transom, pulling with both arms and with all of her strength. When she had enough of the line to reach a stern winch, she circled the spool a few times and looked around for the winch handle. She had seen how Drew used it for leverage in trimming the sails. Now she would use it for another purpose.
The handle wasn’t within her reach, and she prayed the line would stay around the spool while she hurried to get it. When she released the winch, it spun out, but before she lost the line altogether, it jammed on the spool. Returning with the handle, she quickly began winding the line in. How long had Drew been under water? Was she too late? Crying so hard now she could hardly wind the spool, she looked over the stern to the transom. Relief flooded her when the front of the deflated dinghy appeared above the surface of the water.
Securing the handle, she jumped onto the transom and hauled the dinghy around to its stern, until she spotted the engine. It was far too heavy to lift from the water. She found a line on the starboard side and ran it through the engine brace, winched it up and secured it to a cleat. Lying flat on the transom, she was able to reach down and grab Drew’s cuff. She pulled it upward until she touched his hand. He wasn’t moving.
“Don’t you dare die on me now, Drew Richey,” she shouted through sobs. Straining, she pulled his face to the surface. His eyes were closed and he made no effort to breathe.
“Goddammit, Drew.” She slapped his face and held fast to his arms. “Breathe!”
Long seconds later, he coughed and sputtered and Sam cried harder. She cupped his face as his eyes opened and lightly kissed his lips.
“The charges,” he managed, and Sam froze.
She had totally forgotten about the explosives. Her joy turned to panic.
Drew pulled himself onto the transom, with help from Sam. But that was as far as he could go, given that the waterlogged engine was cleated to the transom and he was still handcuffed to it.
“We’ve got to work fast, Sam. I don’t know how much time we have left. Can you go below and see if you can find the explosives?”
“I . . . I can try.”
“Don’t touch anything. Just locate them and see if there’s a timer.”
She scrambled into the cockpit and disappeared below. In a matter of seconds she shouted out.
“Found what looks like dynamite wrapped in plastic.”
“How big?”
“About the size of a briefcase.”
“Son of a . . .” he whispered, then shouted, “can you see any wires attaching the charges to where they are located?” He leaned in toward the cockpit as far as the cuff allowed.
“No . . . I don’t know, I can’t see any, but they’re in a corner and I can’t see behind them.”
“Was there a timer?”
“Eleven and a half minutes.”
“Jesus,” he muttered.
“What?”
“Never mind.” His mind raced. Now what? If Sam attempted to remove them, it might set the charges off. He had to get her away from the boat. And the only way to save his own life was to get out of the cuffs or get the explosives off the boat.
“Sam, come here please.”
“Yes.” She stared at him with frightened eyes.
“We can’t take a chance on moving the explosive. I want you to swim to that island and wait for me. Just give me another hairpin before you go. ”
“Oh, no.” Her lips trembled. “You’re not going to get me to fall for that one. I’m not leaving you here to die. I nearly lost you once today. I won’t do it again. If we can’t get you out of those cuffs, then . . . we’re in this together.”
“Goddammit, woman, I’m not worth dying for. If I were to get out of this mess, next step would be to drop you faster than a hot potato. You don’t need somebody like me. Trust me, saving yourself is your best option.”
As he finished his last attempt to get her to leave she’d already disappeared below. She was quickly back, with several items in her hands.
“Did you not hear what I said, woman? Get the hell off . . .”
“Shut-up, Drew and be still. I’m getting you out of this cuff, if I have to chew your arm off.”
She cried, working frantically to pick the lock of the cuff. After several frustrating minutes, he curled a finger under her chin, lifting her face up. A warm rain began to fall.
“Listen to me, baby.” He smiled and wiped the tears and rain from her eyes. “It’s no use. Time is nearly gone. Please listen to me, Sam. You’ve got to get out of here. And you have to leave me. I don’t know how it happened but I’m crazy about you, and I don’t want to see you die. Would you do that for me, sweetheart? Would you just dive off right now and swim as hard as you can to that island. Put your cell phone in a plastic bag, grab a bottle of water and go. Somebody will find you, and look—it might be all right for me. There might not be enough charges to sink the boat. I might even make it through. Then you can come back and get me out of this.”
“No!”
Thunder sounded in the distance. Crying harder, she slammed his arm and cuff against the transom. Her eyes widened as the cuff popped op
en. Drew laughed, removed the cuff, and jumped from the water.
“You did it, baby.” He embraced her. Lightning flashed as the rain intensified. She took his hand and turned toward the water. “Let’s go.”
“Wait, I’m going to take a look. You start swimming. I swear, I’ll be right behind you.”
“Drew, we have to go now. It could blow any second.”
“One minute. Go! I promise, I’ll be right behind you.”
She folded her arms and shook her head. Rivulets of rain streamed down her face.
“Jesus, you are one stubborn woman.” He turned toward the cockpit. She followed close behind.
Below deck, he surveyed the situation, reading the timer. They had four minutes and eighteen seconds left. He felt carefully around the sides of the charges as Sam shined a flashlight under and behind.
“Sam, start the engine, there’s an extra key taped under the pedestal. I don’t think this is wired to any stationary detonation device. We’re going to ditch this shit, and then high-tail it.”
She was on deck in a flash, then the engines fired up. Rain pounded the bulkhead. He slowly and gently lifted the charges from the corner of the settee, holding his breath. He edged his way up the entryway ladder as the clock ticked to under three minutes. He sat down in the cockpit momentarily to steady himself.
“Head out into the inlet, as fast as this boat will go.”
Sam revved the engine and the boat moved forward slowly. Lightening flashed, followed closely by teeth rattling thunder.
The timer ticked to less than two minutes. Drew made his way to the transom and leaned out to the starboard side and lowered the charges into the water and released them, squinting and bracing for detonation. It didn’t happen. He watched as the red timer on the charges disappeared into the depth of the black water.
The boat had picked up speed as he joined Sam at the wheel. He quickly tied the wheel off and checked the heading. He took Sam’s hand and pushed her ahead of him, toward the entryway of the cabin. As she quickly descended the steps and reached the cabin floor, the force of the explosion threw Drew down on top of her. The wake and spray from the blast followed, drenching the cockpit and rocking the boat as they lay together on the galley floor.
As the wake subsided, they made their way back up the ladder, to the cockpit. He grabbed a big flashlight from the port locker and then realized he didn’t need it. The explosion had stirred up phosphorus in the water. The sailboat was floating on a pool of soft, sparkling light. Each drop of rain on the inlet surface reignited the sparkle. He looked up, then around the deck. Miraculously, there was no visible damage to the rigging. He stood numbly in the cockpit as the warm rain continued.
“Did you mean it?” Sam asked from behind him. He turned and looked at her. She had never looked more beautiful than in the glow of the phosphorus. He placed the flashlight on the port settee. The rain intensified and the boat appeared to be suspended on a floor of white florescent sparkling light. The resulting effect was surreal.
“Every word of it.” He held out his hand. Sam moved closer and he took her in his arms. He cupped her face with his hands and kissed her.
“We have unfinished business.” She reached for the front of his shorts. Unbuttoning them, she shoved them down. He removed his shirt and kicked his shorts to the side. Sam peeled her dress over her head, and his pulsating shaft climbed to attention. His heart thundered as she slipped her panties to the floor of the deck.
He moved a drenched strand of her raven hair and kissed her neck as she gripped his shoulders. Drew lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He shifted his hips until the tip of his erection found her wet folds, rubbing against her entrance to test her readiness.
“Are you sure?”
“On, yes. Please.” She was slick with desire. He moved his arms down, bracing her legs as he entered her warm sweetness, until his full length was buried deep inside of her. Her breath hitched and she moaned softly, taking all of him.
Drew moved her over to the captain’s chair, turned, disengaged the throttle, and shut the engine down, all the while still inside of her. The rain intensified and the cool soft white light grew brighter, contrasting the heat their bodies produced as he moved ever so slowly inside her. She took his hands and placed them on her breasts. He pushed deeper and with more intensity as his control slowly shredded.
“It’s okay, I want you to come in me.” She issued a high-pitched squeal with her orgasm and he felt the firmness of her release as he came, filling her. Although the physical pleasure of having her was especially satisfying, there was something else there. Something that made him want to stay with her, not anything he had ever experienced before. Unlike all the others, there had been a deep feeling with her that transcended the physical act, and she was anything but mechanical in her response. For unknown reasons, he wanted more. He lifted her back into his arms and held her against his chest, meeting her lips softly with his mouth and kissing her gently.
Another first. Still inside of her his excitement grew once again from the feel of her body pressed up against his, relishing in the warm, wet rain smell and taste of her. He sensed her smile with each pulse and swell, as he grew hard, filling her.
The rain stopped and the glow from the water surrounding them subsided. He stood with her wrapped around him in the dark, the absence of sound intensifying the feeling of closeness. With great restraint, he resisted the urge to move. Her vaginal muscles squeezed his shaft and begged for him to move, but he remained still. Within only seconds her breathing increased and she climaxed once again.
“Take me below deck,” she whispered.
And he did.
They motored out the inlet and dropped anchor on the other side of the island, in a sheltered cove, hidden by high sand dunes and sea oats. There was much to be done, but Samantha was spent, and she could see that Drew was also. So with the deflated dinghy and submerged engine still cleated to the transom and dragging behind, they gently washed each other with the hose on deck and then took their passion below.
After drying her gently with a soft towel, Drew picked her up and carried her into his stateroom. He kissed her as he gently laid her on the berth and moved on top of her. She opened up for yet another taking and guided his rigid manhood inside of her, relishing how he filled her warm wet space like no other man ever had.
As he moved, she was caught up in the passion of his kisses and the strength of his body. Never had she felt so secure, and the ecstasy built until she could no longer stop her release. She had no choice but to bask in its intensity. Never had she experienced so much pleasure in her release. Every move, every sound sent her spiraling into ecstasy.
When she thought she could take no more, he exploded inside of her, warming her with his heat.
Chapter 7
Drew opened his eyes to soft morning light. Sam lay against his chest in the same position he last remembered before sleep claimed him. He lay quiet and still as he became aware of her leg over his flaccid manhood. The feel of her naked skin and warmth of her body next to him caused the blood to pulsate to his groin.
Her breathing changed, and he felt her smile against his chest. She turned her face to his jaw and lightly kissed him. This served to ignite his desire further and she moved her leg away to accommodate his erection. He pulled her lips to his and she rolled over on top of him, once again guiding him into her warm wetness. He couldn’t stop a low groan as she lowered herself onto him, slowly taking all of him. She made a soft humming sound and she moved slowly at first and then in a circular motion, bracing herself with her arms on his chest.
In the dimness of the morning, he watched her slender body move on top of him. The nipples of her perfectly shaped breasts were inviting, so he took his hands and began to gently massage them. Her breath hitched and she moaned again as he to
ok her nipples between the thumb and forefinger of each hand. She placed her hands over the back of his, encouraging his movements.
“Squeeze me harder,” she whispered in a husky voice as she increased her circular motion, thrusting his manhood deeper inside of her. When the intensity of her movement became faster, he moved his hands to her buttocks, accenting her movements.
After only seconds the rush of tingles make their way from his groin up into his shaft and past that point of no return as her clitoris become rigid with her release. She continued her movement for a long while, until his rigidity subsided and he was unable to stay any longer. She fell forward onto his chest, squeaking with girl sounds that tested his spent body. As she lay on top of him, he grew hard once again. She lifted her face and kissed his lips and smiled.
“Oh, no.” She rolled away and onto her back next to him. “Not so fast.”
“Thank you, I think this next one might have been the death of me.”
She laughed deeply and leaned against his chest.
As hard as it was to believe, the excitement built again, but he lifted his leg to conceal the evidence. Even her laugh turned him on.
He realized he might be in trouble.
And perhaps over his head.
Later that morning, after a breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns, and coffee, Sam cleared the table, while Drew finished his coffee.
“I can’t believe how much I ate.” She felt embarrassed. She held her stomach, but realized it was still flat. He apparently noticed it also.