Kathlyn Trent, Marcus Burton 01 - Valley of the Shadow (17 page)

It was a stellar opportunity and she knew it. "Deal."

"Good," Dougray looked her over. "But I want you to know that I still don't like what I saw earlier."

"I know. But it's just the way things are with me right now.”

"Then you'd better take care of yourself and hold up your end of the bargain." He glared at Marcus. "And you'd better take care of her, too."

Marcus still had that stony expression on his face, though inside he was busting a gut with pride. "Guess she told you, Dougray."

Dougray grunted. "Burton, I don't envy you. You've got your hands full with her."

Lynn, who had been sweating out the entire episode as if it had been his fault, began talking about the tomb and distracting the executives from Kathlyn and Marcus. The two archaeologists wisely slipped out, leaving Gary behind with the rest of them to further study what was about to consume his life for the next twenty years.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The moon was full and bright as Marcus wandered the camp in search of a certain archaeologist he had been told was working, for the sake of concentration, alone in one of the storage tents.  He had left Kathlyn in the mess tent after supper, explaining to the group about her afternoon episode, while he went to check on the site for the night.  When he had returned from his rounds, she was gone and Juliana directed him to a tent near the storage area that housed some of their more valuable and heavy equipment.

He saw a light in one of the tents. It was a muted point of brightness in a mess of dark canvas. Entering the tent, he found Kathlyn sitting cross-legged on one of the heavy shipping crates, a laptop computer in front of her and a Coleman lantern by her side. He stood there a moment, watching the light reflect off her honey-colored hair, wondering how his life ever came to revolve around this little spitfire of a woman. He couldn't go two minutes without thinking of her.

She was dressed in denim overall shorts and a white tee shirt. Her hair was pulled back at the nape of her neck and the Lennon sunglasses were replaced by bifocals he had never seen before. She looked very sweet and bookish as she concentrated on her computer screen.

"Boo," he said softly.

She didn't look up. "If that's a ghost, I'm not in the mood. If it's anything else, I'm still not in the mood."

Marcus came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He nuzzled her neck, kissing her softly, until she broke into a grin.

"Marcus," she very weakly tried to pull away from him. "I'm trying to finish this."

He stopped kissing and rested his chin on her shoulder, looking at what she was working on. "A report?"

"An article. I'm going to e-mail it to World Geography tonight with some pictures Larry took. Dougray is doing the foreword on the article, if you can believe that."

"I believe it," he still held her from behind, reading over her shoulder. "You impressed the old man today. Hell, I was impressed."

She picked at the keyboard. "People like him generally want to see what you're made of. Though I knew him indirectly, I've never had any straight dealings with him. I don't like bullies and he tried to bully me. I wasn't going to let him."

"Hmm," he sat down on the box next to her. "I seem to remember a very angry woman calling me a jumbo-sized bully once."

"You are," she turned to him and kissed him on the lips. "But I've learned to live with it."

"Taming the savage beast?"

"Something like that."

He smiled at her, the moment growing soft, and returned her kiss. A very soft, passionate gesture soon turned into a heated exchange and the laptop nearly slipped off the box. Lips still locked, they both managed to grab the computer and shove it to a safer place. He slid off the box and pulled her toward him, wedging himself between her legs.  She wrapped herself around him, giving into the magnetism that had been present from nearly the moment they first met.

"Marcus," she gasped. "The lamp's on. We're throwing shadows."

His answer was to turn the lamp off so hard that he broke the switch. Kathlyn giggled as they groped each other in the dark, the light from the full moon creating a muted glow through the canvas.

He unsnapped the top of her overalls and slid his hands underneath her shirt. Kathlyn responded by pulling her shirt off completely. He kissed every bit of flesh that came within range, his hands drifting over her silky skin. Her breasts were particularly soft and round, a handful in his calloused grip.

"Marcus," she whispered. "We shouldn't... there's no privacy here."

His reply was to kiss her more strongly than he had ever kissed a woman in his life. Kathlyn could hardly breathe but she liked it that way. When he finally took her, she was bent over the side of the crate and he made certain, with his hands and mouth and body that she enjoyed every moment as much as he did. There was nothing on earth sweeter than the feel of her and there was no doubt in his mind that he was madly in love with the woman. He couldn't get enough of her.

He took her four times before midnight. They would finish, relax, caress one another, and then he'd grow hard again and push his way into her. It had been so long since Kathlyn had last made love that by the time he finished the third time around, she was sore with a good kind of pain. The fourth encounter left her absolutely exhausted in a very pleasant, languid sense but raw to the touch. Marcus knew this when he tried to take her a fifth time and he apologized profusely for being so insensitive. The he held her for the longest time as if physically incapable of letting her go.

"I think I've died and gone to heaven," she murmured.

"I know I have," he said quietly. "I really hate to bring this up, but I think you still have work to do. I didn't mean to take you away from it for so long."

She laughed at him. "Are you kidding?  That stuff can wait."

"I thought you had to have it in by tonight."

"Just so the editors have it on their desk tomorrow. It's not like they won't wait for me, considering this is probably the biggest article they've ever published."

He chucked ironically. "I can see your e-mail now... 'article completion delayed due to incredibly good sex. Please accept my apologies'."

She laughed at him. Then she kissed him. "It was worth waiting for,” she murmured, touching his handsome face. “Every minute I hated you in the beginning, and for every tear you caused me, this was well worth the price."

"Thanks. You make me feel like a complete jerk."

"You were."

"I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you on nights just like tonight."

It was a tender moment. His lips moved across her forehead with infinite gentleness and Kathlyn sighed, feeling complete and utter contentment. She adored the man.

"I don't want to sleep in my tent tonight," she whispered.

He stopped kissing her and grinned. "I've been waiting for you to say that."

"I just want to sleep in your arms."

"We can do that."

They put their clothes back on and returned to Marcus’ tent. The article remained unfinished until the next day, but it was the best night's sleep she had ever had.

***

Marcus kissed Kathlyn awake the next morning, but she only woke up long enough to kiss him back before promptly falling back asleep. He was at the dig site at sunrise while she slept until mid morning.

Debra Jo was working in their shared tent when Kathlyn wandered in, disheveled and yawning. It was odd to see Kathlyn anything other than completely put together but Debra Jo knew what had happened. She started snorting.

"What?" Kathlyn looked down at herself as if there was something embarrassing going on.  “What’s wrong?”

Debra Jo merely shook her head. "Nothing at all,” she said, trying to keep a straight face. “World Geography Magazine wants their article. Can I safely assume you've been working on it?"

"No," Kathlyn said. "But it's nearly finished. I'll have it done in an hour."

"That's not like you. You're usually right on time."

"I've been busy, okay?"

Debra Jo knew what she meant. "That's your business, Kat."

"Yes, it is."

"No problem."

"Thank you."

Debra Jo watched her walk over to her suitcase and removed a few things. "You really look like hell.”

“Keep your opinions to yourself.”

“You look like you’ve been up all night.”

“You’re not getting a damn thing out of me so you might as well stop.”

“And you walk like you've been riding a horse, all bowlegged and stiff."

"Oh, shut up."

Debra Jo giggled and returned to her computer. Kathlyn was positive she was e-mailing the entire civilized world that she and Marcus had finally slept together. Not that she particularly cared, however. In a half hour she was showered, dressed in khaki shorts and a white blouse with her big boots, pack and duster and heading for the site. Although she normally wore makeup with sunscreen in it as protection against the fierce sun, she had taken the time to make sure it looked really good this morning. Butterflies danced in her stomach as she ascended the slope and gave a wave to the Marine guards.

Some people from the SCA were in the first chamber inspecting the granite statues and discussing how to remove them. Kathlyn descended the nightmarish steps and moved into Corridor C where conservationists from Italy, through the SCA, were beginning to work. They were all women who didn't speak a word of English, so Kathlyn merely smiled at them and moved on.  Chamber D had three Marines in it as well as several Egyptian workers who were very carefully working on the golden chariots. Juliana was there, Kathlyn thought, to admire one of the Marines although she pretended to be busy. Chamber E had even more Marines and workers in it.

Antechamber F was eerily still. The Egyptians didn't want to go into the room, which worked out well, because Marcus didn't want anyone in the chamber but Gary. Kathlyn greeted him from where he sat against the wall, sketching the scene for his own benefit and making notes. Before she even entered the sarcophagus room, she could hear Marcus' voice.  It sent chills through her as she remembered his voice whispering in her ear, his hands on her body.

Marcus, Lynn, Mark and Otis were congregated around the tabernacle. It sat up with the massive smoke-colored granite sarcophagus on what appeared to be an altar, at a higher level than the rest of the room. The ceilings and floors of the chamber were brilliantly painted in yellows, blues and reds, and six alabaster pedestals stood evenly spaced apart. Kathlyn stood by the door and listened to them discuss how to open the tabernacle; apparently it had already been photographed, measured, and its weight calculated.  An artist with the SCA stood in the corner, sketching the room and the position of both the sarcophagus and tabernacle.

Marcus noticed her first, his cobalt blue eyes finding her as if he had known she was standing there before he even saw her. When their gaze met, it was an enchanting moment. He smiled at her.

"Dr. Trent," he motioned her over. "We were just discussing how to open this chest. Since you're the expert at opening things, like tombs, you might have a suggestion."

She was surprised that he asked her opinion, considering he was far more brilliant at that kind of thing.  She didn’t take it lightly. Hand on her hips, Kathlyn inspected the tabernacle closely. She could feel Marcus' gaze on her and it was difficult not give in to it and stare dreamily back at him.

"The damn thing is sealed," she concluded.

"And there are no seams," Mark said. "It's solid all the way around."

"Then that's a problem," she cast Marcus a long look. "They put the canopic jars on the base and built the tabernacle up around them. You can't get to them without partially destroying the walls."

"I suggested we simply pry one of the corners apart," Marcus said, running a gloved hand up one of the sides. "It looks to me like a solid sheet of gold foil all the way around. The smelted the seams together, so there aren't any breaks. We've got to make a break somewhere; why not the least obtrusively at the corners?"

"That works for me," Kathlyn stood back from it. "Have you consulted Gary?"

"Yes," Marcus said. "His answer was to throw up his hands and send Mark in here."

She could just see Gary doing that; the man, for an archaeologist, apparently didn't have a lot of patience. "He's pretty consumed with the antechamber right now,” she said. “Better leave him alone."

Marcus’ gaze lingered on her even after they went back to the original discussion of how to enter the tabernacle. She caught his eye, smiled slyly, and wandered out to where Gary was. The room had nothing but bad feelings for her but she was ultimately a scientist and this was an area of incredible mystery. She refused to let it lick her.

Gary was deep in his thought processes and Kathlyn didn’t want to disturb him. Since Marcus was occupied and she apparently didn’t have anything to do for the moment, she thought she would head back to camp and finish her article. Walking back out into Chamber E, she found herself engaged in conversation with one of the SCA workers. The man was a supervisor, Egyptian by birth. He seemed very intelligent and sincerely interested in when The World of Exploration Channel was preparing to do a program about the find. The man wanted to be a movie star and she had to laugh at his ambition in the middle of this great discovery. But Lynn came around, his bald head slick and his expression menacing, and the supervisor quickly went back to work. Lynn smiled triumphantly at Kathlyn and passed on into the antechamber.

Lynn made her laugh. The man was all bark and no bite as far as she was concerned. She was just passing through the entry of Chamber D when a piercing scream suddenly filled the air. Startled, Kathlyn started to run in the direction it had come from purely on instinct.

One of the Italian workers had fallen off the small foot bridge and into the bottomless pit.  No one seemed to know what she had been doing on the bridge since her team was assigned to Corridor C, but she had lost her footing walking over it and had slipped in. A forty foot drop was a killer and they could hear her moaning at the bottom. While the Marines began to shout into their headsets for assistance to be brought in, Kathlyn immediately un-slung her shoulder pack.