Carved in Stone (13 page)

He grunted with the shift of her weight, but his arms snaked around her waist and held her tight. She wrapped her legs carefully across his back, avoiding his bruises as much as she could. Then she pulled his face against her breasts, laughing with the sheer joy of having made it safely to the ground.

He growled into her belly, “Don’t you ever pull a stunt like that again, or I swear to all that’s holy that I will leave you where you fall.”

“But I made it!” She unwrapped her legs and slid to the ground, her arms still holding tightly to his shoulders. “I made it, and we’ve still got the rope!” She was invincible, untouchable. She had dared and won.

Shaking his head, Nate slowly began to roll up the climbing rope, pulling it loose from the stalagmite at the top of the ledge. “This time. You made it this time.” He grinned down at her, his eyes filled with mischief. “You’re making an old man out of me. You know that?”

He took a deep breath, and Alex realized he was trembling, his shaking every bit like a palsied old man.

Because of her. The realization blossomed inside. The knowledge he cared that much. “We made it, Nate.” She smiled at him, reaching out to touch his strong arms, knowing he was the reason she stood here unhurt.

“We made it together.”

Chapter 10

Nate’s hands tightened on Alex’s shoulders. Thank God she was okay. Warm and alive beneath his grasp, the bone and muscle and flesh that only moments before had dropped and slipped along the face of the sheer vertical wall.

The image of her falling, of her body lying broken and bloodied at the base of the cliff, flashed through his mind. Wordlessly he gathered her into his arms, stifling a sob that escaped as a rough sigh against her hair.

A terrible truth blossomed inside, unwelcome and yet unavoidable. He loved her. How could that be? When had the attraction become more than physical desire? Had become, instead, a pain in his heart that threatened to rip him to shreds?

He wanted to blame the situation. It wasn’t unusual for a bond to develop when two people faced death and survived, but this was more, this maelstrom of feelings that threatened to overwhelm him with passion.

Biting his lips, Nate rested his chin on the top of her head. His heart still pounded in his chest, beating so hard and fast he wouldn’t be surprised to see it burst beyond his ribs. He sensed Alex’s confusion and he took a deep breath, fighting the emotions that threatened to be his undoing. He hadn’t cried when Linda left, had barely wept at his mother’s death so many years before. But now, so close to losing a woman he hardly knew, he realized he couldn’t stop the tears that quietly fell along his beard-roughened jaw and into her dark and tangled hair.

Alex felt the moistness against her scalp and heard his ragged breath. Nate crying? Why?

“Nate?” She pulled away, reaching up to cup his ravaged face in her hands, forcing him to look at her when he tried to turn away. “What’s wrong?”

With a self-conscious lopsided smile he turned his face, pressed his lips against the palm of her right hand, kissing her with velvet softness along the ridges and abrasions where the rope had burned into her palm.

“I thought I was going to lose you. God damn it, Alex.” He exhaled, a deep shudder that racked his body. He pulled out of her arms and roughly wiped his sleeve across his tear-dampened face. “Sorry,” he said gruffly. “Must be the bonk on the head. I’m shakier than I thought.” He held his forearm against his eyes a moment in a visible struggle to regain composure, then dropped both hands to her hips.

“I’m okay,” she whispered and reached out to him. Carefully she brushed the thick hair out of his eyes with one hand and tucked it behind his ear with the other.

“I’m okay,” she repeated, her own eyes filling with unshed tears. This shook her more than she could ever imagine, to have anyone care so much. No one, not her father, not Jake, not any man had cried for her.

She thought she might stand this way forever, her hands on his broad shoulders, his large hands resting lightly on her hips, an almost visible current bridging the short distance between them. Then her stomach growled and the moment fled.

“Dinnertime?” Nate lifted one eyebrow and a wide grin—as much of relief as humor—creased his bearded cheeks.

Alex welcomed the distraction as much as Nate appeared to. “Don’t I wish.” She took a deep breath and moved away, breaking what little was left of the spell between them. Leaning over, she grabbed her fanny pack off the floor of the cavern. “How about a choice from our wide selection of energy bars? We’ve got apple-raisin, raisin-apple, or apple with raisins. Take your pick.”

“I hate raisins,” he deadpanned, taking a bar anyway and leading Alex to a nearby rock where they could sit. “Make it last,” he said. “We still don’t have any idea how we’re gonna get out of here.”

“Yeah, but at least we’ve still got the rope.”

“But we almost lost you,” he responded softly. “No rope is worth that.”

“Well, nothing happened.” But the intense look in his dark eyes told her something very important had happened. Whatever, it confused her. She wished she understood men better, and Nate Murdock in particular. Maybe then she’d have some idea what he was thinking.

Unless he was as confused as she was. So many things she’d believed no longer seemed to fit. At least they didn’t fit Nate.

“A penny for your thoughts?” Nate’s voice was a caress against her ear, followed by the soft touch of his fingers as he pushed the wild strands of hair back from her face.

“Only a penny?” She turned to him, smiling, then reached up to pluck a tiny crumb from the corner of his mouth. “I’d like to think they’re worth more than just a penny. I don’t come cheap.” She left her thumb and forefinger pressed to the soft crease between his lips and let the silly double entendre hang between them.

So intimate, to touch a man’s mouth with her fingers. More intimate than a kiss, and every bit as erotic. Did she really have to understand Nate to feel this way about him?

“Believe me, I know you don’t come cheap. I signed the work order, remember?” His lips moved against her fingers when he added, “You’re worth even more. A whole lot more.” He kissed her fingertips. “Have you still got that bar of soap?”

“Excuse me?” What did soap have to do with pennies and thoughts? “Yeah, I think so.” She patted her pants pockets and finally found the tiny bar in the front pocket of her flannel shirt. “It’s right here.”

“Well . . .” He stood. Grabbing her hand, Nate pulled Alex to her feet. “I think our long-awaited bath beckons.” He tugged her hand, pulling her toward the shimmering pool, into the mist near the base of the waterfall.

Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly
. She almost said it aloud. Then she raised her head and looked at him, realized Nate’s eyes mirrored her own questions. “I don’t think so, Nate.” She laughed, aware of a nervous tremor in her voice. “It’s so dark, and it looks cold.” She hung back a bit, still holding his hand. It would feel so good to be clean again. But was she ready for the intimacy? This wasn’t just a bath they were discussing.

He tugged on her hand again. She pulled her fingers loose, refusing to meet his eyes. He moved away. She studied him out of the corner of her eyes. He had to know it wasn’t the temperature of the water that held her back.

Nate stepped closer to the waterfall, then stretched one hand out to touch the shimmering cascade. He parted the silvery stream of water with his fingers. “It’s not that bad.”

Alex bent down, testing the water at the shallow edge of the pool, then turned to see what Nate was going to do. She felt like an untrained actress, waiting onstage for her cue. Nate was the director, completely in control of the play.

Nate already had his boots and socks off, and he was unbuttoning his shirt. Their eyes met, and he grinned at her as he peeled the shirt off his broad shoulders. Alex quickly looked away.

She glanced again, quickly, to watch the flex and stretch of his muscles, eerily defined in the silvery light. “Are you coming in, or do you just plan to watch?” he asked playfully.

She blushed, praying he couldn’t see her color deepen in the faint light.

“When the creature from the deep comes out to taste your toes, I’ll be safe onshore.” She laughed, hoping to hide her reaction to him, but who was she kidding? It was impossible for her not to look.

“There’s no creature, Alex. Only me.” He carefully folded his shirt and set it next to his boots.

Alex glanced away, but she could hear the sound of his zipper and the rustle of his jeans as he stripped the pants down his legs. Unwilling to look, wanting to see him, she let her mind’s eye recall his broad chest, flat stomach, muscular thighs. Amazing, after such a quick glance that first morning that she could still see the details of his body, the thick mat of hair that trailed from navel to groin, a tiny scar across his left collarbone, the flat nipples, like copper coins against his smooth chest.

Blushing in spite of herself, Alex began to slowly unbutton her shirt. It was a lot easier doing this when she was angry. She thought of that first morning by the creek. The splashing sounds of his movement through the water made her smile, and her hands stilled on the buttons.

“This is heaven, Alex. Pure heaven.” His sigh of pleasure was almost lost in the roar of the falling water. When she looked for him in the darkness she could barely see him, bobbing shoulder deep about a dozen feet away.

The cavern formed a natural grotto with smooth walls on two sides and the waterfall on the third. The polished expanse of rock on the fourth side of the enclosure where Alex sat to unlace her boots stretched for at least thirty feet to a narrow fissure carved by water tumbling endlessly to disappear beneath the solid rock.

The cool torrent must have cascaded through the caverns for eons to wear this stone as smooth as glass. No moss grew so far underground, and in the eerie light of the glow worms’ webs the grotto and waterfall looked surreal. It made her think of the background in a Dali painting.

There was very little current in the pool. Ripples from the waterfall spread and lapped against the walls and rock, smoothing out at the far side and reflecting the light of the shimmering webs.

Alex pulled her boots off, then her socks, and dabbled her feet in the cool water, periodically glancing across the surface at Nate. He was treading water now, arms moving in lazy circles barely visible beneath the dark surface.

The air was damp, almost muggy after the dry chill of the upper cavern, but Alex still shivered as she stripped the sweaty flannel shirt from her body and peeled the denim jeans down her legs. She looked out across the water again and saw that Nate had turned his back to give her a sense of privacy. Taking advantage of the moment, she quickly pulled her T-shirt and cotton panties off, folded everything in a neat pile next to Nate’s, and waded into the water.

The sandy bottom was slightly abrasive against her bare feet. The water felt cool but not at all cold. As soon as it was deep enough to reach her hips, Alex dipped forward, taking a few light strokes to move out across the pond.

Nate had pulled himself partially out of the water to sit, legs submerged, on an outcrop of rock where he could bathe himself. He was busily scrubbing his chest and underarms with the tiny bar of soap. Alex drifted into the bubbles that floated across the surface of the water.

As if sensing her presence, Nate raised his eyes. Alex followed his dark gaze across the few feet of water where she floated in the tumbling pool at his feet. The rush of the waterfall jetted against her back, the power of the cascade only slightly diminished by the depth of the pool.

Nate reached out to her, his arm glistening in the silver light. He pulled Alex to the ledge, and lifted her out of the water to sit beside him. She felt her nipples pucker in the chill air, and crossed her arms over her chest. Nate gently pried her arms away, running his hands down along her sides, pausing at the indentation of each rib before grasping her firmly at the waist and turning her away from him.

The soap was a slick caress as he ran it along her spine, then up across her shoulders. She leaned into his touch, knowing where this would lead. When the time was right, they would come together. Here, in this underground wonderland, a place where time stood still for both of them, it would happen.

He bathed her carefully, washing each arm as if she were a child. He turned her again, so that her back rested against rock and lifted her legs one at a time, washing each foot, even between her toes.

She groaned as he carefully bathed and then massaged each foot. And again as he ran his soapy hands along her calves. He grinned mischievously at her when he slid his palms over the tiny bristles of her unshaved legs. Embarrassed, she turned her head, her hands still gripping the rock ledge, but then he leaned down and kissed her kneecap, rubbing his bristly cheek against her calf.

His hands slid along the tops of her thighs, leaving soapy trails that met in the dark thatch of hair at their apex. She gasped, her chest rising and falling in anticipation as she felt his fingers, slick with soap, slide easily between her legs.

He teased and stroked her gently with the small bar of soap, his attention not on her face but on his own movements. She waited, anticipating the moment when his fingers would breach the opening, would touch her more intimately, but instead his hand moved on, soaping the sensitive skin of her inner thighs completely before he withdrew, leaving her breathless and unfulfilled.

She looked away, frustrated by his touch. She felt him slide off the rocky ledge, and he carefully pulled her into the deeper water alongside him. She followed him across the narrow expanse to the tumble of bubbles beneath the waterfall, soaking her hair and rinsing her body as they entered the rush of falling water.

Vibrating with unspent passion, her nerve endings tingled in the roiling water. Still she followed his direction, not certain of his motives, merely waiting for her next cue. Curiosity as much as desire made her follow.

That was all. Otherwise she’d never allow this, allow him to lead her without her knowing where. Or what.

Alex thought the force of the falling stream would drive her under, but once she reached the base of the falls she realized all was illusion. The water fell in a thin cascade, its noisy roar more echo than power within the confined space of the grotto.

Nate pulled her beneath the stream and the two of them emerged laughing behind the shimmering curtain of water. It was darker here, so dark Alex could hardly see Nate. Only his eyes sparkled in the muted reflection that glistened through the sheet of falling water.

It was shallower beneath the ledge that formed the upper edge of the waterfall, and both of them could stand upright. Once again Nate took control, rubbing the small bar of soap between his hands. He handed the soap to her and worked the suds into her streaming hair.

“I’ve wanted to do this since the first day.”

His husky voice sent shivers along her spine.

“I thought of you down at the creek when you bathed and I could imagine your hair flowing with the current. I wanted to be there with you, washing it for you, tangling my fingers in all that glorious hair.”

She didn’t know what to say, couldn’t say anything, could only lean into the gentle touch of his blunt fingers as they massaged her scalp, lifted the heavy weight of her hair and scrubbed along the base of her neck.