Dragon's Triangle (The Shipwreck Adventures Book 2)

by Christine Kling

  Riley closed her eyes and lost herself in the pleasure of his mouth on hers, their tongues dancing, tasting, caressing. His hands slid up her neck and into her hair, grabbing handfuls, his kisses going deeper still. She knew she should stop, that she would not survive having him and then losing him again, but all she wanted at that moment was more. More of his mouth, more of his hands on her body.

  He framed her face with those hands and leaned back. “I can’t believe you’re really here.” He extended his leg behind him and nudged the door closed with the toe of his boat shoe.

  She smiled at him. “And I can’t believe your boat-tour-as-foreplay gambit actually worked.”

  He placed his hands on the waistband of her shorts and began steering her toward the bed. “Yes, Magee. Very clever, no, ending the tour in my cabin?”

  “Oh yeah,” she said as the bed touched the back of her knees and he eased her down. “And I do appreciate a clever fellow.”

  He sat next to her on the bed, took her in his arms, and kissed her again, slipping his cool fingers under her shirt onto her hot bare skin. A shiver rose at the base of her neck and swept down her spine as she arched her back. He took hold of the hem of her polo shirt then, leaned back, and lifted it over her head.

  Riley reached back to unhook her bra, but his hands were on hers, gently pushing them to one side.

  “Allow me,” he said. “I spent too many nights alone in my bunk fantasizing about undressing you.”

  When her breasts were free he kissed his way down her neck to her collarbone, and she groaned aloud when he finally arrived, his tongue teasing first one and then the other nipple until both were pebble-hard.

  “Cole,” she said, running her fingers through his sun-bleached hair and grasping handfuls of it in her fists, “if this is all a dream, don’t wake me.”

  After some delicious, maddening minutes he sat up, and began to unbutton her shorts. “I don’t know about your dreams,” he said, wetting his lips, “but mine are never this good.”

  He slid her free of her remaining clothes and she stretched out before him, naked on his bed.

  He stood for several seconds slowly unbuttoning his shirt and shorts, taking a long look at her. She half smiled at him, wishing he’d hurry and stop torturing her. Her world had been reduced to the aching hollow need between her legs.

  When he shrugged off his shirt, she enjoyed the sight of his hard chest and the washboard shape of the muscles across his abdomen. The years had changed his body, erasing any vestiges of softness. When he’d stepped out of his shorts and crawled up the bed to her, she slid her leg between his, wanting to connect her soft skin against the hardness of him.

  What was it he did with his fingertips? They danced over her skin. By the time he kissed her neck, her whole body was trembling. Again she was arching her back, and pushed her hips against his. Her throat, her breasts, her lips—he seemed to be kissing her everywhere at once, his mouth on her skin sending white-light explosions of electric pleasure through her body. More powerful than all of this was the bone-deep connection she felt to him, as though the waves of pleasure were silk filaments wrapping them in their own cocoon. When at last he pushed inside her, she felt like gravity itself had released them, and together they burst free and took flight.

  Benguet Gold Mine

  Baguio, Philippines

  December 4, 2012

  The only four-wheel-drive vehicle Elijah could find to rent in Manila was a Mitsubishi Strada, the turbo-diesel crew-cab pickup truck. He didn’t mind the truck so much except that he couldn’t relax in the backseat like he could in a limo or a luxury SUV. He had to sit up front next to Benny. But since he didn’t know what to expect over the next few days, and he wasn’t going to have the resources of the Enterprise at his disposal, he thought the truck bed might come in handy.

  By the time they pulled up in front of the main office at the mine in Baguio, Elijah was sick of Benny’s odor of sweat and cigarettes. As usual, Jaime Belmonte had appeared on the porch as the building came into view, and he fluttered around like an obsequious moth drawn to the light when Elijah climbed out of the truck. Elijah ignored him.

  “Listen, Benny,” he said to the savage. “Until further notice, you are now my driver. That’s your job. So don’t go wandering off. I won’t be long. I have to go down to see Wolf in the lab. Then you can take me to my hotel in town.” Elijah turned to Belmonte. “Jaime, find a room for Benny for tonight.”

  “Yes, sir, I’ll be happy—”

  “Shut up, Jaime. You don’t speak unless I ask you a direct question.”

  Wolf was waiting at the door when Elijah approached the lab building.

  “Good afternoon,” the German said.

  “Same to you, Wolf.” Elijah knew the man was not happy to see him. Wolf had to know why Elijah had come.

  “Are you getting any closer to finding this Dragon’s Triangle site? I complain when I have too much work, but too little work is just as bad. In fact, I think it is worse. I’d rather be tired than bored.”

  “Yes, my people are at the site now. But salvage work takes time, as you know,” Elijah said.

  “They say it will be bigger than anything we have seen since the days of Marcos.”

  “I hope so.” Elijah walked over to the cabinet where Wolf stored the sword. “You know why I’ve come.”

  “Yes. It’s in the same place. I haven’t touched it.”

  Elijah bent down and removed the velvet-covered parcel. He set it on the table, then opened the cloth. The sword was even more spectacular than he remembered. The intricate gold work of the dragon’s face on the hilt and the jagged, teethlike spikes along the outer curve of the blade surpassed the images in his imagination. He could feel the power from the sword flowing into him. He had been right to make this side trip into the mountains to get it. Having the sword with him would change his luck now.

  Wolfgang said, “Swords from this period have sold for several million dollars at auction recently. I am not an expert, but it is possible this one is as valuable. And to think Belmonte wanted me to destroy it.”

  Elijah had no idea it was worth that much. But it didn’t matter. He couldn’t sell it. He patted Wolf on the back. “Ulrika would be proud of you for saving it.”

  Wolfgang looked like he was going to be sick. He spoke in a low whisper. “Even though I couldn’t save her.”

  “What did you say, Wolf?”

  The German stood on the opposite side of the table, staring down at the gold hilt of the sword. “I thought of taking it, you know. Like the old man did.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The sword. I thought about taking it and leaving this godforsaken place.”

  Elijah shouted, “Forsaken? God has blessed us. Look at all the gold he has given us.”

  Wolf moved around to the end of the table. “God didn’t give you anything. You took it. Just like you took my wife. She killed herself because you raped her.”

  “Rape? I didn’t rape her. You were there. You watched and you got off on it.”

  “You had a knife.”

  “I fucked your wife because you couldn’t. She needed it. She wanted me. You heard her screaming. She loved it.”

  Wolf made his move then, grabbing the sword with both hands and swinging it back. Elijah was ready for him and threw a punch straight to the man’s abdomen. The sword clattered to the floor when his fist buried in the doughy flesh, and Elijah heard the whoof of air when Wolf doubled over. Elijah clasped his hands together and lifted them over his head and brought them down hard on the back of the man’s neck. He crumpled to the floor.

  Elijah walked over and picked up his sword. He laid it down on the velvet cloth and folded it into a tight package.

  “You shouldn’t have dropped my sword, Wolf. You have no appreciation for beautiful things.” He tucked the package under his arm and turned to look at the body on the floor. He swung back his boot and delivered a hard kick to the man’s ribs. Jud
ging from the satisfying depth his boot sunk into the body, Elijah broke more than a couple of them.

  “Wolf, maybe your bad luck with women has to do with your ugly face.” He drew back his leg and kicked the toe of his cowboy boot right into the German’s nose and blood gushed from the mangled flesh.

  “Oh, Wolfie, now you’ve made me really mad. You just got your blood on my Lucchese alligator boots. You’re going to have to pay for that, my friend.”

  As Elijah was walking back up to the office, his phone rang. He held the sword tight under his arm and reached into his jeans pocket for the phone.

  “Mr. Hawkes, it’s Nils.”

  Elijah stepped away from the building and into the shade of the pine trees. “What do you have for me?”

  “I joined the party in Subic Bay and this morning we flew up to Camiguin Island.”

  “That’s a different island than the one you mentioned before.”

  “Yes, the woman seems to think the map leads here. She hasn’t had a chance to explain why.”

  “Okay, so what have they found?”

  “Nothing so far. We just got here. Right now they are trying to sort things out with the local officials. They’ve always been very touchy up here about treasure hunters.”

  “I want to know everything they know as soon as they know it.”

  “That’s a problem. There is no cell service up here. I came ashore with them, and I’ve borrowed a satellite phone from some campers. I don’t know when I will be able to call you again.”

  “Figure it out, Skar. That’s what I’m paying you for.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Elijah disconnected and hurried back to the front of the camp where they had left the truck. He didn’t see the savage around, so he bounded up the steps.

  Both men were sitting inside Jaime’s office drinking whiskey.

  “Belmonte, did you do the research I asked for on the phone this morning?”

  “Yes, sir, and I had a difficult time finding a contact—”

  “Jaime. I don’t care about what you did to get the information. Just give me what I asked for.”

  “The man Cole Thatcher was no longer being actively pursued because he was presumed dead; however, the bounty from the Patriarchs remains intact. It’s five hundred thousand dollars.”

  “Do they want to talk to him?”

  “No, sir. They want him dead.”

  Camiguin Island

  The Philippines

  December 5, 2012

  Riley had been awake for a while when she felt Cole stir, slide his arm off her waist, and roll out of the bed. She admired the view as he walked naked to the door. He opened it a crack, then quickly eased it closed again.

  “Shit,” he whispered.

  “Good morning to you, too.”

  He whipped his head around. “Oh, you’re awake. Sorry. It’s just—”

  “There’s a line at the head?”

  “Three deep,” he said as he rummaged in a drawer for clothes. When he’d pulled on a pair of swim trunks, he sat on the bed and took her in his arms. “Let me say a proper good morning.” He kissed her in a manner that wouldn’t be considered “proper” at all. “But I can’t tarry. Nature calls and if the head’s not available, the aft deck will have to serve.”

  “Unfair male advantage,” she called out as he slipped out the door.

  Much as she would enjoy spending the morning doing more of what they’d spent most of the night doing, Riley knew Cole would be eager to see if her interpretation of the symbols on the map was right.

  It had been well after dark the night before when they’d heard the sound of the outboard and realized the others were returning from their trip ashore. Cole had gone out and fetched her backpack from the galley before the rest of the crew got back aboard. Then they’d heard Theo sorting out the sleeping arrangements for the extra four guests as Riley lay half on top of him with one hand on his chest and her head tucked into the curve of his neck. He stroked her hair and they both chuckled at the wisecracks slung their way from the other side of the door.

  Riley climbed out of the bunk and picked up Cole’s shirt from the floor where it had ended up the night before. She slid her arms into the sleeves and buttoned a couple of buttons. Through the windows she could see that it was a gorgeous morning outside. The sun had already heated up the decks enough to cook an egg and there was very little breeze. She picked up her backpack and peeked out the door. It looked like the coast was clear. Just as she reached for the handle, the door opened and Greg smiled when she saw Riley before her.

  “I’m glad to see somebody’s got her glow on this morning,” she said.

  Riley started to mumble good morning, but Greg quickly switched places with her. As she was closing the door, Greg said, “Hop in the shower, girlfriend. I’m the one bunking with three guys, so I don’t need you going around smelling like sex.” She closed the door.

  When Riley entered the galley a half hour later, there was a chorus of “Good morning” from Brian and Theo, who were seated at the table. Cole was standing at the counter pouring himself a cup of coffee from an institutional-sized percolator. He grinned at her.

  “Get ready for comments from the peanut gallery,” he said with a nod toward the fellows at the table.

  Brian said, “I certainly wouldn’t make any off-color comments to such a beautiful young lady. I’d only question her sanity at hooking up with a crazy bloke like you.” He winked at Riley.

  Riley swatted Cole on the behind and said, “I like my men crazy.”

  Cole picked up another cup and poured one for her. “Yeah, crazy enough to drive my boat over here in the hope that you’ve figured out where our wreck is.”

  She looked at him over the rim of her cup. “Is that a challenge?” She took a sip of the hot liquid. Theo must have made the coffee. It was excellent.

  Cole shrugged. “Call it what you will, the time has come to lay it all out there.”

  Brian said, “I thought that was what she did last night.”

  Theo started coughing. “I think I just snorted my coffee,” he said.

  “Listen, boys, that’s enough,” Riley said. “Time to put away your inner twelve-year-olds and get down to work. Where’s everybody else?”

  Theo slid out of the dinette and said, “Greg asked to go take a closer look at the Enigma. As to those other two guys, I don’t have a clue.”

  “Forget them,” Cole said. “Riley, what do you need?”

  “Have you got an iPad with charts of the area?”

  “Sure,” Theo said. “I’ll go get it.” He walked forward into the wheelhouse and they all heard his voice when he said, “Hello, I know you’re there. Is that you, Nils?”

  The reply was muffled.

  “Come on back to the galley. Riley’s about to explain where she thinks this wreck is.”

  When Theo returned, Nils Skar was right behind him. Riley wondered what he’d been doing up there.

  Theo handed Riley the iPad. She said, “Don’t tell me you’ve figured out a way to use this, too.”

  “Sure,” he said. “Music, audio books, and I can make some pretty crazy tunes in GarageBand.”

  Riley kissed Theo on the cheek. “You are amazing.”

  “I know,” he said, and he sat back down on the dinette. He spread out his own tactile representation of the map, and slid a paper copy of the map they’d found in the prayer gau onto the table in front of Riley.

  Riley hollered out, “Irv, are you in your cabin? I need you out here.”

  From down the aft corridor she heard Irv’s voice. “I’m coming.”

  When he appeared in the doorway to the galley adjusting his hat on his head, Riley asked, “You getting extra hours of beauty sleep?”

  “How do you think I keep this physique in such good shape?”

  On the iPad, Riley opened up the iNavX app and accessed the charts for the South China Sea.

  “When comparing this Japanese map to the Babuyan Islan
ds charts, at first blush one would assume that this phallic-looking thing in the corner is the northern tip of Dalupiri Island.”

  Brian said, “She’s got phalluses on the brain.”

  Cole started to open his mouth, but Riley was faster. She swung on him, pointed her finger at his mouth, and said, “Don’t even think about it.”

  “Well, darling,” Brian said, “after what you did to him last night, he wouldn’t be a man if he wasn’t thinking about it.”

  Riley rolled her eyes. “You guys are impossible.”

  Cole put his arm around her waist. “We’re guys. It’s in our jeans.”

  Riley looked at the men around her, then closed her eyes for a minute. The others seemed to be having good fun, but Peewee looked extremely uncomfortable with the sexual innuendo. She opened her eyes and sighed. “Look, guys, we can play word games, or we can find this wreck.”

  Cole kissed her on the cheek. “Did you know you get red spots on your cheeks when you’re really irritated? It’s quite fetching. Okay. We’ll be good now. You were about to tell us what other island looks rather like a man’s penis.”

  “It’s not exactly another island. It’s part of an island. You see, I was looking at the chart of the Babuyan Islands on the iPad like this.” She held the tablet up in the portrait-viewing mode. “My boat was bouncing around because we were at sea and the image changed orientation to landscape view, like this.” Riley moved the device to show them.

  “It makes me crazy when it changes on its own like that,” Brian said.

  “But when the chart changed the view—see, here—the island of Camiguin became visible in the corner of the screen. I guess it was the way I was sitting, but it was like something clicked. I saw this area not north up like we always think of charts. Instead, I saw the island on a forty-five-degree angle.” Riley turned the sheet of paper so the lower left corner pointed downward. Then she slid her fingers across the tablet screen and enlarged the view. She set the paper on top of the glowing screen and aligned the images.

  “It’s a very smart way to disguise a map—draw it on the diagonal,” she said. “See, this is Magasasut Point off the southwest side of Camiguin, and this is the little Pamoctan Island in the center of the bay. It all started to fit with some of the other symbols that Irv had shown me on the key list.”