by Tatum Throne
“Do you think he’d care?”
“No. He’s pretty proud of the fact that he’s wolf.”
Rylie took a cleansing breath of nighttime air. Trey opened the door to his Escalade and helped her inside. Rylie knew everything was going to be all right. It had to be. What else could go wrong tonight?
Chapter Seventeen
Rylie knew Trey was driving her back to his place. She suspected that he wanted to keep her around longer than just tonight. For a brief moment, she allowed herself to imagine the possibility of spending the rest of her life with him, the long lazy Saturday mornings, the even hotter nights. The truth was that she’d always secretly wanted it all and a life to share with someone else.
She wanted marriage, children, a husband that loved her more than anything else in the world. Most of all, she wanted a family.
Rylie noticed that one of the scratches on Trey’s neck was bleeding as he shut off the Escalade. She reached for him, brushing her shaking hands against his jaw. “You’re bleeding.”
Trey pulled her onto his lap. He was breathing as though he’d sprinted miles to get to her. Their lips were a mere inch apart. Rylie felt the sweet anticipation of his lips. “I want to kiss you, Rylie.”
“What are you waiting for?” she whispered.
He groaned as their lips connected. His mouth conquered and gave. Rylie felt the heady rush of his kiss all the way to her toes and back up again. She ran her hands through his hair, bringing him closer, taking their kiss deeper.
He reluctantly pulled away. “I love you, Rylie.”
“I love you, too.”
He brushed her hair away from her cheek. “Let’s go inside.”
They headed into his house together. Rylie moved through Trey’s living room, waiting for him to return. A table was in the corner, scattered with papers and photos. It was left as though he’d been working there hours before. Rylie edged over the stacked photos and a chill raced down her spine. There was a picture of her at her sister’s wedding nearly a year ago. She was wearing the blue satin maid of honor dress and standing outside the church. Why was he following her?
Treasonous guilt fluttered through her mind for going through his work, but it was quickly followed by relief for finding out the truth. Either she confronted him now, or she pretended she didn’t know the truth.
She heard his footsteps on the hardwood. She turned. Trey’s gaze went to the photo she was holding in her hand. Her heart pounded. She couldn’t take being lied to. Honesty was the one thing she had to have within her relationships. It was the only thing that kept the trust. She looked at Trey. He was honest and noble. Why would he lie to her?
Hurt passed through her body as his gaze softened. “Rylie. What’s wrong?”
“Why did you follow me to my sister’s wedding?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I wanted to see you all dressed up that day. I shouldn’t have, but I did.”
Rylie felt sick and disappointed in the worst possible way. She didn’t have a date that night. She would’ve loved to go with Trey.
He looked pained. “I never meant to fall in love with you like this. It just happened. I’m not sorry for loving you or wanting you Rylie.”
“I want you to take me home.”
“I can’t let you leave this way. Not when you’re hurting.” He grabbed her wrist as she started to turn and muscled her against the table, trapping her with his strong, protective arms. “I was going to tell you everything.”
She was livid. “Not good enough.”
“Don’t do this to us. Hear me out.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “I don’t want to hear any of it.”
“Rylie.”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore. It’s like you have all these secrets.”
“There are no more secrets, babe.” He cinched up her chin and touched his forehead to hers. “You’d found two of the things I’d been searching for within six months in Jordan. I was impressed. Intrigued. Aroused by the idea that someone I didn’t know was trumping my team. I crossed the line. I admit it. I’m glad I did.”
“I can’t do this.”
“Don’t throw us away because you’re scared of loving me,” he said.
“I’m not afraid of loving you.”
“Then why are you running from me, babe?”
Rylie pulled away, and Trey let her go. “I didn’t tell anyone I had the pendant after I found it. It’s my fault my sister is gone.”
“You couldn’t have stopped it. The pendant wasn’t on our radar then. My team didn’t know it was cursed until you lost your sister and brother-in-law. Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.”
Rylie paced further away. “Why weren’t you honest with me from the beginning?”
“I should’ve told you the moment we met. I didn’t know how to explain. I wasn’t expecting the chemistry I was feeling to be two-sided.”
He looked so devastated and handsome and sorry about the way things were turning out between them. He was the type of man she always thought she’d end up with.
Frustration sprinted through his eye before he shut it off. He came closer. “Please don’t run away from me like this,” Trey said.
“I need time. I don’t know what to think about us anymore.”
“I’m sorry, Rylie.”
“Not good enough.” She pushed away from him. “Drive me home.”
“Don’t do this, Rylie.”
She stared at him. She didn’t like to be manipulated by any man. The fact that it was someone she had fallen hard for burned. Trey could see that she needed time to cool off, but he didn’t know her well enough to know that hell would freeze over, thaw, and refreeze again before she did.
She was silent as he drove her home. Rylie thought about the trip to Jordan she’d been putting off for months. All she had to do was make one phone call and she’d be on the plane by the end of the week. Trey pulled up and she opened the door to his Escalade.
“Don’t contact me ever again.”
“Rylie.”
She slammed the car door shut, walked away, and didn’t look back. Rylie made it inside her apartment before she broke down. Tears rushed to her eyes. She slid to the floor with her back against the door. She loved him, and he kept the truth about everything from her. She wanted to run back to his arms and forgive him, but she knew she couldn’t.
Chapter Eighteen
Heat waved up off the desert sand. Rylie hadn’t planned on coming back to Jordan so soon, but she’d gotten a lead on the copper disk she’d been searching for since graduate school. The disk was used in ancient sacrificial rituals and rumored to entrap the souls of the dead. That wasn’t the only reason why she was in Jordan. She was there to forget all about Trey. Three weeks wasn’t long enough to forget about him. She just needed more time. She needed to stop dreaming about him every night and waking up wet in the morning.
The back of Rylie’s neck tickled as though someone had caressed her skin. Rylie looked over her shoulder. The feeling of being watched continued to haunt her days. Her sunglasses and safari hat shadowed her face. She lifted her hand to look out over the miles and miles of sand.
No one was out there.
“How much further do you want to go?”
Rylie looked back at Tasha. Tasha’s instincts weren’t the best when they were in field. She just needed more patience. “Let’s give it another twenty minutes before we move on to the second chamber. We don’t have much daylight left.”
“You ready to go back down?” she asked.
“In a few minutes.”
“What’s wrong?” Tasha asked.
Off in the distance, sand was starting to blow in the wind. Light glinted off of something metallic. It was a Jeep. “We have company.”
Their armed security escorts were already on their feet. They worked on contract and were based in the U.S. One had military grade binoculars up against his face and the other had his weapon at the ready. Rylie
went to Turner’s side and asked to see. He passed them off. She adjusted the scope. The driver was driving too fast.
“Do you know them?” Turner asked.
A flutter of excitement made her heart race. Trey. “Maybe. The passenger looks like someone I know.”
“Are you certain?” Turner asked.
“Positive.”
They were a good ten miles out. Wind caught the flaps of her tent, snapping the canvas against each other. She looked past the Jeep, to the West with the binoculars. Fear raced through her blood. A sandstorm was brewing.
“They’re not going to make it to camp,” Rylie said.
Tasha was already dragging their equipment from their outdoor table into her shelter. Rylie looked to the tents. Would they make it through another storm? As if reading her thoughts Turner said, “The tents will hold. I double checked them this morning.”
They were cutting it close. Sand was starting to kick up and slide around Rylie’s feet. Tasha came to her side with her own binoculars.
“What the hell are they doing here?” Tasha asked.
Rylie lifted her binoculars again. “I don’t know. I think that’s Tice driving.”
“He better stay away from me,” Tasha said.
“You both should get inside while I deal with them,” Turner said.
“They’ll need shelter,” Rylie said.
“They have the Jeep,” Turner countered.
“Yeah, they can sleep in the Jeep,” Tasha agreed. “I’m not sharing a tent with that man.”
“It’s obvious they’re coming here,” Rylie said.
“And you’ve hired me to protect you,” Turner countered.
Right then, Rylie wasn’t sure if she wanted Turner’s protection from Trey. Most of all, she wanted to know why he was here. Something must be up.
Sand blowing in the wind pushed Rylie to take shelter in the tent. She caught sight of Turner lifting the scarf that he kept around his neck up over his mouth and face. Rylie heard the walkie-talkie buzz. She lifted it from her belt and pressed the button.
“Go ahead,” Rylie said.
“Why do you think they’re here?” Tasha asked.
Rylie had some suspicions, but she didn’t want to alarm Tasha until she knew for sure. “I don’t know. Maybe it has to do with our dig.”
Sand pelted the canvas tent. Rylie peeked out of the entry way, just as the Jeep was pulling into their base camp. Wolf and Trey swung from the Jeep and headed for Turner. Rylie stepped out into the whipping storm. Trey grabbed his bags from the back of the Jeep and rushed for the cover of the tent. Wolf and Turner headed for the other tent nearby. Rylie backed inside as he zipped the tent closed.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I’m moving in.”
“What?”
Trey went to work on a cot he produced from the side of his bag. “I’m funding this little expedition of yours. I want to see firsthand how things are going.”
Rylie couldn’t believe she walked right into his arms again without knowing he funded this trip. “Not possible.”
The corner of his mouth hitched, and she hated how much she loved it. He was on his haunches as he dug through his bag. It was then she realized his face was bruised, and two little white strips kept a cut on his brow closed. A dark five-o’clock shadow was starting on his jaw.
“What happened to your face?” she asked.
“Accident at work.”
It was more than just an accident and she raised her brows. “Really?”
He stopped his search through his bag to look up at her. “I got hurt taking down a suspect.”
“Are you okay?”
A flash of something purely male glinted in his eyes as his gaze went from her dirty boots to blonde hair. She was two days without a bath and planned on dragging the jugs of water she procured from her trip into town to get one later. Having a roommate was going to put a damper on her plans. Maybe her dig odor would keep him away. She turned, giving herself a quiet sniff. She was disappointed to smell her lavender body splash.
“I may need to find someone to nurse me back to good health.”
She liked the pass, but she wasn’t about to fall for it again. “For the love…you need to keep walking until you find someone to take care of that.”
He laughed. “I think we’re stuck with each other for the time being.” He stood dusting his hands off. “I have a vested interest in you finding the disk, too. Have you found it?”
She glowered. Was the disk cursed too? Would it hurt those she loved if she found it? “Not yet.”
“Huh. Well, I guess we’re in it for the long haul.”
The wind howled, but sand no longer fired against the sides of the tent. The sandstorm was blowing through as fast as it came on. Trey continued to unpack. “Excuse me, but I have work to do.”
“Are you going back down to the chambers?” he asked.
“Yeah, I am, but you’re not.”
He smiled. “Okay, we’ll do it your way.”
She didn’t like the look in his eye as she unzipped the tent and headed back outside. She marched her way over to Tasha’s tent where Tice was sitting on the lawn chair in front of it. Rylie raised her brows.
“She kicked me out. I guess I’m sleeping in the Jeep.”
“You can bunk with Trey. I’ll bunk with Tasha,” Rylie said.
Tice chuckled. “No offense, but I am not sleeping in the same tent with Trey.”
“Why not?” She didn’t hide the exasperation from her voice.
He deadpanned. “The man has been hell bent on making my life hell for the last three weeks. You wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would you?”
Rylie narrowed her eyes dangerously.
“That’s what I thought. You might want to settle this business between you two. Might make my life not such a living hell.”
Tasha made an appearance, glowering at Tice as she did. “Are we going back down?”
“Yep, let’s go,” Rylie said.
They headed toward the hole in the ground where they would repel down into the chamber. Rylie focused on the slip of her boots in the sand instead of the thought of Trey in her tent. They circled the manhole size break in the ground.
“They’re not leaving?” Tasha asked.
“Nope. We’re stuck with them.”
“Why?”
Rylie frowned as she gathered her harness from the ground where she’d dropped her equipment. She slipped it over her hips, tightening the strap around her waist. “Trey funded us.”
“What the fuck do you mean he funded us? I thought the museum did?”
“Not this time. I don’t know how he’s been doing it.” Rylie shook her head.
Rylie went to work doing a safety check on the rope and the anchors. Things looked good. She was standing over the dark hole as Trey came out of the tent. Rylie could sense rather than see the tension on his face as he headed her way. She flipped on her head lamp as she edged her boots on the side and tested the rope. She grabbed two glow sticks from her pocket, snapping them, and dropping them down into the chamber.
“I’ll see you below,” Rylie said.
Golden sand slid toward the opening as though it suddenly turned into a landslide. Fear snaked through Rylie’s belly. Her gaze flew across the sand as the slide that started as a trickle turned into a rush of flowing sand toward the mouth of the chamber. Tasha grabbed for the rope.
“Get back!” Rylie yelled. “You’re not tied in!”
The ground started to shake. Tice and their armed escorts were sprinting their way. Rylie’s hands tightened on the rope. Part of the ground gave way, causing Rylie to swing right hard. There was nothing she could do to stop herself from falling. Everything slowed as Trey ran for them, diving for the anchor that held in her place. His hands grabbed for the rope. Their eyes locked. There was nothing he could do to save her.
Tice grabbed Tasha and dove backwards as Rylie dropped into the hole like a
rock, but she didn’t stop. The rope in her hands spun out, snapping. Rylie screamed as she landed flat on her back thirty feet below.
Dust plumed up around Rylie’s body. There was a huge pile of sand that broke her fall. She groaned, flipping over and coughing. Nothing was broken. Her head was a little buzzed from the impact, but she could see straight.
“Rylie!” Trey shouted.
Light jumped around the floor. “I’m okay!”
“Don’t move! I’m coming down!”
Rylie sat up, dusting off her hands. She pulled on the snapped rope between her legs until the frayed end appeared before her eyes. She frowned. Ropes could crap out given enough force. The ground giving way must have snapped it where it was anchored. Rylie tested her legs as Trey edged over the wide mouth above her head. She was lucky. It could have been so much worse. Trey repelled down fast. He turned, hunching down to touch her face.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I’m okay.”
She couldn’t hide the emotion from her voice. It was such a close call. He pulled her into a tight hug. His heart hammered against her ear. His hands dove into her hair.
“I thought I lost you.”
She heard his voice whisper through her mind. “Trey.”
“I’m here, babe. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I love you, Trey. I can’t live without you.”
“I know, babe. That’s why I came for you.”
He pulled away. “Let’s get out of here. It’s not stable.”
“Rope!” Tice called. Another rope was thrown through the wide opening.
Trey helped her to her feet and clipped her into the rope. He locked in her ascender, giving it a test. Their eyes locked. Something clicked hard in her heart. She loved him. She wanted him.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yes, I am.”
He lifted her up off her feet and kissed her hard. Rylie’s legs instinctively circled his hips, and her hands circled his head. She’d missed him something fierce. Tears moistened her eyes as he kissed her with a desperation she felt all the way through her soul. Her pussy fluttered with desire, instantly wetting her panties at the thought of having him again. He broke his lips away, breathing hard. He pressed his forehead to hers.