Romancing the Crown: Kate & Lucas: Under the King's Command / The Prince's Wedding

Kate shook off his hold and grasped the gunwale to peer over the side. “Oh, God.”

In the blue-green illumination from the reflected sunlight that filtered through the water, she thought she saw a glint of gold. She lunged forward, thrusting her arm underwater as far as she could, but she was unable to catch the necklace before it sank out of reach.

Strong arms wrapped around her waist. A moment later, she was jerked against Sam’s chest. “Take it easy, Kate. You don’t need to jump overboard to get away from me.”

“What?”

“If I’m that far out of line, just tell me and—”

“No, Sam. You don’t understand.” She tipped her head to look at him. “I lost my necklace. It must have broken when you caught me.”

His eyebrows angled together. He looked at her neck. “Do you mean that gold chain with the little butterfly you always wear?”

“Yes, I…” She was shaken to hear him describe it so casually. “I didn’t realize you’d noticed it.”

“I notice everything about you.” He touched his fingertips to the side of her throat. “I can see the line the chain left on your skin. Damn, I’m sorry, Kate.”

To her disbelief, she felt tears come to her eyes. “It’s not your fault. It was a fine chain. It would have broken easily.”

“I’ll replace it when we get to San Sebastian. There’s a jeweler’s shop near the palace that’s supposed to be very good.”

She shook her head. How could she explain that it was irreplaceable? What would he do if she told him why that necklace was so important to her?

“If they don’t have a butterfly that you like, I’ll have them make one, okay?” He skimmed his fingers from her throat to her cheek. “Let me make up for this. Please.”

Make up for it? she thought wildly. How could he possibly make up for the child she’d lost? “Forget it, Sam. It’s gone.” Like our past, she thought. Like our baby.

He brushed his fingertip under her eye, catching a tear. “I’m sorry, Kate. It must have meant a lot to you.”

Yes, the necklace had meant a lot. It had given her a way to focus her grief. It had also been a reminder of how destructive love could be.

But it hadn’t been love. No, what had gone on between her and Sam had been sex, that’s all.

But he was touching her so tenderly, and he was ready to comfort her for something he didn’t even understand. Could she have been wrong not to give him a chance?

No. She’d been through this before. She wasn’t going to get drawn into anything with him again. She pulled away and returned to her seat in the stern. “We’d better get back.”

Sam didn’t pick up the oars. Instead, he toed off his shoes, then reached for the hem of his T-shirt and tugged it off.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Going on a treasure hunt.” Dressed only in his cutoff jeans, he braced his hands on the seat behind him and swung his legs over the gunwale. “Lean back so we don’t flip.”

Automatically she moved to balance the dinghy. “Sam, you can’t really mean to dive for it, can you? You’ll never find anything as small as the necklace in this light. I can’t even see the bottom.”

“It’s worth a try.” He touched his fingers to his forehead in a parting salute. “Don’t go anywhere, okay?”

“Sam!”

With a movement that was too fast to follow, he twisted his hips, arched his body and neatly slid feetfirst into the water.

“Sam, you idiot!” she cried. She fought to steady the boat, then leaned over the side as far as she dared.

The surface roiled where he had entered the water. By the time the ripples cleared, she could see that he had turned himself around and was kicking his way downward.

Kate wiped her eyes and blinked hard, straining to keep him in focus. Ripples of reflected sunlight moved over his body, becoming fainter and fainter until finally he blended into the darkness around him and disappeared.

“Sam, you idiot,” she repeated, this time in a whisper. What kind of man would jump overboard in a cave merely to retrieve a necklace? They were on a mission, for God’s sake. He shouldn’t be wasting his time with something personal like this. It was reckless and irresponsible.

It was also an incredibly sweet thing to do.

Sam? Sweet? He’d laugh if she told him that. He was a rough, tough Navy SEAL. He shrugged off bullet wounds. He craved excitement and adventure and freedom. He—

He’d been underwater too long, she thought, peering into the depths. She scanned the surface around her for bubbles, but there was nothing, no sign of any movement.

This was the kind of work he was trained for, she reassured herself. He had to know what he was doing. This dive wasn’t really dangerous. She shouldn’t be feeling so very… alone.

She glanced around the cavern. Without Sam’s presence, the grandeur of the place seemed to dim. It was like that with many of the things they’d experienced together. After the night they met, she’d never been able to listen to saxophone music without thinking about him and the dance they’d shared. And that first kiss.

Unbidden, the memory returned. She braced herself for the pain that would follow, but this time it didn’t come. She remembered the pleasure. And the power that had sparked between them. He hadn’t been sweet then. He’d been hot, hard and sexy enough to steal her breath.

There was a splash behind her. She pivoted quickly and saw Sam’s head break the surface ten yards away. She grasped the oars and propelled the dinghy toward him.

He treaded water, tipping back his head as he inhaled in deep gulps. “Sorry. Couldn’t spot it.”

“It doesn’t matter, Sam,” she said.

“There are some weird currents near the bottom. It must have drifted on the way down.” He turned to get his bearings, then took a deep breath, swept his arms to the side and jackknifed under the water.

“Sam!”

Of course, he didn’t pay any attention to her protest. That’s the way he was, stubborn and determined to get his way.

Only, in this case, she couldn’t find anything wrong with that. Maybe those weren’t such bad qualities in a man. Maybe things could have worked out if she’d given him a chance….

Oh, God, no. She couldn’t think like that. It was only because of this mission. They’d been together for practically all their waking hours. It was only natural that the old feelings would begin to reawaken. As soon as the mission was over, they would go their separate ways, and everything would get back to normal. Yes, it would.

He surfaced and dove twice more, each time working closer to the mouth of the cave. Kate followed him with the rowboat until, finally, he came up right beside her.

“Sam, that’s enough,” she said immediately before he could go under again. “Get in the boat.”

He shook his head quickly to flick the water from his hair, then grinned and tossed something shiny toward her.

Kate caught it in the air. It wasn’t her necklace. It was a flat disk, about two inches in diameter, and it was shaped like a… “This looks like a coin!”

“Yeah. I told you there must have been pirates here.”

“Oh, my God.” She rubbed the coin on her shirt and studied it more closely. “This is gold.”