His Secret Treasure

by MINK

  He fights a smile but loses.

  “It’s not a joke,” I huff. “I’m being mean to you.”

  “Of course. I’m sorry.” He tries to hide that panty-melting smile of his.

  I turn on my heel. “Come here, Shah.”

  He jumps out of the car and follows me. The door swings open before I get to it. Mrs. Pettyford is there with a smile on her face.

  “You’re back.” She gives me a hug. Well, she hugs me the best she can with me still holding the box to my chest. “I knew he’d bring you back here. Come. I’ve made food.” She steps back, letting me into the house. “Gaines has something to deal with, so how about you sit down with a cup of tea while I finish up dinner?”

  “Your office,” she throws over her shoulder to Gaines as she keeps leading me toward the kitchen. I follow, because I’d be an idiot not to with all the wonderful smells that are coming from it.

  “Sit, dear. I’ll get you some tea.”

  I take a seat at the giant kitchen island as she pours me a cup.

  “I’ll be right back. I’m going to grab some fresh apples for the pie. Start with this.” She pushes a plate full of meat and cheeses towards me. I debate putting the box down. Gaines could have already taken it from me if he truly wanted to. He didn’t. Actually, he didn’t seem interested in the box at all. Just in … me.

  We should just open it and get this over with.

  I turn back to the main entry of the house when I think I hear a woman's voice. A familiar one. It has me on my feet. He wouldn't. I walk fast toward his office. A sultry laugh spills into the hall. A laugh I’ve heard before.

  Before I enter, I prepare myself, because I already know who I’m going to see. Selena stands in the center of Gaines’s office, her coat on the floor pooled around her heels. She’s in less than a bikini. Could she be more cliche?

  No more so than myself in search of a box, I suppose.

  Selena's head jerks towards me. She gives me the fakest smile. One that says she’s won. I almost roll my eyes at her, but I decide to be the mature one this time.

  I’ve acted bratty enough with Gaines for one day. Still doesn't mean that I’m not mad about it. He didn't cancel his date. Now she’s here looking to collect. So I do the only rational thing I can do. I forget all about being a grown up and throw the box at his head.

  22

  Gaines

  I catch the box--barely--and place it on my desk.

  Selena whirls on Pandora. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “Leaving.” My treasure spins and marches away, but not to the front door. She heads to the kitchen. “Just getting a to-go box. Then I’m out.”

  “Good.” Selena returns her attention to me. “Now, where were we? Oh, right. You’re going to give me what I want or I’ll sink your charity.”

  “You’d really destroy a charity organization to save your pride?”

  “I’d destroy much more than that to get my way,” she snaps. “Charities are pathetic. People should work for what they want.” She gestures at her body, though I don’t look past her eyes, and continues, “Just like I’ve worked for this and now I’m going to get what I deserve.”

  “I need you to listen closely, Selena. You will put your clothes back on, turn around, leave this house, and never speak to me or my Pandora again.”

  “Your Pandora? You’re in love with that idiot?” Selena whines.

  I’m on her in half a second. “Don’t you ever refer to Pandora that way.” I glare down at her, and she shrinks back, trips on her fur, and lands on her bare ass with a smack. “And get out. Your bid will be refunded. If you even think to breathe a bad word about my charity to the tabloids, I’ll send them a recording of you showing up in my office today and embarrassing yourself.”

  “What?” she bleats and grabs her fur.

  I point over my shoulder. “Camera in the corner, and another behind my desk. I have the footage.” Stalking past her, I don’t look. “Now get the fuck out of here.”

  I race to the kitchen and see Pandora disappearing out the back door with a silver tray full of food in her hands.

  Ms. Pettyford gives me a knowing smile. “Do I need to take out the trash?”

  “She’s taking herself out. But you can feel free to slam the door on her, if you’d like.”

  “I’d love to.” She winks and scurries past, a vicious look in her eyes. “That trollop is about to get my foot in her ass.”

  I dash through the kitchen and out the back door. “Pandora!”

  She stops and turns, her mouth full of something as she gives me the hardest glare I’ve ever seen. “Whafh?” A crumble falls from her lips.

  “I love you.” I can’t wait another minute to tell her the truth. “I’ve loved you from the moment you fell into my arms. Never in my life have I met a woman so adorable yet frustrating, sweet yet cheeky, clumsy yet graceful.”

  “Grathefull?” She gestures to the food-laden tray with one eyebrow raised.

  “Okay, maybe not so much graceful.” I keep moving toward her slowly, afraid she’ll bolt. “But I love you. I simply can’t live without you.”

  She squints. “Youjuthwatmahbosh.”

  “Pardon?” I creep closer.

  She chews some more, then swallows hard. “I said, you just want my box.”

  I glance down her body. “I’ve had it, and I’d like another shot. Several more, in fact.”

  “Oh, you mean...” Her cheeks redden. “You mean my box.”

  I reach her and take the tray, then sit on the table beside the pool. “You are my treasure, Pandora. Not anything in my vault. Not the box you took. Nothing else. Just you.”

  “But I stole from you.” She looks up, her eyes watering.

  “You can’t steal what’s already yours.” I kiss her forehead, so relieved to just be touching her again.

  “Mine?”

  “Everything I have and everything I am--it’s all yours, Pandora.”

  “Even Shah?”

  I laugh and cup her cheek. “I think he was yours the moment he saw you. You seem to have that effect on the males around here.”

  She smiles, the same look that has lit me on fire from the moment she first gave it to me at the gala. Her eyes cloud a bit. “But aren’t you busy with Selena? You sure seemed busy in your office,” she snaps.

  “Selena is no longer--”

  A high-pitched shriek rips through the air followed by, “And you’ll keep your trashy hide off this property or the next time I’ll beat you with a rolling pin and bury you in the herb garden!” from Mrs. Pettyford.

  Pandora’s eyes widen, and then she laughs. I join, because Mrs. Pettyford surprises me almost as much as Pandora does.

  She wipes her eyes. “Oh my lord, she reminds me of my grandma.”

  “She’s something. Just like you.”

  “Gaines--”

  “Finnegan.”

  “What?” She looks up, the fading light giving her eyes a dark sparkle. “Finnegan?”

  “That’s my real name. Not Gaines. Finnegan Clevenger.”

  “That’s a mouthful.” She repeats my name a few times, and it is beyond gratifying to hear her say the words.

  “Why change your name?”

  “That’s a long story, Pansy Box,” I tease.

  She rests her palms against my chest. “Long story? Does that mean we’ll have to spend lots of time together for you to tell it all?”

  I pull her closer, my soul finally unwinding as I hold her in my arms. “Definitely. Years, at the very least.”

  “Years? Wow.”

  “Did I say years?” I lean closer to her lips. “I meant decades.”

  Her brow furrows. “That’s a long time.”

  “Like I said, it’s a long story.”

  She sighs and cranes her head back, her gaze holding mine as our lips almost touch. “Then I suppose it’s a good thing I love you.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes, Finnegan.” Sh
e cups my cheek. “I’ve loved you from the start. I mean, I was just so good at seducing you that you had no choice but to fall for me.”

  “Is that so?” I lift her, pressing her close and bringing her to eye level.

  She nods. “Too seductive for my own good. Absolutely. You never wanted the box or the key. You just wanted--”

  “You. All I’ve wanted is you.” I walk her into the house. “I’m going to need some more evidence of this seduction you’re talking about.”

  She wraps her arms around my neck. “See? You’re already caught up in it. Stuck. I’m just that good.”

  I lay her on my bed and make quick work of stripping her and myself. When we’re together, nothing between, no more lies--I know that I’ll never feel anything this perfect.

  “I love you.” She gasps as I slide inside her, seating myself deep and staying there so she can adjust.

  “Marry me?” I thrust again.

  “What?” Her eyelashes flutter as I start a hard rhythm, giving it to her the way she needs.

  “Marry me, Pandora.”

  She digs her nails into my shoulders, her back arching. “Finnegan.”

  I groan at the sound of my name on her lips, my body already wound tight as my treasure opens before me, her body only part of the fortune she offers me. She’s a wealth of contradictions, but I will never want another.

  “Marry me.” It’s not a question, but I still need her answer.

  Reaching down, I stroke her clit, then fasten my mouth to her breast, sucking her hard nipple into my mouth.

  She moans and runs her fingers through my hair as I lave each stiff peak and continue giving her every inch of me.

  When I return to her mouth, she’s panting and nodding.

  “Yes?” I thrust harder, our bodies slapping against each other, the friction so good.

  Her hips freeze, her eyes locked with mine. “Yes,” she moans as she comes, her tight cunt squeezing me so perfectly that I release along with her, coating her with me as she promises to be mine forever.

  My treasure.

  Epilogue I

  Pandora

  “I don’t know.” I pace around our room, my veil flowing out behind me as I walk. “I mean, what if there’s something bad inside?”

  “Would your grandmother leave you with something bad?” Mrs. Pettyford watches as I etch a dent in the floor with my continued steps.

  “No, of course not.” I eye the box, my key still stuck in the lock. “But she said that my future is inside, that it’ll show me my destiny. And I don’t think I can handle it if it has some other man’s name or something like that.” I add hand-wringing to the pacing.

  “Well, leave it. You’ve gone this long without opening it. Go a while longer. Opening it on your wedding day seems to be unnecessarily upping the ante.” She steps into my path and grabs my shoulders.

  I meet her gaze. “I know, but I just have this feeling. It’s like my grandma is telling me it’s time. That this is the moment when I’m supposed to open it. Maybe the key will finally work.”

  She sighs. “A feeling?”

  I tap the white lace over my heart. “In here.”

  “I’m not one to ignore feelings. Not anymore. The day my husband left on a job--the one he never came home from--I told him I had a bad feeling, that I wanted him to stay. He didn’t listen. And then I never saw him again.”

  I cock my head to the side. “What sort of job was it?”

  “That’s another story. Let’s just say that my family has long had dealings with the Clevenger family, not all of them good.”

  “You mean Finn’s family got your husband killed?”

  “No. The job got him killed.” She shakes her head. “We’re getting off topic. Now, the box. Either we open it now or we’ll have to wait. We were supposed to be downstairs for the ceremony ten minutes ago. Finn will be looking for you, and if we don’t show up, he’ll come barreling up here and take you down himself. He’s not letting you go.”

  Those words warm me so much that some of my anxiety fades. I stop wringing my hands and take a deep, calming breath, then turn to the ornate box that sits on my dresser.

  “I’m going to try it.” I steel myself, then walk over to it, my heart thumping with each step.

  Mrs. Pettyford moves to the side of the dresser, her eyes fixed on the emerald inlay and the mother of pearl top. “There must be something priceless in there, don’t you think?”

  “That’s what my grandma always said.” I reach for the key with a shaking hand and send a silent prayer to my grandma to finally let me open it this time.

  Gripping it, I hesitate.

  “What?” Mrs. Pettyford whispers.

  “I’m just making sure I’m holding my face right.” I take a deep breath and turn the key.

  It gives.

  Then stops.

  And I realize it didn’t really give at all, it was just that the box shifted a little across the top of the dresser.

  “Ugh!”

  I shake my head, then jump when I feel someone at my back.

  “There’s a trick to it,” Finn says in my ear.

  A pleasant shiver goes down my spine as his arms come around me.

  “You shouldn’t see me before the wedding,” I chide.

  “All I saw was your perfect ass, mostly hidden by a veil. I think we’ll be all right.” He kisses the shell of my ear, and I decide that as soon as the ceremony is over, I’m going to climb him like a tomboy on an apple tree.

  He reaches out and places his thumbs along the side of the box where the two largest emeralds sparkle. “I researched the mechanism quite a bit before I realized there was simply no way to get into the box without the key. I could have forced it, of course, but ruining this beautiful item is something I’d never do.”

  “I know.” I always thought he was a thief, but really, he’s doing good. In the short time we’ve been together, we’ve traveled to several countries to return artifacts. He’s as good as his word. Better, in fact. But there was always one piece of unfinished business. A stone in my shoe. A bur under my saddle, as my grandma would’ve called it. This box and what it holds.

  “Ready?” he asks and moves his big hands farther back, touching and turning gemstones with his fingertips.

  “Yes.” Am I, though? I hope so. Because I’ve decided that no matter what lies inside the box, I’ve already chosen my forever, and he’s standing right behind me.

  “Turn it.” He releases the box and rests his hands on my hips.

  With a wince, I twist the key. This time it gives. For real. The mechanism clicks as the key comes to a stop at a ninety degree angle.

  I blink. “It’s unlocked.”

  “It’s yours. Open it.” His voice in my ear is a sexy whisper, and I can’t deny it. I desperately want to see what’s inside Pandora’s box.

  “She said it’s my treasure, my destiny, my future.” I grip the lid on both sides and slowly lift it.

  When I see what’s inside, I can’t stop my smile. Rueful though it is.

  “It’s a good thing she’s dead or I might just strangle her.” I laugh as I inspect the box. The inside is completely mirrored. Every angle reflects the image of Finnegan and me, both of us looking into the box.”

  “Mirrors.” He snorts.

  “It’s a mirror.” I would cover my face with my hands, but I can’t risk ruining my makeup. “She wanted me to see myself.” I flick my gaze to Finnegan in the mirror. “And you. Both of us together.” My smile returns. “You’re my treasure. The two of us together--my destiny.”

  He wraps his arms around my waist and presses his lips to my neck. “I’m yours for as long as you’ll have me.”

  “Forever.” I lean into him.

  “But I believe there may be yet another surprise.” He leans farther over my shoulder, peering at the mirrored interior. With a flick of his thumbs against the back corners, the rear panel drops inward.

  I gasp. “Holy shit.”

&
nbsp; Mrs. Pettyford finally gives in to her curiosity and peeks into the box. “Oh, my, that’s enough jewels to keep even the queen of England happy.”

  “Are they real?” I reach toward the treasure trove that falls into the mirrored portion of the box.

  “They’re behind a hidden panel in a priceless box. I’m certain they’re real.” Finnegan laughs softly as I pluck a red stone from the pile and peer at it.

  “Ruby. Beautiful. But, if I may.” He kisses my neck again, and I tingle all over. “I believe we have an appointment. I’d be more than happy to examine your trove after we’re married.”

  “Right after?” I turn and meet his gaze.

  He smirks and kisses me, mussing my lipstick in the best way possible. Pulling back, he smiles. “Absolutely not. I have very specific, deep plans for after.”

  Lady parts in fuego. “Well, in that case, let’s get to it. I’ll dive into my treasure later.” I close the box.

  “I intend to dive into my treasure right after you say ‘I do.’” His hands slide down to my ass.

  “Finnegan!” Mrs. Pettyford snaps to attention. “Get downstairs. No canoodling until after, and not in front of the guests!”

  He laughs and squeezes my ass, then backs from the room. “Come soon, my treasure. Once you’re mine, I want to examine every inch of my prize, and lick it for good measure.”

  I bite my lower lip, knowing he’ll make good on his promise. Just as I intend to make good on my promise to be his forever. After all, I may have gems and a priceless box, but my real reward looks drop-dead handsome in a tux and even better wearing nothing at all. He’s my treasure. Always.

  Epilogue II

  Finnegan

  Years later

  “Mrs. Clevenger.” I take Pandora’s hand and help her into the dark, damp cave.

  “Is there a treasure inside?” she asks with wide eyes.

  “Absolutely.” I keep her hand in mine as I help her navigate the treacherous terrain, pitfalls around every corner. “But beware, there are booby traps.”