Treasures Lost, Treasures Found

again she touched and tasted, needing to absorb him. Above all else, she needed to experience everything they’d ever had together this one time. They made love here, she remembered, that first time. The first time…and the last. Whenever she thought of him, she’d remember the quieting light of dusk and the distant sound of surf.
    He didn’t understand why he felt such restrained urgency from her, but he knew she needed everything he could give her. He loved her, perhaps not as gently as he could, but more thoroughly than ever before.
    He touched. “Here,” Ky murmured, using his fingertips to drive her up. As she gasped and arched, he watched her. “You’re soft and hot.”
    He tasted. “And here…” With his tongue, he pushed her to the edge. As her hands gripped his, he groaned. Pleasure heaped upon pleasure. “You taste like temptation—sweet and forbidden. Tell me you want more.”
    “Yes.” The word came out on a moan. “I want more.”
    So he gave her more.
    Again and again, he took her up, watching the astonished pleasure on her face, feeling it in the arch of her body, hearing it in her quick breaths. She was helpless, mindless, his. He drove his tongue into her and felt her explode, wave after wave.
    As she shuddered, he moved up her body, hands fast, mouth hot and open. Suddenly, on a surge of strength, she rolled on top of him. Within seconds, she’d devastated his claim to leadership. All fire, all speed, all woman, she took control.
    Heedless, greedy, they moved over the bed. Murmurs were incoherent, care was forgotten. They took with only one goal in mind. Pleasure—sweet, forbidden pleasure.
    Shaking, locked tight, they reached the goal together.
     
    Dawn was breaking, clear and calm as Kate lay still, watching Ky sleep. She knew what she had to do for bothof them, to both of them. Fate had brought them together a second time. It wouldn’t bring them together again.
    She’d bargained with Ky, offering him a share of gold for his skill. In the beginning, she’d believed that she wanted the treasure, needed it to give her all the options she’d never had before. That choice. Now, she knew she didn’t want it at all. A hundred times more gold wouldn’t change what was between her and Ky—what drew them to each other, and what kept them apart.
    She loved him. She understood that, in his way, he loved her. Did that change the differences between them? Did that make her able and willing to give up her own life to suit his, or able and willing to demand that he do the same?
    Their worlds were no closer together now than they’d been four years ago. Their desires no more in tune. With the gold she’d leave for him, he’d be able to do what he wanted with his life. She needed no treasure for that.
    If she stayed… Unable to stop herself, Kate reached out to touch his cheek. If she stayed she’d bury herself for him. Eventually, she’d despise herself for it, and he’d resent her. Better that they take what they’d had for a few weeks than cover it with years of disappoinments.
    The treasure was important to him. He’d taken risks for it, worked for it. She’d give her father his memorial. Ky would have the rest.
    Quietly, still watching him sleep, she dressed.
    It didn’t take Kate long to gather what she’d come with.Taking her suitcase downstairs, she carefully packed what she’d taken with her from the Liberty . In a box, she placed the pottery bowl wrapped in layers of newspaper. The coins, the blackened silver and the shiny gold she zipped into a small pouch. With equal care, she packed the film she’d taken during their days under the ocean.
    What she’d designated for the museum she’d already marked. Leaving the list on the table, she left the house.
    She told herself it would be cleaner if she left no note, yet she found herself hesitating. How could she make him understand? After putting her suitcase in her car, she went back into the house. Quietly, she took the five gold coins upstairs and placed them on Ky’s dresser. With a last look at him as he slept, she went back out again.
    She’d have a final moment with the sea. In the quiet air of morning, Kate walked over the dunes. She’d remember it this way—empty, endless and full of sound. Surf foamed against the sand, white on white. What was beneath the surface would always call her—the memories of peace, of excitement, of sharing both with Ky. Only a summer, she thought. Life was made of four