Unexplored (Treasure Hunter Security Book 3)

by Anna Hackett

  They pushed as hard as they could through the thick trees. At times, it was really hard going, and they slipped on the steep, muddy ground. Finally, they crested the hill…and moved into even thicker forest.

  Here, there were no tracks to follow. Logan had to hack away vines and undergrowth to make a way through.

  Soon, the smoke cleared, and the noises from the lake were gone—no gunfire or shouting. Dec and the others would be okay. Logan knew they were all tough and they never gave up. They could take care of the Silk Road mercenaries with their hands tied behind their backs. Hell, he was sure Morgan could take care of them all on her own.

  Logan focused on getting Sydney to Oclap.

  They’d been going hard for an hour, when Sydney stumbled to a stop. “Need to…rest.” She was breathing hard.

  He nodded, lowering the machete. “Here.” He handed her a water bottle. “You doing okay?”

  She nodded. “Just give me a minute and I’ll be fine.” She lifted the bottle and chugged some water back. She was sweating, her hair sticking to her temples. “I can’t believe what Silk Road are willing to do for this treasure. Kill, burn down the forest, possibly destroy those burial chullpas back there…”

  “Money. Power. Greed. It’s the same story over and over again.”

  Sydney tilted her head. “You’re thinking about that female agent again.”

  “Yeah.” But funnily enough, the acid burn in his gut didn’t feel quite so bad anymore.

  Sydney screwed the lid back on the bottle, and handed it back to him. “Let’s go find my brother, and make sure Silk Road does not get its hands on a single piece of the Cloud Warrior treasure.”

  Logan smiled at her. “I like it when you get all forceful and bossy.”

  She slapped a hand against his chest. “That was nothing. Later, I’ll show you forceful and bossy.”

  They started moving again.

  Logan pushed her hard. She kept moving and she didn’t complain, keeping up with his pace.

  After two more hours, he pulled up. “Let’s take a break.”

  She nodded, leaning against a tree. He couldn’t ask for a better partner to trek with. She was smart and tough. Beautiful and sexy. And his. Logan felt something unfamiliar shift inside him. Shit. Shit.

  She looked up and smiled at him. Those boiling emotions inside him morphed into something else. They’d once again escaped a dangerous situation, could have been killed. There were several hours between them and danger…but he wouldn’t be happy until she was one hundred percent safe and far away from Silk Road.

  He felt a primitive need to claim her, to mark this woman as his.

  He took a step toward her. Her eyes widened. He wanted her. Now. He yanked her to him, and slammed his mouth over hers. The kiss was wild and out-of-control. Soon, she was making tiny noises, trying to climb up his body. Without stopping to think, he tore her trousers open and pushed them down.

  “Logan,” she gasped.

  He had her pinned up against the trunk of the tree. He opened his own trousers, and freed his cock. He curled his hand around her ass, cupping her buttocks, and pushed her up. She wrapped her legs around his hips.

  A second later, he shoved inside her. She made a choked sound, her nails digging into his shoulders.

  “You’re so thick.”

  And she was so tight and wet. He started moving, pistoning inside her, trembling with the fury of his need. Her mouth found his ear, nipping and sucking, and she made hungry little sounds. Logan felt like a wild animal, driven only by the single need to claim her, mate with her.

  She stiffened and cried out his name. Her body bowed in his arms, and she shook under the force of her orgasm.

  As her body clenched down on his, he managed two more powerful thrusts before his release exploded inside her.

  When it was over, only the tree was holding them both upright. Wrecked, Logan fought to clear his head and find some control.

  God, he’d been rough with her. Remorse flooded him. He’d never been so rough with a woman before.

  He pulled back, and his cock slid out of her. She made a small sound of protest, and he got a good look at her. Her cheeks were flushed, and in her eyes he saw…intense satisfaction and bliss.

  He frowned. “You’re okay?”

  Her smile was a little crooked. “Better than okay.”

  “I was rough.”

  “And I liked it.” Then she got a good look at his face and one of her silky brows rose. “Wild Man, I can handle anything and everything you’ve got.”

  He smiled back at her, cupping her cheek with his hand. Then he stepped back with a regretful sigh. “We need to keep moving. It was dumb of me to do this, but…”

  “But?” she prompted.

  “I couldn’t help myself.”

  She smiled, tucking her shirt back into her trousers. “Then let’s keep moving.”

  ***

  Another hour and a half of trekking left Sydney’s body numb. Her legs were moving, but she didn’t feel them anymore. Her muscles were so tired. She followed right behind Logan’s broad form and secretly cursed his seemingly endless stamina. The man was a machine.

  “We’re getting close,” he called back.

  Every few minutes he kept looking back to check on her. It made her smile. Her big protector. He could explode into violence or passion in a flash. The deadly fighter one second, and generous lover or concerned protector the next.

  And she was falling for him. Her feet stopped moving. Oh, God.

  He looked back with a frown. “What’s wrong?”

  She cleared her throat and forced herself to move again. “Nothing.”

  “From the look on your face, it isn’t nothing.”

  She kept walking. “I just realized something.”

  He was so close she could feel the heat coming off him. “What?”

  “Drop it, Logan.”

  “No. If it makes you look like someone smacked you in the head, I want to know what it is.”

  Pushy alpha male. She stopped and shoved her hands on her hips. “Fine. I realized that despite your wild and sometimes antisocial ways, I think I’m falling in love with you.”

  He jerked to a halt and she watched his back tense. He turned, and for the first time since she’d met him, his eyes were as big as saucers.

  Even though her heart hurt, Sydney let out a laugh. “I think you’d look less terrified if I said there was a platoon of Silk Road thugs behind you. “

  “I’m not terrified.”

  She tried not to let his lackluster response hurt her. But that look on his face did sting. A lot.

  She shook her head. “Come on, we need to keep moving—”

  He grabbed her arm, and reluctantly she looked up at him.

  “I’m…glad.”

  She blinked. “What?”

  “I’m glad. Because I’ve decided you’re mine and I’m keeping you.”

  She didn’t know whether to hit him or kiss him. “I’m not a chew toy, Logan.”

  He grinned. “I like chewing on you.”

  She cocked her head. “Why?”

  “Why do I like chewing on you?”

  She ignored that. “Why do you want to keep me?”

  “Because.” He turned, lifted his machete, and started to slash at the vegetation.

  “That’s not an answer, Logan.”

  He grunted.

  “This is your way of talking about your feelings?”

  “Men don’t talk about feelings,” he said in a bad-tempered tone.

  She pushed some vines aside and snorted. “Right. You know who doesn’t talk about their feelings? Cavemen.”

  Logan spun and grabbed the front of her shirt. He yanked her in close and she was forced up on her tiptoes.

  “I’m not good at it, okay? I’m better at showing how I feel.” He loosened his grip, his hand sliding up to circle her throat. He stroked her skin gently.

  She softened, but she wasn’t planning to let him
off that easily. Then she noticed something behind him, through the holes in the vines he’d just hacked at.

  “Logan, my God. Turn around.”

  He spun.

  Together they stared at the giant stone walls rising up from the forest floor.

  ***

  Logan led the way, walking along the base of the wall. He saw a snake slither away into the undergrowth and decided not to mention it to Sydney.

  He was looking for some sort of entrance like they’d seen in the walls at Kuelap. Sure enough, they came to a narrow gap in the wall.

  “Here.” Holding her hand, they walked through the portal.

  “Wow,” Sydney breathed. “Incredible.”

  Logan took in the ruined city. Yeah, it was incredible. In Cambodia, he’d seen a secret underground temple. In Egypt, the amazing ruins of a lost oasis.

  This find was equally as amazing.

  The ruins resembled the fortress of Kuelap. There were lots of ruined round houses, walls, terraces, and platforms. Here, the jungle had claimed the city, and much of it was overgrown.

  Toward the far end of the city, he could see a huge stone platform. And in the center of it was a large, circular temple made of giant blocks of stone.

  “Drew!” Sydney cupped her hands together and called out her brother’s name.

  Silence.

  Logan saw her shoulders sag. “Come on, let’s take a look around.”

  They wandered through the ancient stones. He imagined the warriors who’d lived here building the place, maintaining it, until they’d been driven from their home.

  “Drew mentioned a temple.” Sydney was staring up at the circular structure.

  “We’ll look everywhere.”

  The minutes ticked by as they moved through the ruins. With each empty building and crumbling ruin, he saw the worry on Sydney’s face deepen.

  It wasn’t long before they reached the large platform and temple.

  From the base, they stared up. The temple was built in a huge circle.

  “Amazing,” Sydney said. “I can imagine the Warriors of the Clouds moving up here to give thanks to their gods.”

  They climbed the stairs and stood in front of the doorway into the temple. Sydney peered inside.

  It was then Logan noticed something on the ground. He stiffened. It was a puddle of blood. He crouched and touched it, rubbing his fingers together.

  Fresh blood.

  “What is it?” She came to his side.

  He grabbed her hand, felt her freeze.

  “Blood,” she whispered.

  “It may not be human.” Then he spotted something else nearby.

  A bloody handprint pressed against the ground.

  “Looks like we didn’t need your brother after all.” The deep, faintly accented voice made them both spin.

  Logan was reaching for his Desert Eagle, but the fake Piero was already aiming his gun at Sydney.

  “Put the weapon down and kick it over here.” The man gestured with his fingers. He had three other people behind them, all of them armed.

  Anger vibrating through him, Logan did it. He should have damn well heard these guys coming. He dropped his gun to the dirt and kicked it across to the man. He eyed them all, assessing them. Ex-military, and they all looked tough and seasoned.

  “Knew I should’ve killed you when I had the chance.” Molten anger ran through Logan’s veins. He struggled to clamp it down and keep some control. He couldn’t lose it right now. “How did you escape my team?”

  “We set the fire, and I had enough people to keep them busy while I came after you and Ms. Granger.” His smile was ugly. “Now. Let’s find the treasure.” He glared at Logan. “And later, I’m going to kick you in the ribs until I break them.” He touched his side. “Like you did to me.”

  One of his people, a fit, athletic, blonde woman, moved forward and patted Logan down. She was tall, with broad shoulders, and a set face that warned everyone not to mess with her. She grabbed his machete and relieved him of his knife.

  “Oh, and Mr. O’Connor?” Piero said. “If you step out of line, I shoot Ms. Granger in the head. Understand?”

  “Yeah.” Logan was going to rip this guy’s head off when he got the chance.

  Piero waved his team toward the temple. They walked through the narrow entrance. It was pitch-black inside, and Piero’s people pulled out flashlights and turned them on.

  Logan stayed close to Sydney. They moved through several empty rooms, and Logan realized the main tunnel was moving downward, into the ground. They passed beautiful artwork on the walls in the characteristic Chachapoya design.

  “You two are going to help me score a promotion,” Piero said, studying the walls. “My bosses have been less than impressed with losing out to Treasure Hunter Security.”

  A muscle ticked in Logan’s jaw, but he stayed silent.

  “Why do you do this?” Sydney asked. “Hurt people, kill people…all for treasure?”

  Piero moved his flashlight and looked at her. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand, Ms. Granger. You grew up in privilege, with money.” A look crossed the man’s face. “You have no idea what it’s like to come from nothing, have nothing, be forced to do things you don’t want to do.”

  “There are always choices,” she said.

  “No,” the man answered, his tone void of emotion. “There aren’t. Keep moving.”

  Finally, they came to a large room cut completely from stone. It was lined with ledges and cavities, similar to those they’d seen in the chullpas at the lake.

  But these cavities were not filled with mummies.

  These were filled with treasure.

  The Silk Road team started laughing and joking, Piero turned in a circle as his team flashed their lights around.

  Logan saw the glint of gold and silver. There were statues, jewelry, golden headdresses.

  Sydney moved closer to the wall, and Logan followed. Inside one alcove were stacks of what look like string.

  “Quipus,” Sydney said. “This is how they recorded their information. There could be amazing things stored on here.” She scowled at the Silk Road people, who were already starting to pull treasure off the shelves and stuff it into bags. “This is wrong. This treasure was hidden from the Inca, from the Spanish, from looters.” There was anger vibrating in her voice.

  Logan was more worried about the fact that he and Sydney were no longer required.

  Their reason for being kept alive was gone.

  Where the hell were Declan and the others?

  “Sydney.” Logan leaned in close and kept his voice very low. “We need to get out of here.”

  She nodded, eyeing Piero and his men. They took a few stealthy steps back toward the doorway.

  At that moment, Piero turned. “Oh, you’re ready to leave?” He raised his handgun. “I can help you with that.”

  “Go!” Logan shouted, pushing Sydney toward the doorway.

  With gunshots reverberating around them, they ran into the tunnel.

  Chapter Twelve

  Without a flashlight, the exit tunnel was pitch dark. They were running blind and Sydney felt a burning pain tearing through her side. She stumbled.

  “Keep going,” Logan barked.

  She pressed her hand to her side. She could feel sticky blood oozing through her fingers. Gritting her teeth, she ignored the pain and kept running. She didn’t want to slow Logan down. Behind them, she could hear the Silk Road men shouting.

  She focused on staying upright, and getting out of the dark temple.

  A second later, they stumbled out of the temple and into the dappled forest sunshine.

  Logan barely slowed down. He yanked her toward the stairs of the platform. “We need to get out of the walls and hide in the forest.”

  She bit her lip and started down the stairs. Every step was agony.

  At the base of the steps, he turned. Then he looked down. His face turned gray. “Sydney.”

  She looked down. Uh o
h. Her entire shirt was covered in blood.

  She managed a weak smile. “I think I got shot.”

  Carefully, he pulled her behind the ruins of a nearby building. He nudged her down on a rock and lifted her shirt with shaking hands.

  “Shit.”

  She couldn’t look. “I’m fine. We need to go.”

  He tore his shirt off over his head, and wadded the fabric. He pressed it to her side. “Bullet’s gone into your side.”

  Suddenly, voices and shouts broke out, coming from the direction of the temple. There was the sound of footsteps thundering on stone.

  “Keep the pressure on.” He helped her up and slid an arm around her. “We have to get out of here.”

  She nodded. She steeled herself and bit down on her lip to stop from crying out. They hobbled as fast as they could, back toward the entrance in the outer walls.

  They stumbled down between the ruins of two round houses, when something moved ahead of them. They halted. A creature stepped out of the patchy shadows and leaped onto a block of stone.

  Sydney gasped. A jaguar.

  It was sleek and strong, the tan fur of its powerful body dotted with gorgeous black rosettes. It stared at them with a lazy arrogance.

  “Dammit.” Logan pulled her backward. “Just move slowly.” They took several steps back, and then Logan pulled her to the left, behind a ruined wall. They set off in that direction.

  “This leads us away from the entrance,” she whispered.

  “We’ll circle back.”

  A gunshot. Logan ducked and yanked her to the right, pain exploding in her side. They crouched behind a low stone wall. Sydney sucked in air, panting, trying to fight off a wave of dizziness. The pain was excruciating.

  She couldn’t keep going.

  “Logan—”

  He shook his head. “We need to keep moving.”

  She took a deep breath. “I don’t think I can.”

  He turned and cupped her cheek. “You can. You will.” His tone was unyielding.

  “I won’t make it far—”

  “You will. I’ll carry you, if I have to.”

  He was such a good, strong, and loyal man. She’d never met a man so real. With Logan, what you saw was what you got. He’d be there for you, no matter what. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to her feet.