Treasure Tides (The Coins) by Deniece Greene Read Free Book Online Page A

T-shirt had certainly never
looked so fine.
She abruptly sat her coffee down on the table. “I’ll go put your
clothes in the washing machine,” she mumbled.
Before she could make her escape, Royce snagged her wrist. “I
already did. Now, why don’t you sit down and relax with me for a few
minutes.”
He softly caressed her wrist, running his thumb over the pulse-point.
Standing, Royce pulled out the chair for Becki, right next to his.
Dropping into the chair next to him, she hoped he had set the
washing machine on speed cycle.
This man positively oozed trouble.
Then again, she thought with a smile tugging at her lips, a little trouble never
hurt anyone .
“You are beautiful when you do that,” Royce murmured, staring
intently at her lips.
Unsure how to respond to that, Becki blurted, “Do you have a
name?” Her face immediately flamed in embarrassment.
“I do,” he said with a smile. “Royce St. John,” he introduced himself,
extending his hand toward her in greeting. Lifting one sexy eyebrow he
prompted, “And you are?”
“Becki Stephens,” she responded, placing her hand in his.
“Nice to meet you, Becki Stephens,” Royce said as he gently closed
his fingers around hers.
“Nice to meet you , Royce St. John,” Becki said softly finding it
difficult to breathe.
A slight lean forward would put him close enough to steal another kiss.
His brain argued it was a really bad idea. However, his body did not seem
to be in agreement.
He tugged gently, pulling her toward him, lowering
his head ever-so-slowly. His eyes remained firmly focused on hers.
“Uh, where are you from, and what do you do?” Becki asked in a
rush, pulling away at the last moment to wrap both hands firmly around
her coffee mug.
Royce picked up his own coffee before answering, “I own a home
security business near Asheville.”
His stomach clinched again, protesting the lie he was forced to tell.
He sat his coffee back down on the table without having taken a drink.
“Home Security” served as a cover for his team, which currently
consisted of seven members, each possessing their own unique set of
skills.
ART (Artifact Recovery Team) had been formed by the Secret
Council centuries ago, specifically to recover “artifacts” that had either
been stolen, or simply gone missing. The majority of these items could
be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands.
The Secret Council was just that-- a secret council -- keeping even
bigger secrets.
They were also the keepers of potentially harmful
“artifacts”. However, with the amount of corruption and ongoing
power struggles among the immortal communities, these “artifacts”
were proving difficult to keep under wraps.
Royce’s team had been charged with recovering a collection of
coins.
The collection had been spelled by Merlin centuries ago.
Each
coin had been created for a specific purpose.
If used improperly or by
the wrong people, the world as we know it could altered. The coins
had fallen into circulation upon the gruesome demise of the original
thief, a rogue warlock who had originally been a trusted advisor to
Merlin.
“Home security,” Becki repeated, the proverbial light-bulb turning
on. “That’s how you know Ryker. I knew he was in some sort of
security business.”
“Yes, Ryker and I have known each other most of our lives,” Royce
confirmed. “Like I said, I didn’t realize the house was occupied. I’m
sorry I barged in on you.”
“I fell in love with this place the first time I drove by it. My Uncle
Kurt knew Ryker’s dad, so he hooked me up. Ryker said he only used
this place as a beach-vacation house, and that since he was going to be
gone for a while, it would help him out if I just stayed here.”
“I’ll bet he did,” Royce responded drearily.
Becki laughed, understanding what he failed to put into words.
Ryker was quite a ladies’ man. Sexy as hell, and he knew it.
“Becki!” Kurt yelled as he ran around the corner of her house.
She