“Damn you, Colby Savagar.“ Diana hastened forward and flashed her own light into the deep shadows where he had disappeared. She could see nothing for a moment, and then she saw a section of darkness that was blacker than the shadows around it. Cautiously she stepped toward it. A moment later she found herself in a small, rocky antechamber.
“Take a look,“ Colby invited, as if showing off the Taj Mahal. “It’s really something, isn’t it?“
Her first impression was of warmth. A rocky pool filled a large portion of the room and the water in it was obviously very warm. Diana shone the beam of her light down into the depths of the pool and realized she couldn’t see the bottom.
“This is where I spent the night,“ Colby said quietly. “And I never told Eddy Spooner or anyone else about this hidden room. As far as I know, no one else has ever found it.“
“I think that warrior in the legend knew about it,“ Diana said with sudden conviction. “This is where he kept his poor wife. Not in the outer cavern.“
Colby gave her an odd glance. “Know something? The night I spent in here, I was convinced that this was where she stabbed him. Somehow I just knew it.“
“Why did you stay in here instead of in the main chamber?“
Colby played his flashlight beam on the walls. “Damned if I know. I just wandered in here and decided it was as good a place as any to spend the night. It was warm in here.“
“But it’s a lot creepier in here than it is out in the front part of the cave. If I had to choose, I’d sleep out there. Then again,“ Diana added wryly, “I doubt that I’d get any sleeping done at all if I had to spend the night in this place.“
He was watching her through narrowed eyes, the harsh planes and angles of his face thrown into sharp relief by the back glow of the flashlight. “Do caves make you nervous?“
She started to shake her head, then stopped. “I suppose so. I’ve never spent much time in them. But it’s more than that.“ She broke off.
“Go on,“ Colby urged softly.
“I don’t know how to explain it,“ Diana admitted. “There’s just something very strange about this particular grotto.
A feeling.“
“What kind of feeling?“ he persisted.
Exasperated, she stepped back toward the entrance. “Stop it, Colby. Are you deliberately trying to frighten me?“
“No. I just want you to tell me exactly how you feel about this place.“
He moved toward her, making no sound in his soft-soled shoes. He kept the flashlight pointed at her feet. His face was in shadow but his eyes seemed to gleam implacably in the darkness. He loomed over her – large, powerful, wholly male. She was suddenly aware of how vulnerable she was, here alone with him. If she screamed, no one would hear her.
Without any warning, Diana’s imagination slipped into high gear. She no longer saw a reasonably civilized twentieth-century male, but a bronzed warrior. The muscles of his broad shoulders were sleek and contoured from years of violence. She shuddered at the fierce strength in him and the utter determination that blazed in his eyes.
He was a great leader, a skilled fighter, a lord among his people, and she belonged to him as completely as his war-horse or the lethal blade he wore at his belt.
He would take her. He thought he had the right to do so. He had been raised from birth to think he was entitled to anything he wanted. And now he wanted a son.
If he had come to her with gentleness, if he had treated her with the respect that was her due, if he had acknowledged her value as an equal, then perhaps, just perhaps, she would have given him willingly what he took by force.
But the warrior knew only the ways of male violence and she would never surrender to such ways. She would never give him a child to be raised in those ways.
There was no hope for either of them in this life. No chance to learn each other’s hidden secrets, calm each other’
s private fears, trust in each other’s strengths. No hope for love and gentleness and comfort.
There was no hope in this time and place.
But there would be other lifetimes.
“Diana? Are you all right?“
Diana blinked quickly, taking a frantic grasp on her wayward imagination and thoroughly ruffled nerves. Abruptly, she wanted nothing more than to get out of the grotto.
“What is it, honey?“
“Never mind how I feel about this place. I don’t want to talk about it.“ She whirled to slip back through the opening in the wall, stumbling with relief into the main chamber.
Colby was right behind her. “Diana, what the hell’s the matter with you? Are you sure you’re okay?“
“Of course I’m okay. I just don’t like that little grotto. Maybe your overactive imagination is rubbing off on me.“
“Take it easy, honey.“ He came up behind her, putting a casually comforting arm around her shoulders.
She looked at him, seeing the affectionate amusement in his eyes and the slight curve of his hard mouth. The last traces of her conjured-up image of a warrior vanished. Colby was tough but he wasn’t cold-blooded or violent. Smiling wryly, she leaned against him for a moment, seeking comfort from his lean, strong body. He nuzzled the spot behind her ear.
“Tm all right,“ she mumbled. “But I don’t think I was cut out for this. I can’t imagine how people can take this kind of thing up as a lifelong hobby. What do you think they get out of it?“
“The chance to comfort terrified lady friends?“ He bit her earlobe gently.
“Colby, why is it so dark in here? Is the sun setting already?“
He lifted his head abruptly, glancing toward the cave entrance. It was far darker here in the outer chamber than it had been a few minutes ago when they had first entered. The faint rays of sunlight that had shone through the veil of water no longer filtered into the room.
“No, the sun isn’t setting yet. Too early.“ Colby released her and walked toward the entrance with a frown. “The only thing that could make it get this dark so fast is a storm,“ he called back above the roar of water.
“A storm? But nothing like that was forecast, not even rain.“ She followed him to the cavern entrance and peered out. The wall of water falling in front of them had turned a deep steel gray.
“Stay here a minute,“ Colby shouted. “I want to see how bad it is out there.“ He stepped out onto the ledge and moved along the path to a point where he could see through the mist. Diana saw how the wind whipped his hair and the water drenched his windbreaker. He returned with a set expression on his face.