“Edward didn’t make me promise,” Hunter said.
“Oh?” I stopped. “I was under the impression you were doing it because he asked you.”
“No. I’m doing this because I don’t want the man who raised me like his own to be a laughing stock for those who thought he was a lunatic, just like his father and two brothers.”
“Shit!” A kamikaze bug flew into my ear, and I slapped the side of my head, trying to get it out.
“You alright?”
“Yes. Bugs. When did Edward tell you about the treasure?”
“When I arrived here, he didn’t tell me for the entire fishing season, but when the bookings slowed and Jolie broke up with me, he saw an opportunity to bring me on board. I was a grown man who could decide for himself if I wanted to be part of the Holden family curse.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “There are no curses, just decisions we make that turn out to be bad ones.” His expression dimmed, and he looked past me. “So many bad ones.”
I wondered if Hunter was talking about his uncles and grandfather or himself. What bad decision had he made? Somehow, my mind kept returning to Jolie, and Hunter’s regret at leaving her and coming here.
“Now you have proof that the treasure is real, and Edward wasn’t crazy. I bet your aunt will feel guilty for not supporting him.”
Remorse slithered down my throat that I’d also thought Hunter was mad when he told me what he was doing on this island the morning I found him waist-deep in the hole. In my defense, at that time, I had known Hunter only for a few days.
Hunter grunted, trying to break a thick vine. It snapped, and he pulled it out of our way. At the speed we trudged, it would take us several hours to follow a curve of the hill that should have led us to the hidden cut-through with the giant tree and bat cave.
“If not for your help,” Hunter said, “I’d die a lonely old man who told pirate tales to random strangers at the Avarua marina.”
“And now you’ll die a rich man surrounded by his children and grandchildren who love to listen to the tales of your adventures.”
Hunter side-glanced at me, a dimple forming on his cheek. His blue eyes were so beautiful I could get lost in them. “Thank you,” he said.
“For helping with treasure or illustrating a different life for you?” I smiled back at him.
“Both.”
The afternoon weather turned sticky, hot, and muggy. In four hours of our search, we found several dark openings in the mountain that didn’t go deep and were, unfortunately, empty. Hunter and I reached the spot in the narrow gorge with the bat cave and the cool pond. Hunter stripped off his clothes and stepped into the water. I followed his lead, goosebumps running up my body. I nestled between Hunter’s legs and pressed my back against his chest, relishing his body heat. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me even closer.
“Remember when you showed me this place for the first time, and a bunch of bats flew out?” I nodded at the dark cave opening near the tree. “You protected me with your body. And I enjoyed it so much I fantasized about many other situations where you would do it again.”
“Since we’re being honest with each other right now, I’ll admit that I’ve visualized you against me at least a hundred times every day since that evening.” He outlined my breast with his finger and pressed a fervent kiss to the side of my neck. “When you wore my T-shirts over your bare body, I had to walk the entire time with my dick half-mast.”
“I saw your naked butt when you went swimming on your own last week.”
“I know you did.” His hand traced down my stomach and disappeared between my thighs. The hardness of his erection prodded into my back.
“How?” I huffed the question.
“You were acting strange when I returned and couldn’t look at me during dinner,” he whispered, teasing my earlobe with his teeth. I wouldn’t be able to meet his eyes now because he worked two fingers into me, and my eyes rolled back into my head. I clenched around them and moaned. “You’re so soft and hot inside.” He added another finger, stretching me and making me gasp. I widened my legs for easier access, propping my feet on the slippery rocks, pushing my body into Hunter’s.
“You are so beautiful when you come undone,” he said in a husky voice, amplifying my throbbing lust. His fingers were deep inside of me. He teased and stroked me, applying just the right pressure, at a torturously slow pace, as if he were spelling a secret message, a spell. My breath hitched, and pleasure clenched deep within me. My muscles coiled around his fingers as my orgasm mounted higher.
Just a few more strokes. I readied to get lost in oblivion, imagining myself facing Hunter as I’d slide down his cock as soon as I reached my?—
“Fuck,” he said, and not in a sexy way. The movement of his fingers stopped. “I know the answer to the riddle.”
He pulled his fingers out, and I crashed landed from my lust ride. “Which one?” I said, winded.
“When you face to face with death, you are in the right place. It’s the bat cave.”
Fingering me made him think of the bat cave. Lovely.
“Why do you think that?”
