by Romancing the Crown Series (13-in-1 bundle) (v1. 0) (lit)
Her smile faded. She shifted her gaze to the patch of sunlight at the entrance to the cavern. "We should be getting back to the boat."
"How come you didn't reply?"
"Sam..."
"And you sent the other letters back. Why, Kate?"
"It's what we agreed."
He should let this go just as he'd let it go for a week, he told himself. Accept the way things were now and get on with their duty. Why keep clinging to the past when she'd made it crystal clear the past was over?
But that was just it. The past wasn't over, no matter how much she tried to pretend differently. He couldn't keep burying this under duty—he'd tried that for a week, and it wasn't working.
Sam caught Kate's hands, enfolding them firmly in his. "Was it that bad, Kate?"
"What?"
"Is my memory of what we shared that wrong? Am I the only one who felt we had something special?"
She tried to pull away but he held on, twining his fingers with hers. "Don't," she said. "There's no point—"
"I need to know, Kate. Am I the only one whose heart speeds up when our eyes meet? Don't you ever dream of moonlight swims and making love on the warm sand?"
"Please, Sam. I don't want to—"
"Don't want to what? Remember?"
Sudden heat came to her eyes. Her features tightened. "Yes. That's right. I don't want to remember."
He brought her hands to his lips. Holding her gaze, he pressed a slow kiss to each of her knuckles in turn. "It wasn't bad, Kate," he murmured. "It was magic."
Her lips trembled. "Sam..."
"I remember the night we met. You were wearing a blouse with no sleeves that was the color of your eyes. Your skirt was covered with flowers that reminded me of laughter. But do you know what really caught my eye?"
She shook her head.
"Your feet."
"My... feet?"
"They were bare."
"That's because I was walking on the beach."
"And when I saw the way you curled your toes to feel the sand I said to myself, 'This is a passionate woman."' He rested his chin on their joined fingers and smiled. "It didn't take long for you to prove me right. Remember the first time we kissed?"
She remained silent, her gaze on his lips.
"We'd heard the saxophone music from the beach and followed it to that club. All I could think about while we danced around the floor was that I wanted to know how your smile tasted. I didn't even realize the music had ended." He chuckled softly. "We might still be standing there if you hadn't grabbed my cheeks and kissed me yourself."
Kate stared at his mouth, trying to shut out the memories, but they came anyway. She remembered every detail of that night. She had never done anything as bold before, but there had been something so seductive about the throaty wail of the saxophone and the feel of Sam's body moving in rhythm with hers that she hadn't been able to resist lifting up on her toes and guiding his head to hers.
They had met mere hours before, but they had kissed as if they'd known each other all their lives. The power of it had blown them both away. They hadn't even thought that what they were doing was fast or reckless. They hadn't been able to stop.
He was right. It had been magic.
But it was over.
Gone.
As dead as their baby.
She shuddered as the good memory was swept aside by the bad. She yanked her hands from his before the inevitable wave of pain could follow.
The small dinghy rocked from her sudden movement. Off balance, Kate threw her arms out to stop herself from tumbling backward.
Sam reached for her, catching her before she could fall overboard. But as his large hands closed over her shoulders, his thumb hooked the delicate gold chain that circled her neck.
Kate felt a sharp pinch a split second before she heard the snap. Over the sound of the water lapping against the rocking boat, she heard a tiny splash. She tried to twist around.
"Steady, there," Sam said, shifting his grip to her forearms.
Kate shook off his hold and grasped the gunwale to peer over the side. "Oh, God."
In the blue-green illumination from the reflected sunlight that filtered through the water, she thought she saw a glint of gold. She lunged forward, thrusting her arm underwater as far as she could, but she was unable to catch the necklace before it sank out of reach.
Strong arms wrapped around her waist. A moment later, she was jerked against Sam's chest. "Take it easy, Kate. You don't need to jump overboard to get away from me."
"What?"
"If I 'm that far out of line, just tell me and—"
"No, Sam. You don't understand." She tipped her head to look at him. "I lost my necklace. It must have broken when you caught me."
His eyebrows angled together. He looked at her neck. "Do you mean that gold chain with the little butterfly you always wear?"
"Yes, I..." She was shaken to hear him describe it so casually. "I didn't realize you'd noticed it."
"I notice everything about you." He touched his fingertips to the side of her throat. "I can see the line the chain left on your skin. Damn, I'm sorry, Kate."
To her disbelief, she felt tears come to her eyes. "It's not your fault. It was a fine chain. It would have broken easily."
"I'll replace it when we get to San Sebastian. There's a jeweler's shop near the palace that's supposed to be very good."
She shook her head. How could she explain that it was irreplaceable? What would he do if she told him why that necklace was so important to her?
"If they don't have a butterfly that you like, I'll have them make one, okay?" He skimmed his fingers from her throat to her cheek. "Let me make up for this. Please."
Make up for it? she thought wildly. How could he possibly make up for the child she'd lost? "Forget it, Sam. It's gone." Like our past, she thought. Like our baby.
He brushed his fingertip under her eye, catching a tear. "I'm sorry, Kate. It must have meant a lot to you."
Yes, the necklace had meant a lot. It had given her a way to focus her grief. It had also been a reminder of how destructive love could be.
But it hadn't been love. No, what had gone on between her and Sam had been sex, that's all.
But he was touching her so tenderly, and he was ready to comfort her for something he didn't even understand. Could she have been wrong not to give him a chance?
No. She'd been through this before. She wasn't going to get drawn into anything with him again. She pulled away and returned to her seat in the stern. "We'd better get back."
Sam didn't pick up the oars. Instead, he toed off his shoes, then reached for the hem of his T-shirt and tugged it off.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Going on a treasure hunt." Dressed only in his cutoff jeans, he braced his hands on the seat behind him and swung his legs over the gunwale. "Lean back so we don't flip."
Automatically she moved to balance the dinghy. "Sam, you can't really mean to dive for it, can you? You'll never find anything as small as the necklace in this light. I can't even see the bottom."
"It's worth a try." He touched his fingers to his forehead in a parting salute. "Don't go anywhere, okay?"
"Sam!"
With a movement that was too fast to follow, he twisted his hips, arched his body and neatly slid feetfirst into the water.
"Sam, you idiot!" she cried. She fought to steady the boat, then leaned over the side as far as she dared.
The surface roiled where he had entered the water. By the time the ripples cleared, she could see that he had turned himself around and was kicking his way downward.
Kate wiped her eyes and blinked hard, straining to keep him in focus. Ripples of reflected sunlight moved over his body, becoming fainter and fainter until finally he blended into the darkness around him and disappeared.
"Sam, you idiot," she repeated, this time in a whisper. What kind of man would jump overboard in a cave merely to retrieve a necklace? They were on a mis
sion, for God's sake. He shouldn't be wasting his time with something personal like this. It was reckless and irresponsible.
It was also an incredibly sweet thing to do.
Sam? Sweet? He'd laugh if she told him that. He was a rough, tough Navy SEAL. He shrugged off bullet wounds. He craved excitement and adventure and freedom. He—
He'd been underwater too long, she thought, peering into the depths. She scanned the surface around her for bubbles, but there was nothing, no sign of any movement.
This was the kind of work he was trained for, she reassured herself. He had to know what he was doing. This dive wasn't really dangerous. She shouldn't be feeling so very... alone.
She glanced around the cavern. Without Sam's presence, the grandeur of the place seemed to dim. It was like that with many of the things they'd experienced together. After the night they met, she'd never been able to listen to saxophone music without thinking about him and the dance they'd shared. And that first kiss.
Unbidden, the memory returned. She braced herself for the pain that would follow, but this time it didn't come. She remembered the pleasure. And the power that had sparked between them. He hadn't been sweet then. He'd been hot, hard and sexy enough to steal her breath.
There was a splash behind her. She pivoted quickly and saw Sam's head break the surface ten yards away. She grasped the oars and propelled the dinghy toward him.
He treaded water, tipping back his head as he inhaled in deep gulps. "Sorry. Couldn't spot it."
"It doesn't matter, Sam," she said.
"There are some weird currents near the bottom. It must have drifted on the way down." He turned to get his bearings, then took a deep breath, swept his arms to the side and jackknifed under the water.
"Sam!"
Of course, he didn't pay any attention to her protest. That's the way he was, stubborn and determined to get his way.
Only, in this case, she couldn't find anything wrong with that. Maybe those weren't such bad qualities in a man. Maybe things could have worked out if she' d given him a chance....
Oh, God, no. She couldn't think like that. It was only because of this mission. They'd been together for practically all their waking hours. It was only natural that the old feelings would begin to reawaken. As soon as the mission was over, they would go their separate ways, and everything would get back to normal. Yes, it would.
He surfaced and dove twice more, each time working closer to the mouth of the cave. Kate followed him with the rowboat until, finally, he came up right beside her.
"Sam, that's enough," she said immediately before he could go under again. "Get in the boat."
He shook his head quickly to flick the water from his hair, then grinned and tossed something shiny toward her.
Kate caught it in the air. It wasn't her necklace. It was a flat disk, about two inches in diameter, and it was shaped like a... "This looks like a coin!"
"Yeah. I told you there must have been pirates here."
"Oh, my God." She rubbed the coin on her shirt and studied it more closely. "This is gold."
"It's gold, all right. That's why it isn't corroded."
"It almost looks like..." She shook her head. "I've only seen pictures of them, but it couldn't be a Spanish doubloon. Not here."
"Why not? Doubloons were common currency in the seventeenth century, and this area was always a major trade route."
"But the chances of you finding this—"
"Were slim but not impossible," he said. "Like I told you, there are some weird currents near the bottom. They could have shifted the sand enough to expose the coin today and then bury it again tomorrow."
"I suppose so."
"There's probably more down there. I could go take another look and—"
"Don't you dare do another dive."
He kicked his feet lazily to keep himself upright in the water. His gaze gleamed like the gold in her palm. "Why not?"
Because you worried we, she thought. Because I want you with we... even though I don't want you with me. "Because our mission doesn't include a salvage operation," she replied. "We can tell the people at the Royal Montebellan Museum about this find. They'll take it from there."
"Where's your sense of adventure?"
"You're the one who always has to go after the next adventure, not me," she said, her tone harsher than she had intended.
His smile disappeared. "I'm sorry about upsetting you earlier, Kate."
"It's all right. Let's just forget it, okay?"
"No, we can't forget it. That's the whole point. We've been trying to pretend that our past didn't happen, and it's not working."
He was right, she thought. It wasn't working. But that only meant they had to try harder. "We're on a mission, and you're in the water. I don't think this is the time or place for a discussion, Sam."
"Then what is?"
"Would you just get in the dinghy now, Lieutenant Coburn?"
He watched her in silence for a moment before he clamped his hands over the gunwale. "Better lean back."
Just as she'd done when he went in, Kate leaned over the opposite side to help balance his weight. He kicked hard to heave his upper body out of the water, then hooked one knee over the side of the boat and rolled smoothly inside.
The dinghy was designed to accommodate two people easily, but it suddenly seemed too small. Kate returned to her seat in the stern and tried to do what she'd done for a week. She tried to ignore the six feet two of ruggedly handsome male in front of her.
But as Sam had said moments ago, it wasn't working.
"Kate..."
She held up a palm. "Please, Sam. We've said more than enough. Let's just get back to the boat."
This time he didn't argue. He slicked the water from his chest and arms with his palms, completely unselfconscious about being half-naked. Without another word he took the oars, spun the dinghy around to point out of the cavern and rowed across the cove to their anchored sloop.
The moment they had secured the lifeboat over the stern and stowed their gear, Kate headed for the cabin. But before she could reach the cockpit Sam stopped her with a firm hand on her arm. "Wait," he said.
"I need to get on the radio and check in," she said almost desperately. She had to establish distance between them. She had to focus on her duty to keep the memories—and the doubts—at bay. They had to get back to the base before they dug up more things better left buried.
"This will only take a minute." Sam transferred his grip to her shoulders and gently turned her to face away from him. There was the click of an opening stud and the rasp of a zipper.
"Sam! What are you doing?"
"Trying to get my hand into my pocket." He grunted. "This wet denim is like glue. Couldn't get my hand inside unless I opened my fly, and I didn't want to try this on the dinghy or you might have tried to jump overboard again."
She felt her breath stop. He was already half-naked. Now he was unfastening the only garment he wore. And he was standing right behind her, close enough for her to sense every whisper of motion. She closed her eyes, but she could all too easily picture how the sun would be gleaming off his moist skin, how each ridged muscle would tighten with his movements, how pale and slim her hand would look as she caressed his body...
No. It was over. Gone. She could control this. She had to.
"Got it. Hang on a minute." The zipper rasped closed. A moment later he turned her around to face him and held out his hand.
A fine gold chain was draped between his fingers. A gold butterfly glinted in the center of his palm.
Kate's heart was pounding so hard it took her a moment to realize what he was showing her. When she did, she felt a surge of warmth that had nothing to do with sexual awareness. "Oh, Sam." She reached out to touch her fingertip to one of the butterfly wings. "You found it, after all."
"Yeah. I'm sorry about the broken chain, but I think it can be fixed."
She couldn't move, caught by the image of his large, strong hand holding her d
elicate necklace. Her throat grew tight with a sudden lump of emotion. This was too much. The man who had created a baby with her, a precious and fleeting life, now held the symbol of it.
He ducked his head to catch her gaze. "I thought you'd be happy."
She didn't know what she was. Right now, she was too mixed up to analyze it. She clasped her hand over his and lifted her face. "Thank you, Sam."
"You're welcome, Kate."
And then, as naturally as drawing her next breath, she stretched up and kissed him.
Chapter 8
It was like coming home. Something familiar, something treasured but left behind. Something she hadn't known was precious until it was gone.
Only Kate had never really had a home. There had been a neat split-level house in the Miami suburbs that her mother had kept spotless and tastefully decorated. Her father had worked himself into a heart attack to avoid spending time in it. A home should have been warm and welcoming, but that house wasn't. It had been brittle, the atmosphere charged with the tension of impending arguments. Eventually the arguments had ceased altogether, not because things got better but because her parents had simply given up and stopped talking.
Kate had grown up with one ambition—to leave. She wanted to leave that house and that life as far behind as she could. And so the Navy had become her family. Each time she packed her bags to move to another base, she left that soulless split-level further behind and proved she would never be trapped in a marriage like her parents.
No, she'd never really known a home.
Then why did Sam's kiss make her think of one?
She pulled back her head to look at him.
He smiled slowly, his eyes sparkling in a way that was achingly familiar. Treasured. Left behind.
Kate trembled. Now was the time to stop. She could claim the kiss was just from gratitude. It wasn't too late. She could pretend—
"Again," Sam said.
"What?"
"You did it again." He slipped his free hand into her hair, combing it from her temple with his fingers. "One of these days, Kate, I'm going to be the one to kiss you first."