Deep Blue (26 page)

Very carefully, she slid the suit down his long, muscular legs and helped him step out of it, then eased him down on the bed.

Conn reached for the buttons on her borrowed blouse. “Your turn now.”

Hope shook her head. “Just lie back. Let me do this for you.”

Conn’s gaze bored into her. She pressed her hands against his chest, urging him back on the bed. As soon as he was settled, she began to take off her clothes, removing each piece slowly, baring her breasts first, letting the tension build. His eyes were hot and dark by the time she was finished. Naked, she started kissing him again, refusing to rush, driving him to even greater arousal.

He was beautifully built, his erection large and heavy, rising up from a nest of dark curls. She had never made love to a man this way before but she wanted to now, wanted to do this for Conn, wanted to know him in a way she hadn’t known a man before.

With her hands and her mouth, she pleasured him, brought him to a shaking climax. And gained something unexpected for herself. An erotic pleasure that was nearly as satisfying as if their bodies had physically joined.

She was so completely aroused she didn’t realize Conn’s hand had moved between her legs, that he was giving her pleasure as well. Not until she climaxed with such stunning force that she cried out his name and slumped over him on the bed.

She felt his hands in her hair, stroking gently, tenderly caressing her cheek. “You’re quite a woman, Hope Sinclair.”

And she thought that Conner Reese was quite a man.

Conn slept the rest of the afternoon, for which Hope was grateful. The crew finished refueling and resupplying the boat, getting ready to return to Pleasure Island. Joe had taken off with Glory as soon as the car rolled up, the two of them returning to her motel, no doubt, to spend the day in bed. They returned just before the boat was ready to pull away from the dock.

Conn was awake by then, standing next to Hope on deck, watching the newlyweds say good-bye.

“It doesn’t seem fair,” Hope said to Conn, unable to miss the glint of tears in Glory’s big brown eyes. “I mean, you and I are sleeping together. I wish there were some way—”

“Hey, great idea.” Conn smiled. “Wish I’d thought of it myself.”

“Thought of what?” Hope watched him take careful steps along the deck to where Joe gave Glory a last good-bye kiss.

“I’ll see you soon, honey.” Joe cradled her face in his hands and gently kissed her again. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Joe.”

Hope envied Glory the ease with which she spoke the words. She didn’t think she’d ever be brave enough to say those words again.

“Wait a minute, you two!” Conn called out to them, snagging Joe’s attention.

He grabbed Glory’s hand as she turned to leave, looking grateful for the few minutes’ respite. “What is it?”

“Hope and I were talking. We thought maybe Glory might like to come along. You guys could use Hope’s cabin and she could move in with me.”

Hope’s eyes widened. Sleeping with Conn was one thing. Moving in with him was another. But when she saw the joy leap into Joe’s face, saw the tears return to Glory’s eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to say no. And it wasn’t as if the whole crew didn’t know about her and Conn anyway.

“You’re the best, Conn.” Joe clapped him on the back and Conn winced. “Sorry.” But Joe kept grinning, turning to sweep Glory into a hug. “Get your stuff, woman. You’re coming with me.”

Glory squealed in delight, threw her arms around Joe’s neck and kissed him. She turned to give Conn a big, grateful hug, but he held up his hand and shook his head.

“A
thank-you
will suffice. Besides, Hope’s the one who’s giving up her cabin.”

Glory squealed again, raced over and hugged her, her blond ponytail wiggling. “Thank you, thank you,
thank
you! You don’t know how much this means. I’m so glad we’re friends.”

“I think I do know. And I’m glad, too.” And she was. Very glad. Glory was a wonderful young woman. Hope felt lucky to have met her.

By morning they were anchored back over the ballast pile. A flotilla of boats still surrounded the buoy-marked search area but they seemed to be keeping their distance. She wondered if there was someone on one of the boats who was watching her, ready to carry out the death threat the men in Jamaica had made.

She shivered to think of it, took a calming breath. What she’d said to Conn was true. She was off the story. She shouldn’t be in any more danger.

As soon as the sun was up, the divers went to work, only three of them now, rotating two at a time and working throughout the day. Conn was looking for two more men to join the dive team, hoping to put them to work sometime next week.

The boat was fully rigged out for the search, the men using the hookah lines to breathe, the mailbox and hand-blowers to move away the deep layers of sand. Dredges were used to lift and strain artifacts and debris from the ocean floor.

Ron Keegan brought up the first piece of treasure that day. He was wearing one of the Divelink underwater communications masks that Conn had bought. Hope, Andy, Captain Bob, and Conn were gathered in the chart room, listening to his voice coming over the speaker.

Hope could hear Ron’s excitement when he found what the video cameras showed to be a cache of palm-sized gold disks and several fifteen-inch gold bars.

“This is fantastic!” Ron said. “They were being transported in some kind of a wooden chest, I think. Chest is long gone, but, man, this is beautiful stuff!”

In a single day, they brought up four gold bars, hundreds of oxidized silver coins, a silver ewer, a silver plate, and the gold hilt of a sword encrusted with emeralds. Just for fun, the guys brought up a couple of corroded cannonballs and the brass barrel of an ancient blunderbuss.

As pleased as Conn was, she could feel his frustration, his restlessness. He wanted to be down there, wanted to be one of the men searching for treasure. It wasn’t going to happen, at least not for a while.

The search continued. The following day, Joe uncovered a length of gold chain that had once been part of an intricate belt. In the same area, he and Wally began finding other personal items, the kinds of beautifully crafted pieces they had found in the area to the north: a gold-and-emerald brooch, a gold crucifix inlaid with onyx, and pieces of an onyx rosary.

After four days of searching, the hold was full of gold and silver, the safe filled with priceless antique gold jewelry. Conn had decided to fly the load to the bank in Port Antonio as soon as security arrangements could be made.

Still, there was no sign of the most valuable artifact of all—the golden Maiden. Of course, the statue might have been stored somewhere on the top decks when the ship went down, or it might be lying somewhere in the scatter pattern and not be found for years. Or never.

Hope was sitting on a deck box on the bow, working on the final article in her series, trying not to think how fast the time was approaching that she would be leaving, when she saw one of the boats in the distant flotilla racing toward them.

“Looks like someone’s finally gotten brave enough to come over,” Conn said as he walked up.

It was a boat she’d never seen, a huge white luxury yacht at least ninety feet long, the kind of boat that cost millions of dollars. Conn lifted the pair of binoculars looped over his neck and peered into the lenses. She heard him softly curse.

“Brad Talbot. I should have known. With all the press lurking around, I’m surprised he didn’t get here sooner.” He looked through the lenses again. “He’s got a redhead with him and a couple of people who look vaguely familiar.” He unlooped the strap from around his neck and handed the binoculars to Hope.

Sliding her sunglasses up on her head, she focused the lenses and trained the binoculars on the approaching yacht.

“I’m pretty sure the guy next to Brad is Regis Philbin. There’s a blonde standing next to him. Looks like it might be Kelly Ripa.”

Conn shook his head. “Talbot’s nothing if not creative. If anyone can stir up media coverage, he can.”

“Brad’s definitely got connections. He thrives on who he knows and what they can do for him.”

A muscle flexed in his jaw. “In a way, I’m glad he’s here. I’m going to have a little chat with good ol’ Brad. He’s not the only one who can deliver a message.”

“Wait a minute, Conn. We don’t know he’s behind what happened to me. We don’t even know if he’s involved.”

“Well, just in case he is, the two of us are going to have a talk.”

Hope caught his arm. “Please, Conn. Don’t buy any more trouble.”

Conn smiled darkly. “I never buy trouble, baby. I get more than I can handle for free.”

Turning away from her, he sauntered off toward the chart room, favoring his right side only a little, leaving her at the rail to greet the boat when it arrived. As the yacht cut its powerful engines and settled into the waves, Talbot and his entourage climbed aboard a rubber Zodiac and one of the crew steered them over to the
Conquest.
The group disembarked, climbing out on the boarding platform, and Captain Bob went to greet them.

“Welcome aboard, ladies and gentlemen!” He helped each of them up the ladder, shaking hands as they stepped onto the deck. “Mr. Talbot, it’s good to see you. Mr. Philbin—it’s a real pleasure to meet you. I’m a very big fan. You, too, Ms. Ripa.”

“It’s just Regis and Kelly,” Regis said, smiling.

The curvy redhead that Hope had seen through the binoculars came aboard, followed by a tall, thin man with salt-and-pepper hair. A cameraman stepped up on deck last, along to film the event to be aired on television in an upcoming show. He worked unobtrusively, documenting Brad’s meeting with the captain and the presence of Regis and Kelly; then he turned the camera lens toward her.

“I’m just another reporter,” she told him, and he turned the camera off.

“Where’s Conn?” Talbot asked, glancing around, obviously eager to get his photo taken with the media’s latest target.

“He’s down in the chart room. I’ll see if I can convince him to come up on deck.”

Talbot frowned. He didn’t like anyone who didn’t obey his dictates. Hope smiled. Of course Conn wasn’t crazy about it, either.

She found him poring over a detailed diagram they had made of the site, showing the exact layout of the ballast pile—the width, length, its longitude and latitude, and the precise location of each of the divers’ finds. He looked up as she walked in.

“Okay, you’ve dodged them as long as you can. You can plead fatigue later, but you need to speak to them at least for a couple of minutes.”

He didn’t like it, she could tell, but he went with her, grumbling all the way. Regis and Kelly were friendly. They seemed like sincerely nice people. She even saw Conn crack a smile or two at something one of them said.

Talbot was another matter entirely. Conn believed it was possible Brad had something to do with the attack on Hope, and as protective as he was, he didn’t take that lightly. He nodded a greeting and shook the man’s hand, but his brief smile didn’t reach his eyes.

The third man in the group, narrow-faced, tall, and thin, was Jack Feldman.

“Jack’s the head of Talbot Security,” Brad said by way of introduction.

“Nice to meet you,” Feldman said to Conn, who nodded in return.

Brad tipped his head toward the yacht. “Jack’s brought a team of professional divers, guys with military experience. They’ll be stationed aboard the yacht. The
Wind Runner
will anchor with the rest of the boats so Jack can keep an eye on things while the divers keep the perimeter secure. I’ll only be here a couple of days, then I’ll be flying back, but Jack and his men will be staying. Jack will be handling underwater security from now on.”

It wasn’t a bad idea and Conn seemed to relax a little with Talbot’s words.

“That sounds good to me. I hated to see my guys constantly having to look over their shoulder.”

“If your thieves come back,” Talbot said, “if anyone tries to steal anything down there, they’re going to wish they hadn’t.”

Conn nodded. “This much treasure is definitely an enticement.”

Then Brad introduced the redhead who hung onto his arm. “This is Mandy. Mandy, meet Hope Sinclair and Conner Reese.”

She was petite, like Hope, maybe a little taller and wearing more makeup. “Nice to meet you.” Mandy clung to Brad, rubbing up against him, encouraging him to look into the enormous amount of cleavage showing above her bathing suit top, but her big blue eyes were hot for Conn.

She made a slow perusal of his body, taking in the width of his shoulders, the powerful biceps beneath the sleeve of his shirt. He was wearing shorts and Mandy didn’t miss the long muscles and sinews that lengthened and tightened whenever he moved.

Hope’s stomach knotted. An image of Richard popped into her head. Richard had been handsome, too. In a different way from Conn, he’d been incredibly attractive. Other women noticed, gave him the same come-on look the redhead was giving Conn, but Hope had trusted him, loved him, believed he would be faithful.

God, what a fool.

Making a polite excuse, she turned away from the redhead, leaving Conn at the woman’s mercy. He cast her a look, but she just kept walking. As she reached the ladder leading down to the cabin she now shared with Conn, she heard Mandy asking to see the treasure, heard Brad and his guests chime in.

It was almost dark when Conn finally came down to the cabin, the lines of his face tight with fatigue.

“Are you all right?” she asked, unable to stop herself.

“Thanks for throwing me to the wolves.”

She kept her gaze carefully guarded. “I thought Kelly and Regis were great.”

“Nice people. I’m talking about Brad and the redhead.”

She looked away, back down to the book she’d been reading, open and resting in her lap. “She seemed to like you just fine.”

Conn caught her arm and hauled her up out of the chair, knocking the book onto the floor. “I don’t give a damn whether she liked me or not. I’m not interested in one of Brad’s sleazy women. I think I made that clear before. The only woman I’m interested in is you.”

She gasped as he pulled her into his arms and very thoroughly kissed her. Hope stiffened for an instant, then melted, kissing him as hotly as he was kissing her. She blinked when Conn firmly set her away.

“All men aren’t like Richard. I know you don’t believe it, but it’s true. Someday, maybe I can convince you.”

Someday.
If she had that long to wait.

She didn’t. “Too bad I’ll only be here another couple of weeks. After that, I’ll be heading back to New York.”

He slowly straightened, making him look even taller than he usually did. “That doesn’t have to happen, Hope. You could make other plans.”

“I’ve got a job, Conn, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“I haven’t forgotten anything. But there are other jobs, other places to work.”

She didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t even want to consider the possibility. “You look beat,” she said, changing the subject. “Why don’t you lie down and rest for a while? I need some air. Maybe while I’m gone you can get some sleep.”

Conn said nothing, but his eyes were dark and hard. “You said you’d give this relationship a chance.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Your body’s here. What about your heart?”

The question twisted a painful knot inside her. “I left that behind a long time ago. I tried to tell you that, Conn.” She didn’t say more and neither did he. Turning away from him, she walked out and closed the door.

Glory spotted Hope on the bow, the wind ruffling her shiny dark red hair. Even from a distance, Glory could see the tension in her friend’s small shoulders. As she approached, she noticed a trail of tears had dried on Hope’s cheeks.