Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Freya
S he opened the back door at ten in the morning like she’d arranged with Luke, but his kitchen was silent. Freya had already passed Archer and Erica’s place, and that was silent. Before that, she’d taken a detour to see if hot men were working out, but there was no one at Edward Hall. When she passed Jason and Heidi’s place, she heard giggling from the upstairs open window and smiled. Her best friend getting her happy ever after was awesome.
“Luke,” she called out.
“Up here,” he called back.
Freya walked through the empty rooms on the ground floor. She touched the vase and bowl and then got to the stairs. Taking them two at a time, she walked along the carpeted floor, tutting at nothing in any of the rooms as she passed the open doors until she got to the end. Luke was kneeling on the bed that looked like he’d made it at one point but then decided to have a one-man wrestle on it. He looked at her exasperated, his hair pulled in all directions. Never had he looked more adorable. He gave an unhappy face and extended his hand with the tin.
“Can’t get it open,” he muttered and collapsed onto the bed.
Freya climbed onto the mattress, not hiding her laughter, as she grabbed hold of the tin and shook it like she was trying to guess a birthday present.
“What’s in here?”
“I don’t know. It looks like a WWII soldier’s tin. There could be anything in there.”
Freya turned it around, looking for clues but found nothing but peeling paint. She fell to her back and lifted it above her head like a different angle would help her.
“Should we try to pick the lock?” Freya suggested.
“Do you know how to pick a lock?”
“I had to do it once when I lost my key to my journal. The internet will tell us how to unpick this particular lock. They’ll probably have videos too.”
“Well, let’s leave the breaking-in until later. I want to get to that cove again and see if the glint I saw was actually a florin or another old coin.”
“All right then, do you promise to work on more of the family tree stuff? I’m addicted to all those leaves popping up,” Freya said.
“Have you been sneaking a look behind my back?” Luke asked with a grin, tickling her sides.
Freya let out a guffaw and wriggled off the bed. “No, I swear, but I know there will be answers.”
“Fine. Have you eaten?”
“Yes, have you?”
“Yes, nuked porridge because Jason and Archer weren’t up. ”
“If you got your act together, you’d have food, utensils, and kitchen stuff at your disposal.”
“I have got my act together. It just needs to arrive.” Luke huffed, then muttered, “Daisy said the container was delayed coming across.”
“Luke,” she said with a laugh. “Come on, let’s go.”
When they reached the sand, Freya slipped off her sandals and carried them between her fingers. Luke was pensive beside her, glancing her way every few minutes. She didn’t know what was going through his head. She only ever knew what he thought through his letters. Freya knew his character, but coming back to the island must be hard for him. She had no desire to leave, but he had all the vehemence of not returning. If the rig hadn’t shut down, she would still only know him through the written word.
“Penny for them?” Freya asked, coming closer to him as they walked.
He slung his arm around her neck and sighed heavily.
“I don’t know what I’m doing. I feel so lost.”
“Are you finding it hard transitioning?”
“To island life? Yeah maybe. It wasn’t my choice to come home, but I don’t regret it. I just think I need to find my purpose.”
Freya swapped her shoes to her other hand and wrapped her free arm around his waist. “You’ll find your way.”
“Let’s hope. Look, there’s the cove,” Luke said and jogged to the opening.
She dropped her shoes outside and crawled through the narrow tunnel to get into the hidden cave. The waves over the years had battered the rocks and made a hole. She didn’t think there would be any treasure because she assumed it would take more than four hundred years for a channel big enough for them to crawl through. Once she’d scaled the side of the rock and then crawled the six feet along the tunnel, she poked her head out into the cavernous space with a few inches of water swirling about. They’d never seen more than three inches of water in the cave, which was Luke’s theory’s premise. He reckoned pirates sent kids through the tunnels to stow away the crates of coins.
Where they all went was anyone’s guess.
“There’s not much in here, Luke,” Freya muttered, looking up twenty feet to the knotty gnarly stone in shiny greys. She jumped down a couple of feet, splashing into the water. The floor was smooth as marble.
“Where does that water come from? We’re ten feet up, and yet this cave isn’t dry.”
“Maybe there was a high tide last night or driving rain.”
“It’s neither of those two things. Let’s go in that direction,” Luke said, pointing further into the rock.
They’d been in this cave dozens of times as kids, but nothing ever changed.
“You go on ahead. I’ll wait here and have a look around. Maybe I’ll scale that wall. There looks to be a load of footholds,” Freya said.
“All right, yell if you find anything.”
Luke disappeared through another tunnel, his arse shifting away as he crawled through the space. She knew that tunnel to be a few feet long before it opened into another room. It was like someone had built a house but then never finished it.
Grabbing the hard rock lump, she started climbing carefully, testing out each foothold as she ascended. She was close to the ceiling when she discovered a ledge that wasn’t visible from the ground. Using her upper body strength, she hauled herself up and sat on the edge with her legs dangling. Puzzled at what had made the ledge, she looked across to the other side and saw another ledge, but again nothing other than rock. Growing bored, she fiddled with the engagement ring, and to her surprise, it came off her finger. She slid it back on and then off like her fingers had magically shrunk after climbing. She toyed with the cave having magical powers or the altitude of her climb. Whatever it was, her fingers were small enough to fit the ring easily.
Freya had given up on it ever coming off. So when Luke told her she could keep it, it didn’t matter if it wouldn’t come off. Freya tried it on all her fingers and was so carefree, she dropped it onto the cave floor into the shallow water. The diamond blinked and then was gone. Seemingly washed down a hole like there was a plug hole.
“Shit,” she said, panic setting in.
She’d had a ring that wasn’t hers, and now she’d lost the ring that wasn’t hers.
“Luke,” she called out.
Clambering down from the ledge, quickly jumping the last six feet, she heard a crack. The ground moved beneath her and fractured like she was on a sheet of ice. The marbled stone gave way, and her with it. She shrieked and threw her arms out to grab hold of the remaining cave floor. There was no purchase as it was so smooth. Acting like a lizard, she hoped she had enough strength in her hands to cling on until Luke could get to her.
“Luke,” she cried out.
She was scared she would get sucked down into the water.
Glancing below her body, she saw the ocean with two very old crates dropping the sea bed. The swirling water swayed her legs violently, trying to drag her down .
“What the fuck?” Luke said, then popped his head through the hole in the tunnel.
“It’s a fake floor,” Freya said shakily as tears sprouted and fell.
A swell of water rushed up and almost tossed her on the flat of the rock beneath Luke but then rushed back down like it was sucking everything in its wake.
“Oh, fucking hell. Hang on to something Freya,” Luke yelled, scrambling out of the tunnel and jumping down.
She reached up her arm to grab his hand, but she was sucked under. It seemed so bright, like someone had lit spotlights down on the sea bed. The water was freezing, and she desperately trod water, hoping the surge would send her back into the cave. Instead, the water level dropped again, taking her to the left and under a rock shelf. Freya hit her head on the sharp rocks. She was nearing the end of the breath in her lungs and struggled to feel her way to safety. Then her arm was yanked hard, and she was hauled out of the water and onto the flat in the cave. Hands were all over her as she gasped, heaving her chest to get oxygen into her lungs.
She was terrified to open her eyes and have the reality of nearly drowning confirmed. Warm lips touched hers in a hard kiss, then they were on her temple and forehead. Then she was kissed again, longer but still firm.
Freya opened her eyes to see Luke extremely close. She was sitting on his lap with his arms wrapped around her. He kissed her again, softer, longer and then pulled back.
“You keep kissing me,” she croaked through a sore throat.
“I’m just checking you’re still alive. You can’t die, Freya. I love you. I can’t have you die too.”
“Luke,” she said, cupping his cheek. “I’m okay. I’m alive. My head hurts, but you saved my life. I’m alive,” she reassured him.
He kissed her again, this time so softly she wanted to cry at his tenderness. Small quick kisses on her mouth, pressing as if testing she were real. Then in a split second, the air changed and sizzled, and she wanted a proper Luke Turner kiss. The ones he’d described in her letters. The ones she was insanely jealous of when they were described with another woman. She sighed for a second, kissed him, and kept her mouth against his. His lips moved, his head tilted, and he crushed her chest to his, hungrily kissing her back. Their mouths opened at the same time, and he swiped her tongue for a split second. She moaned at the contact, wrapping her arms around his neck and shifting on his lap to straddle him. He fell back onto the floor, taking her with him and rolling her towards the wall. Legs entwined, he rolled her beneath him. Never in her wildest dreams did Luke feel as good as he did right then. His hips lined up with hers, his hands in her hair, clasping her head for his mouth to devour hers.
“I knew it would be good,” he whispered. “I just knew you would feel good, taste sensational.”
Luke thrust his hips to hers and dry-humped her for a few seconds. She was throbbing in all the best places as he continued to kiss her. Near death was forgotten. Luke Turner was kissing her like he meant it. Said words that indicated he’d dreamed of this moment as much as she had. Luke liked her, he told her he loved her, and by the hardness pressing against her, he wanted her. When his hand came up and roughly kneaded her breast, she wrenched her mouth away from his and screamed in frustration. Lifting her thighs and pressing her calves to the back of his legs, she canted her hips to get into his rhythm .
“Luke,” she bit out.
He was back at her mouth, pulling on her bottom lip with his teeth.
She looked at him, really staring into his eyes. “Luke,” she snapped.
Like they were talking telepathically, he sat back on his haunches and tore open the button on her shorts and pulled down the zipper. She lifted her hips and pulled her shorts and panties off. Coming back down to cover her, he roughly pushed down his soaking-wet shorts. She felt his cock at her entrance, the blunt end of him nudging inside and never had she wanted to cry from the sensation more than she did then. The water was lapping at their sides, and a bigger surge added to her wetness now and then.
“Fucking hell, Luke, hurry,” she said, wailing the last word.
“Oh hell no, Peaches, this is going to be slow and steady,” he whispered over her lips. “Part your legs wider.”
She did as he asked and welcomed his long slow thrust, but as soon as he was fully inside her, it was like he had lost his mind. The quick thrusts came, and so did her orgasm. Ripple after ripple, and her heart beat so hard she feared she’d have a heart attack and really die. Luke carried on fucking her like a man possessed until he came so hard he roared into her throat and stayed deep inside her. Every inch of her was wet, and she didn’t know if it was her, him or the sea.
What she did know was that Luke had ruined her for any other man. There was no way she would connect with another man like she had just connected with Luke. And more, she didn’t want to even try. She threw her head back to get more oxygen into her lungs as she caught her breath. Her fingers caressed his nape as she counted to twenty. Luke was still inside her, lying half across her putting most of his weight on his hip, which was on the cave floor.
“Luke?”
“I’m never moving from inside you. This is my new favourite place,” Luke said with so much conviction she believed him.
“Luke,” she said with a sigh.
“I know right? Tell me you feel it.”
“I feel it. But—”
“No buts, just another minute,” he whispered into her neck.
She continued to stroke the hair on the back of his head and lifted the leg he wasn’t covering. The action made Luke sink deeper inside her. Her eyes snapped to his as he tilted his hips in short thrusts. Freya was incredulous that he was still hard after their water-enhanced sex. In a flash, he sat up and had her straddling his legs, still joined. He wasn’t looking at her face. Instead, his eyes were trained where his cock was deep inside her getting harder. Freya lifted up an inch and then sank back down.
“Again, do that again, nice and slow,” Luke muttered, not taking his eyes off their joining.
His hands clutched onto her waist, and then he lifted Freya. She felt like she wasn’t in control of anything, her body, her feelings or her reaction to Luke, her best friend, carefully fucking her. Where the first time was short, brutal and intense, this was loving, measured, and her entire body was heated.
They were still in their tops, and if it wasn’t for the fact the cave was cold, she wanted to strip bare and get Luke to play with her boobs. Looking at him, she didn’t think she could drag his gaze away from looking at her pussy. He stroked his thumb over the hairs above her clit, and she shivered. Then when his thumb pressed in, she squeezed every muscle in her body. That got Luke’s attention.
“I can feel you,” he whispered.
“I can feel you too, honey.”
He cuffed her neck and brought her down for a kiss. His tongue swept in and out of her mouth at a lazy pace. It seemed as if Luke was set for the rest of the afternoon, but she knew he had to be cold sitting on the ground.
“Luke,” she said over his mouth. “I lost the ring.”
“I don’t give a fuck about the ring.”
“But it was worth half of a million,” she said, wincing at her words.
“I don’t care, Peaches. All I care about is you’re alive, and I get to kiss you. That you’re letting me kiss you and fuck you. Christ, I’ve imagined this so many times. I never thought you wanted me.”
“I didn’t think you wanted me. You were so horrible when you came back.”
Luke was still circling and pressing, and Freya was having trouble thinking clearly about what they were talking about. Shudders came down her body and, in turn, his cock.
“Do that again,” he said. “I wasn’t horrible.”
Freya clenched, and Luke dropped his head back and groaned.
“You took one look at the engagement ring and were incredulous that someone had proposed. You even said who the hell proposed to you?”
“Because I wanted to kick the shit out of him for taking you.”
Luke clutched onto her waist, pulled her up, and then down harshly until he expanded inside her. She rested her hands on his shoulders and took over, sliding up and down his length, moaning as her orgasm neared its height.
“I’m nearly there,” she muttered.
“Just say, and I’m with you,” Luke said.
Freya took over where Luke was swirling and brought herself to orgasm while she rocked back and forth. She kept going until Luke came with a shout. He gathered her close, wrapping his arms around her back and his face in her neck. Turning her head, she rested her cheek against his and hummed through her come down. She shifted, but he wouldn’t let her go.
“I need to get you off this floor and somewhere warm. You’ll get all kinds of illness sitting here,” Freya said.
“I thought I was the medic,” he mumbled.
“Am I wrong?”
“No. I vote we go back to mine,” he said and kissed her mouth.
Then gave her a gorgeous smile that filled her with so much warmth she was having second thoughts about moving.
“There is nothing there,” she said.
“There’s a bed, Peaches. Plus, if I text Jason, I bet we can raid his freezer for ready-made meals he has personally cooked.”
Freya smiled at the thought of not having to cook and eat Jason’s food.
“All right, but I need to be home by eight so I can get my school stuff ready for tomorrow.”
“That’s a deal. Get off me, and we’ll see if my legs still work.”
Freya laughed and found she imitated a newborn lamb as she stood and staggered around to find her shorts and underwear. Hauling on the wet clothing wasn’t pleasant, but her shirt didn’t cover enough of her arse to risk walking home in just a top.
She watched as Luke tucked himself back into his shorts and then yanked them into place.
“I might have lost the ring, but I found the florins, or what I assume to be florins,” Freya said, pointing to the small pool that had formed in the cave.
They both looked over the gap from a safe distance. The sand hadn’t settled enough for them to make out what was in the crates, but the wood with rusted metal strapping was visible on the sea bed twenty feet down.
“A false floor, right? It looked so real the dozens of times we’ve walked over it. I never would have guessed,” Luke said.
“I’m not sure how we’d get to them.”
“Me either. We might just leave them to the sea for now. I might give it some thought when I get over the fright of nearly losing you.”
He slung his arm around her neck and kissed her mouth, leaving his lips there for a few seconds before he pulled away.
“We just had sex,” he muttered over her lips.
“I know,” she replied with an eek face.
His eyes were smiling, and then he grew serious. “Was it the fright of nearly dying, or will you want us to do it again?”
“Definitely again, Luke, always if you want.”
His smiling eyes were back, and she sighed. Luke’s sexy grin was now only for her.
“Let’s get back, get dry and get warm. We have a lock to pick.”