Then, he felt her press her lips hard against his. They were soft and wet, and her tongue met his with an eagerness that burned him with desire.
Was this a dream?
Sam returned her kiss with all the strength he had that remained.
Her arms were wrapped firmly around his neck as she kissed him again. Other sensations were starting to return to his body, and as they did, they were more powerful than he could ever remember.
The sweet sound of her moans, her delightful, feminine scent, and the soft touch of her skin, drove him to ecstasy.
Then came the soft sound of her gentle whisper in his ear, “I thought you were dead, you bastard.”
He opened his eyes, and saw that hers were wet with tears.
“Not a chance, not when I’ve only just found you.”
Before he realized it, she pushed her underwear down and off. She was wet, warm and welcoming as he drove himself inside of her. Her sigh of pleasure spiked his need.
“Oh, yes,” she murmured.
A wave of intense desire rolled though him.
Sam groaned.
Their bodies molded together perfectly. He’d gone from utter Hell to the heights of Heaven in that once moment and wished that the entire experience could go on forever.
Chapter Twenty One
John Wolfgang worked with his team of lethal mercenaries throughout the night.
They had been on standby in Tyrol — awaiting his orders, and were dropped off by helicopter half an hour after he made the call.
His grenade had destroyed most of the crevasse which made its way deep into the heart of the mountain. The drilling process itself was easy enough, since the limestone was relatively soft. What took up most of their time was carrying out the rubble, bucket by bucket. There was only room for one person at a time to enter the hole. That person was rotated every half hour in order to maintain maximum drilling speed.
If Simmonds knew about it, so would the others, and that meant that he didn’t have much time. His team were heavily armed, but who knows what sort of men, the other God damn treasure hunters had employed.
He had suggested to the leader of the elite team that they just use dynamite and blow their way down to the lower level of the tunnel. The leader had replied that he would be happy to do so, just as long as everyone was also happy to be crushed by the mountain above them in the process.
By lunchtime the next day, they had progressed approximately forty feet.
“How deep are we going, boss?” It was Brent, the leader, who hadn’t spoken to anyone since he’d given the initial orders for how he wanted the drilling to proceed.
“Until we reach the cavern below. She’s in there, I know she is,” John said, with an outward sound of certainty that he didn’t quite feel inside. If he was wrong about this, it would be all over for him and Aliana.
“Understood.”
Two hours later, the man returned once more.
“Have you broken through yet?” John asked eagerly.
“No, but there’s a small gap, and we’ve been able to run a wire through it. We still have another 80 feet to go.”
“How far have we gone in the past 24 hours?”
“We’re approaching 50 feet.”
“Okay, so another two days?” John asked.
“Yes.”
“Is there any way that we can increase our progress?”
“No.” Brent didn’t have to say anything else. He was a highly experienced mercenary. His face said it all — “If I say 48 hours, then that is the fastest it can be done.”
“Very good. Let me know the second you break through.”
Sam wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep.
At the moment his mind was still groggy, but he was certain that he had something terribly important to do before time ran out — he just couldn’t quite recall what it was. Despite the feeling of faintness, he discovered a sensation of comfort beyond anything he’d ever before experienced.
He opened his eyes and saw Aliana staring back at him.
“You’re still here,” she said, sounding relieved.
“Did you think that I was going to leave you while you slept?”
She kissed him, and said, “I wasn’t certain that you were going to live. You were pretty cold when I pulled you out of the water.”
So I didn’t manage to drag my body up on to the shoreline, after all — she did.
“Thank you,” he said quietly, and he meant it too.
“Did you make it to the outside?”
“No.”
He watched her face as he said the last word, and as she tried to formulate her next question, without trying to rush his weary mind.
“Was that because there was no way out, or because it was too far?” Aliana asked.
“It was too far.”
“So, that’s it then?” She seemed to be taking it well for someone who had just received a death sentence. “I wonder how many more years it will take before someone sees the Magdalena again, and enlightens our long lost loved ones of what became of us?”
It was strange, Sam realized, he hadn’t even considered the fact that if he couldn’t swim that distance underwater, then they would be stuck in the cavern, most likely ending up just like the skeletons inside the Magdalena. It was quick thinking on Aliana’s part, he decided, to have reached the conclusion that if he, an underwater dive expert, couldn’t swim that far underwater, then it would be impossible for her to do so as well.
The morbid part of his mind began to wonder if it should come to that, would he prefer to die on the shore or inside the Magdalena.
He took his time before answering, “You would be surprised at how ingenious the human mind can be when it’s trying to save its own life. We have enough food to last us for another week, and an unlimited supply of water, so I wouldn’t write us off, just yet.”
Her face brightened a little, but her voice betrayed her loss of hope when she asked, “Do you have any other ideas?”
“Yes. All we have to do to cross the tunnel underwater is to simply figure out a way to carry more than a couple of lungs-full of air.”
“Okay, and how do you propose we do that?”
“I haven’t worked that part out yet, and we don’t have much in the way of air-carrying devices in our backpacks to work with.”
“Unless…” she began, her smile seeming to return.
“Unless what?”
“Unless we can use something from the Magdalena?”
“My God, you’re right! Why didn’t I think of that?” He grabbed her hand again, “Come on, we’re getting out of here.”
Chapter Twenty Two
Tom Bower flew the 44 over the Dolomite mountain ranges. It had been a quick trip. He had stopped on only three occasions along the way, twice to refuel, and once to use the bathroom.
He’d been drinking at an exclusive bar in Paris, and had just taken the most adorable Parisian woman back to his hotel room, when his cell rang. He was reluctant to answer it, but the person on the other end had been persistent, and after the ninth phone call, he thought it might have something to do with Sam Reilly.
Against his better judgment, he answered the call.
“Tom Bower?” A stranger’s voice had asked.
“Yes, who is this?”
“My name is not important right now. Let’s just say I’m a friend of Sam Reilly.”
“Go on, I’m listening.”
It took some convincing for Tom to trust the man on the other end. His coarse voice, alone, sounded sinister, as though he’d smoked enough cigarettes to have already died from lung cancer years ago.