by Merry Farmer
He shook his head. “I stopped here because I figured it was far enough away that they wouldn’t see or hear us. If Marina and Lindqvist are there, we don’t want to advertise that we’re coming. If what I’m thinking is right, they know that rig, know their way around. In the dark, we’d be sitting ducks.”
“In other words, you don’t want to take any risks,” she said, trying not to smirk and failing.
He turned to her with an expression that said he was willing to argue his point if she pushed him. “In this case, risk could be deadly.”
She reached out and touched his arm. “In this case, I agree with you.”
He relaxed. “Good. In that case, we should drop anchor, then go below-deck and try to catch a few minutes of sleep before we charge in.”
“I’m not going to argue with that either,” Tracy sighed, pushing herself into motion.
She had no idea how to anchor a boat so far out to sea, but Johan knew what he was doing. Once he got things settled, they moved into the small but comfortable cabin in the center of the boat. It contained several cupboards, a small galley, but most importantly, a neatly-made bed.
“Do you want something to eat? Some coffee?” Tracy asked, glancing toward the galley as she made her way to the bed.
“Not right now,” Johan replied, kicking off his shoes. “Maybe in the morning.”
She paused to watch him, shoulders sagging, dark circles under his eyes, as he sat on the small bed, then lay back with a defeated sigh. Her heart went out to him. In the short time that they’d known each other, she’d come to admire Johan as a hard worker with a strong moral compass. She’d also learned that he loved his family and his country, all of which were qualities that made him irresistible. But there was a strain of innocence in him—or maybe it was just idealism—which she could see was making the whole situation hard for him to swallow.
“Hey, we’re going to make it through this,” she said, sitting on the side of the bed and taking her own shoes off. “Everything is going to be okay.” She tossed her shoes aside, then stretched across the bed, fitting her body against his and resting her arm over him in a comforting embrace.
“Are you sure about that?” he asked, adjusting so that he held her against his side.
The sudden intimacy of their position sent excitement swirling through her. Whether it was exhaustion interfering with her ability to make rational decisions or the lingering adrenaline of the situation, instead of pushing those warm, fuzzy feelings aside, she embraced them. “I’m a hundred percent sure.” She fiddled with the buttons of his shirt. She’d changed clothes when he attempted to dump her at home, but Johan was still wearing the formal shirt and trousers from his dress uniform, even though he’d left the jacket somewhere.
He tensed under her touch. She felt his heart rate kick up. “I want to believe that’s true,” he said, twisting to lie on his side, gathering her more intimately in his arms. “I want to believe that there’s an explanation for everything Aunt Marina has been up to. I want to believe that we’ll all have a good laugh about this tomorrow morning.”
“But you don’t believe that,” she said, reaching around to rub her hand down his back. She wanted desperately to tug the hem of his shirt free from his trousers and to explore his body more fully.
“I don’t,” he said. “I know Marina is guilty. We don’t have irrefutable proof yet, but we have enough to build a case on, and I’m sure more things will come to light.”
“It will be okay,” Tracy repeated, meeting his eyes. She wanted to kiss away his worry so badly that she could barely keep still in his arms.
Johan raised a hand to stroke the side of her face. “If you tell me it will be okay, then I believe you,” he said softly. “I know you’re the expert here. I’m sorry that you are, that you’ve been through this.”
“I know.” There was nothing else she could say that she hadn’t already said, even though she had the sense that Johan would never get tired of hearing that he and the entire royal family would survive this. Instead, she surged forward, closing her lips over his in a reassuring kiss.
He let out a breath as though he’d been waiting for that kiss his whole life. His arms tightened around her, need rippling off him. He kissed her back with a heat and vulnerability that squeezed Tracy’s chest. Her heart beat so hard for him that it made her dizzy. Or perhaps the dizziness came from the rush of desire that had every nerve in her body tuned in to him.
“I meant what I said earlier,” he whispered between kisses, sliding his hand under the soft fabric of her t-shirt to spread against her skin. “It was stupid of me to blurt it out the way I did, but I love you.”
Her heart knocked harder against her ribs, and the ache that had been steadily forming in her core pulsed harder. “I know.” She kissed him back, going for broke and tugging at his shirt the way she’d been longing to. “And I love you too.”
She felt a ripple of delicious tension course through him. He shifted their positions so that she was on her back. With one hand and her help, he tugged her t-shirt up over her head and tossed it aside, then he dipped down to kiss her with a passion that left her feeling like a particularly electric jellyfish.
“Is it crazy that we’re saying I love you so early in our relationship?” he asked between kisses, breathless. His hand skimmed her body, cradling her breast, then reaching around her back to unhook her bra.
“Probably.” She arched so that he could remove it, then reached for the fastenings of his trousers. “But I don’t care. I’ve never felt this way with anyone else.”
She loosened the front of his trousers and slid her hand against him. He jerked and groaned with pleasure at her touch. The sounds he made stirred her blood even more. She had to get out of her jeans or she’d go crazy.
“Sometimes you just know,” he echoed her thoughts as they stopped trying to be smooth and did whatever it took to get naked fast.
She giggled as she pushed her jeans and panties down, kicking them to the end of the bed. “Sometimes you do.”
He stroked his hands down her sides to her hips, then drew her into an intimate embrace. Their bodies slid together, skin against skin. Tracy moaned shamelessly at the sensation. Johan had an amazing body. It felt perfect for the two of them to be wrapped up in each other. The gentle rocking of the boat only enhanced the sensuality of the moment. Every part of her ached to be filled by him, not only then, but forever.
Just as things were getting desperate between the two of them, Johan stopped, panting heavily. He twisted to the side, reaching for one of the closed cubbies along the wall beside the bed. “I’m going to kill Mack if he doesn’t keep his boat well-stocked,” he managed to say.
A moment later, he let out a wordless cry of triumph as he pulled a short strip of condoms from the cubby. As fast as lightning, he tore into one without detaching it from the strip, then rushed to put it on.
“Remind me to send Mack a politely-worded thank you note later,” Tracy laughed.
A moment later, her laughter turned into a deep moan of pleasure as Johan plunged into her. She’d been waiting for ages for that moment, waiting her whole life, and he didn’t disappoint. Their bodies fit so well together, and his movements were so smooth and masterful that in no time, she felt herself teetering on the edge of orgasm. She wanted the moment to last much, much longer, though, and did everything she could think of to hold back. At the same time, she couldn’t stop herself from wrapping her legs around him and digging her fingertips into his backside as if there were no tomorrow. She wanted everything about him so badly that it robbed her of all thought, leaving her nothing but a flaming ball of longing.
At last, just as his body tensed in release, she gave in to the throbbing pleasure that had been building inside of her. She came with glorious force, filled with wonder as the two of them hit their climax at the same time. That had never happened to her before. She didn’t even think it was possible. But the two of them were so synced that it seemed on
ly natural. And it was beautiful.
Slowly, with gentle rocking, and gasping for breath, the two of them tumbled into a spent pile of arms and legs.
“We should have done that much sooner,” he panted, removing the condom and settling her into his arms.
“We’re going to have to do that a lot more going forward,” she agreed, snuggling against him.
“If you insist,” he said, a hint of laughter in his voice.
She smiled as she rested her forehead against the side of his head. There would be time for all that and more soon. As soon as Marina and Lindqvist were taken care of. But even that seemed distant and unimportant with the two of them dozing off in each other’s arms. There was time for a few hours rest, just as there would always be time for love.
9
Johan slept deeply, even if he couldn’t sleep for long. It seemed crazy that in the middle of everything going on, he was able to relax down to his bones, but being with Tracy had loosened all the tension he’d been carrying and more. She was perfect in every way, and her responses to him had left them both sated and happy.
He opened his eyes with regret when his phone’s alarm went off as the first rays of dawn peeked through the boat’s portholes. If he had his way, he and Tracy would enjoy a leisurely and passionate day out on the boat, far from royal duties and troubles. But as soon as the last bits of sleep began to drain away from him and Tracy started moving, hinting that she was awake too, the daunting task in front of them swooped down on him.
“What time is it?” Tracy gasped, sitting up. She didn’t bother to gather the sheets around her body, which meant Johan was treated to the tempting sight of her bare chest, then her backside as she leapt from the bed.
“It can’t be long past dawn,” Johan said, reluctant to break the hazy spell of desire that begged him to lure Tracy back into bed. He stood, reaching for his clothes that lay scattered on the floor and furniture beside the bed. “And dawn comes early at this time of year.”
Tracy raced to dress, but paused in the middle of fastening her jeans to study him with an appreciative eye. Her lips pulled into a sly grin. “That was some night last night.”
Johan let out an ironic laugh, zipping his trousers, then moving to sweep her into his arms. He kissed her as deeply as he dared, careful not to go so far that he’d forget what they had to do in favor of going back to bed. “You have no idea.”
He kissed her again quickly, then stepped away to finish getting dressed. He could have used a shower, but there wasn’t time.
Tracy wore a satisfied smile as she finished dressing. Johan loved that he’d put that look on her face, and as soon as everything was over, he intended to make her smile like that a lot more frequently. For the first time in what felt like forever—although it was more like eighteen hours—his mind was looking ahead to things that could happen after Marina and Lindqvist were brought to justice, after his mother’s marriage was made official, and after life returned to normal. He couldn’t imagine his life without Tracy by his side. And even though it was still way too early to think about long-term future plans—plans that would add the title “Princess” to Tracy’s name—his heart longed to go there.
He was still contemplating those world-changing thoughts when he and Tracy climbed up to the deck and looked out across the dim, dawn-kissed morning. Johan went to lift anchor while she moved to the edge of the deck.
“Wow. The rig looks so different in the light,” Tracy said.
“I would hardly call this light yet.” Johan glanced around. “We’ve probably got about half an hour until the sun actually shows up on the horizon.”
“But it’s light enough.” Tracy squinted at the rig. “It looks almost like a random collection of shipping containers and some scaffolding now.”
Johan nodded. “And we’d better get there while there’s still enough darkness to conceal us.” He moved to the captain’s chair and started the engine.
Tracy sat as close as she could to him on the bench behind the captain’s seat. “Will we be able to sneak up on them with the engine as loud as it is?”
“I doubt it,” he said with a frown.
“So if anyone is there, they’ll know we’re coming,” Tracy said, gravity in her voice.
“Unless they’re still asleep.” He didn’t think that was something they could count on.
But as the boat drew near to the rig, Johan became convinced it was abandoned, or nearly so. Under normal circumstances, there would have been more lights on the rig’s main platforms and more boats moored nearby. The whole thing had a ghostly, vacant feeling—one that chilled him to the bone.
“Well, someone’s here,” Tracy said as they reached the edge of the rig, where the slip and ladder leading up to the main platform stood.
She nodded to another, small boat tied to the slip. It wasn’t anything fancy, but the fact that it was there proved someone else was on the rig. Johan cut the engine of Mack’s boat and moved to the side to fasten it to the slip, with Tracy’s help.
“Should we call the police now?” she asked.
Johan stared long and hard at the rig’s supports, the other boat, the platform above them. “They know to come by nine one way or another. Let’s just see if the rig is really abandoned first.”
“Right,” Tracy snorted, shaking her head at him.
“So much for not taking risks,” he muttered once Mack’s boat was secure. “This was just supposed to be a reconnaissance mission.”
“Yeah,” Tracy laughed, a flash of adrenaline in her eyes. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to avoid diving in this time.”
“All the same,” Johan said, meeting her eyes and holding them, “don’t go out of your way to find trouble. We’re here to see if Marina and Lindqvist are here, and to discover any further evidence that would prove what they’re up to. The police will get involved, whether we call them now or not, which means that we don’t have to be heroes.”
“Just because we’re not heroes doesn’t mean we can’t be the ones to figure out what’s going on here,” she replied, a light of challenge in her eyes. “But I hear what you’re saying. I solemnly swear that I’ll try not to get myself killed.”
Johan grinned in spite of himself. As much as he hated Tracy’s tendency to land herself in hot water, he loved her enthusiasm and determination to get to the bottom of things. He loved her. And if he was going to build a life with her, he was pretty sure he’d have to get used to being completely frustrated with her from time to time.
“Well,” he took a deep breath, “let’s do this.”
Taking care to stay as quiet as they could, they climbed out of the boat and onto the rig. Johan spent about three seconds worrying whether Tracy was up to the physical challenge of climbing to the platform and snooping around, but as soon as he saw the way she shot up the ladder, as if it were nothing, those fears subsided. She might have been in better shape than he was, and he worked out regularly.
The main level of the rig was as silent as the rest of it, but it felt slightly more familiar than staring up at the structure from underneath. A metal deck ran around the perimeter of the bulky structure. Several doors stood in the walls, but until they determined where each door led, it would have been foolish to go rattling the doorknobs and pushing each one open. The problem was, without schematics or the first clue how oil rigs were configured, they had nothing to go on.
“Okay, what now?” Tracy asked after they’d walked all the way around the rig, passing two sets of stairs leading up in the process, and returned to the ladder. “Do we go up to the next level? Or do we start opening doors?”
Johan ran a hand over his face and let out a breath, thinking. “Let’s try a few doors first, just to see what we’re dealing with.”
Tracy nodded, and they started their second circuit of the rig. The first door they came across was locked, but the second opened easily.
“Whoa,” Tracy murmured as they pushed it open and flicked on the lights
. The fact that there was power when the rig had looked abandoned wasn’t a good sign. The room was clearly some sort of control center for the rig. Panels of instruments and a few computers sat in silence beside empty desks and counters. “Most of it is turned off,” Tracy went on. “If turned off is the right term. Can you turn an oil rig on and off? And if so, why do the lights come on?”
“I don’t know,” Johan said. He took a step deeper into the room, scanning everything and trying to make some sense of it. “I tell you what, though. Even if operations here are shut down, they can’t have been down for long.”
“How do you know?” Tracy glanced around, trying to see what he was seeing.
“It’s still warm in here.”
“So?” She looked to him.
Johan shrugged. “Anything like this—made of metal and sitting in the Baltic Sea—is going to lose a lot of ambient heat if it’s not fully functional for long. If this rig truly was abandoned and out of commission for any length of time, it’d be cold. And those lights you mentioned wouldn’t work. Always check the lights.”
“Good point.” She took another look around. “So things were active here until very recently. Whoever was running the rig must have shut everything down and sent the workers away. But when?”
“I don’t know,” Johan answered.
They took a quick look around, but there was nothing to indicate any activity or any hint of who had been there. Everything had been removed but the equipment that was built into the room. They were forced to leave and keep checking doors, hoping to find more information.
“Did you hear something?” Tracy asked when they were back out on the deck, approaching one of the sets of stairs.
They both froze, and Johan listened. The rig was full of sounds, but they could easily have been caused by the slight breeze or by sea birds landing somewhere above them. And they could have been caused by Marina or Lindqvist, or someone else up to no good.
He motioned for Tracy to keep going. None of the other doors on the bottom level were unlocked, so they cautiously made their way to the second level. The first unlocked room they found there was an abandoned bunk room. Two bunk beds lined the walls of the narrow room with a bureau at the far, windowless end. The beds had been stripped of all coverings, and the bureau was empty.
