Elusive (Shipwreck Book 1)

by L. A. Fiore

  I stood there long after she had walked away. My eyes burned, a sensation I had never in my life experienced. And I was worried about breaking her when I left. Fucking hell, the woman was going to be the end of me.

  WILLOW

  I looked out the hotel window, but I saw nothing. There was so much going on that it was hard to catch my breath. Tomorrow we would start looking for Isabella. It felt like a dream and that we weren’t actually here doing it. We had the team and tonight they would all meet. Decker’s reaction to Noah had been a surprise, but I supposed it really shouldn’t have been. Decker was my friend and because of Noah I had been put in the worst situation of my life back in St. Croix with Isaac. Of course, Decker didn’t know about that. So why the overprotective streak? I didn’t know.

  Earlier when Noah and Granddad were talking it was uncanny how much alike they were—so stubborn, taciturn and protective. I didn’t know if he meant it, but Noah proclaiming his interest was in me had caught me completely by surprise. For just a minute I let myself truly believe it.

  I wondered about the dynamic between Noah’s crew and Hawk’s crew, taking turns stealing the same ship. It was a hell of a ship, but I guessed it was their form of a war game. A way to keep themselves on their toes when looting and pillaging were slow. And that was another thing I found odd, that the whole crew was taking a break from their mayhem ways to hunt a treasure. Sure, in theory it sounded like fun, but it would be a lot of waiting. I imagined some of them would go stir crazy after a while, which begged the question what happened when they hit their wall on boredom?

  For now, we had a team to assemble, a ship to find and a necklace to recover. I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning.

  Granddad had spared no expense. He rented the only dining room in the hotel. I’m not sure how he swung that, but we had the place all to ourselves. There were two bars set up, the tables were dressed in blue clothes, and little fish bowls were the centerpieces. The menu was surf and turf. I gave a moment’s thought to the little fish watching us eat their brethren. Decker and the crew were all decked out in suits, Granddad too. Walking with Granddad was Harry. I hadn’t yet seen him because he had been detained. Seeing Harry in a suit was a shock. He saw me at the same time I saw him and walked across the room to pull me in for a hug.

  “Savor this. Every part. This is your moment.”

  I hugged him back. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “Noah, he’s the one who gave you the journal, isn’t he?”

  I didn’t hide my surprise. “How did you know?”

  “Your grandfather mentioned him way back when. I didn’t put two and two together when we met at my shop. It’s nice he gets to share in this since he was the one who unknowingly set you down the path.”

  “I agree.”

  Granddad approached and with him was an older gentleman, Captain Willard. He will be piloting the vessel tomorrow, Ocean Quest, the sonography crew with him. We had met earlier.

  “I’ve read through your research, it’s very thorough and the story is almost more compelling than the actual treasure. I sense this is personal for you,” Captain Willard commented.

  “It is. I’ve met a person who has an actual connection to what we are searching for. It’s not all speculation or academic. It’s closure for a family who has waited a long time for it.”

  “William said you had a romantic side.” He smiled. “I hope we find her for you.”

  Granddad held back as Captain Willard moved toward the bar. “The request you made.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “You asked me to go through the crazies’ letters.”

  “Oh right. How did that go?”

  “I didn’t find anything, nothing about an Isaac. I did discover a few patterns in the letters, repeat offenders, but nothing that linked your parents and that Isaac character. I will say your parents have offended people all over the world from California to Tokyo to Africa.”

  That was unnerving to hear that my parents were piling up quite the list of haters. “Thank you for looking.”

  “You still won’t tell me what this is about?”

  “I will, but not tonight.”

  “Fair enough.” He pressed a kiss on my head then followed after Captain Willard.

  Zoe showed up with blue hair, twisted into a bun and a sequined teal gown that fit her like a glove. She looked like a mermaid. I started toward the door to greet her, but stopped when I noticed Decker across the room. His focus on Zoe and a look on his face I had never seen before. How had I not noticed? She scanned the room in true Zoe fashion, her focus lingering a moment or two longer on Decker. Holy shit. How had I missed that? She walked like she owned the catwalk. I met her halfway.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  She batted her lashes. She was such a clown. “Tell you what?”

  “You and Decker.”

  She stopped mid-primp. “What?”

  “I saw the way he just looked at you. I saw how you looked at him. How did I not notice that?” And then I realized every time I spoke to either of them they always asked about each other, but I hadn’t put it together.

  She entertained the idea of denying it for about three seconds before her shoulders slumped. “We thought it was a bad idea for your two best friends to get together. If something were to happen, it would make it awkward for all of us.”

  “How long have you been circling each other?”

  “Two years.”

  “Are you serious? I am so not observant.”

  Her chest puffed out. “I’ll have you know I am the daughter of a thespian. My acting skills are unparalleled.”

  “Your mom made B-movie slasher films.”

  “Yes, but she screamed with the best of them.”

  “You’re seriously not going to act on whatever that was I saw pass between the two of you because of me?”

  Teasing turned serious as she reached for my hands. “Will, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but your family isn’t the most dependable. Decker and me, we didn’t want to become more people in your life that let you down. So yes, there is wicked chemistry between us but we love you. You brought us together. It seemed the right thing to do was to preserve the friendship.”

  “That’s sweet, Zoe, but it’s bullshit. If a man looks at you the way Decker just did...you need to explore that.”

  “And if it fizzles?”

  “We’ll figure it out. But if it doesn’t fizzle, you lost two years.”

  “There is that.”

  “We’re not getting any younger.”

  “Bite your tongue.”

  “Life is short.”

  “Seriously, do you have a book of overused expressions?”

  “Go for it, Zoe.”

  She wanted to. I could see that very clearly in her bright eyes. “You really don’t mind?”

  “I’ll mind if you don’t.”

  She kissed me then made a beeline to Decker. His head snapped to me and I smiled. There was understanding in the silence and then his focus was completely on Zoe.

  A movement at the door pulled my attention from the lovebirds in the corner to see Noah and his crew arrive. It wasn’t his entire crew; Paddy wasn’t there nor was Zeke. But the twins were, Flynn, Chas even Snake. They were also dressed. Not suits, but they wore trousers, shirts and ties and since I didn’t think any of them but Noah owned clothes like that, my heart swelled. They were pirates, roughnecks, but in that moment they were fish out of water and doing so for the love and respect of their captain. And then there was Noah, dressed in a suit the color of his eyes. Unlike his crew, he wore the hell out of those clothes. He looked refined and elegant and yet knowing he was capable of ruthlessness, it was a sexy contradiction.

  They scanned the crowd, taking in who was there and where the exits were. I had seen them do that every time we went somewhere. It was the nature of their lives, to know their surroundings. I waited for Noah’s eyes to eventually drift to me. He didn’t hi
de his appreciation or the look he gave me, a look that sparked aches in some very pleasant places on my body. He moved, in that deliberate and predatory way he had. His destination, me. My legs went a little weak when he stopped just in front of me.

  “You’re beautiful.”

  I took a second to savor those words from this man. I had found my cocktail dress in the hotel’s boutique, a white dress that hugged my figure and fell about three inches above my knees. It was sexy and sweet.

  “So are you.”

  His eyes went all hot. He held out his hand and I didn’t even think. Just placed mine in his. He led me to the dance floor, pulled me close and moved me around to a song only he could hear, just like our dance under the stars. Whatever happened between us, I’d always have this.

  WILLOW

  I stood on the bridge. It was a bit crowded as the team gathered around the monitors where the images would be displayed. We were off the coast of Campeche. We had just reached our destination.

  “We’re ready to start,” Captain Willard announced.

  Immediately, images came to life on the monitors as the ocean floor was hit with sound waves that were reflected back and captured by the equipment attached to the hull of the Ocean Quest. We were looking at the ocean floor, well a representation of it.

  “That’s amazing,” Zoe commented.

  “The technology now is incredible, even just in the last twenty years,” The captain noted.

  Noah moved to the navigational charts he had pulled up. I hadn’t known he had taken time to look into the weather patterns and ocean charting from back in Alejandro’s day so he could use his own expertise as a sailor to help chart the course Alejandro likely would have taken. It warmed me knowing he went to the trouble, had done so without even saying he was doing it. “Based on what I’ve uncovered, we want to keep to about three miles from shore.”

  The twins had their laptops and were running a program as we scanned the ocean floor, tracking our progress. I couldn’t pull my eyes from the scans. It was beautiful and it would be even more so when we saw the Isabella reflected back.

  “What are the dark things?” Zoe asked.

  “Fish most likely,” Captain Willard replied.

  “It’s amazing being able to see what’s down there without needing to get into the water.”

  Decker and I shared a look at Zoe’s comment because we liked getting into the water.

  “How long do you think it will take before we find her?” Tex asked.

  “I don’t know, but I’m hoping it’s sooner rather than later.”

  We had been pinging the ocean floor for three weeks and nothing. I was on the bridge, the charts in front of me as I reviewed my research again. She had to be here. I refused to believe she wasn’t.

  “Maybe we need to go a little farther east.” Captain Willard was a very pleasant man and patient.

  I was missing something. I grabbed the translation of the journal. I had read this more times than I could count, but I was missing something. “I’m going out on deck. The clue is in here somewhere.”

  “We’ll circle back, go a little farther out.” Captain Willard gave the order.

  It was warm today, but the breeze off the water felt good. I paced the deck as I reread the journal. Noah approached.

  “I heard we’re circling back.”

  “Yeah. I’m missing something. It’s in here. I can feel it, but I’m just not...”

  He took the journal from me and handed it to a passing crew member. “Take that back to the bridge.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “You’re looking so hard you aren’t going to see it. I’m guessing you’ve read those pages enough to have them memorized.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So don’t read it. Feel it.”

  “That sounds incredibly odd coming from you.”

  He grinned. “Do you remember when I profiled that man at the restaurant in St. Croix?”

  “Yes.”

  “It is just a matter of watching, deducing. You know the words now put yourself in Alejandro’s shoes. You’re a merchant traveling very far from home. Feel it. Think about the passages. I’m sure many describe his journey, probably even his wife. But he explored too, so focus on those passages. Where was he? What did he see?”

  He moved closer. “Close your eyes.”

  “It’s hard to focus with you so close.”

  A growl rumbled up his throat. “Feel his words.”

  “They’re just words.”

  He leaned in. “I want to run my tongue down your throat and across your collarbone. I want to dip it into your mouth to taste you, down your chest to your nipple, teasing it. Lower still to your stomach, to the patch of curls. I want to push my tongue into you, want your flavor to explode in my mouth, I want to fuck you with my mouth until your body yields and you come for me.”

  My eyes flew open and I was on the verge of panting. “Are you trying to help me focus or turn me into a hot mess?”

  His grin could definitely be called wicked. “You can feel words, so feel his then I’ll fuck your brains out.”

  I groaned. It couldn’t be helped.

  Somehow I managed to put his delicious little scenario out of my head, but it took effort. I focused on Alejandro’s words. They floated behind my eyes. Most of what he wrote was about his travels, the sea, his wife. The emerald blanket. My eyes flew open.

  “You’ve thought of something.” Noah looked intense.

  “Emerald blanket. He described the emerald blanket and the beauty from disaster.”

  “Why does that sound familiar to me?”

  “Noah, think about where his journal was found.”

  Unlike me, the only indication that he had figured it out was the sharp look in his eyes. “We saw that emerald blanket.”

  “Watched over by a star, the cenote we swam in, when the limestone broke it did so in the form of a star.” I grabbed Noah’s face and kissed him hard on the mouth. “You were right.”

  “I usually am.”

  “Arrogant.”

  He smirked.

  “We have to go back to where it all started.”

  He touched my cheek. “Your Isabella is off the coast of Cancun.”

  NOAH

  She was so animated as she shared with the team her revelation. As I stood listening to her, I couldn’t help but see the similarities between Alejandro and Isabella and Willow and me. He died bringing the necklace to her. I intended to take it from Willow. He was a better man than me.

  “The emerald blanket he described, the aquamarine water...the cenotes, the sinkholes. The water was so blue. Coba, he was describing Coba and I know this because we saw it too. Noah and I walked where he once had.”

  “So we head to Cancun.” William’s excitement was hard to miss. Hell, the whole room was electric with it. And that excitement was going to make it that much harder to steal the necklace. Not that we wouldn’t, but it would be difficult. There was a part of me that wanted to walk away. There were other treasures, other hunts, we didn’t need this one. Never in my life had I backed down from a challenge, never had I not taken when I wanted something. The trouble this time, I wanted to see her happy more than I wanted the money the find would put in my pocket. And this time I actually cared about the person we were stealing from, cared about the damage we left in our wake.

  Her hair was pulled back, but it was struggling to break free of its confines. Strands falling down her back because of the way her body moved in her excitement, the enthusiasm, it wasn’t really a wonder. An angel. It was the first thought that popped into my head when I saw her handing that pineapple to the little girl. Innocence. And I was sin. Eventually sin always corrupted the innocent. I didn’t want to corrupt her. And yet staying away was impossible. She had become my addiction and like a true addict I was hooked. I was still walking away when this was done, but I would have to be prepared for the withdrawal that would surely follow.

  She was waitin
g for me like she did every night. I crawled into her bed; her arms went around me. We didn’t speak. My mouth closed over hers, my tongue driving into her mouth hungry for the sweet and spicy taste of her. Reaching for her shirt, I lifted it over her head then my hands moved down her body to cup her breasts. Her nipples were erect and waiting my attention. She wiggled under me, her hips lifting as I closed my mouth over her breast. My cock throbbed, my hips moving into hers as she spread her legs wider.

  I felt her fingers on me; her small hands stroking me. I bit her nipple in approval and she moaned as she fisted my cock and stroked me from base to the tip. I flattened my hand on her stomach and moved it down until I cupped her, the heel of my palm pressing her clit as I sank three fingers into her. Her pussy gripped my fingers as her hips moved to take me deeper. It was tempting to let her bring me to orgasm with her hand, but as incredible as that felt, I wanted inside her. I shifted to my knees, lifted her hips and pulled her onto my cock. Fuck. For as many times as I had lost myself in her body, it never got old. Her eyes were on me, watching me as I fucked her. When she got close her eyes dropped to where we were connected and she drew her lower lip between her teeth. Her eyes closed, her back arched as she convulsed around my cock. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever fucking seen. I felt the tingle at the base of my spine, the pleasure that burned up my back and down my legs. I sank into her as deeply as I could and froze. I wished I could live in that moment. She smiled and I admitted to myself that I was in love with her. What the fuck was I supposed to do with that?

  I flipped us, her legs coming to rest on either side of me. We were still connected when I pulled the covers over us.

  WILLOW

  I was staring right at it and still I didn’t believe what I was seeing. The image from the ocean floor was displayed on the monitors and right in the center of the scan was a ship...Isabella. She looked as if she was still sailing the ocean, upright and in fairly good condition. There had been thirty-one crewmembers on that vessel. Thirty-one people had died when she lost her battle with the sea. It was their tomb and there was a part of me that felt badly about disrupting their final resting place. But I think Alejandro would have wanted his story to be told. I knew had I gone down at sea, I would want my story told.