“No.” This time she was the one who whacked her head hard. Stars spun in front of her eyes as she sank to her knees.
“You all right?”
“I think so.”
Duncan’s arm was around her, and she felt his chest pressed hard against her back. Panic bubbled up. Whatever she’d rammed into had come up fast. Had they finally reached a dead end? She blinked once and then twice. It wasn’t just stars she was seeing. Ahead of her light penetrated the absolute darkness. And when she glanced down, she thought she could just make out her hands on the floor of the tunnel.
In the silence, they could hear the scrape of something against stone. A shoe? A shoulder?
But escape was in front of them. Piper was sure of it. “There’s got to be an opening up ahead,” she breathed. “It’ll be faster if we crawl.”
Crawl they did. The incline was sharper now, but they were making better time. Rocks scraped against her hands. And she had to slow her pace twice to get the sweat out of her eyes. But the light ahead grew steadily stronger and suddenly she could hear the sound of water above the pounding of her heart.
The area around them suddenly widened, and the shaft of light pouring in from above was blinding. She was still blinking against it when she heard Duncan grunting behind her. Turning, she saw he had his shoulder against a rock the size of a small boulder. In seconds he had it blocking the space they’d just crawled through. “Just in case,” he gasped.
Then he gripped her waist and thrust her toward the opening above them. It wasn’t large, but the fresh air nearly made her giddy. She spotted the root of a pine. She clamped one hand over it and dug the fingers of her other into the soil. Breathing hard, she pulled, twisted and muscled her way onto her belly. For one long moment, she was tempted to just lie there on the ground.
But Duncan still had to get out. His push on her foot gave her the extra boost she needed to crawl all the way out. Rolling, she shoved to her feet in time to see the backpack appear in the opening. Then Duncan wiggled out. Good grief, she thought. Was he some kind of superhero? He gave her no chance to catch her breath. Instead, he said, “Help me with this one.”
Together, they rolled the largest of the nearby rocks to cover the hole they’d crawled out of. “I don’t think they’ll get past the other blockade, but just in case.”
Piper bent over, braced her hands on her knees and concentrated on taking deep breaths. She was on her second one when Duncan grabbed her hand. “Where are we?”
She had to take a second to get her bearings. They’d climbed out of a wall of rocks that rose high to form a ledge. That, plus a glimpse of the pond beyond and the thundering noise of water falling, told her exactly where they were. “Tinker’s Falls.”
Duncan gaze swept the small clearing. “The pond. That’s where we used to play water polo.”
“It’s where you and your brothers used to play ‘Drown the MacPhersons,’” she said drily. “And imitate various superheroes by diving off the rock ledge.”
“We were ten.”
“You were jerks,” she said.
As he reacquainted himself with the space, he’d already begun to get into the mind of the person who’d followed them. “How far away are the cliffs and the lake?”
She was still dragging in air, fighting for oxygen as much as he was, but she knew exactly what he was thinking. Jerking her head toward the thick wall of tall pines to their left, she said, “Three minutes, tops. You think we can cut through the woods and beat him back there? Catch him?”
“That’s the plan. Are you game?”
Her answer was to tighten her grip on his hand and lead the way into the woods. The trees stretched high into the sky, blocking out any breeze and perfuming the air with their scent. In spite of the fact that there was no clearly delineated path, she set the pace at a jog, zigging and zagging between and around thick tree trunks. Twigs snapped underfoot, and brambles snatched at their clothes. Together they leaped over a fallen log that blocked their path.
THREE MINUTES, SHE’D SAID. As they continued to tick by, Duncan pictured the chain of tunnels and the caves beneath them. If their pursuer had turned back at the first boulder he’d shoved into place, he could be almost back to the ledge by now. But there was always the chance that he’d wasted time trying to shove it aside. Duncan could only hope for the latter. That kind of desperation, obsession, would be consistent with the profile he’d already tentatively posed in his mind.
The pines were suddenly thicker, the brush denser. Piper slowed their pace, but she didn’t change direction. “Not far now,” she promised.
Seconds later, they stepped into full sunlight again, only a hundred yards or so from the place where’d they’d eaten their sandwiches earlier. Keeping her hand gripped tight in his, he raced with her to the spot just in time to see a figure climbing down the rocks toward the thin ribbon of sand that bordered the lake. He gauged the distance, weighing the possibility of pursuit.
“Go,” Piper said, her breath coming in huge gasps.
“No.” He couldn’t leave her alone. Not until she was safe again. He’d already been too careless today. “There’ll be another time.” He was going to make sure of it.
The figure below reached the sand. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt that prevented them from getting a good look at his features. Without glancing up, he raced off along the lakeshore in the direction away from the castle. Seconds later he disappeared around a sharp curve in the beach.
Suddenly, all the fear that he’d pushed aside when they’d been in the tunnels and while they’d raced through the woods hit him again. With one rough move, he pulled Piper around to face him.
Her face was streaked with sweat and dirt, her hair tangled. And it struck him so hard that for a moment everything else faded. He could have lost her. He streaked his hands from her shoulders to frame her face. The instant he lowered his mouth to hers, he fell away from the fear and into her. And he wanted to fall further. With her mouth hot and avid on his, he wanted to keep on descending into a world where there was only the two of them.
Some lingering awareness of their surroundings had him gripping her hips and carrying her into the cover of the woods. At the first tree that blocked his path, he stopped, pressed her against it and felt his mind shatter like fine crystal. For several seconds, he forgot everything but the strength of that tight, lithe body molded to his, the movement of her mouth. And he couldn’t seem to get enough of any of it.
He drew back and felt his lungs burn as he dragged in air. Some of the oxygen made its way to his brain. There was an important reason he should get her back to the castle. But he couldn’t quite latch onto it. Not when she plunged her fingers into his hair and sank her teeth into his shoulder.
“I want you,” he managed. “I need to touch you.”
“Magic words,” she murmured and dragged his mouth back to hers. Their thoughts were completely in tune. And for one moment, his hands seemed to be everywhere, tough, impatient, relentless. The speed, the roughness, delighted even as it spurred her on.
Something ripped. Her clothes or his—she couldn’t be sure, but her hands found flesh at last. His skin was burning, damp and so smooth. His body was so tight, his muscles bunching under her hands. Hunger spiked. Greed dominated. She simply couldn’t get enough. Using teeth and hands, she feasted.
Her breath caught as he dragged her to the ground. Then they rolled, legs tangling, mouths and fingers searching, groping, bruising while they fought with their remaining clothes. As desperate as he was to taste and to possess, she rolled with him again. Their minds and desires were fused, locked on the same goal. Each second of delay, each obstacle they overcame—jeans, shoes, even those precious moments when he had to find the condom and