Among Galactic Ruins (10 page)

But it was too late.

Dathan lost his grip and the sand swept him
and Lexa away.

The treasure hunter was shouting, his arms
spinning as he tried to climb out of the whirlpool. Lexa
screamed.

No, dammit
. Damon’s heart was
pounding double-time. He tried desperately to grab for Lexa, but
she was too far away. He watched, helpless, as she was pulled into
the giant sand whirlpool. She tumbled a few times through the sand,
headed toward the giant hole in the middle.

Lexa and Dathan both made a wide circle
around the center, and then, with one last shout, Dathan was sucked
into the hole.

Lexa’s gaze caught Damon’s, so many emotions
racing across her face. His fingers dug into the rock and he felt
like he had the weight of a starship pressing down on his
chest.

With a final scream, she was dragged closer
to the hole.

“No!”
Fuck this
. Damon let go of the
rock.

The sand sucked at him, swirling him around,
tugging at him. Lexa tipped into the hole.

A few seconds later, he fell in after her,
sand streaming over him. “Lexa!”

Lexa lifted her head, spitting sand out of
her mouth. She lay flat on her belly, and her entire body ached
from the bone-jarring landing.

Her hair had come loose and was hanging in
her face. She spat out more sand, wiping her mouth, and pushed
herself up onto her hands and knees. She swallowed a groan. Her
back was aching and…well, there wasn’t anything in her body that
wasn’t sore.

She looked up at the hole above her, with a
flow of sand still flowing down like a waterfall…or rather, a
sandfall. From what she could see in the dim light, she was in some
sort of circular cavern with bare stone walls.

Okay, time to move, Lexa
. But her
muscles were trembling. Maybe she’d just stay here a second
longer.

“Lexa?” A warm hand pressed to her lower
back.

And just like that, she felt better.

“How did you get down here?” she asked
Damon. Last she’d seen, he was holding on to the rocks above.

“Followed you down.” He helped her to her
feet, keeping an arm around her. “Looked like a fun ride.”

She stilled, her mind whirling. He’d let go
and been engulfed by that sand trap…to follow her? She stared at
his lean face. She’d thought him so arrogant and detached when
she’d first met him. But now she saw something so, so
different.

She leaned forward and kissed him.

Then they both groaned, but not from
pleasure. She let out a wry laugh. “Stars, my back hurts.”

“I smacked my knee on the landing.
Aggravated an old injury.”

That got her wondering for a moment.
Technology these days, especially whatever high-tech stuff the GSS
was hiding, could heal just about anything. What had happened to
him that still had lingering effects?

Another groan echoed through the cavern.
They both swiveled and spotted Dathan half-buried in the sand.

They hurried over and pulled him out. Sand
coated his dark hair and his lashes. “Fuck. That was a rough
ride.”

Lexa crouched and dusted off his hair. “Are
you okay?”

“Feel like I went ten rounds wrestling with
a desert lizard, but other than that, I’m peachy.” He stood, then
took a longer look at where they were. He whistled. “Who knew this
was just below us? I’ve never heard of a cave system in this
area.”

Damon was staring above them at the domed
roof. “I don’t think this is natural.”

Lexa wanted more than anything for it to be
manmade. But the rock walls were rough and bare, striated with
layers of different colored rocks. Not an engraving, carving, or
painting to be seen. “But there’s nothing here.” Doubt crept in
again. Maybe this had all been a wild-goose chase after impossible
dreams, just like her father had told her?

Dathan moved and then bit off a curse,
clutching his arm. “Damn.”

It was then Lexa saw the bone protruding
from his forearm.

“Shit, kid,” Damon muttered.

“I didn’t feel a thing.” Dathan grimaced.
“Starting to hurt now, though.”

“Adrenaline. And dammit, my bag and medscope
are still tied to my ballo. Here, I know a little field first aid.”
Damon fashioned a sling from Dathan’s shirt. “Not much we can do
until we get out of here. Don’t move it or bump it, if you can help
it.”

“Roger that.” Dathan looked up. “Ah,
speaking of getting out, how are we going to do that?”

“We’ll find a way out,” Damon said, grim
determination in his voice.

They searched the rounded walls. Lexa even
dug in the sand under their feet to see if she could find a bottom
beneath it. Nothing.

The men were both muttering and cursing
under their breaths. A huge sense of failure and weariness washed
over her. She looked at Damon’s face and imagined those now-healed
gouges left by the wolves. She looked at Dathan’s broken arm.
They’d been attacked by wolves, sucked into a sand trap, injured,
and they’d lost most of their supplies.

She wrapped her arms around herself, all her
energy gone. She’d known this treasure hunt wouldn’t be easy, but
she’d been naïve enough to not truly consider how dangerous it
might be.

Or to realize she might fail.

Oh, her father would love that. Not that
he’d gloat or rub her nose in it. He’d just give her that smug
look, like he knew best, and she was just foolish for believing
differently.

She looked at the blank walls. If the temple
and its treasure were out here, the priestesses had hidden it too
well, and left too may dangerous traps to stop any treasure hunters
finding it.

“Hey.” A hand on the nape of her neck.

“We should never have come here. I should
never have put all of us at risk, and for what? An egg. An old,
stupid bit of Earth junk that everyone’s forgotten about
anyway.”

Damon moved in front of her and cupped her
cheeks. He forced her to look up and meet his gaze. “It’s a piece
of history. An important one.” His thumb rubbed against her chin.
“You made me believe that. With your energy, enthusiasm and belief.
I initially thought this hunt was crazy. A big, fat waste of
everyone’s time—”

She made a small noise. “You and my Dad
would get on like a starship on fire.”

“Listen.” Damon tapped her nose. “I thought
that…before. Now I believe you can do it. You can find the temple
and that Fabergé egg.”

She felt something inside her tremble. “I
don’t think—”

“You
can
do this.”

The tremble stopped and a warm glow filled
her chest. She lifted her hand to his cheek. “I can’t remember why
I didn’t like you.”

He smiled. “Something about me being an
arrogant ass?”

“Oh, right. It’s coming back to me now.”

He kissed her and it was almost gentle. As
his tongue stroked hers, his firm lips moving against her mouth,
she knew the gentleness was a cover. The heat and need and hunger
lurked underneath, waiting for a chance to consume them.

Oh, and she wanted that. She wanted this man
like she’d never wanted a man before.

He pulled back. “Now, let’s take a closer
look around. I know this chamber is too circular and the ceiling
too regular to have been made by nature. The priestesses have left
a clue here, somewhere.”

Reinvigorated, Lexa set her shoulders back.
“Okay.”

They circled the chamber again. Dathan and
Damon touched the walls, kicked at things of interest. Lexa stayed
back, walking slowly, drinking it all in. It had been designed by
the priestesses, she was sure of it. Women in tune with their
goddess, renowned for healing, sensuality and love. A rough touch
wasn’t going to help here. She let her gaze flow over the wall.

There
. Something caught her eye.

She wandered closer. The tiny indentation
was smaller than her palm. It could be natural—she peered
closer—but to her it looked like it was shaped like an egg.

She kept moving.
There
. Another one.
This one higher up the wall, barely visible. But definitely
egg-shaped.

“What have you found?” Damon appeared at her
side.

“How do you know I’ve found something?”

He leaned closer, his warm lips brushing her
ear and making her shiver. “You get this look. It’s kind of a mix
of excitement and what I imagine a hungry cat would have in her eye
as she tracked her prey.” His voice lowered. “It’s so sexy. It
makes me hard every time I see it.”

Heat shot straight through her belly and
between her thighs.

He made a growling noise. “The look on your
face right now is just as good.”

She pushed a hand to his chest. “Step back.
I can’t think when you’re too close.”

He gave her a wolfish grin, but moved back a
little. “What did you find?”

“Look at these indentations.” She pointed to
the closest one and the previous one.

“They could be natural.”

“Maybe,” she conceded. “Let’s see if we can
find any more.”

They explained to Dathan what they were
looking for. They found another marking. And another. They were all
getting excited now, Lexa felt it vibrating through her.

“Look, another one.” Dathan scraped a hand
across the wall at about head height.

“Keep looking,” she said.

“Can’t see another one,” Dathan said,
frowning at the wall.

Lexa spotted something at the base of the
wall, near the floor. She crouched and brushed the sand away.

And gasped.

“Holy space dust,” Dathan breathed.

“Is that what I think it is?” Damon
asked.

Lexa traced the red jewel set into the
egg-shaped indentation. “Looks like a gem of some kind.”

“Rubania,” Dathan said. “Named after old
Earth rubies. Not much of it left on Zerzura. It’s been mined out.”
He grinned. “It’s very valuable. Can I have it?”

She elbowed him. “You are getting paid a
nice pot of e-creds, Phoenix. Don’t get greedy.”

He grimaced. “Aww, you’re no fun, Lexa. You
promised me three artifacts.”

With a shake of her head, she touched the
jewel again. It was like it was beckoning her, the faint sunlight
in the cavern making the gem glow a deep red.

Then the jewel moved, sinking back into the
wall.

“What the hell?” Dathan demanded.

A distant clang echoed through the chamber
and Lexa’s heart stopped.
What now?
There was a rumbling
noise, and the walls started shaking. Now her heart lurched. It
reminded her too much of when the whirlpool had opened up
above.

Strong arms wrapped around her and pulled
her back. Damon kept her securely against him.

Sand puffed up in a cloud. It stung her eyes
and made them all cough.

Then the wall in front of them started
moving.

***

Damon had seen some pretty amazing things in
his life—the royal gem collection of Windassia, the firefalls of
Molta, and the monastery of the pilgrims on Paradarn.

But all those things paled in comparison to
the stunning wall of incredibly detailed carvings in front of him.
They depicted curvaceous women wearing willowy wisps of translucent
white fabric doing an array of activities—healing the sick, tending
offerings in an incredible temple, bathing in a lake and…hmm,
having sex…with men
and
women.

But none of that was as interesting as that
damn look on Lexa’s face. Her eyes were glistening as she took in
the engravings and the bright paint barely dimmed by the millennia.
Her face was a little flushed, her eyelashes fluttering. There was
excitement but also reverence.

Yep, a man would sell his soul to have her
look at him like that.

With a silent curse, he adjusted his
trousers. Damn cock was almost constantly hard now. He had to have
her soon or he wouldn’t be able to walk.

“Look at the glyphs here.” Lexa rushed
forward, her hand sweeping over what looked like some sort of
writing. “This is the Orphic language.”

“I’ll get some pictures for you.” Damon
pulled out his Sync and took the shots.

Her smile was blinding. “Thanks.” Then her
face paled. “Look.”

And he saw it. A priestess, her lush curves
barely contained by her dress, holding a red egg covered in gold
filigree in her cupped palms.

“Unbelievable,” Dathan said. “A part of me
didn’t believe it was real.”

Lexa moved back to the glyphs. “Okay, I
think I can translate most of this.” She wrinkled her nose. “Wish I
still had my old Sync with my Orphic database, but I can make
do.”

Damon watched her mutter to herself,
touching the glyphs, moving back to previous ones. She stared off
into space for a second, then started reading again.

Suddenly, she spun in a giddy circle. She
grabbed Dathan and planted a loud kiss on the kid’s lips. Dathan
looked startled for a second, then grinned like an idiot. Damon
scowled.

But Lexa leapt on him, her legs clamping
around his waist. He grabbed her fine ass to steady her. The kiss
she planted on him was nothing like the one she’d given the young
treasure hunter.

God
. Desire exploded, smacking into
him like a starship. Her hands gripped his hair, her mouth hungrily
taking his. He groaned. She tasted like all his favorite things
rolled into one.

“Man, do I feel like the third wheel.”

Damon rested his lips on Lexa’s forehead and
shot Dathan a look. “One day, you’ll find your own woman.”

Dathan cast a long look at Lexa. “Not sure
I’ll ever find class like Dr. Carter, here.” He straightened and
grinned. “And I don’t want some astro-archeologist who’ll bitch at
me for being a treasure hunter. Besides, there are so many
beautiful women in the galaxy. Why limit myself to one when I can
spread the joy around?”

Damon shook his head. He’d believed the same
thing not that long ago. He looked down at Lexa, who was rolling
her eyes. She was trouble. She’d never just come when he crooked a
finger, or leave him to brood when he wanted to, or let him get
away with being an arrogant ass. She’d push and pull him…and damn,
he was excited by the prospect.