Claiming His Treasure

Chapter Four

She doesn't belong out here.

That's what Jackson kept telling himself, anyway. Charlie belonged somewhere comfortable, somewhere safe. And yet no matter how many times he repeated that fact to himself, he couldn't stop staring at the way the sun made her hair shine like burnt gold, or how the wind danced around her like it wanted to keep her here forever. Right now she was stretched out on her back beneath the sail, basking like a cat in the sun. Every once in a while she'd shift and stretch, arching that soft, curvy body toward the sails. It reminded him of the way she used to arch beneath him, lifting her body to let him go harder and deeper inside of her.

A low laugh sounded behind him. "I knew it, old boy."

He turned. It was Leo, with a can of that cheap Croatian beer in his hand and a smirk on his face.

"I knew she still had you by the balls," Leo said. "I just didn't realize how bad it was."

Jackson swung his elbow at his friend, but Leo dodged it.

"Hey, I never said I blamed you," he said. "I'm just saying that a lot of things make sense now that I've seen her."

Jackson forced himself to take a swig of his own drink before he responded. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Leo leaned his elbows on the rail beside him. "Exactly what I said. And there's no point in denying it, old boy. You might as well be walking around with your cock out pointing right at her."

This time Leo wasn't as quick with the dodge. Jackson's hand hit his beer, sending it flying over the rail and into the dark turquoise water rushing past them. But Leo only laughed.

"There's no shame in going a little soft around a woman," he said.

Easy for him to say. Leo wasn't the one getting the stink eye from Roth. Jackson glanced over his shoulder, but their leader had gone below.

"Have they found anything yet?" he asked Leo. "In the atlas, I mean?"

Leo shrugged. "Nothing conclusive yet. But Alexei's down there looking at it right now. If anyone can find anything, he can. Roth thinks we should continue on to Vis in the meantime. Sloane is meeting us there."

Jackson nodded. Sloane—the only female member of the Set—had been sent ahead to pursue a few special lines of inquiry. Considering how this expedition was shaping up, Jackson would feel more comfortable when everyone was back together again.

Everyone except Tav, he corrected in his head. With every passing hour, he was more and more convinced that their missing member had been the one to betray them.

He turned and glanced behind them. It was a warm, beautiful day, and this stretch of the Adriatic was full of ships—not just sailing yachts like the one they were on, but also fishing vessels and huge, luxury catamarans. Since they'd left Split, he'd been looking for any sign that they were being followed, but so far, he hadn't seen anything suspicious. That made him nervous. At least if they had a tail, he'd know exactly where the enemy was. Instead, it felt like they were just waiting for their opponents to strike.

"Can I give you a tip, old boy?" Leo said.

"Hm?"

"We'll have a little downtime as we figure out what our next step should be. Enjoy it while you can." Leo threw his thumb toward the other end of the boat, where Charlie had propped herself up on her elbows to gaze out at the approaching coastline.

Instantly, all thoughts of their possible pursuers fell right out of his head. You're in trouble, he told himself as he watched that gorgeous hair fly around her face. Once, he'd thought he could forget about her. That his cock could learn to have other tastes. He was wrong.