They stood side by side, their eyes glued to the scene. Jessamine went weak with hope and excitement. Maybe, just maybe, they had fallen into this chamber for a reason.
Together, they shifted down to the next scene. The rectangular box appeared alone in this scene. On the carved image of the lid sat two winged cherubs facing each other, their wings outstretched as though protecting the contents of the rectangular box.
In the next scene, Jessamine gasped at the image of a man and a woman standing on either side of the box. The man had a red Templar cross on his chest and the woman had long flowing hair. “Is that supposed to be you and me?” A chill moved through her.
“It appears so,” Alan said with a touch of reverence in his voice.
She stepped away from the wall. She couldn’t look at the next scene. All she could do was stare blindly at the red-gold rock that surrounded them. “I’m afraid to see what comes next.”
He reached out and took her hand in his. “You are the great believer in fate. Why do you suddenly fear what it might have in store for us?”
A strong sense of premonition made her skin tingle. “I don’t know for certain, but I do.”
He squeezed her fingers. “All will be well, Jessamine. There are no more scenes ahead. Only a blank wall.”
Her breath whooshed from her. Before she could wonder why she felt such an overwhelming sense of relief, Alan tugged her farther down the wall. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“Watch the flame.”
She stared at the torch and felt a moment’s thrill when the flame bent beneath a flickering breeze that came from the direction Alan led. As they progressed, Jessamine could see a crack of light in the distance.
“Is that light?”
“Amazingly, it appears to be.” Alan quickened his pace. “If we want to fulfill this quest, it looks like we need to head this way.”
Jessamine sucked in a deep breath to prepare herself for whatever lay ahead.
Chapter Fifteen
The torch in Alan’s hand splashed light and twisting, dancing shadows across the carved walls as he pulled Jessamine through the passageway. His head pounded with every step, but he hardly noticed as excitement flared in his blood. “We’re so close, Jessamine! This must be where the ark is hidden.”
She gripped his hand more tightly. “All the clues fit. The devouring fire led us to where the earth could open and reveal hidden places.” She slowed her steps.
“What is it?”
“Each clue we discover puts us in greater danger. The lightning, the earthquake…What will be next?”
“We are at the journey’s end, Jessamine. What could be left for us to pass through?” He moved forward again, then turned a corner and stopped.
Jessamine thumped into his back. “What is it?”
“Oh my heavens,” was all he could force past his suddenly dry throat. It was not a chamber, as he had expected, but a lush, green paradise.
Jessamine gazed spellbound into the cavern ahead, scarcely breathing. “This is what I always imagined Eden would look like.”
Golden light bathed everything around them. “Where is the light coming from, this far below the Earth’s surface?” Alan set the torch down on the stone floor and drew Jessamine with him into the open space.
The sandstone rock had been cut away to form an enormous chamber, a cavern, an oasis, deep beneath the arid mountain. Rocky walls soared two hundred feet over their heads. Vigorous green vines trailed down the sides of the golden rock. Palm trees and spiky green shrubs thrust out of the rocky soil. “This is impossible,” Alan mused as he cautiously stepped along the gold-lined path cutting through the foliage. “This place must be touched by God. What other explanation could there be?”
As the greenery thinned, the golden path widened. They came to a double row of statues that formed a walkway leading across a wide gold-covered expanse and up ten steps to an elevated altar that held the Ark of the Covenant.
“The prophecy led us up the mountain so that we could discover the secret chamber of the ark,” Jessamine said with awe.
She stepped up to one of the statues, an angel with its wings outstretched, so elegantly carved that it appeared ready to take flight at any moment. She reached out and touched the silky smoothness of the wing. “Gold.” She turned to Alan, her eyes wide. “This kind of wealth is incomprehensible. I’ve never seen so much gold.”
He nodded as he strode up the ten golden steps leading to the altar and the treasure waiting there. He could feel Jessamine behind him. Everything around them was silent and still. The only sound in the cavern seemed to be the shuffle of their boots on the golden stairs.
They approached the ark together. Alan felt the breath leave his lungs and he froze. “Dear God.” He thought he had been prepared for this moment, but he knew now he hadn’t been.
He heard a soft intake of breath beside him. “The Ark of the Covenant,” Jessamine whispered as she took a step closer. “I never imagined…” She brought her hand to her chest. “It’s so beautiful, and yet I feel uncertain.”
The ark didn’t make him uneasy. Nay, after the first stunning impact, he felt something vibrate in the air. Not a sound or a wave, but a rightness. A soothing of doubts. A rush of certainty, and calmness, and a strangely peaceful joy. Everything in his life had led up to this moment. He moved slowly forward until he stood next to the golden chest.
Four pillars made up the corners of the ark. A long pole ran the length of each side. Ornate carvings covered its exterior. Yet it was not the gold or the artistry of the carvings that drew his attention. It was the two angels that sat atop the chest’s lid, wings outstretched as though protecting the ark’s contents. He reached for the tip of one wing where it almost touched the other. His hand hovered over a delicate golden feather, almost afraid to touch it. When he did, it felt warm and smooth beneath his fingertip.
“Alan?” It was Jessamine’s voice.
He turned to find her looking, not at the ark, but at him.
“Alan? You’re scaring me.”
He started. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been staring at the ark for such a long time. I was beginning to wonder if you were caught in a spell.”
His hand fell away from the wing. It had seemed like only a moment. He forced himself to take a step back, then another, until he stood by her side. He took her in his arms and lifted her up, twirling her around. “We did it!”
Their laughter merged, floated up to the heights of the chamber. Excitement brightened her face. Something inside his chest tightened. He slid her down the length of him. Joy shifted to desire. He drew a sharp breath when he saw his desire reflected back in the dark depths of her eyes.
They stared at each other for a long moment before Jessamine spoke. “Are you curious about what’s inside the ark?” Her gaze drifted to the golden artifact. “Are the broken tablets of the Ten Commandments really inside?”
Alan’s gaze shifted from her to the ark. “Nay. We should only touch the poles. My research revealed that when those whose hearts were not pure touched the ark, they were struck to the ground…dead.” He looked at her once more.
“I agree. It’s not worth the risk.” Her gaze moved from him to wander around the huge chamber. “Do you wonder what else might be in this cavern?”
He nodded. “The thought had crossed my mind. Would you like to explore?”
“What about the ark?” she asked.
He smiled. “The ark isn’t going anywhere. We have time to explore. Where would you like to go?”
“I want to see what else might be here. I want to spend more time alone with you.”
He had barely drawn breath when her lips touched his with a pressure so soft he could almost have imagined it. And then breathing seemed irrelevant as the slow, penetrating warmth of her lips seeped into his veins, spread through his body like liquid heat.
It was a kiss of unbearable sweetness that gave and gave, growing in intensity as the
tips of her fingers slid down his neck, seeking out the pulse point beneath his jaw. And her touch, when she found that pulsing point, sent a current of pure energy through him, as if she were somehow concentrating all of her being into that one spot.
It was as if, for years, his entire body had been lying dormant, waiting for this, waiting for her to kiss him into life and wake him with her touch.
Then her fingers trailed down to his chest. For a moment she laid her hand over his heart, and it too leaped to her touch. It was as though her touch were breathing warmth and life back into his cold, angry core. It was unbearably sweet, and utter agony, as every part of him, including his heart, pulsed back to life beneath her touch.
“Jessamine.” He gasped her name out, but whether he wanted her to revive him or leave him in that cold dark place he’d inhabited for years, he could not have said. But something had changed inside him since he’d met her. Something that would never be the same even if she left.
“Alan?” He was suddenly aware that she kissed him no longer. “Are you well?” she asked with a note of concern in her voice.
Was he? He was feeling rather strange in the aftermath of her kiss.
“Alan!” she said more urgently.
“I’m well,” he replied, then looked down at her to see concern reflected in her eyes. “I’m better than I’ve ever been,” he said with a smile, then took her hand and led her down the stairs back to the golden walkway, through the rows of angels and to the trees beyond. They were utterly alone in this magical place. They walked for a bit among the unusual foliage until they caught sight of the shimmer of water through the trees.
“Water?” Jessamine asked at the same moment he recognized the sight.
With all the greenery, he should have expected some source of water. They broke through the foliage. Amongst the velvety, dun-colored rocks, Alan saw an oval pool. A hazy mist floated up from the water.
“What is it?” Jessamine asked.
He glanced down at the shimmering water. The mist was not mist at all, but steam that curled into the air. “A hot spring.”
The pool was unbelievably beautiful, just as everything else had been in this underground cavern. There were ferns growing where the water splashed on the rocks, and tiny blue flowers bloomed in the misty air. Huge ivory lilies filled the air with their scent.
Jessamine bent down at the water’s edge. She scooped a handful of water and let it run through her fingers. “It’s warm.” She stood and reached for the hem of her gown.
“Jessamine? What are you doing?”
“I’m going in,” she said, slipping her gown over her head. She tossed her shoes at the water’s edge, then pulled her chemise off, tossing it down beside her shoes.
Alan could not take his eyes off her as she stripped away her clothing without a hint of self-consciousness and stood before him as Eve. She stepped into the water and allowed the warm liquid to ripple over her, turning her skin into satin against the jet of her hair.
She turned, and their eyes met. There was something in the depths of her dark eyes that made his gut clench. A promise of passion. “There’s plenty of room in here for two.”
Every reason for resisting vanished in the curling steam that rose around them. Desire flared in his blood and settled in his groin. His tunic pressed against his flesh, suddenly feeling heavy and cumbersome.
Alan’s clothes seemed to melt from him as he hurried after her. Water curled around his legs, brushed against his naked thighs. The steam formed a silvery curtain through which he could see Jessamine. The muscles of his belly knotted and his manhood became rigid. The scent of jasmine mingled with lilies. He drew in the heady mixture. If he touched her, there would be no turning back for either of them.
He took a step toward the woman who made him feel as though he was someone special, someone extraordinary. The woman he wanted more at this moment than he wanted to draw his next breath.
Heat surrounded her, invading her senses as Jessamine stared at Alan. He moved toward her, looking every bit the knight, the warrior, the man who’d filled her dreams. He approached her in the waist-deep water. Naked.
The golden light of the chamber limned his lean, sinewy body in gold. He ducked beneath the water, came up, and dragged his fingers through his hair. Silverbright droplets of water fell from his dark hair onto the hard muscular ripples of his chest. She noticed a purple bruise darkening his left shoulder.
She reached out and touched him. “I’m sorry—”
“Nay. You didn’t cause these.”
“We’ve both been wounded on our quest.”
“Aye.” He trailed his hand in the water, sending ripples across the surface before raising his fingers to her own wound. “Perhaps now is the time for healing?”
Anticipation fluttered deep in Jessamine’s core at the look of raw, unveiled passion in Alan’s eyes. There was an animal-like intensity she’d never seen there before that stole her breath. It was as though he wanted more than to heal her.
As if he wanted her soul.
And she would give it to him without thinking about the consequences.
His eyes caressed her body, her shoulders, her bare breasts, her waist, until his gaze lingered at the water’s surface—searching for the mysteries that lay beneath. Warmth flared deep inside her at his look of possession. Gooseflesh rippled along her arms and turned her nipples into hardened peaks, even as the warm water seduced her from below.
She shivered and closed her eyes, trying to control the intensity of her own desire as his warm, damp fingers traced a path from her shoulders and down her arms, before traveling back up her waist to the fullness of her breasts.
Her eyes snapped open, and she gasped as desire flared. She leaned into his touch, wanting more, wanting everything.
“I can’t resist you.” His lips were on her breasts, his tongue flicking at her sensitive nipples.
“Don’t,” she breathed. Flames shot through her, and she arched against him.
He groaned at her response. His hand moved down her stomach to the curls at her womanhood, tangling, caressing as he continued his exploration of her nipples with his tongue. Her heart pounded painfully, she couldn’t breathe, her flesh was on fire. Hunger. Insatiable hunger, and she wanted more of the same. Her hands went around his shoulders and slowly slid to his neck to curl in the thickness of the hair at his nape. He raised his head to kiss her, and she met him halfway, buried herself in his scent. The desire to merge with his body, to be one, burned inside.
She pulled back to stare into Alan’s face, catching every nuance of his expression. She was beautiful to him. She could see it in his face. She could feel the sensuous tug between them. He wanted her. His gaze clung to her and moved down her body in an almost tactile caress.
She lifted one leg to wrap it around his buttocks, then leaped upward until she straddled him. He gasped and reached for her, cradling her body against his powerful erection. Then slowly, she sheathed him, allowing only the shallowest penetration. He grasped her hips, trying to pull her fully upon him, but she wouldn’t permit it.
“Jessamine, you’re killing me!” he said in a choked tone.
She clenched around him. “Yes, but this time, I know you don’t mean it literally. This kind of death is preferable. I want to love you slowly, thoroughly.” Her gaze narrowed on his face. His lips were parted, his nostrils flaring, and he was beautiful in his need.
“Jessamine, let me come into you.”
“Like this?” She moved farther down and he flexed within her.
He groaned as though he were in pain. “Nay, more.”
At the sound, she allowed him access to her deepest self.
This time it was she who gasped as he drove into her with mindless, frantic hunger. He began a heated rhythm with more urgency than even last night’s joining had brought. The rhythm increased, the tension built, and she grasped his shoulders as the world spun with feverish pleasure.
She heard Alan’s heavy
breathing, felt the slickness of his wet hands on her buttocks, lost herself in the wisps of steam that surrounded them. His wet chest pressed against her own, further igniting her senses. She gave a low cry of wild satisfaction.
The sound encouraged him all the more. He plunged deeper, harder, faster, and she hung on, moving with him until the tension inside her exploded with a force that sent a fiery release through every fiber of her being. An instant later she could feel Alan spasm again and again within her, shuddering helplessly as he poured his seed into her body.
He carried her, with their bodies still joined, to the side of the pool and laid her against the rocky ledge. He cradled her in his arms, still inside her, breathing heavily, his flesh hot against her own. Alan’s breathing gradually steadied and slowed. “I lost control,” he said, his voice uneven.
“We both lost control.” She looked up at him.
“Maybe it’s this place.” His lips twisted. “An untamed paradise. Eden.”
Paradise. Yes, but then why did she feel a strange sense of unease hovering just beyond her awareness? Something wasn’t as it appeared here in this underground chamber. And years of court intrigues had taught her to trust her instincts.
She considered telling him her thoughts but hesitated. He seemed so at peace right now, more at peace than she had ever seen him.
He withdrew from her, then gathered her up in his arms as he stepped from the pool. He set her on her feet and dressed her, then himself, before scooping her into his arms once more. She lay against his shoulder as he strode away from the pool and back down the path that had led them there, back to the base of the stairs that led to the ark. He set her down, then moved to the saddlebag he’d abandoned at the base of the stairs. He withdrew his torn Templar cloak and spread it over the gold-lined rock. He shifted her onto the makeshift bed. “We’ll sleep here awhile.”
“Alan, what comes next? We found the ark. Now we must get it out of here, take it back to the port at Jaffa.” She found she was holding her breath. What did come next for them, for her?
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