Page 75 of The Cornish Inheritance

Nothing.

Caroline, abandoned in the dark, her heart beating so fast and hard it might at any moment leap out of her mouth, bit her lip as she strained her ears for a reply. Oh, please let him be there. If only so they could get out of this dreadful tomb-like warren of ever-narrowing passages. Please.

“Yves!” Nat shouted again.

Nothing.

Caroline glanced over her shoulder into impenetrable blackness where anything could be lurking. No. She mustn’t go down that road or she’d go mad. “Maybe he didn’t come this way?” Her whisper hissed in the quiet of the tunnel.

Nat twisted to look at her, the candlelight throwing his face into stark planes of light and dark, highlighting his scar and bestowing on him a sinister appearance. “He must have. We found his coat, and I doubt he’d have taken that semi-flooded tunnel. He must have squeezed through here. I’m going to try and move a few of these rocks and see if I can make the hole big enough for me to get through. Stand back a bit, because I’ll be throwing them down.” He grimaced. “In fact, stand well back in case I bring the roof down on us.”

Caroline’s poor heart performed a fresh leap of terror. She stared at the pile of rocks. “Is that likely?” She couldn’t keep the tremble out of her voice. Thank goodness for the darkness that must be hiding the tears in her eyes. She had to be brave.

He shrugged. “Possible. Go back ten paces, but be careful not to fall.”

Into the darkness?

She retreated the required ten paces into the darkness with careful slowness. Should she have asked him to give her a candle? If there was another rock fall and he was buried, so would his candle be. Too late now.

She watched the small circle of light as Nat pulled at the rocks. He’d set the candle down and was using both arms for this, which couldn’t be good for his shoulder. A few of the smaller rocks tumbled down the pile onto the floor of the tunnel, location unseen. He strained at a larger one for what seemed forever, then that too tumbled down.

She kept her eyes fixed on the roof above his head, waiting for any sign of movement that might indicate another fall.

Nothing.

“I’ve done it,” he called back. “Make your way back to me very slowly. There are rocks where you won’t expect them.” He held up the candle and she did as he said. When she reached him, he moved the candle to illuminate the not-much-larger hole. “I’ll get through there now, and look for him. I’m going to light another candle for you, and send you back to the beach and safety.”

She shook her head. “No. I want to come with you.”

He sighed. “It’s too dangerous for a woman. It’s best if you go back.”

She shook her head again, surprised at herself. “No. What if he’s hurt?”

“What if the tide comes in and cuts you off?”

“It’ll do that to you as well. These tunnels will flood and you’ll drown.”

“That’s why I don’t want you here.”

She bit her lip. “Whether you like it or not, I’m coming too. You can’t stop me.” Was she mad? Probably.

They were at an impasse. He drew himself up to his full height, glowering at her. “Has anyone ever told you that you are the most frustrating of women?”

She glowered back at him. “Of course. And while we’re about it, has no one ever told you how difficult you are? No wonder I suspected you might be behind the attempt on Yves’s life.”

His eyes caught the candlelight. “You are the most outspoken young woman I’ve ever met. Only you would have been tenacious enough to bring us searching into a mine like this when it’s blatantly obvious you have claustrophobia.”

She opened her mouth to make a retort, but he forestalled her, catching hold of her shoulders and pulling her to him. His mouth came down on hers, hard, insistent, and hot with a mixture of what might have been frustration and… passion. His tongue parted her surprised lips, invaded her mouth, and found her tongue. She was too astonished to respond, but the shock rippled through her body, from the top of her head down to her legs, where her knees nearly buckled with a sensation quite new to her.

He released her mouth and retreated half a step, but without releasing his hold on her shoulders. “I’m sorry. It was the only way to shut you up.”

For once, Caroline could think of nothing to say for several long moments. When words returned, all she could manage was a rather hoarse, “I’m still coming with you.”

He gave a shrug, removed his hands and climbed up to the hole again. “Well, you’d best follow me then.” As though he hadn’t just kissed her like a lover, he shoved his head and shoulders through the hole, his legs scrabbled for an instant, and he was gone.

She was alone in the pitch blackness with her thoughts. And what thoughts they were. Never had anyone kissed her like that. Not even the dashing young officer she’d fancied herself in love with, who’d gone off to fight in the French wars and never come back. Her lips tingled with the feel of his mouth on hers, her knees still had trouble holding her up, and a curious sensation had inhabited her stomach, reminiscent of how she’d felt as a child when waiting for something exciting to happen, like Christmas or her birthday.

She didn’t have long for these thoughts, however. The light appeared in the hole, along with Nat’s face. “Hurry up, then.” He was back to being all practical.