and headed toward the towering wall of the monastery. Daniela followed and watched as he began pulling aside the entanglement of vines and bushes that grew along the wall. She reached into her boot and pulled out a flashlight. As she approached him she heard the sound of decayed wood ripping away.
She switched on the light to aid him. With one heavy boot braced against the wall, he was ripping a hole through the planks of rotten wood that had been nailed to the structure. Beyond them she could see the entrance of a dark passage. Stale air poured out and the trickling sound of water could be heard.
Nicholas turned to face her. “This passage should take us inside.”
“I need a weapon,” she told him. When he only stared at her she continued. “If something happens in there I want to at least be able to defend myself.”
Nicholas watched her for a moment longer then slipped an item from his back pocket. He tossed it to her. Daniela caught it without effort then pinned him with an incredulous look.
“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” she asked.
The pocket knife he’d given her was lovely with a silver handle that had been carved with various Celtic symbols. However, it was no more than four inches long.
What appeared to be humor crossed his face. “It is a weapon, is it not?”
Her attention moved to the large crossbow he’d just stripped from his back. “Looks more like a Christmas ornament,” she commented with sarcasm. “I can’t defend myself with this.”
He laughed then; a low, deep and very sensuous sound. He sauntered toward her and slipped the flashlight from her fingers. “Then you are just going to have to trust me to do it for you.”
Daniela could only stare at him. He certainly was a beautiful man. It was a pity he didn’t have a personality to match. She must’ve lingered too long without a response for he jerked his head toward the entrance.
With every effort to maintain a calm disposition, she moved and ducked into the passageway.
The small flashlight cast its light about the tunnel, revealing a gravel floor and concave brick walls that were laden with moss. A path of water lined the center of the ground beneath them, no doubt the seepage from the river.
In silence they walked for a few minutes. Daniela listened intently for any noise that would indicate they’d somehow been discovered. Her heart drummed within her chest as they advanced deeper into the shadows. If she got out of this one unscathed she was quitting her thieving ways for sure.
Nicholas paused and Daniela realized that the passage had narrowed to a crawl space that was a few feet off the ground. He angled the light and peered in. “This is the only way in,” he told her.
Daniela eyed the passage. They would have to crawl through, and the last thing she wanted was to be bent over in front of him. “And I suppose you expect me to go in first?”
A flash of humor registered in his eyes. “I do not trust you at my back so I would have it no other way.” He offered her a hand.
With an exasperated sigh she ignored him and gripped the edge of the passage, pulling herself up and inside. Kneeling, she turned and slipped her flashlight from his hand, glaring at him. The light revealed that the passage went on for at least another twenty feet. What lay beyond that she couldn’t tell.
A soft noise behind her told Daniela that Nicholas had joined her in the passage. His huge frame seemed to fill the entire space and she suddenly felt like a caged animal. She’d never been prone to claustrophobia, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she focused on the path ahead and began to crawl forward.
They’d only gone a moderate distance when she felt a cooling draft teasing the stray locks of her hair that had managed to escape the confines of her ponytail. She brought the light up to see a rusty metal fence in front of her. Peering through the bars, she did a quick sweep of the room beyond. It was large and filled with unmarked wooden crates.
“Can you get through the gate?” Nicholas asked from behind her.
She turned the light to the fence, finding that its roots lay imbedded into the wall. “I’ll see.” She set the flashlight down and gripped the bars, applying her full weight against it, but it was in vain. The bars simply wouldn’t budge.
Repositioning slightly, she braced one boot against it and tried again. Flakes of brittle rust cracked away, but as before the bars held firm.
“Allow me to try,” Nicholas offered.
Daniela looked at him then at the space they were allotted. There was no way he was going to get around her. He must’ve realized their dilemma simultaneously for he backed up suddenly.
“Lie on your back,” he told her. “I will climb over you.”
She blinked at him. Could the night get any worse? As if being squeezed into the narrow passage with him wasn’t bad enough, now she would have to endure his very large and hard body sliding over her own. Reluctantly, she complied.
Nicholas moved over her and the heat of his body immediately assailed her as he came to a kneeling position just over her. He leaned forward, increasing her torment as his long hair spilled over his shoulders to tease the sensitive skin of her face. Never had she been this close to a man or in such a compromising position. She hated to admit it, but this pompous man had ignited a fire within her and she wanted nothing more than to stamp it out.
“Cover your eyes,” he told her as he gripped the bars.
With her eyes closed tightly, Daniela could feel the exact moment when the thick corded muscles of his thighs clenched, and seconds later a crumbling noise ensued. Opening her eyes slowly, she cast a look over her head to find that the metal fence had been completely ripped from the wall.
Nicholas had to lean forward a bit more so that he could allow the iron to carefully slide to the floor below. This action brought his face mere inches from her own. His very masculine scent engulfed her, slipping into her nostrils to toy with her imagination.
The metal fence scrapped its way down the wall and landed on the floor with a quiet clank. Nicholas’s eyes met and held her own and he watched her for a few seconds. In this lighting they looked black, but she remembered from their earlier encounter that they were a very transfixing green; the color of the Brazilian rain forest after a fresh rain. His gaze was contemplative as he watched her, assessing almost.
“From this point on you will obey me without question,” he told her quietly. “Is that understood?”
Daniela was silent for a moment. She’d never been inclined to take orders from anyone, and she certainly wasn’t appreciating his demanding nature. But in her present predicament she would have to contend with it. She nodded.
He acknowledged her compliance with a grunt then moved carefully over her and through the exit. Daniela remained motionless for a moment as she regained her composure, then she quickly followed. Nicholas was moving between the crates, scrolling the light over them.
Daniela moved to stand beside him. “I don’t think you’re going to find the rune anywhere in this monastery,” she told him. “These guys are just middlemen. They acquire the items for the buyers and I’m not sure what happens after that, but I
