Goldie [Pyrate's Treasure 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by McKenzie, Cooper

  “Hey, little girl, I didn’t know you were on board today,” the ferry steward said as she stepped up to the bar.

  “Hi, Tesla,” she replied with a smile for the old man who had been working the ferry since long before she had been born. He had once told her that he expected to die on one of these runs. “I needed to get away from the island for a few hours, and Silver talked me into this.”

  “Your usual?”

  The steward poured a large paper cup two-thirds full of hot chocolate before she had a chance to nod. He filled the rest with tiny marshmallows before snapping the lid on the cup. After slipping on the heat-protective sleeve, he handed it over the counter with a grin and a wink.

  “Thanks,” Goldie said.

  Turning away from the counter, she caught a whiff of the spicy orange scent. Shifting her head back and forth slowly, she found it stronger to her left. Moving in that direction, her focus narrowed as her body went on full alert. She fought down her wolf, which strained to break free from her control in order to hunt its mate.

  She eased past two couples who were already deep into negotiations of what they did and did not like, sexually and otherwise. She had a feeling they would be lucky to make it to land before they were fucking. Her eyes searched the room again. She saw Silver in the near corner holding an intense conversation with a big, intriguing-looking man. Taking another breath, she eased her way in their direction.

  The stranger was several inches over six feet with broad shoulders clad in a tan polo shirt, narrow hips, and a tight, well-formed butt covered by tan cargo shorts that she wished for a moment she could nibble upon. He stood easily, and power seemed to radiate from him.

  The closer to him she drifted, the stronger the spicy citrusy scent of her mate grew. Her pussy responded to the knowledge that her mate was nearby, filling then overflowing, dampening her panties. Her clit and nipples jumped to attention and begged for her mate to play with them.

  The closer she got, the stronger the scent and the feeling of his power. He was an Alpha in his own right. How was she going to convince him to submit to her? By the time she reached the two men, she was wondering if he would cooperate with her if she dragged him below decks to one of the empty equipment rooms so she could have her way with him.

  Instead of throwing herself at his feet and making a spectacle of herself, Goldie took a deep breath, held it for as long as she could, before releasing it in a whooshing sigh. Slowing her steps, she fought against the urge to wrap herself around him like a kudzu vine.

  “Cousin,” she said, stopping beside the two men and forcing herself to concentrate on Silver. “Aren’t you supposed to be giving your welcome to Pyrate Island Resort speech about now?”

  Silver looked at her in confusion before checking his watch. “Uh, not for another hour.”

  “Oh, okay.” Goldie sipped at her hot chocolate.

  Finally, she turned her attention to the man who remained silent, but watchful. Lord have mercy, he was beautiful. Strong jawline, sharp planes of his cheeks with high cheekbones, a nose that was straight and narrow, and lips that were thin, but fully kissable. She would be happy to just sit and look at him for a year or so without getting bored.

  “Hello, I’m Goldie Pyrate.” And you are my mate, she finished silently.

  Chapter 2

  “Caleb Slattery.” Her mate offered his right hand with a warm and friendly smile.

  She hesitated only a second before taking it. Even before their skin made contact, electric sparks flashed between their palms. They both inhaled sharply when their skin met and fingers wrapped around hands in a proper handshake. She looked up into his eyes and found herself falling into pale blue the same color as her favorite pair of old-as-the-hills, well-worn blue jeans.

  Electricity generated by their handshake flashed up her arm and through her body, sparking small fires all along its path. Their hands raised and lowered several times in a perfunctory handshake before slowing and stopping. When she should have pulled away, she found she could not move. He did not seem to mind, so they stood there, holding hands without speaking as they stared deep into each other’s eyes.

  “Okaaaaay,” Silver said, taking a step back. “I guess I’ll go check in with the captain. You two might want to go outside and walk the railing before you set off the sprinklers.”

  “Uh-huh,” Goldie said as she eased a few inches closer to her mate. “Want to?”

  Caleb blinked slowly as he licked his lips. “Want to what?”

  “Want to go outside and walk around?”

  Her smile broadened as his head moved up and down once in the affirmative though he looked like he had not even heard her question. Without another word, he shifted his hold on her hand so their fingers intertwined then headed to the nearest door leading outside.

  As she followed his lead to the door, Goldie glanced around and found more than a few women staring at her with narrowed, calculating, or jealous eyes. She did not know if it was because Caleb was her mate, the Alpha inbred in her, or just something innately feminine, but she boldly met each woman’s eyes.

  Her look said, “Try taking him from me and you’ll be fighting for your life.”

  She held each woman’s stare until they looked away in defeat. Only then did Goldie turn her attention back to the man beside her

  After stepping outside, Caleb started across the deck to the railing. Goldie glanced around and stopped him before they got too far. She wanted privacy with her new mate, not to be standing on the open deck where anyone could see or join them.

  When he turned to look at her with a quizzical expression, she nodded toward the back of the ferry. A metal ladder attached to the side of the building led upward to the flat roof over the lounge. The sign hanging between steps stated, “Employees Only Beyond This Point.”

  “We can be alone up there,” she explained when his gaze cut from the ladder back to her.

  * * * *

  Caleb did not argue, though as a deputy sheriff he usually tried not to break rules set by others. But for some reason, his gut agreed that being alone with this woman would be the best thing. Especially with the sizeable erection that had filled his shorts the moment their hands touched. He needed to figure out what was going on. Sure, it had been several months since his last date with a woman, and nearly a year since he had been laid, but never had he felt an instant attraction to a woman like he did this little black-haired beauty.

  Caleb watched her slip under the chain and begin to climb the ladder without hesitation. He licked his lip and adjusted his hard cock as her full, rounded backside climbed higher and higher up the side of the building. Wondering what insanity had stolen away his normally down-to-earth common sense, he ducked under the sign and followed.

  Though he tried not to, his eyes drifted upward to peek up her skirt, watching her shapely legs disappear into the darkness. He wondered whether she wore panties, a thong, or nothing at all under the denim.

  The wind across the roof was stronger and cooler. Instead of standing, Goldie crawled on hands and knees across the flat area until she reached a shady area at the front of the boat.

  As he crawled across the sun-warmed roof, continuing to follow her without hesitation, Caleb wondered if he really was losing his mind. He had always been a leader, but with this woman, he felt content to follow wherever she might want to lead him.

  As he continued crawling, he looked around and took in more than just the view of her delectable backside barely covered by the short skirt. Land was but a dark, distant line along the horizon with the blue-green waters of the Atlantic in between.

  Then his attention returned to watching Goldie’s ass until she stopped, turned around, and sat down with her legs crossed in front of her. He moved closer then shifted until he mirrored her with only an inch separating their knees.

  Reaching out, he took her hands in his, the intense electricity once again thrumming back and forth through them, as if they had just closed some kind of a circu
it. Looking deep into her amber eyes, he found himself blurting out the question that had been racing through his brain.

  “Who the hell are you, and why is it that all I want to do is strip us both naked and make love with you until neither of us can move?”

  * * * *

  Goldie met his eyes and panicked for a moment. It was too soon to share the secrets of Pyrate Island, but he needed to know what was going on. Taking a deep breath, she decided to tell him just enough to calm him. She would work up to the rest of it over the next few days, or as quickly as he could understand and accept the truth of their future together.

  “How open-minded are you?”

  “Huh?” He blinked in surprise, obviously not expecting her question.

  “How open-minded are you?” she repeated.

  “As open-minded as the next guy, I guess,” he said. “Why?”

  “My family isn’t like everyone else’s,” she started. “For as long as family history was recorded, we know our…life mates as soon as we meet them. It’s a special gift we have.”

  Caleb nodded, but his expression remained skeptical. “So what does that have to do with me?”

  Goldie looked away from his pale blue eyes for a second as she tried to come up with an answer that would not send him screaming with fear off the side of the ferry. But she could not think of anything except to tell the man the truth.

  “You are my life mate,” she said as gently as she could. “You are the man I’m meant to be with for the rest of my life. What you are feeling is the Fates’ way of assuring that we…will join together and become one.”

  Caleb looked startled for a moment then blinked, and his expression went blank. She knew he was thinking about what she had told him, trying to put it in some sort of perspective. Trying not to appear anxious as to what his reaction would be, she sat quiet, although her thumb brushed back and forth over the skin of his hand. Then she dropped her head forward and studied the intertwined hands that rested on their lower legs between them.

  His hands were as big as the rest of him, tanned, callused, with long fingers, and no extra flesh to soften them. They were the hands of a man who worked for his living. Though she was tempted to hold tight when he pulled his right hand from her left, she released him. She watched as the hand lifted and two fingers touched just under her chin and lifted her head until she was once again looking him in the face.

  He didn’t look angry or scared. Instead, he looked intrigued, as if this was not a displeasing concept.

  “So, what you’re saying is that Fate, God, the Universe, or whatever, has destined we are a match? That unlike the rest of the world who go through partners like tissue paper, we will be together for the rest of our lives?”

  Goldie bit her bottom lip just before she nodded. That move drew his gaze, and he licked his lips in response.

  “Sounds like an interesting concept that we’ll have to explore in great depth while I’m on the island,” he said.

  He slowly leaned forward, closing the distance between them. Goldie did the same until their lips brushed together. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, breathing in his scent. She silently mouthed the word “mine” just before he tilted his head farther to the right and took the kiss deeper.

  Warm, hard lips pressed to her in a kiss she had dreamt of since she had learned about mates at the age of sixteen. When he pulled back and nipped at her full bottom lip, she sighed as her juices wet her barely there thong. When his tongue brushed across her lips seeking entrance, she parted her lips. Her tongue extended to meet him in a dance that moved back and forth from his mouth to hers.

  When kissing was not enough, when she needed more, to be closer, she released his hands and shifted, crawling into his lap and rearranging herself until her legs wrapped around his back. Her skirt pushed up her legs as his long, thick erection pressed into the center of her. She wanted to follow up on his need to strip them both bare and make love right here and now.

  Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she pressed her chest into his. His arms came around her back and pulled her even tighter, until not even a slip of paper could slide between them. He lifted his head just long enough to look into her eyes and whisper, “Mine,” before closing the gap again and taking the kiss even deeper.

  Goldie’s brain shut down, her wolf straining to break free of the iron-hard control she normally held over it. When her hips began to shift up and down, his hands slid down her sides, grabbed her hips, and stilled them.

  * * * *

  Though he wanted nothing more than to follow through on his animalistic urge to fuck this woman until they were one commingled giant puddle of goo, he pulled the last threads of his restraint together and stilled the woman who was sliding herself up and down the length of his painfully hard cock.

  Tearing his lips from hers, he dragged in a breath that did little to settle his raging hormones. “No, baby. No sex until we talk.”

  She stared at him as if she did not understand his words. Her amber eyes glowed with the same hunger that filled him.

  “But,” she started, but he shook his head.

  “While there is obviously physical attraction between us, we need to talk first.”

  With an inner strength that he did not know he possessed, he lifted her from his lap and moved her so she was once again sitting on the roof in front of him. She slowly pulled her arms and legs from around him, folding her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, as if holding herself together. She looked crushed at his rejection.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered before dropping her forehead to her knees. “I know this is probably freaking you out.”

  Before he could respond, she jumped to her feet and raced back across the roof faster than humanly possible. By the time he had gained his footing, she had disappeared over the edge of the roof and down the ladder.

  “Well, hell,” he muttered as he hurried after her.

  She had disappeared from view before he could get down the ladder. Knowing there were only so many places she could go since they were on a boat, he headed into the lounge. He searched the room, but could not find her. He was ready to tear his hair out when Silver stepped in front of him.

  “What the hell did you do to Goldie?” the other man fairly growled.

  “Where is she?” Caleb bristled, his sexual frustration and worry about Goldie barely held in check.

  “She doesn’t want to see you right now.”

  Taking a deep breath, Caleb fought down the urge to grab the man and shake him. “Where is she?” he growled between gritted teeth, taking a half step closer to the other man.

  Silver blinked, obviously surprised by his strong reaction. “Locked in the head.” He pointed toward a door across the room.

  Caleb nodded. “Thanks.”

  Before he could go after the woman who had turned his world upside down with a kiss, Silver grabbed his arm. “Don’t go, not yet. Give her a few minutes to calm down. Besides, you won’t want to miss my speech.”

  It took several deep breaths before Caleb was able to fight down the urge to punch the man in the nose and go after Goldie. “She says we’re life mates.”

  Silver nodded. “That’s right.”

  “Does that mean I’ll be stuck on the island forever?”

  “Don’t you want to be on the island?”

  Caleb shrugged. “I’ve been assigned out here for the season, but didn’t ask the assignment. Honestly, I’d rather be back on the mainland in my patrol car.”

  “So you’re our summer deputy?” Silver smiled. “Does Goldie know that?”

  Caleb shook his head. “Not yet. We didn’t get to talking about jobs or why we were going to the island.”

  Silver looked startled for a moment. “Oh, this is going to be good. It’s going to be a summer to remember.”

  Before Caleb could question what in the hell the man meant by that, Silver walked to the front of the lounge and called for attention. Then he began what so
unded like a fairly well-rehearsed speech about the history of Pyrate Island and the check-in procedures once they reached the island. By the time he finished speaking, Caleb felt the boat slowing and saw out the windows that they were pulling into port.

  As the others left the boat, Caleb went to the head, but found it now empty. He wandered the deck and looked everywhere he could without going past another of the “employees only” signs. It was as if she had jumped ship no matter what her cousin had told him.

  Caleb waited until the guests had left the boat before claiming his duffel bag and suitcases sitting alone on the dock. Instead of following the others into the small building just to the left of the pier with the banner across the roof that requested everyone “Check in Here,” he stopped at the large map of the island on the sidewalk just outside.

  After studying the map for a moment, he found Pyrate’s Treasure amongst the handful of businesses that lined the horseshoe-shaped port. “Focus on the job, Slattery. You’ll see the woman soon enough, and then you’ll talk to her and straighten everything out,” he muttered to himself as he hefted his bags and turned toward the Pyrate’s Treasure, the pub where he was to meet the mayor and get himself squared away.

  * * * *

  Silver could not wait to finish helping the guests check in as he usually did. He was anxious to tell the cousins the big news. Goldie had found her mate.

  Chapter 3

  From the pilothouse, Goldie watched her mate walk off the boat. Once he was well away from the ferry, she gave the captain a hug and made her way down the stairs and through the lounge. As soon as she was off the boat and on the dock, she hurried toward Pyrate’s Treasure, keeping an eye out for her big, blond mate who did not seem to want her. As head bartender, she was scheduled to work tonight. She was probably late, but her grandfather would forgive her a few minutes. He always did.