The Treasure Hunters

by Beth D. Carter

  His fingers trailed down her body, causing fire to shoot through her, even under her clothes. He circumvented her breasts and she thrust them out, hoping he’d explore them further. Her nipples ached to be touched. But he continued down, over her stomach until he reached the juncture of her thighs. When he cupped her there, her eyes widened and she couldn’t stop the small moan of desire that rippled out of her mouth. Their gazes met, locked, and though his eyes were darkened by shadow, just knowing he was with her helped calm her.

  His head bent and he kissed her. Light kisses at first that morphed into a deeper, more dominating embrace. His tongue found an opening into her mouth and surged inside, even as he pulled her body more firmly into his. His hand hadn’t left the heat between her thighs and she wiggled her hips, wishing he would do more. End the ache he’d caused. She’d touched herself before, exploring her own sensuality in the darkness of her room, but none of those explorations could hold a candle to what Sin made her feel. He brought her body, her soul, to life.

  The revelation soared into her heart, her brain, taking her breath away. He was her one true love. Just like her father had always told her, the family legacy was finally fulfilled.

  His hand moved, finally, stealing into the waistband of her pants, under her bloomers. She hadn’t been able to wear her Spencer Corset in a while, something she’d been afraid of doing without, but she had to admit the freely flowing bloomers had been more comfortable. And now, as Sin’s fingers found her wet center, she was certainly glad she’d gone with easy and accessible.

  Her hips bucked as his fingers slid along her seam.

  “Oh, sweetheart, you’re so wet,” he murmured against her lips. “So wet for me. I wish we had a bed and all the time in the world, but we don’t.”

  His fingers slid up her thighs to find her dripping pussy. He pushed in, finding her clit and teasing it with small little circles.

  She moaned and her hips jerked up, bumping against him. “Oh my god,” she breathed.

  “I can feel how hot you are. It’s burning right though this piece of cotton. Oh yes, burn for me.”

  As he touched her core, and her hips undulated. He used her natural lubricant to tease her, pumping in and out between her plump lips and making sure to bump against her clit. All the while he captured her cries with his mouth, drinking in her moans of need. Just when she thought she couldn’t handle anymore, she splintered apart. He swallowed her scream of release, his name a benediction on her tongue.

  “Oh my god,” she said breathlessly. “That was amazing. But you didn’t…ah, you, um…”

  He chuckled in her ear and then adjusted himself in his trousers. “Don’t worry about me. I wanted to relax you.”

  “You certainly managed to do just that.” Her body lay replete in satisfaction and she was loath to get back up and continue on. “But I thought you said we were going to have sex.”

  “Give me some credit. I’m not such a brute to ravish you in the tunnel of fear.” He nudged her nose with his own. “When I do ravish you it’ll be in a soft fluffy bed with lots of pillows.”

  “Pillows? Why pillows?”

  “You’ll see.”

  He grinned, then his head dipped and he kissed her again, softly at first until she responded and then it went deeper, slicker, hotter. The sound of breaking glass broke their kiss and both sat up to look behind them.

  “You heard that, didn’t you?”

  “Maybe it’s Merri.” She opened her mouth to call out, but Sin slapped a hand around her mouth. He shook his head.

  “I don’t think that’s Merri,” he said grimly. “First of all, we wouldn’t have passed her. Second, I haven’t known her long but she doesn’t seem to be the type of girl who stays quiet much.”

  Ruby nodded as fear sliced through her. She had to agree about Merridie’s personality. She’d be screaming her head off. So that meant someone was coming. Someone was following them. They scrambled to their feet, and Ruby had to adjust her clothing.

  “Who is it?” she asked. “The natives?”

  “I don’t know,” Sin said grimly. “I don’t think it’s the natives.”

  “Then who?”

  His mouth tightened and he looked away.

  “Sin?”

  “Remember when I talked about the past catching up?”

  She nodded. “Your ghost?”

  “Yes. A ship has been following us, the ship of an old foe named Ramzee. If he’s behind us, we could be in trouble.”

  “Do you think, somehow we got ahead of Merri and he has her?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think we should wait around for whoever it is behind us to catch up.”

  “How do you know this even leads to a way out? I…I’m scared. I thought this was going to be easy, but I’m terrified of being lost here. Sin, if we go back…”

  “We can’t go back, Ruby,” he told her gently. “Go back to what? Meet up with whoever is behind us? To a sunken ship? To your father’s broken company? What would we be going back to, Ruby?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, a bit desperately. “But it’s better to be alive. Better to be in sunlight than lost in this nothingness.”

  He cupped her face and tilted her head so she was staring up at him. “No one knows the future, Ruby. If we did we wouldn’t have lost everything on the market. We wouldn’t have met. And believe me, of all the possibilities in this world I’m glad you found me. I trusted you once, Ruby, so please trust me now.”

  He was right, of course. Life was not about turning back. She was the one that had talked everyone into taking this adventure, so she couldn’t chicken out now. She took one of his hands in hers and nodded.

  Another noise echoed through the tunnel.

  “Come on,” he said and she nodded in agreement. He scooped up the torch and then they were hurrying through the tunnel, trying to outrun whatever, or whoever, was behind them.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sin could barely believe he’d just brought Ruby to climax in a dirty, dark as pitch tunnel, full of dirt, cobwebs, and God knew what else. Now, they were being pursued by someone: Thieves, he suspected, and he really hoped he was wrong about the man who probably followed behind them. Ramzee was one of those mysteries of the universe that always managed to show up at the wrong time. He had an innate tracking ability that Sin admired, but the man was absolutely ruthless.

  “So, this ghost of yours…who is it?”

  “A man named Ramzee. A damn modern-day pirate of the seas.”

  “Why is he following us? He can’t know about the map. Unless…”

  He shot her a quick, searching look. “Unless?”

  “Well, I don’t think the men in the warehouse where I found it were hunting for themselves. Maybe this Ramzee knew about it, and I intercepted it.”

  Could that be the reason why? Was Ramzee really just following for the map and not because of the Paradise?

  “I suppose anything is possible,” he said. “Ramzee used to own the Paradise.”

  “Your game of chance was with this pirate? You’re braver than I thought.”

  He shrugged. “Cards are about numbers, and I’m good with numbers.”

  “So…you cheated?”

  “Let’s just say, I rigged it so I’d win. I really wanted that boat.”

  “And now this Ramzee wants his boat back?”

  “I think it’s more that he wants to get back at me,” he corrected. “Ramzee steals artifacts and treasures. I’d known about him for some time, so when I saw a chance to take his boat, I thought that would knock him out of commission for a time. I was wrong.”

  “Wrong, how?”

  “The Paradise had a sister boat, the Predator.”

  “Oh,” she said. She gave him a speculative glance. “What did you used to do? Before the crash?”

  “Nothing so sinister as stealing, I assure you. I worked with the British Museum in Cairo, arranging transportation of Egyptian antiquities. Ramzee used to plunder my
ships for the cargo.”

  “Ah, that answers a lot of questions.”

  They’d entered a large cavern and the torchlight bounced throughout the room. Sin suddenly threw his arm out to halt her. Ruby came to a skidding stop and scattered pebbles over a cliff. They tried peering over the side, but the feeble light didn’t even penetrate the utter blackness of the pit. He held up the torch, but the other side was too far to even see.

  “We won’t be jumping this time,” Sin said.

  “I don’t understand. This has to be the way.”

  “What did the map say?”

  “Um…something about trusting our fears, I think.”

  “Were those the exact words? Think, Ruby.”

  “I didn’t memorize it!” she snapped. “I just quickly read Merri’s notes over her shoulder. It said…it said trust your fears of descending into night.”

  “Descending…?”

  Sin looked around, lay down on the ground and hung his head over the side of the pit. He waved the torch into the blackness.

  “There,” he said.

  He pointed to an area past the cliff’s side as she lay down next to him. A staircase bolted into the cliff’s side and followed the rocky side down, plunging into the blackness.

  “We’ll take those.”

  Even before he’d finished saying the words she shook her head. When he picked up her hand, her skin was cold and clammy.

  “No, I can’t,” she whispered.

  Sin sat up and pulled her with him. He cradled her in arms as he cupped her face and stared into her eyes. “Listen to me, Ruby. You can do this. I’m right here. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you, you hear me?”

  “It’s too dark.”

  “I know it’s dark, but we can’t stay here. And we can’t go back. Ruby, this is what we’ve come to find.”

  He kissed her gently on the lips. They felt cold under his touch.

  “You’ll be with me?” she asked quietly.

  “I will,” he vowed.

  She nodded. Sin stood and pulled her up so they faced each other. Ruby’s eyes kept darting between him and the pit.

  “No, look at me. Keep your eyes on me, sweetheart, okay?”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  He wedged the torch in some boulders and turned to face her. He helped her sit down on the cliff’s edge over the wooden stairway. She kept her gaze on his, even when she raised her arms, so Sin could grab her hands and slowly lower her. Down, down, until her feet landed on the platform.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  She nodded. Sin released her hand and then passed her the torch.

  “Step aside so I can come down.”

  “Be careful, Sin. Please.”

  He sat down with his legs dangling over the cliff before turning to slide down on his stomach. Tricky, as he tried to keep his balance with his arms and stretch down to his toes. He didn’t feel anything right away and his heart jolted in fear as his arms slid a little in the loose gravel. He prayed that he wouldn’t fall to his death, and then he prayed he didn’t die and leave Ruby all alone in the dark.

  Ruby’s hand grabbed his calf to help steady him, and then he felt his foot touch the platform. When he was secure on the wooden step, he looked back up the ledge and for some reason, it was scarier looking up than down.

  “The steps seem sturdy enough after a hundred years,” she replied.

  “Mm,” he grunted. He took a deep breath. “Just be careful. Come on, hold my hand.”

  Her hand seemed tiny in his and he couldn’t help but wonder, just what in the hell were they doing? This was sheer and utter madness.

  ****

  Holding Sin’s hand, Ruby didn’t look down as they descended. A few feet down, they came across a cave and Sin stretched up to wipe away the grime from above it to show a carving.

  “Look,” Sin said, holding the torch closer.

  “That’s Vouleigh’s crest.”

  They smiled at each other and for the first time since entering the dark, Ruby felt excited. After all they’d gone though, the treasure was finally within their grasp. They entered the dark cave and the torch barely illuminated the area, but what they did see were smooth walls, and a large wooden chest pushed up against one side.

  “What’s that smell?” Ruby asked.

  “Rot. I’m surprised anything is still standing after a hundred years, in this damp air.”

  He walked over to the chest and studied it. The wood was encrusted with mildew and the metal hinges were overgrown with rust.

  “This should be easy to open.” He handed her the torch, raised his leg, and kicked the front lock squarely. The lock not only broke, but the wood around it shattered into splinters. He tore away the lid.

  “What’s inside?” she asked eagerly.

  “It’s art.”

  He lifted one canvas up to show a portrait of a man, woman, and young girl. The man looked happy and proud, standing for the painter. The woman sat in front of him with a beautiful smile on her face. The young girl was clearly their child.

  Ruby backed up as Sin began to take the paintings out to line them up. Each one was rather ordinary: A life, per se, in painted pictures. As he worked, she glanced around and noticed another shape in the back corner. Curious, she walked cautiously toward it, holding the torch up.

  “I don’t like it here,” Sin muttered. “It feels like we’re in a tomb.”

  The light touched upon something long and white: A skeleton. Ruby screamed and backtracked.

  “Ruby, are you all right?”

  She gestured wildly toward the corner. “It’s a, a s-skeleton.”

  Sin took the torch from her and headed for the area she pointed toward. Ruby glued herself to his back and held onto his shirt. Darkness, skeletons––this hunt was almost more than she could bear.

  The skeleton was lying on top of the sarcophagus, his arms down by his side. The clothes were mostly rotten away and large spider webs lay in thick patches on the bones.

  “Why isn’t he in the sarcophagus?” she asked.

  Sin kneeled down and traced the side of the stone coffin with his fingers.

  “Because his wife and child are in here,” he said. “Agathe and Gabrielle Vouleigh. Beloved wife and daughter.”

  “He laid them to rest here?”

  He straightened and nodded. “And then died with them.”

  As she stood there looking at the graves, a riot of emotions went through her. Confusion, pity, sadness––and acceptance. She was looking at a love so strong, a man was willing to die in this blackness to stay with them.

  “His greatest treasure,” Ruby murmured. Tears gathered in her eyes but she let them fall. His arm curled around her and he pulled her into his side.

  “Yeah.”

  “We should leave. Let them remain undisturbed.”

  “Yeah,” Sin said again.

  “Oh god. What if Ramzee is behind us?” she asked. “He’ll tear this tomb up looking for gold.”

  Sin looked at the paintings. “Help me hide these behind the sarcophagus.”

  Ruby and Sin gathered the paintings and slid them between the wall and the casket.

  “How are we going to get out of here? If Ramzee is coming, we could run straight into him.”

  Sin looked around the chamber before his gaze went to the opening. “There’s only one way in and one way out. The stairs continue down. We’ll go that way.”

  “You think there’s an exit that way?”

  “I don’t know. But I don’t know any other way.”

  ****

  Ramzee led them into a chamber that was empty. He held his hand up for his men to halt and advanced cautiously, holding the lamp out to the large void where the cliff abruptly gave way. Up and down he walked the path, but even Merridie saw that the other side was too far to jump.

  He turned and stomped back to them and tore her gag off. “What’s the map say about this?”

  She rolled her l
ips inward her teeth, showing she refused to say a word. In retaliation he grabbed her arm and pulled her until she dangled over the black chasm. Fear exploded through her, but there wasn’t anything she could do since she was tied up. She was at his mercy.

  “I’ll ask this only once more and then I drop you. What does the map say? Or shall you find out just how far this pit descends into hell?”

  His words sparked a memory in her terrified brain. “T-That’s it. Trust your fears. Descend into night. I swear that’s what it said!”

  He studied her for a long, drawn out moment. Then he pulled her back from the edge and threw her behind him. Her legs were shaking so badly she doubted she could stand anyway. Ramzee lay on his stomach and shuffled along in the loose gravel and dirt, holding the lantern low, until he stilled.

  “I’ve found it,” he announced.

  Ice poured through her veins. He rose from his belly and walked back over to them. He cut through the rope binding her wrists with his machete, and thrust her over to the man she’d mentally dubbed as Spider Thug, due to his bushy facial hair and overall disgusting odor.

  “She’s your complete responsibility now. Understand?”

  While the Spider Thug smiled evilly and nodded at her, Merridie felt her anger returning. It pushed the fear away. Ramzee might be the stuff of nightmares, but his hired crew, she could handle.

  She watched as the men prepared to go over the side. Ramzee went first, followed by the Spider Thug, who turned to help Merridie. It seemed like he made sure his hands touched every part of her body to steady her, and she wanted to vomit. But she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction because he knew what he was doing.

  As the rest of Ramzee’s men fell in behind them, Merridie took a discreet look behind her, making sure no one was paying too much attention to her. Just as Spider Thug took the next step down, she shot out her foot and tripped him. With a frightened cry, he lost his balance and fell from the stairs, into the black pit. She watched him fall, until his torch snuffed out in the blackness. All that remained of him was his cry, the echo bouncing all around until it faded off. A small smile played on her lips until she caught Ramzee looking at her angrily.