Words of Love - By Hazel Hunter Page 0,22

him but he kept his arm around her waist. Rather than try to fight the flow, he continued to move with it and to the side, toward its edge. In his peripheral vision he saw they were approaching the wall of the cave. If they ended up there, they’d be buried.

He pushed into the rising tide, closer to the edge, pulling Jesse with him, and finally the depth started to decrease. Then suddenly they were running, able to lift their feet clear of the soil. In moments, they were at the edge of what had become a river of earth and Brett let her go as they both caught their breath.

A concussive explosion made them both turn. Jesse hugged him around the waist as he put an arm around her shoulders. In the dark distance, beyond the reach of the floodlights, the dirt had met the wall.

He looked down at her.

“Are you okay?” he said, still breathing hard. She was wiping dirt from her mouth but nodded yes. “How did you know?” Brett said. “How did you know I picked the wrong one?”

“The glyphs,” she said, between breaths. “It said green jaguar but it meant green chili.” He stared down at her. “It’s…” she said. “It’s the same as with the white rattle but the jaguar ends up being a chili. The chili was on the right hand sculpture.”

Brett scowled, trying to remember.

Yes, the six petals when there should have been five. The one had been a shape that might have resembled a green chili.

“Next time,” he said. “Remind me to ask you first.”

She nodded, still trying to wipe away dirt. A fine dust coated her face and he supposed he must look the same.

He looked back to the pyramid. It looked as it always had but it had to be hollow inside now. The dirt must have been stored there and his simple lever action had trigged another and another, until greater and greater levers had been able to unleash the torrent.

“We failed the test,” Jesse said, quietly.

“No, I failed the test,” he replied. “I’m apparently not cut out to be a Maya king.” He looked down at her. “Unless it’s the king of dirt.”

And obsession, he thought. Yet again, it had nearly ended in disaster. He realized he was holding her tightly and relaxed his grip but he didn’t let her go. Though she didn’t appear to be shaken, he now knew she tried to hide things. She was still staring at the pyramid.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he said.

She looked up at him.

“I’m fine, Brett,” she said. “Really.”

He brushed some hair back from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. Though it was impossible to know for sure, she did seem fine.

“You’re filthy,” he said, smiling at her.

“Really?” she said, finally smiling. “Well, don’t look now, but you’re a mess.”

Although he had to laugh, both of their smiles quickly faded. The hulking pyramid loomed like a stone sentinel against the dark. In all the times he’d visited it, climbed around it, and pored over it, he’d never sensed the danger it harbored. The Red King played a treacherous game–a deadly one. As though she sensed it too, he felt a mild tremor run through Jesse’s body. He instinctively turned to her and held her closer. But rather than meet his gaze, she looked down between them. She was afraid but she didn’t want to show it.

“What are you thinking?” he asked quietly.

“Honestly,” Jesse said. “I was thinking that a shower would be nice.”

“Well, you’re in luck,” he said.

CHAPTER TWELVE

As Brett led her by the hand, Jesse realized where they must be headed. The monsoon was finally starting to relent but the rain was still coming down at the cave entrance.

“I think of it as rustic,” he said, as he started to take off his clothes. “The best spot is right over here.” The curtain of water behind him poured down from the slope above. “It’s flat and not so slippery,” he said as he continued to strip.

Jesse stared at him.

Despite having made love, she was still amazed by Brett’s body. He could’ve been a model. No, she thought. He could have been a sculptor’s model, posing as a Greek or Roman god. As he bent to move a bar of soap that she hadn’t realized was there, she watched the hard ripple of his muscles.

As he stepped into the water and ran his fingers through his hair, his broad and mounded pecs lifted and his back