Treasure of Love (17 page)

“Are you saying you’re in love with Dax?” Mac asked.

“I think so.” Jack paused. “No, wait, I don’t think so. I
know
that I’m in love with Dax.” Jack smiled.

Mac stood, crossed the salon, and sat next to Jack. He put his arm around his shoulder and said, “Man, I wish you two the best. Dax seems to be a great guy, and well, I know you’re a great guy, so this should work out just fine.”

“Thanks,” Jack said. “I really appreciate your support. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. You know, back then. In hindsight, I guess when I found out about you and Brad, it hit just a little too close to home.”

“That’s an understatement,” Mac chuckled. “But all’s forgiven. I love you, man.”

“I love you too,” Jack said as he looked uncomfortably at his watch. “It’s almost four. I’m starting to worry about Brad and Dona,” he said. Before he could say another word, their alone time was interrupted by a loud thump and the companionway door flying open.

“Awhoooore, I mean, Ahoy!” Brad said as they stumbled down the companionway carrying several shopping bags and giggling uncontrollably.

Jack and Mac looked at each other and smiled. “You two look like you’ve had a great time,” Jack said.

“And it looks like you managed to get a little shopping done between cocktails,” Mac added.

“Whaz yur point?” Dona slurred as she looked at Mac and poked him in the ribcage.

“Yeah, whaz it to ya?” Brad asked with a grin.

Dona giggled again.

Dax came in from returning the car and heard all the commotion. “What’s this?” he asked. Brad and Dona were smiling wickedly.

“Heeeey there, bro,” Dona said.

“It appears that these two had a great time shopping,” Jack said.

“Looks that way,” Mac added. “Come on, kids, how about we get you two down for a little nap before we shove off?”

Brad and Dona looked at each other, made a nasty face, and said, “Yuk,” simultaneously.

“Okay, separate cabins,” Mac said as he took Brad by the hand and led him to their cabin. Dax did the same with Dona, and once again quiet was restored to the small salon.

Jack sat there soaking up the quiet. So much had happened to him over a short period of time, and as he thought about it, he realized that he couldn’t be happier. He was in love with Dax, and more importantly, Dax loved him. Dax joined him in the salon and snuggled into him with a gentle kiss. “Dona okay?” Jack asked.

“She’s out like a light. She’s not a big drinker, so I know she’ll be bitter when she wakes up with a hangover.”

Jack smiled. He pulled Dax closer to him and wrapped his arms around him tightly.

“You’re a good brother,” he said as he kissed his cheek.

“Ah shucks, Miss Daisy,” Dax said with a smile. “But this doesn’t make a dent in the amount of times she’s done the same for me. I owe her big-time.”

“Now it’s my job to take care of you,” Jack said.

“I like the sound of that,” Dax replied.

“Me too,” Jack said as he again looked at his watch. “I’d love to stay this way forever, but it’s almost four-thirty, we’d better get underway.”

Dax quickly kissed Jack on the cheek and yelled for Mac. Mac came into the salon with a huge smile across his lips.

“Everything okay?” Jack asked.

“He’s all tucked in, sleeping like a baby. But not before he attempted to try on his new underwear for me. Every time he bent over to grab the underwear and pull them up over his knees, he fell onto the bed. After the third time, he finally gave up and passed out with them around his ankles. Not a bad sight, I must say.”

They all chuckled and made their way on deck. Jack headed for the bridge, Mac to the bow, and Dax to the stern. They released the lines, secured the fenders, and minutes later, the
Lindsey C
’s side thrusters were inching her away from the dock. Dax joined Jack on the bridge, while Mac grabbed the binoculars and took an inconspicuous seat with an aft view. He jotted down the names as he watched several vessels immediately pull out of port behind them. Skagway was a large port with a lot of traffic, so it wasn’t unusual for boats to follow one another in and out of port. Mac would keep a close eye out, and later look up each boat to see to whom and where it was registered.

Chapter 10

T
HE
trip back to the wreck was uneventful, and soon they were dropping the hook and securing the boat for the night. Mac joined Dax and Jack on the bridge. He handed Jack the log book he’d started of the vessels coming and going during their journey. Jack looked over all the vessel names and identified many local fishing boats and crossed them off the surveillance list. Of course, someone could have chartered any number of those boats for the purpose of spying on them, but he personally knew the captains and considered them friends. None of the men would allow a reconnaissance charter without at least letting him know about it.

They all went below, and while Dax and Jack settled with the laptop at the banquette, Mac started preparing dinner. There were three boats that Jack didn’t recognize as local, and he looked them up on the Coast Guard’s Web site. Two of them were registered as fishing boats, about sixty feet in length, and were owned by Klondike Industries in Anchorage. The third vessel appeared to be about one hundred feet in length, was named “
,” which loosely translated meant “pleasure boat,” and was privately owned and registered to a man named Vladimir Kozlov. The hail port on the stern was Provideniya, Russia, which was a Russian port just across the Bering Sea. Because the vessel was registered in Russia, the Web site offered only the owner’s name and hail port. They would keep a special eye out for this vessel if it crossed their paths again, and continue the reconnaissance until they were sure they weren’t being followed.

Dona came out of her cabin and slowly maneuvered into the salon with one hand running along the wall for stability and the other holding her head.

“What time is it?” she asked.

Dax and Jack looked up from the reconnaissance list with similar smiles, while Mac smiled without looking up.

“A little after nine,” Dax replied. “We were just about to call you for dinner.”

“That reminds me, I need to try and get Brad out of bed as well,” Mac said. “Keep an eye on the stove, will you, guys?”

“Sure thing,” Jack replied.

“Dona, can I get you anything?” Dax asked.

“Not unless you can stop this throbbing headache,” she said.

“Imagine if I hadn’t forced you to take those two Advil earlier,” Dax added.

“Wow, that’s the last time I shop with Brad.”

“Did he secure your arms behind your back and force-feed you those cocktails?” Dax asked.

“Very funny,” she said as Mac came into the salon with Brad in tow. Brad looked as bad as Dona, and he smacked her on the butt as he passed.

“That’s the last time I go shopping with you,” he said.

“Me?”

“Yes, you,” he shot back.

“Oh brother,” Dona said as she rolled her eyes.

They both smiled and sat on the couch. Mac approached with four Excedrin and two glasses of water. They gladly accepted the offerings and quickly downed the drugs.

“Hey, Brad, I half-thought you were going to come out here with your new underwear around your ankles,” Jack said. “I heard you had a little difficulty getting them on.”

Brad looked at Mac with a pair of evil eyes and replied, “Very funny, Jack, but maybe later.”

After the laughter quieted, Jack and Dax filled them in on the vessel reconnaissance and what they had found while Mac finished preparing dinner. As usual, during dinner they discussed the plans for the next day, and by the end of the meal Brad and Dona appeared to be feeling somewhat better. Everyone helped with the cleanup and all agreed it would be an early night, with so much on the agenda for tomorrow. Mac and Brad were the first to turn in, with Dona right behind them. Jack and Dax headed to the bridge, and while Jack verified that their position was holding, Dax used the night-vision binoculars to do a quick scan of the area. He saw nothing out of the ordinary and said, “Looks clear, you ready to call it a night?”

“I thought you’d never ask. I’ve been dying to get you in bed all day.”

“All you have to do is ask, Captain, and I’m yours, anytime.”

Jack softly kissed Dax and said, “Let’s go.”

Jack shut off the lights as they exited the bridge. If they had only stayed on the bridge for fifteen minutes more, they would have seen the “
” cruise by for its fourth time since they had dropped anchor earlier that evening.

J
ACK
didn’t wait until he reached the cabin. His lips were already covering Dax’s by the time they’d reached the companionway. Their tongues explored as if their mouths were the entrance to their souls. When they reached the cabin, Jack was still devouring Dax’s mouth. He opened the door, nudged Dax inside, and kicked it closed with his foot. He gently backed Dax up against the bed and in one fluid move pulled Dax’s shirt over his head. Following Jack’s lead, Dax did the same for him.

Jack lovingly nudged Dax to lie back, and when he did, he slid his pants down to his ankles. He stopped only to untie and remove Dax’s sneakers, and then slipped Dax’s pants over his feet. He pulled off both socks and threw them, along with Dax’s pants, to the corner of the cabin. Dax watched with anticipation as Jack slowly unzipped his khaki pants and shimmied them down his muscular legs until they puddled around his ankles. Jack knelt between Dax’s legs, and all he could think about was Dax, his hot, muscular body waiting to be taken. He began to nibble at Dax’s stiffening cock through his underwear. Still not used to this unfamiliar territory, he tried to remember what had felt the best when done to him in his limited experiences. He turned his head to the side and lightly ran his teeth up and down the shaft of Dax’s cock, teasing and tormenting with every stroke.

Dax began to slowly raise and lower his hips, responding to Jack’s tender touch. Jack pulled the waistband of Dax’s underwear down far enough to expose his thick, rock-hard cock. In one slow, tantalizing move, Jack took the head of Dax’s cock into his mouth and slid down as far as he could go without gagging. He inhaled the sweet smell of Dax’s manhood through his crotch hairs, stopped, and slowly slid his mouth back up again. He found a comfortable rhythm and began to move in slow, even strokes as Dax moaned with pleasure.

He reluctantly released him when Dax took him by his upper arms and pulled Jack to him. Dax plunged his tongue into Jack’s mouth and consumed him with every ounce of passion he could muster. Jack gave way to the assault as he massaged Dax’s massive chest. He broke the kiss and started again working his way down Dax’s washboard abs to what he’d sampled minutes ago. When he reached Dax’s erect cock, he again took it into his mouth and caressed it gently.

“I need to be inside you so badly,” Jack whispered.

Dax didn’t respond. The silence was deafening.

Jack thought,
Damn, I shouldn’t have asked him to do that again. He said he was the one who was usually the aggressor.

“I want that too,” Dax said.

“No pressure,” Jack said.