Justine Davis - Romancing the Crown - Kate & Lucas

He wished he could still be annoyed, but the annoyance he’d felt a week ago at the indifference she displayed toward him had faded. The bruise to his ego had healed even faster than the bullet wound in his side. Too bad. That made the situation all the more difficult.

It didn’t seem to matter what she said or how many times she took refuge behind her duty, the old connection was there. And despite her resistance and the demands of their mission, that connection was strengthening with every day they spent together.

She could go ahead and change her hair and change her attitude, but she was still his Kate.

“Over there,” she called, pointing toward the port side. “There’s something dark near the shore.”

Sam took his binoculars out of the locker beside the wheel and focused on the area she had indicated. “I see it.”

“Was there anything reported in this sector today?”

“A white cruiser moving southeast of our position.”

“Then that couldn’t be it.” She ducked under the boom and climbed to the cabin roof to get a better vantage point. “I can’t tell whether it’s a boat. If it is, it’s a small one.”

“Perfect for getting in close enough to pick up a passenger.”

“We’d better take a look.” Kate leaped down to the foredeck and was already moving to trim the spinnaker when Sam spun the wheel. The sloop responded quickly, the bow slicing through the waves as it swung toward shore.

The coastline along this part of the island consisted of tumbled rocks at the base of towering cliffs. If a boat could navigate through the rocks, there were innumerable small coves where it could stay concealed.

They lost sight of the object briefly as they tacked against the wind. Sam kept them on a course that would bring them past a low peninsula where waves crashed against jagged rocks. He was counting on the height of the cliffs to block the wind and provide calmer water closer to shore.

He was right. The moment they cleared the peninsula, the wind dropped and the waves calmed to lazy swells.

“Can you see it yet?” Sam called.

Kate scanned the shore through her binoculars. “Yes. It’s not a boat, it’s some kind of dark area in the cliff.”

“Dark area?”

“I think it’s a cave, Sam. Right at the waterline.”

“A cave? How big?”

“Large enough to hide a small boat.”

“Radio in our position. We’ll take the dinghy and check it out.”

Ten minutes later, they had anchored the sloop in the cove and lowered the small wooden dinghy that served as the sloop’s lifeboat. Sam handed Kate the sidearm he’d requisitioned, then took up the oars and stroked toward shore.

She regarded the weapon with raised eyebrows. “You’re trusting me with your gun?”

“Why shouldn’t I? You know how to use one, don’t you?”

“Of course.”

“My hands are full,” he said, nodding toward where he gripped the oars. “If we run into trouble, I wouldn’t be able to react as fast as you could.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

She was doing it again, he thought. She kept acting surprised when he didn’t behave like some macho chauvinist. Did she really have such a low opinion of him? Or had something happened during the last five years to her to make her suspicious of men in general?

Kate was a complex woman. He hadn’t really thought that much about it when they’d been lovers. They’d both been content to keep things simple. Maybe it was just as well he had to keep his hands off her while they were on this mission. He was getting to know her in a whole different way….

Who was he kidding? If he had the chance he would drop these oars and haul her into his arms right now. He’d reacquaint himself with every inch of those long, gorgeous legs she’d been flashing all day. He’d kiss her until she forgot the years that had passed.

As if her thoughts paralleled his, her expression softened. She leaned closer, parting her lips as she sighed in pleasure. “Oh, Sam.”

He had already dropped the oars and was reaching forward before he realized she wasn’t looking at him when she spoke. She was looking over his shoulder.

He twisted on the seat to look behind him.

They had reached the entrance of the cave. It arched overhead, high enough that he wouldn’t be able to touch the roof if he stood and stretched out his arm. Carved by the sea out of the same pale rock as the cliff, its walls sloped gracefully to rounded pebbles at the waterline. Sunlight reflected from the water and from the sand beneath, illuminating the entire chamber with an otherworldly blue-green glow.

“It’s beautiful,” Kate murmured.

“Yes.” He faced her in time to watch a smile spread across her face. “Beautiful.”

“It’s a wonder the place isn’t marked on the tourist maps.”

“I’m glad it isn’t.”

“I know what you mean. I’d hate to see it developed.”

Sam pulled lightly at the oars, guiding them through the opening. As they left the sunlight the air grew hushed, closing around them in a cool embrace. Water dripped from the oar blades, echoing hollowly from stone that had been smoothed by eons of tides.

Kate craned her neck, looking around in silence for a while as they drifted over the mirror-smooth water. “It’s as grand as the royal palace, but in a different way.”

“It’s hard to believe that the destructive forces of the sea could create something as peaceful as this. It’s like a natural cathedral.”

“What a perfect way to describe it. It’s one of those places that makes a person want to whisper.” She set the gun on the seat beside her. “I don’t think I’ll be needing this.”

“A few centuries ago you would have. I bet this was a favorite place for pirates to hide out.”

Her laughter tinkled through the cavern. “Pirates? Oh, Sam, you would have liked that, wouldn’t you?”

He stowed the oars, propping his forearms on his knees as he leaned toward her. He knew they should be getting back to the boat now that they could see the cave was empty, but it had been too long since he’d heard her laugh. Another few minutes wouldn’t hurt. “How’s that?”

“I can picture you now, a sword in one hand, a spyglass in the other as you sail the seven seas to hunt down some notorious pirate captain.”

“What makes you think I would have been one of the good guys?”

“Oh, come on. You always believed in doing the right thing. That’s just the way you are. Noble, responsible Sam.”

“Sounds boring.”

“I doubt if you could describe your life as a SEAL as boring. I remember how eager you sounded to go on your first training mission to the South Pacific.” She smiled. “Was it as much an adventure as you’d hoped?”

“Not really. Aside from paddling around a mosquito-filled swamp with my team…” He paused, struck by what she had said. “You know about my first mission. So that means you must have read my letter, after all.”

Her smile faded. She shifted her gaze to the patch of sunlight at the entrance to the cavern. “We should be getting back to the boat.”

“How come you didn’t reply?”

“Sam…”

“And you sent the other letters back. Why, Kate?”

“It’s what we agreed.”

He should let this go just as he’d let it go for a week, he told himself. Accept the way things were now and get on with their duty. Why keep clinging to the past when she’d made it crystal clear the past was over?

But that was just it. The past wasn’t over, no matter how much she tried to pretend differently. He couldn’t keep burying this under duty—he’d tried that for a week, and it wasn’t working.

Sam caught Kate’s hands, enfolding them firmly in his. “Was it that bad, Kate?”