by Donna Grant
Guy’s fingers wrapped around her waist as he gave a small tug with his arm to settle her more firmly against him. “Lean on me,” he whispered.
His voice sent tremors of awareness through her. She couldn’t regulate her breathing, not with him so near. When she wrapped her arm around him for balance, she felt the corded sinew through his thin shirt.
“Let’s get moving,” Banan said brusquely.
Elena glanced at Guy to find him watching her. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded her head instead of attempting to use her voice.
Guy took the brunt of her weight, lifting her with his arm to keep her off her left leg. But the slightest touch of her foot against anything had pain slicing through her.
She thought she was doing a good job of keeping her agony to herself when Guy stopped and gently lifted her in his arms. Instinctively, Elena wrapped her arms around his neck and found her face inches from his.
“You were in pain,” was all he said before he continued walking.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Banan and Rhys stare after Guy. As Guy walked in front of them, Elena looked over his shoulder and caught the other two sharing a look.
Rhys found her observing him, but he said nothing as he quickly moved ahead of Guy while they continued on.
Several times, Guy had to hand her off to Rhys as they reached a narrow passage or where it was difficult to walk. She felt like a bag of potatoes getting passed around, but she wasn’t going to complain.
They were careful not to jar her leg, and they were helping her out of the awful cave. That was enough for her.
Words were kept to a minimum. She was too enthralled in Guy’s proximity to be able to think clearly enough to carry on a conversation.
Her muscles had begun to ache after the adrenaline rush wore off. She was going to have a tough time moving the next day, but she’d face that later.
Just when she thought they’d have an easy time out of the mountain, Guy stopped beside Rhys, and Banan moved to Guy’s other side.
“I’ll go down first,” Banan said.
She moved her head to follow him and noticed they were atop a sheer cliff that was at least thirty feet tall. Elena could only stare dumbfounded as Banan began to climb down without any type of rope.
“He’s going to fall! Without rope. He needs rope.”
Her voice must have begun to rise because all three men looked at her, but Elena kept hearing Sloan’s scream in her head. She’d fallen, and she’d been harnessed.
Rhys nodded and motioned Banan back up. “Of course.”
Guy gently set her down, and all three began taking rope, carabineers, and bolts from her belt. She didn’t hinder them, but watched as they expertly hammered in a bolt, tied a quick knot, and tossed the rope over the side.
That’s when she realized she was going to have to go down that rope. Elena took a hobbled step back. She couldn’t do it. The knot might come undone or the bolt might not be hammered in securely enough.
Guy put his hand to her lower back and moved in front of her to block her view of Banan going over the side. “We willna let you fall, Elena. I give you my word.”
How she wanted to believe him. Desperately so. But she had seen—and heard—Sloan fall.
Elena shook her head. “There has to be another way.”
“Banan is already over. Safely on the ground. Look if you want.”
She had never been afraid of heights before, but she was quickly developing the condition. “It’s okay. I’m good.”
Guy turned away, but she saw his hint of a smile before he did.
It was Rhys who said, “You willna believe us until you look yourself.”
She wasn’t sure if her fingers were cold inside her gloves because of the cool air or because she was scared shitless. One look at the men and she knew they would hound her until she saw Banan.
Elena gingerly put the tip of her left boot on the ground and put all her weight on the right side before she jumped. She hadn’t even landed before Guy had a hold of her to help her to the edge.
Her cold fingers gripped his arms as she peeked over the side and her light allowed her to see a brief look of Banan’s face as he tilted it up to them.
“See?” Guy said when she leaned back.
“Uh-huh. Sure. It’s all good.”
Rhys chuckled. “I hope that’s convincing you, lass, because it’s doing nothing for us.”
Elena might have laughed had her life not been on the line. As it was, all she could do was swallow past the lump in her throat.
“See you down there,” Rhys said with a grin before he, too, went over the side, one hand barely holding the rope.
The image of him sliding down the rope made her think of Sloan, and she turned away. “Tell me he’s all right. Tell me he landed.”
“Look for yourself,” Guy urged.
“I don’t think I can. I don’t want to be scared, but…”
“It’s understandable. All you need to do is trust us.”
She looked up at him and said, “But I don’t know you.”
He didn’t answer right away, just tugged a strand of her hair behind her ear. “There are two ways we can do this. I can tie your harness to the rope and slowly lower you down. Both Banan and Rhys are below in case anything happens.”
“Or?” she asked, praying the second option was better.
“Or … you climb on my back, and I take both of us down.”
Elena closed her eyes. “I knew I should have stayed in bed this morning.”
Guy knew Elena was close to losing it. She had done remarkably well, having never gone caving before, being injured, and seeing her friend fall to her death. All in all, he was impressed.
But if he allowed her to continue as she was, they’d likely never get out of the mountain.
He put his fingers beneath her chin and lifted her head so she had to look at him. Her sage green eyes slowly opened to look at him. “I’m going to strap you to me, and then I’m going to lower us down.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“You keep clenching your hands. They’re cold, are they no’? Do you think you can hold on to the rope yourself? And what of your injured leg? You’ll need both to help you descend.”
“Shit,” she mumbled, which caused him to grin again.
He set about getting her harnessed and then wrapping the rope around himself and her before he reached to fasten her to him.
“If you drop me, if I die, I’m warning you now that I’m going to make sure I come back to haunt you.”
Her words had meant to threaten him, but he found himself smiling. “And if I get you safely down?”
“I’ll kiss you,” she said as she glanced over the side of the cliff.
Guy paused in tying the knot. He didn’t like how anxious he was for that kiss. It wasn’t a good sign at all, but now that she’d said it, it was all he could think about.
“Are you two coming?” Rhys called up.
“Aye. Be down in a moment,” Guy replied.
He looked to Elena to find her shaking, her face a mask of apprehension and fear. He knelt down and waited for her to move behind him. They were already locked together via her harness and the ropes, but she had to climb on his back.
“Even if you lose your hold on me, you willna go far. Once you’re on my back, I’m tightening the rope so you’ll be almost a part of me.”
She mumbled something that he swore sounded like, “That doesn’t sound so bad,” but he wasn’t sure.
A moment later and she wrapped her injured leg around him first before hoisting herself onto his back. She weighed next to nothing, not that he expected more from a woman who didn’t even come to his shoulders.
Right before he went over the side, she giggled.
“Something amusing?” he asked.
“I was just thinking of Jurassic Park, where the little girl was
in this same position and she choked Dr. Grant.” Elena laughed harder. “She was so scared of falling, and of the T. rex, of course, that she didn’t know she was choking him.”
“Well, let’s no’ choke me, shall we?”
He’d grabbed the rope and positioned himself so that she was now hanging off the cliff. Her blond head was buried in his neck, and he felt her entire body shaking.
“I don’t want to even be in a cave again. Just get me out of this one, Guy. Please.”
Gone was the amusement and anger of earlier. Now, her voice held nothing but fear. And he didn’t like it.
“Hold on,” he told her right before he slid down the rope.
The quicker he got them down, the better. When the air whooshed around them, her hold tightened, but she never uttered a sound.
They slid to a jarring halt when the rope caught on a rock jutting from the cliff and Guy’s hands got caught between the rope and the rock.
He felt Elena lift her head to see what had happened, but he knew if she spotted the blood now coating his hands from his hands being crushed and cut by both the rock and rope her control would snap.
Guy pushed away from the cliff, which allowed him to yank the rope free of the rock. In no time, his feet touched the bottom, and Banan and Rhys each reached to help Elena off him. Guy loosened the rope holding her when the others took her.
Guy turned to face her, and before he could ask how she was, she took the small step separating them and rose up on her good foot to put her lips on his.
A shock of something electric, something charged went through him.
Something primal.
He fisted the rope in his hands to keep from dragging her close and slipping his tongue past her sweet lips. As it was, he held perfectly still until she moved away.
“I owed you a kiss as promised,” Elena said, as if she needed to explain her actions.
All Guy could wish was that they were alone and he could kiss her again. Deeply, until he had her taste running all through him. Until he could feel every inch of her body against him.
Luckily she looked away from him, which allowed Guy to remember where they were and who he was with. He began to unsnap the caribineer when he heard Elena’s gasp.
“My God. Your hands,” she said.
Guy looked down and saw the blood. Before he could answer, she had taken his hands and turned them over. There, before her eyes, the last few wounds healed.
He waited for her to say something. When she did not, he pulled his hands free. “Just a scratch from the rocks.”
“Yeah,” Elena murmured, looking stunned.
“Shall we go?” Banan asked.
Guy nodded and began to roll up the rope while Rhys got Elena out of the harness. When Guy turned back, Rhys had Elena in his arms while Banan had her backpack.
He missed holding her, but he wasn’t going to yank her from Rhys. That would mean Guy wanted to stake a claim. Which he didn’t.
Right?
Elena looked at him over Rhys’s shoulder. Their gazes locked, held for a moment before she lowered her eyes and turned away.
CHAPTER
FOUR
Guy knew what awaited Elena when they reached the mansion. They should probably warn her, but the easier she went, the better.
All too soon, they reached the main cave they used daily. Guy prayed no dragons were heard as they carried Elena through one of the caverns and then up the long corridor to the outside.
She inhaled the fresh air and removed her helmet when they stepped out of the mountain. “Oh, goodness,” she murmured as she looked at the mansion.
“We’ll take you to the house to see to your injury,” Banan said.
Elena chuckled. “That isn’t a house. That’s a palace.”
“Mansion,” Rhys corrected her. “It’s no’ grand enough for a palace.”
“But it’s certainly large enough. I had no idea anything like this was here. Do y’all do tours like other places?”
Guy came even with Rhys when they reached the side door of the conservatory. “No visitor is allowed anywhere other than the distillery sections of our land.”
He waited for Rhys to walk through, but Guy’s eyes were glued to Elena. He’d lived at Dreagan for thousands upon thousands of years. There were things in the house he didn’t even notice anymore, and he was curious as to how she saw their home.
The way her eyes widened, and her lips parted in a silent wow while her head swiveled one way and another made him look at his surroundings with new eyes.
“Holy cow,” she said when they approached the staircase.
It stood in the center of the large foyer and was wide enough for six men to stand side by side. It went up fifteen steps before there was a landing, and then more steps off to the side to the second floor.
But Rhys didn’t stop on the second floor. He continued up to the third. Once more the stairs switchbacked, but now Elena’s eyes were glued to the weapons hung on the walls.
Weapons of every century, from every continent.
Guy knew the house was absent of everyone but Con, thanks to them alerting him there was someone in the mountain. When they reached the guest room, Guy found Constantine standing against a far window, his back to them. Guy walked to the headboard near where Rhys carried Elena, not yet ready to be away from her.
Elena let out a sigh when she was on the bed. Then she looked down at her muddy, dirt-encrusted clothes and scooted to the edge of the bed before standing.
“You need to lie down,” Rhys said.
“Not on that comforter. There’s no way I’m getting it any dirtier,” she argued as she glanced at the cream colored comforter.
Con turned to them with a smile. “It’s just a piece of fabric that can be replaced.” He bent and, with a yank, removed the comforter from the bed.
Guy found it curious that Elena leaned back against him as she stared at Con. “Maybe it’s just a piece of fabric, but it isn’t mine to ruin.”
“I’m Constantine,” he said. “As I heard Rhys say, you’re injured. Let us get you looked at, a change of clothes, and some food, shall we?”
She nodded woodenly before she cleared her throat twice. “I’m Elena Griffin.”
“Welcome to Dreagan, Miss Griffin. We’ll give you a few moments to yourself, and then I’ve some questions.”
Con walked past Guy, leaving Elena staring after him. Banan and Rhys soon followed. After a long look at Elena, Guy, too, trailed them.
He closed the door and sighed. He didn’t like how anxious he was about how she was going to get her boot off, or if her foot would swell because of it.
He didn’t want to worry about her getting out of her clothes, but then he pictured what she might look like nude. Slim, but rounded and soft in all the right places.
“Are you going to stand there all day, waiting for her to call for you?” Banan asked sardonically.
Guy jerked his head around to find all three staring at him. He wasn’t sure he liked the way Con’s gaze narrowed on him, or how Rhys smiled as if he knew exactly what Guy was thinking.
So, he focused on Banan. “Why be such a bastard?”
“Someone has to be. And it’s my turn this month.”
Guy rolled his eyes and shouldered his way through them.
* * *
For long minutes, Elena simply stared at the closed door. There had been something decidedly ominous about Constantine’s parting words.
The only thing that kept her from trying to escape out the third-floor window was Guy’s look before he left. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought he might have been trying to tell her to be strong without saying the words.
In any case, she was too tired to think past getting out of her grimy clothes. Except when she did finally make it into the adjoining bathroom and sat on the toilet to unlace her boots, she couldn’t hold back the yelp of pain.
With the boot off and the laces no longer keeping everything tight, her ankle swelled b
efore her eyes. She was glad she was sitting because the room began to spin. It was only by holding on to the sink that she managed to get both her shirts off. Her pants were another matter entirely.
But she wanted out of the soiled clothes.
With her foot and knee hurting ten times more than before, she slowly made her way back into the bedroom, since a shower was now out of the question. If she couldn’t stand on her own, then trying to take a shower would be foolish.
She did manage to open a drawer and find a pair of sweatpants. They were so huge, she had to roll down the waist several times as well as roll up the legs so she didn’t walk on them.
The long-sleeve flannel button-down was most likely saved for cooler weather, but it looked too comfortable to pass up. Only once she was dressed did she hobble painfully back to the bed.
Where she readily climbed under the covers.
Elena had no idea how long she was left alone before she opened her eyes to find Guy at the foot of the bed, watching her. With Con beside him, and Rhys and Banan on either side of the bed.
“Why do I feel like I need to call a lawyer?” she asked, and turned her head to hide her yawn.
Con smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “There’s no need for a lawyer, Miss Griffin.”
“Really? By the way you’re looking at me, I’d say otherwise. You aren’t happy we were in the mountain.”
“Nay.” Con said it with finality, and a hardness that brought her fully awake.
Elena sat up, wincing when the movement caused her left leg to move. “And Sloan? Have you called the authorities to retrieve her body?”
“The authorities have been called,” Banan said. “I showed them where Sloan fell.”
Elena frowned. “How long did I sleep?”
“Four hours,” Guy answered.
She rubbed her hands over her face as her mind struggled to process everything. “Why didn’t the police talk to me? Didn’t they want to hear my story?”
“They believed us,” was all Constantine said.
Elena shook her head. “No. For all I know, you could have told them I pushed her.”
“Maybe you did.”
She blinked, her anger spiking in an instant. “How dare you thi—”
