Buried Treasure (Silver Creek Resort Book 1)

by Melinda Barron

  She wanted to argue with that voice, but she knew it was right. But part of her thought that Shawn was to blame. She wasn’t ready for what she’d seen last night, of him mocking her and the pain of the beating.

  “Stop thinking about it,” she said as she finished her coffee. She cleaned up the kitchen and went into the spare bedroom where she’d slept. When she opened the closet door, she found boxes packed to one side, floor to ceiling.

  It brought to mind storage units she’d bought that had been crammed full of what she thought of as nothing. But the people who had thought enough to store the boxes had not thought of them as nothing. Everything in the boxes meant something to the people that had packed it up, and paid to store it.

  What did the things in these boxes mean to Shawn, or to his parents? She couldn’t answer those questions. All she could do was go through them and see if Shawn’s father had left something that gave them a clue as to where the money could be found.

  The first three boxes were clothes and cards given to Shawn’s father for his birthday, on his anniversary and at Christmas. It was obvious from the inscriptions that Shawn’s parents enjoyed a very passionate, very deep love.

  After reading one that was particularly emotional, Autumn took a break, wondering once again if she would ever find that type of love. Given the fact that she managed to screw everything up she doubted it.

  Tears dotted her eyelashes as she went into the main room. At some point someone, she was guessing it was X, had come into the cabin and left a note that said a cold lunch, of sandwiches and potato salad, was in the refrigerator. Autumn wondered how she had missed someone coming into the cabin. Had they tried to get her attention and she’d ignored them? Or had they just put the food in the fridge?

  It didn’t matter, she supposed. Maybe Shawn had told X that Autumn was persona non-grata here and to just give her as little service as possible. Or maybe X had not wanted to disrupt Autumn in her work.

  “Ignore it,” Autumn said. She took her lunch onto the back deck again and ate. She did so quickly so she didn’t have a chance to dwell on the things that had been picking at her brain all morning long.

  She went back to work immediately, and it was on the seventh box that she found books. For some reason her fingers tingled as she took them out of the box. It was on the fourth book down that she gasped.

  It was a collection of short stories by John Fortenberry. Shawn had said his father was a big fan of the horror writer. She ran her hand over the cover, and then opened it. Inside was a letter, or rather just a note.

  It said, “Number three, four boards down.”

  Autumn thought about the abandoned mines. The men had looked through all of them, but they had found nothing, no sign of a beetle or any other sort of inscription. But this was practically a map.

  Something was in the third mine, fourth board down.

  She pulled out her phone and texted Shawn that she’d found something. She waited and waited for his response, but it didn’t come. Was he so angry with her that he would ignore her find?

  If he wanted to be so crappy just because she’d said their relationship was over, she’d get the keys to the truck and she’d drive out there herself. It wasn’t hard to find the keys. They were on a hook near the front door. She went outside and saw one of the resort trucks, the same one they’d driven to the mines before, sitting in front of the cabin.

  Deciding it was fate she grabbed a few bottles of water, went outside and took up residence behind the wheel.

  If she found the money on her own, she would demand a bigger share, and that was all there was to it. She drove slowly to the road they’d taken out into the desert. The voice that had been telling her she was giving up on Shawn too soon yelled out she was making a huge mistake by going out to the mines on her own.

  She ignored it and turned away from the resort, excited to find the money and be done with this whole thing.

  Chapter 17

  About thirty minutes into the drive Autumn questioned her ability to make decisions. It was not the first time today that she’d done it, but this time she was in the middle of nowhere, and she wasn’t sure where she was going. She stopped the truck and checked the compass on her phone. It said she was driving west. She couldn’t remember if the mines were west of the resort or not.

  She closed her eyes and tried to remember which direction Shawn had driven when they’d come out here the first time. She’d been too interested in him to watch where the sun was while he drove.

  Now she had to make a decision on whether or not she should turn around and go back to the resort and tell Shawn what she’d found.

  “Damn it,” she said as she put the truck back in gear and stepped on the gas. The truck lurched forward, and she went about fifteen yards when a sputtering noise filled the cab. The vehicle shuddered to a stop. “What the…” she looked down at the dials and realized she was out of gas.

  The urge to cry and cuss were foremost in her mind, but she knew neither of them would do any good. She also knew she shouldn’t leave the vehicle. The two things she’d done right was bring a few bottles of water with her, and lowered the windows so she could get a good cross breeze while she drove.

  She picked up her cell phone and checked the bars. Amazingly enough she had service. But when she rang Shawn’s number there was no answer. She sent him a text that told her she’d taken the vehicle out and run out of gas.

  There was no answer. Maybe the phone was lying to her and there really wasn’t any service out in this area.

  It was ten minutes later when he responded. “Were you trying to run away from me?” He inserted a smiley face at the end of the sentence and Autumn smiled.

  “I found something, and didn’t hear from you. I was excited to get out to the site and see if I could find the thing your father left for us. I should have waited for you.” She waited a beat before adding. “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m sorry, too,” he said. “I should have let you know where I was. Jackson arrested your friend for trespassing. He was by himself, hunting treasure.”

  “That twerp,” she typed.

  “Yeah, I have to decide whether I want to file charges against him, or just let him go.”

  She sat for a moment and waited for him to text her again. When that didn’t happen she typed, “I’m not exactly sure where I am.”

  “Did you follow the road?”

  “There was a little bit of a jig about fifteen minutes ago.”

  More silence before he texted, “How long have you been gone from our cabin?”

  Her cheeks heated at his use of the word our. Had he not understood she was leaving? Or was he planning on trying to change her mind?

  “About thirty minutes before I pulled over.”

  “Why did you pull over?”

  “I wanted to check the compass, to make sure I was going in the right direction.”

  Something told her he was thinking about exactly what was on her mind.

  “Are you waiting for me to come rescue you?” he texted.

  “I am,” she typed.

  “In what way?” he answered.

  “The truck is out of gas,” she typed. “Bring gas.”

  “Is that all?” he countered.

  Autumn stared at her phone. “Why are you typing when you should be driving out here to get me?”

  “Look in your rearview mirror.”

  She jerked her head up, and then smiled at the image of the car behind her.

  “How did you find me so fast?” she texted.

  “GPS,” he replied. “Bring your stuff and come back here.”

  Autumn continued to stare into the mirror. “How did you get here so fast?” she typed.

  The answer never came, and as she stared at her phone, there was a knock at her door. She jumped and gasped, putting her hand at her throat.

  “Sorry to scare you,” he said. “When I found you, and the truck gone, I was afraid you’d left for Pueblo. I thought you’
d been that pissed last night. But then I realized you would have taken your own car, so I activated the GPS and saw you out here, heading toward the mines.”

  “So, I am going in the right direction?” she asked, quite pleased with herself.

  “You are,” he said with a laugh. “Want to tell me what you found?”

  “A book by Fortenberry with a note written by your father; Number three, four boards down.”

  He frowned, then motioned her out of the car. “Let’s go while we still have light.”

  She turned the key and rolled up the windows, and then hurried back to his vehicle. He piloted his around hers and they took off at a faster pace than they’d driven the last time they’d come down this road, or rather path.

  “I want to talk about last night,” he said after a few moments.

  “I told you already,” she said. “I’m not up for what I saw last night.”

  “If you think I’m giving up that easy you’re nuts,” he said. “Think back to the box I gave you.”

  “Shawn, I don’t think this is going to get us anywhere.”

  “Please answer the question.”

  Autumn closed her eyes. She could see the box, the handcuffs, the ropes, and other implements of restraint.

  “Bondage items,” she said.

  “Exactly.” He tightened his grip on the wheel as they hit a hole.

  Autumn braced her hand against the roof.

  “I’ve done this wrong,” he said. “I think it’s because I was distracted by the search for the money, and by our trip. I should have gone over things with you better, since you know nothing about BDSM. Every Dom is different, just like every person is different. I enjoy spankings, especially slapping that gorgeous pussy of yours.”

  Autumn shivered, in a good way.

  “But I don’t punish my subs by doing things like Josh did last night. That’s not my style. You should know that.”

  “But you condone it by letting it happen,” she said. “He abused her.”

  “No, he gave her what she wanted,” he said. “I know Mary. I tried to date her at one time, but I wasn’t harsh enough for her. She dumped me.”

  Laughter erupted from her throat. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes.” He glanced at her for a split second. “What, you think you’re the only one with failed relationships? I don’t have a collared sub, which means I haven’t found the one. Until now.”

  Shivers ran through her again. “You still think we’re a match?”

  “Yes, I do,” he said. “You don’t have to approve of what another Dom does with his sub. You do have to respect it, though, and not disrupt it.”

  She opened her mouth to object, but then closed it again. “Are Mary and Josh still at the resort?”

  “For a week,” he said. “They take a vacation here every six months, so they can play hard without their children seeing.”

  She had to give them a thumbs up for that. They didn’t want their children to see daddy whipping mommy.

  “I guess the problem is I can’t see enjoying the pain.”

  His laughter filled the cab.

  “What?” she asked.

  “You, who loved having her pussy whipped, are judging a woman for loving pain.”

  “That was different,” she said.

  “Was it? What if Mary thought the fact that you loved having your pussy whipped was abhorrent? What if she thought I was abusing you? You can’t judge another person on what they enjoy.”

  “It doesn’t mean I want to watch it,” she said.

  “Understood.” They were getting closer to the mines. There was a big part of her that wished the tent was still there, that they could stay the night and see if they could rebuild what had been going so well for them, before last night.

  “May I ask you something?” He kept his gaze on the terrain around them, but she looked at him, wondering what was coming next.

  “Of course,” she said.

  “The relationships that have gone so wrong for you, was it one fight and it was over? Did either you, or your partners, fight for the relationships?”

  “No,” she said. “I mean no, we didn’t fight. I guess I just run away.”

  “Not this time,” he said. “If I have to tie you to the bed you’re staying.”

  This time the shivers were caused by desire. She thought about being tied to the bed, about him whipping her pussy as he had before, about the orgasms that made her feel as if the earth were shattering underneath her.

  “You’re wet, aren’t you?” he asked as he pulled the truck up in front of the mines. He parked the truck and reached across the seat, gently stroking her cheek.

  “Yes,” she said. “I’m soaked.”

  “Good.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Let’s go see what sort of message Dad left for us. You said he wrote number three, four boards down.”

  “Yes.” She handed him the book, which she’d brought with her when she’d left the cabin. He stroked it gently, and she wondered what it would feel like to be close to your family. “You miss him.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact that she could see from the look on his face.

  “Yes.” He stroked the cover of the book. “He read to me from this book. He was a voracious reader, and he passed it on to me.”

  “That is something we share,” she said.

  She reached for her door handle, but he grabbed her hand. “Close your eyes.”

  It shocked her that she obeyed without questioning his order. “Now, I want you to envision us on the back deck of our cabin, reading a book. Only you’re naked, except for a spreader bar between your legs, and the handcuffs between your wrists. Of course, you’re wearing a collar, and I’m holding the leash. Tell me, are you drying up, or does that vision open the floodgates?”

  “Oh my,” she whispered.

  “Yeah, I’m taking that as the latter,” he said with an evil chuckle. “I can’t wait to tie you. But first let’s go and see what we can find on the third mine, four boards down.”

  “Do you think he meant third mine from the left?”

  “I would say so.” He took a crowbar from the back of the truck.

  “You came prepared,” she said.

  “For more than one thing,” he said. “Even though your friend is in custody, there is no telling who he was working with, and who might be out here.

  As if on cue, both of them looked up into the sky to where they’d seen the drone. There was nothing there now, and Autumn exhaled in relief.

  They went to the third mine and Shawn took off the two pieces of wood that made a cross over the boards. Then he counted four down and used the crowbar to work it loose. The rocks behind it shifted, and for a moment Autumn worried they would all come tumbling out of the hole he’d left, but they didn’t. He turned the board over and they both gasped.

  Burned into the wood, as if done by a blowtorch, was the word Shawn, and peaches.

  “What does that mean?” she asked.

  “It means my Dad left it for me to find, and if I didn’t find it, then no one would,” he said. His voice broke a little and she put her hand on his arm.

  “Peaches have a special meaning for you?”

  “They do,” he said. “The lodge was where my parents lived. He had a garden outdoors, which we still use. There are different trees, including peach trees. I planted one of the trees when my Grandfather died. I’ve worked hard to make sure it’s still living.”

  “Do you think he buried the treasure there?”

  “I do,” he said. “I don’t know where to dig, exactly. I think we should get a metal detector and try to see if it, for lack of a different word, detects something down there. We need to go into town.”

  He looked into the sky. “It’s getting dark, though. We’ll have to go tomorrow. Which gives us time to play tonight.”

  She watched as he took off his belt. Was he going to spank her pussy right here? Autumn rather liked that idea. She could lay in the bed
of the truck.

  But that was not what he had in mind, obviously. He put the belt around her neck and she gasped. She pulled at it as he tightened it into a collar around her neck, leaving the length of it to use as a leash.

  She pulled on it in an effort to get it away from her.

  “Stop fighting, stop fighting,” he said, his voice deeper and more demanding than she’d ever heard before. “We’re doing it my way tonight, and you’re going to obey. Do you understand?”

  “But I—”

  He pulled on the length of the belt and said, “Do you understand?”

  She quaked in response, and the floodgates he’d opened earlier were flowing down her legs.

  “Yes.”

  He turned her and slapped her bottom. “What?”

  “Yes, Sir,” she said.

  “I’m not going to give you any more passes on that,” he said. “When we are playing you will call me Sir, or you will be punished. Do you understand?”

  She wanted to say no, but she said, “Yes, Sir.” She was afraid of what he meant by punishment. He said he didn’t do things like Josh did last evening, but wasn’t that punishment? Don’t, don’t, she said to herself. You know this excites you, you know you want more. She wanted him to tie her arms, tie her legs, and then fuck her. At this point he could put his cock in her ass and she’d gladly take it, even though she’d never done it before.

  “I can see your nipples begging for attention,” he said. He used the belt to pull her closer to him. “We’re using some clamps tonight, to provide good, tight pain that will shoot to your clit. You’re going to come tonight like you haven’t in the past. I’m going to prove to you that we match in the bedroom, that you need to wear my collar.”

  Like the one I have on now, she almost said. But she kept her mouth shut. She nodded, and then swallowed hard.

  “Get in the truck, and while we drive I want you to think of my cock inside you, in every opening you have.” He lowered his face until his lips were inches away from hers. She felt his hot breath when he spoke again. “Let’s start right now, shall we? On your knees.”

  “Here?”