Course of the Heart (9 page)

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 took 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.

“You would never know it, lady.”

“I think I’m going to have to ask you to put clothes on. There’s a lot we have to do this morning, and quite honestly I don’t know if I can keep my mind on the tasks with you running around half naked all day.”

That was exactly what she wanted to do. The thought of clothes was too confining after the night she had spent with Drew. Although the hour was early clothing was scant, her entire body was warm. “What are we going to do about the dinghy and the outboard?”

“I think we deep-six them both. After being in salt water for so long, I don’t think the engine’s salvageable. As for the dinghy, instead of trying to patch three holes, I think it goes down with the engine. We’ll motor out to deep water and cut the lines.”

Sam wanted to ask if they could make the rest of the trip across through the Bahamas, across the Atlantic, past Cuba and into the Caribbean, without a dinghy, but stopped short, realizing she didn’t know what was next for them. After all, she still had the ticket to Miami tucked away in her purse. True, she had missed the flight, but they could swap it for another. Drew read her hesitation and beat her to the punch.

“No way I can make the trip without a dinghy, not and be in open water so much, until I get to the British Virgin Islands.” He took a sip of his coffee. “We have to go back to Andros Town. No use for me to try to continue the journey without the urn. I have to track Bynum down and get that urn back. I could care less about the diamond. But without the urn, there won’t be a payoff in the BVI. Besides, I guess you’ll be anxious to change your ticket and get out of here.”

“Do you think there’s any chance of finding him?” Sam ignored the comment about the ticket. She wasn’t ready to think about leaving yet.

“I don’t know, but I have to try. It’s only been about twelve hours. Maybe the trail is still fresh enough to get to him before he moves on. Can’t see him being in any hurry, given he thinks we’re . . . he thinks we’re gone. Besides, I’m sure I can pick up a dinghy in Andros Town for a couple of grand. Even if I don’t find the urn, I’ll need a new dinghy to get back to Fairhope.”

Sam hadn’t thought the situation through. She hadn’t thought about Drew going back to Fairhope. He had even said he couldn’t go back. And now he was considering it? The idea sank deeply into her heart and for a moment she wanted to cry. That scenario quickly put a damper on the events of the night before.

It was obvious she couldn’t go back to Fairhope, although she had hoped she could stay with Drew. So much for crazy notions. She suddenly felt foolish. How could she think there could be any future with this man? But he was right, what choice did he have but to go home and then back to school if he couldn’t deliver the urn? Time to face reality. Back to earth.

The situation was rapidly putting a limit to her choices, narrowing them to only one option. And that was to go ahead with the original plan of starting a new life somewhere else–without Drew. Try as she may, she couldn’t hide the hurt the situation had dealt her.

“Are you all right?”

“Me? Yeah, of course.” She was suddenly uncomfortable in the T-shirt. “So, do you think I’ll have any problems changing the reservation?”

Drew looked down, and for a moment Sam was confident that perhaps he wasn’t feeling good about them parting ways in Andros Town any more than she was. But he soon looked up and smiled. “Nah, I don’t think you’ll have any problems. And if you do, I can help you get another ticket.”

Sam willed the tears away. After the night they had spent, how could he be so obtuse? Then it occurred to her and she suddenly saw him as before. This was Drew Richey–the one with the reputation. He was following his reputation of loving ‘em and leaving ‘em to the T, and she apparently had fallen into the trap and become his next victim. She wanted to be anywhere other than where she was at the moment.

He stood and moved close to her. “That
is
what you wanted, isn’t it?”

She couldn’t read his face. He was aloof, distance, defensive. “Yeah, of course that’s what I want. I can’t go back to Fairhope, no way. Definitely time to get on with my life. And I’m sure they’ll let me exchange my ticket, and then you’ll be rid of me and on your way–wherever that ends up being.”

“It’s not like that, Sam . . . Sam?” he whispered, and his expression softened. She stood before him, waiting.

Say it, Drew. Tell me you don’t want me to leave.

He opened his mouth to speak, then frowned. “Guess we better get ready to shove off.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” She turned away from him, willing away the tears. She gently placed the dishrag on the galley sink and returned to the guest stateroom. She closed the hatch behind her, leaned against it, and slid slowly to the floor of the cabin.

With her face in her hands and her hands on her knees, sitting silently on the cabin floor, she began to cry.

As Sam stood close by, Drew cut the line securing the dinghy and engine and watched them sink out of sight into the blue abyss of the deep water off the out island. The scene had the flavor of a memorial service and for a moment he had to choke a lump from his throat. Not for the damn dinghy, but for the way the morning had gone downhill.

He had wanted so much to tell her that he wanted her to stay with him, but after his comment about having to possibly go back to Fairhope and then Auburn, he saw the hopelessness of the situation. He realized he had little to offer her, especially with the urn gone. Money wasn’t important to her, but she seemed the type who wanted a house, and stability–the last thing on his priority list. But was that list changing? Until he could figure it all out, he wasn’t going to toy with her future. So he was forced into playing along with the excitement of her leaving for a new life. Yet all he could think about was the night they had spent together. All he wanted was a chance to be with her, to see if the feelings he was having could keep building into something long term.

“Well, that’s that.” He moved to the wheel, after hoisting the sails. The winds had picked up. With any luck at all, with the strong eastern breeze, they would sail into Andros Town before dark.

She sat on the port settee, nursing a cup of coffee, as he turned about and caught the wind. After trimming the sails he sat in the captain’s seat and his mind flashed back to the night before, when Sam had been naked, sitting where he now sat. He shook the image away and took a deep breath. The sun was nearly directly overhead.

“Would you like something to eat?” she asked.

“No, thanks.” Even thinking about her and the night before made him uncomfortable. He thought about telling her how he felt, glancing off the port bow toward a long hilly island to gather his thoughts, when the sun reflected off an object in the distance.

“What is it?” She followed the direction of his gaze.

“I thought I saw something.” He squinted his eyes against the sun’s glare. “Over there, toward the island.” He reached under the pedestal and pulled out a chart. “Can you take the wheel a minute?”

Sam stood, reached over and took the wheel while he sat on the starboard settee. He quickly found the island on the chart and shook his head. “That’s just a spit of an island. Not inhabited, according to the chart. And we’re too far out for anyone to be day tripping there.”

“What do we do?”

“It’s only a little out of the way, let’s check it out.”

Within a half hour, they were within a mile of the island. His binoculars gave little indication of what was reflecting in the sun. It appeared as if it was floating inside a narrow cove in docile waters. Drew dropped sails and motored to within a hundred yards of the floating objects, until the water became too shallow. Dropping anchor, he turned to Sam as he stripped off his shirt and stepped out of boat shoes. He made his way below and returned with his handgun in a plastic bag, which he stuffed into the oversized pocket of his swim trunks.

“Stay with the boat, I’m going to check it out. Looks like a partially submerged dinghy.” He made his way to the stern.

“What?” She frowned and folded her arms, glancing toward the cove.

“Okay, would you like to go with me?”

“Well, if my guess is right, and you just stuffed a gun in your pocket, yes, I would like to go with you. You don’t think I want to stay here by myself, do you?”

He smiled. Apparently the pirate attack was not totally forgotten. She quickly stripped to her two-piece and joined him on the stern. They jumped in and began the short swim to the dinghy. Upon arriving, she stopped and treaded water while he swam around the small boat. One of the air compartments had been compromised. The motor and other compartments were fully inflated.

“What do you think?” she asked, winded.

“Definitely Bynum’s dinghy.”

“What?”

“One of the fabric walls has been slashed. Doesn’t look like an accident.” He looked toward the shore. “Somebody wanted to slow him down, probably as he made a run for it?”

Sam followed his gaze to the beach. Terror showed on her face. “Do you think that they’re still around?”

“Doubt it.” He moved toward the beach, pulling the boat’s line behind him.

“What are you doing?”

“I see footprints.” When they reached the beach, he took the anchor from the dinghy and chopped it into the sand, securing the line. “Stay here with the boat and I’ll check it out.”

He made his way up the beach, following the prints. When he glanced behind him, Sam was following. “Or you can come along, if you want,” he muttered, not bothering to hide his sarcasm.

There were several sets of tracks in the sand, as well as a linear imprint, as if something or someone had been dragged. He hoped she wouldn’t put two and two together and realize they were probably looking at the remnants of another pirate attack, this one against Chester Bynum.

“Is this what I think it is, Drew?” she whispered.

“Could be, looks like the tracks lead over that dune.” He tipped his head to the right. “Are you sure you want to come with me?”

She nodded and they crouched down and slowly made their way to the top of the dune. The stench hit even before he could focus on the scene. He turned to stop her from getting any closer, but it was too late. She grabbed her mouth, turned and vomited in the sand.

A few feet in front of them the torso of Chester Bynum protruded from a shallow sandy grave. Several sea gulls were feasting on his face.

The urn lay half buried just out of the reach of one of his bloody arms.

The pirates had found the diamond. The false bottom of the urn had been compromised and the sealing removed. Amazingly, the top of the urn was not opened and the ashes were undisturbed. Sam reasoned that the pirates had used whatever tactic they could to make Bynum sing. He would have held out as long as he could before possibly using the diamond as a bargaining chip to save his own skin.

Whatever the scenario had been, it hadn’t worked. He had lost the diamond and his life. The pirates must have been happy with their booty and left the ashes intact. Perhaps superstitious? Whatever their reaction, it had caused them to be careless. They had literally dropped everything after killing Bynum and left without burying him or finishing off the dinghy.