“You live in a cave?” she asked, and whenhe laughed, she felt that laugh to the very pit of her womb.
“Don’t judge yet, mo ionúin,”he chastised her.
A ripple of pure pleasure went throughShanee at his use of the Gaelachuan form of endearment. His calling her hisbeloved did strange things inside her, setting her heart to fluttering.
They walked under the hanging vines andinto darkness. He halted her, bidding her to give her eyes time to adjust tothe change. As they stood there so quietly, so still, his fingers caressinghers in that powerful grip, she became aware of his heady male scent and itbegan to play havoc with her senses.
“Can you see the light there?” he askedsoftly.
Shanee could make out a faint glow to therear of the cave entrance. “Aye.”
He tugged lightly on her hand and theybegan moving down a long stone corridor toward the source of that flicker ofillumination. With every step she took, she knew she was going deeper belowground. Normally that would have concerned her, made her uneasy, but with herhand tucked safely in Aliyn’s, she felt no claustrophobic anxiety.
Within the stillness of the cave, she couldhear the whistle of wind and feel it plying gently over her face. It was warmbut wasn’t unpleasantly so. The closer they came to the light, the louder thesound of the wind and along with it the unmistakable resonance of fallingwater.
“Is there a waterfall within the cave?” sheasked, hearing the eagerness in her voice.
“You’ll see.”
It was growing brighter and by the timethey came to a turn in the corridor partitioned off by a massive jutting stone,she could smell the wild exotic flower scents that had so intrigued her in thejungle as well as the faint tang of saltwater.
He guided her around the stone and into afairyland of such raw natural beauty and overpowering sensual delight, shegasped, her eyes going wide.
The walls surrounding this subterraneanchamber seem to ooze with blood red limestone stalactite. Fantastical twisted,gnarled and chiseled cones extended from the immense high ceiling alongsidethick tree roots, both of which appeared to be arching their stone and fibrousfingers toward the green glowing pool of water that stretched around thishidden room, its waters lapping gently against a pebble-strewn beach. A shaftof light speared downward from the dark canopy of rock to shed wavering beamsof light upon the undulating waters. To one side a waterfall poured its darkwaters into the vast pool.
“The Diabolusians call this a cenote,”he explained to her as he leaned his spear against one craggy wall. He pointedto the tree roots. “They pierce the ceiling in search of water.”
She saw his pallet laid out beside thegently rippling water. “What a glorious place in which to live,” she whispered.
“I like the serenity of it and it is asclose to the water as I can get.”
She glanced up at him. The low light in thechamber played seductively across his face, swirling shadows over the handsomeplains and passing now and again through his topaz irises.
“Reapers cannot go into running water, canthey?” she asked, remembering something she had read in the report on the menwho had been created at Riezell-Nine.
“Actually they can,” he said softly, “butI’ve yet to attempt it.” A slight smile tugged at his lips. “That was just oneof many lies the scientists fed us on R-9.” He let go of her hand. “Why don’tyou test the waters in the pool, little Amazeen?” He hunkered down at her feet.“Give me your foot.”
It was almost as though she had no will, nomind of her own. She lifted her foot and watched as he pulled off her boot, hersock. Obediently she lifted her other leg. The soles of her feet tingled asthey touched the damp stones. She gazed down at him as he knelt there lookingup at her and felt her heart thudding almost painfully in her chest.
“The water is cool,” he said in a huskyvoice. “It comes from a deep subterranean well.”
She found herself unbuttoning her uniformtunic, peeling it from her shoulders. Pushing her trousers down her hips,stepping out of them. Without thought, without a single moment of shyness orrestraint, she unhooked her bra and let it fall away. She slid her panties offand stood there revealed to him in all her unadorned defenselessness.
Ailyn was on his knees before her andreached up to push his hands from the sides of her thighs and around her neatlyturned rump to cup those firm cheeks. He pulled her toward him and when hismouth touched her core, Shanee let her head fall back, closing her eyes to theperfect pleasure his lips wrought.
The sweep of his tongue, the thrust of it,the absolute heaven of his warm breath fanning over the wiry curls at thejuncture of her thighs, the slick, wet feel of his tongue parting her cleft andslipping inside her channel made her shudder from head to toe. Her hands wentto his sleek black hair and she held his head against her, breathing deeplythen more shallowly as he increased his rhythm, the movement of his tongue. Hewas lapping at her, nibbling, pressing, flicking, and when she came, she camewith a trill of release that echoed through the stone chamber and came back ather.
Shanee was trembling, her heart pounding,the blood rushing through her ears and her body felt strung as tightly as a newbow. Her release had been momentary and already she wanted his touch again, thefeel of her climax rippling through her once more.
“Cool yourself in the pool,” he invited,letting his hands slide from her. “We have all the time in the world, ionúin.”
As though in a trance she stepped back andwalked toward the milky green glow of the waters. So unlike the skilledwarrioress she was, she didn’t ask about the depth of the pool. She didn’tinquire of creatures that might be lurking in its deepness. She did notquestion how she knew to step up upon a broad flat area and then jackknife herbody below the rippling surface.
The waters were
