Chapter 14
My heart boomed in my ears as I peered into absolute darkness. “What do we do?” In the confined space, my voice was shrill, unhinged.
“For Christ’s sake.” Colton seemed calmer than I thought he would be. “Do you see anything?”
I’d never seen an area so black before. “No.”
I sighed. When was this hell going to end?
A silence so intense fell over us and added to the blackness. It was like I’d crawled into outer space.
“Okay, keep going, but explore thoroughly before you move forward. I don’t want to have to save your ass again,” he joked.
“I think you like saving my ass.” I tried to make light of our new hell, but my voice came out strained.
“You’re right. I do.” His chuckle echoed about the tunnel.
I laughed with him, and as delicious sensations flowed through me, they clashed with the torment racing through my mind. As I moved forward, Colton’s ragged breaths added to the sound of my pulse thumping in my ears.
A distant boom of thunder bounced into the tunnel, and I couldn’t decide if the sound came from ahead of us or behind.
As I continued crawling, the bottom of the passage morphed from smooth rock to jagged and rough. Every time I put my knee down, I had to resist wincing. The walls were just as rugged, adding wounds to my elbows and clawing at the sleeves of my T-shirt. And the air seemed to be damp and thick somehow. . . like it contained centuries of secrets.
Colton’s grunts showed how much he struggled, but I was grateful to hear him behind me. Each time we were silent, my mind bounced all over the place . . . to my father and how he’d died all alone . . . to the men who’d murdered him and if they were still alive . . . to Mom, and how she would react to finally finding out what happened to the man she still loved.
Reaching forward to explore the space before me, I hit a wall. Frowning, I brushed my fingers over the rocks, and on my right, I found an opening. “Hey, there’s a turn here.”
“Okay, just go steady.” Colton’s voice sounded deeper in the darkness.
Pausing at the junction, I slumped down to rest my wrists.
Something brushed my arm, and I jerked back. “Shit!”
“What?”
I pictured cockroaches and spiders as I flicked across my forearm, but nothing was there.
“Kat. Talk to me.”
“I thought there was a spider on my arm.”
It happened again, and I realized what it was. “There’s a breeze.”
“Then there must be an exit. Keep going but be careful.” His grunts confirmed he struggled to get his muscular frame through the small space.
The rocks beneath my hands became smooth again, and as I shuffled forward, I wondered how many people had crawled through that exact space before me. Had the ancient Mayans crawled through this tunnel to reach their sacred altar? Had Dad crawled through this space? It was a miracle my father had found that temple and it was just as miraculous Colton and I had found it too.
Once again, I had a strange feeling Colton and I were destined to meet.
“Fucking hell.” Colton groaned.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Hit my damn head again. You see anything?”
Squinting ahead, I searched for even a pinprick of light. “Nothing.”
“You still feeling the breeze?”
I paused and closed my eyes. The air was still, and the silence was deafening.
I was on the verge of saying no, but then a breeze swept over my cheek. “Yes. I feel it.”
“Good. Keep moving and keep it steady.”
“Yes, boss,” I said.
“You’re a fine one to call me that.”
“Why?”
“You demanded I get undressed, remember?”
I giggled. “That was an extraordinary situation.”
“Not too extraordinary, I hope.”
A lovely warmth washed through me.
“So, um, Kat.” He cleared his throat. “I don’t suppose you’d like to go on a date with me sometime.”
I laughed. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“Well, in my defense, I’ve been busy rescuing you.”
“That’s true.”
Maybe he could rescue my heart, too.
The farther I crawled, the stronger the breeze became, and soon it howled through the gap like a pack of wolves. The breeze carried with it scents of rain and earth promising an exit to this madness. My heart raced with hope because I wasn’t sure how much more my knees could take. I pictured red skin and bloody nicks across my kneecaps and ankle bones.
I realized I could identify the outline of the tunnel walls. “Hey, I can see.”
“Thank Christ.”
The tunnel exit appeared, and I stumbled out into another giant chasm.
A flash of light confirmed the storm was still raging outside, and rain streamed through a couple of small holes in the cavern roof. Between the flashes and dim light, I realized the sun was setting.
Colton groaned, and I helped him to stand. “You all right there, old man?”
He made a noise like he was swallowing a rotten egg. “I feel like I’m a hundred years old at the moment.”
“I know what you mean.” I adjusted Dad’s pack on my shoulders.
He brushed his hair away from his forehead. “Tell me you see a way out of here?”
I pointed at the holes in the roof. “Through one of them, I guess.”
Dark shadows seemed to seep from the corners of the massive chasm, and each blaze of lightning cast eerie flashes on the wet stone floor.
Colton grabbed my hand. “Let’s see if we can climb up to those holes somehow.”
The chasm was the biggest we’d entered so far in both size and height. It was impossible to fathom how something this big could exist underground. Then again, the Yucatan was riddled with sinkholes and tunnels, so there could be heaps of caves like this yet to be found.
Crossing the distance to the nearest hole, we sloshed through puddles, climbed over moss-covered rocks, and navigated around a boulder as big as a dump truck.
A blaze of lightning flashed through the three holes in the roof, and I shook my head. “I can’t believe that storm is still—Oh wow, look at that.”
I pointed at the giant rock we’d walked around. Images had been carved into the rock in an intricate pattern with faces, shapes, and animals.
“Wow.” Colton stood at my side.
In the middle of the artwork was a chubby face with a tongue poking out. “I wonder if he’s making fun of us because we’re trapped in here.”
“We’re not trapped in here.” Colton clenched his jaw. “If the ancient Mayans could get in and out of this maze, then we can too.” He grabbed my hand and yanked me away.
Rocks beneath my bare feet were covered in moss, making every step a balance challenge. Colton helped me over boulders the size of trash cans, and we had to squeeze between many rocks taller than me.
As we approached the first opening in the roof, cool rain droplets caught in the breeze and my skin prickled.
Between the lightning flashes, the dim light confirmed there was barely any daylight left, which meant is would get darker and colder. “I wonder what the time is?”
“No idea. I feel like we’ve been in this hellhole for days.”
“Same.”
“Do you think your team would be here yet?” I asked.
Colton peered up to the streaming rain. “I don’t know. This damn storm would give them a challenge, that’s for sure.”
“I hope the other guys are okay.”
Colton turned to help me over another rock and dark sorrow washed over him. “Me too.”
“How long have you worked with Pedro?”
“A few months.”
“He seems nice.”
“He’s a pain in the butt.” Despite his words, Colton’s tone was upbeat.
“Why’s that?”
Colton shook his head. “He’s forgetful and unorganized.”
“So why do you keep him?”
“His knowledge of this area is invaluable, and his wife is nice.”
I chuckled. “What?”
“Yeah, she’s a barmaid in the bar Pedro picked me up from. I give her Pedro’s wage because he’s been known to buy tequila before she can buy enough groceries for the kids.”
“Oh. That’s not good. How many kids does he have?”
“Six, and her parents live with them too.”
“Jeez. She’s lucky to have you looking out for them.”
“It’s the least I can do. Pedro helped me make inroads into setting up my dive tour business here. It would have been much more difficult if he hadn’t introduced me to the mayor. So yeah, Pedro’s a bit of a dope, but he’s also extremely useful.”
I huffed. “You’re a good man, Colton.”
He slid over a rock and reached for my hand, and I noticed his missing fingers again.
“So, besides saving damsels in distress, you’re a dive master who owns an airline and used to be a Navy SEAL.”
He waggled his head. “I don’t own the airline. I just work for it.”
“Right.” I cocked my head.
Why is this sexy hero single?
“What?” He frowned at me.
Given that we’d just had sex, it felt weird to ask him outright why he was single, so I decided on a different approach. “What do you do in your spare time?”
He released a deep moan. “What’s this spare time thing you speak of?”
I giggled. “Very funny.”
“I don’t have much spare time.”
The ground beneath us changed in angle, forcing us to climb upward with each step. “And you say you live in Yellowstone?”
“Yeah, I have a home at Big Sky, near Yellowstone. What about you?”
I groaned. “It sounds lame, but I moved back in with Mom when I stopped traveling. My three sisters live there, too, and all our animals. It’s chaos.”
He chuckled. “Sounds like it.”
“What about you? You live with anyone?”
“Nope. Just me.”
“Not even a dog?”
“Nah, I’m not home enough to put a dog through that.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
He reached for my hand again and helped me over a moss-covered boulder. “It’s not lame, by the way, living with your mom. You moved back when she got sick. Not everyone would do that.”
Mr. Nice Guy strikes again.
“Yeah, well, my family is close. We’ve been through a lot together.”
“Yeah, I can relate. I love my sis and her kids. Her hubby is a bit of a jerk, though.” He bugged his eyes. “Don’t tell her I said that.”
I burst out laughing.
“He is. But he’s decent enough, and he looks out for Ebony and adores his kids, so I can’t ask for much more than that.”
“That’s true. And your parents, are they still around?”
“Yep, and two sets of grandparents. Family gatherings are hell.” He shook his head. “Ah, man, that was insensitive of me, given what you’ve been through with your dad and are going through with your mom.”
“It’s okay. I’m enjoying the chat.”
And I’d love to know everything about you, Mr. Extraordinary.
Finally, we were close enough to the hole in the roof to know that we had no hope of climbing up fifty or so feet to reach it. Rain streamed through the hole like a natural shower, and with each lightning flash, the droplets lit up like millions of fireflies swirling in the breeze.
“Should have known it wouldn’t be easy.” Colton turned his face to the cascade, treating me to a front-row view of a sexy man having an outdoor shower. It was just a pity he wasn’t naked.
A delicious warmth cruised through me.
Colton shook his head, casting water from his hair. “Let’s try the next one.”
He walked away, angling toward another hole.
A clap of thunder boomed overhead, and I gasped.
“Fuck me.” Colton ducked. When he clamped his jaw and glared at the heavens, a dark dread crossed his expression.
“You okay?” I asked, frowning.
“Yeah. I’m peachy.” Swinging his hands at his sides, he strode away. “This fucking storm is pissing me off.”
“Me too.” But I had a feeling the storm wasn’t the reason for his fear.
“This exit looks promising.” He stood on a giant rock and pointed toward another hole in the distance.
“Good. This tour has been interesting, Colton, but I’ve had enough exploring of this cave now.”
“Very funny.” He reached for my hand and pulled me onto the rock with him. “I can’t believe that Mayan temple existed.”
“It was fun proving you wrong.”
“Huh. You call that fun.”
“Well, some of it was fun.” I grinned.
He grinned.
As we looked at each other, an exquisite moment crossed between us. Colton stepped closer, cupped my cheeks, and planted a kiss on my lips.
“That’s my kind of fun.” He wriggled his brows.
I nodded. “Mine too.”
“Good to know.” He smacked my butt and then jumped off the rock like he expected me to thump him.
“Hey, come back here, you.” I leaped down, and like a pair of raunchy teenagers, I scrambled over the rocks chasing him. The climb was steep, and with each step, we elevated closer to the surface.
Gasping for breath, I paused with him at least twenty feet ahead of me and yelled, “Okay, you win.”
“Come on.” He waved me forward. “This is the way out.”
Sucking in deep breaths, I forced my weary body to move. Colton sure was fit.
I peered up to the hole in the roof. Was that where Dad fell through? He wouldn’t have survived falling through the first hole we’d looked at, or at the very least, he would have broken his legs in that fall.
Again, Colton stood beneath the natural shower with his face turned upward, and the cascade fell through a hole just three feet above him.
He shook his head, casting the water from his hair, then cupped his hands. “Step up. We’re getting out of here.”
I stepped into his hands, and he hoisted me through the hole like I was a child’s weight.
Rain pelted my body, and the wind just about bowled me over. Holding back my hair, I used the glow from a blaze of lightning to search our surroundings but saw nothing but dense bushes.
Colton’s groan announced his arrival on solid ground, and he rolled away from the hole, stood, and did a three-sixty-degree turn.
“Which way?” I asked.
He heaved a massive growl. “I have no fucking idea.”