Karic grasped her arm, jerking her into his hard, rigid body. "That is what you want, isn't it, Liane?"
"That's not the reason," Liane whispered in a tear-choked voice. "I don't find
you
loathsome, just what you
did
to me."
With a fierce curse, Karic tightened his grip on her. "Then why, Liane? Why did you risk your life to rescue me? After what I did to you, surely you owe me nothing."
She couldn't meet his gaze. "II don't know. I just knew I couldn't leave you here, to die in this horrible place!"
"But I lied to you, betrayed you at every turn," Karic grimly persisted. "Surely I deserve to die, for that if nothing else."
"Stop it!" she cried. "You know the answer as well as I, if you cared to face it. I'm afraid to open my heart to you again. I'm terrified of that part of you that's the animal. You weren't the Karic I knew that nocte. You were someone else, and I don't ever want to know that man again. It's too late for us, Karic.''
"I don't believe that," he replied. "If you truly want me, we could work it out. I'd give you time. I'd be gentle with you."
"And what of your lies and betrayal?"
"All I did, I did in good faith, for the welfare of my people."
"And will you give up your people for me?" she quietly asked. "Turn your back on your laws? It's more than just the mating. There are so many other problems between us. It's hopeless, Karic."
He groaned. "Why? Why, Liane, does it have to come to that?"
A soft, sad smile touched her lips. "Because it does. I have to know that you'll never turn on me again, like on that nocte. I have to know, though I might never ask it, that I matter more than anything else to you, that you'd give up everything for me."
She sighed. "Perhaps it's unfair, but it's what I need. It's time you accepted it."
"And would you do the same for me?"
"I thought I already had."
Karic's jaw hardened. "No, you haven't. You've fought me every step of the way, putting conditions on everything, refusing to ever completely trust me."
"And you've disappointed
me
every step of the way, betraying every vow you've ever made, save your most generous offer to let me murder you," she finished cuttingly.
"It always gets back to that, doesn't it, Liane?" he growled. "You see only the acts, not the intent."
"And
you
persist in putting your people above me!" They glared at each other for a heated moment, then the tension suddenly eased. Karic laughed.
"What's so amusing?" Liane warily demanded.
"That two people who care so much for each other can be so determined to find every excuse to stay apart."
"I didn't say I cared."
His expression sobered. "No, you never have, have you? But I know it all the same. I think I've known it for a long while now. Though you say you fear me, the way your body responds whenever I hold you in my arms speaks more truthfully than words. Your action in coming for me alone, down into this pit, when I know you're terrified of the dark, also tells me something. And the fact you couldn't kill me, even after what I'd done to you"
"Stop it!" Liane cried. "You're no better than I. I've never heard any words of tenderness from your mouth."
"Then hear them now, sweet femina." Karic gently took her chin in the palm of his hand. "I love you."
Her eyes widened, then, with a fierce shake of her head, she averted her gaze. "It doesn't change anything. It's too late."
"Why?" he prodded, in a deeply seductive voice. "Why is it too late?"
As he spoke his thumb moved to lightly stroke her lips, sending a delicious tremor through Liane. It so unsettled her that she suddenly couldn't seem to think straight or formulate a coherent reply. But she had to give him some answer or, by her silence, admit the truth.
"Your people. Your laws," she answered, grasping at the first thing that entered her mind. "They conspire to keep us apart." "Yes," he gravely admitted, "it would almost seem so."
Karic hesitated. Liane didn't know the full extent of the truth, the Elders' refusal to let them life mate, yet if he told her, she'd turn from him forever. Wouldn't it be better to convince her to go back with him, choose him at the Mating Festival, and hope, in time, to change the Elders' minds? It was grasping at the only chance of happiness they had, but it was better than nothing.
Yet wasn't that exactly what she'd end up with if he once again gave her assurances he had little hope of seeing succeed? All his promises in the past had come to naught, making him appear the fool, if not the liar. He hadn't meant it to be so, but in his own way he'd been naive and unrealistic. But reality had finally forced him to face the truth. Liane's fear and mistrust of him stemmed, for the main part, from all his broken promises and unsubstantial assurances. He loved her too much to intentionally lead her astray again.
His hand fell from her sweetly beguiling mouth to lightly settle upon her shoulder. "I won't lie to you, Liane," Karic said, the words the hardest he'd ever uttered. "I love you and want you to go back with me, but it's very likely we won't be allowed to life mate."
She stiffened. "Then what would be left us?"
"A temporary mating for at least three cycles, maybe more, before they finally forced me to take another."
Liane wrenched from his grasp. "And knowing that, you can still ask me to go back with you? Why, of all the self-serving, thoughtless"
"I know," he quietly cut in. "But at least this time there will be no illusions on either side. No sur- prises. It may be all we'll ever have."
"Well, it's not enough!"
"If you loved me"
"Love isn't enough, not in times such as these."
Though for a fleeting instant she was tempted to cast all fears aside, to grasp at even the brief time she'd have with Karic, Liane knew it was only her foolish heart speaking. In the end that same heart would be torn asunder when they were forced to part, each to become the mate of another. And that pain would be far worse than the pain of now giving him up.
She lifted resolute eyes. "I still want to go to Lyrae."
Karic's gaze narrowed. "Just like that, Liane? You can turn your back and close your heart, just like that?"
Liane gave a bitter laugh. "Yes, just like that. Will you take me to Lyrae?"
Something hardened in Karic. "Yes, Liane, I'll do anything for youeven give you up, if that's what it takes to make you happy."
She stared at him for a long moment, and the look in her eyes was unguarded, betraying the coldness of her words. Then, with a small sigh, she extinguished the flame box.
"Come. It's past time we were back at the entrance. We mustn't keep Gage waiting."
He immediately rose, pulling her up after him, and led the way through the darkened tunnel. Her warm look just before she'd turned from him told Karic everything he needed to know. Though she might be loathe to admit it, Liane loved him.
The journey to Lyrae would take three sols. There was no reason he couldn't linger a time after that to see she was safely ensconced there. His father knew not to expect him back soon.
The plan heartened him. There was time enough to convince her she was wrong about him, time enough to work through the tangled web of hurt and divided loyalties. Somehow, someway, he'd convince her to take a chance, to go back with him. He would win her heart after all.
They reached the pit's entrance and sat down to await Gage's return. Karic pulled her into the crook of his arm, and she willingly rested her head upon his shoulder. They sat there in silence. Gradually, Karic became aware that Liane seemed warmer than usual.
When he touched her forehead with the back of his hand, her skin felt hot and moist. Karic moved to get a better look at her in the greater brightness of moonlight.
Two spots of unnatural color stood out on Liane's face, and a feverishness gleamed in her eyes. She hesitantly smiled back at him.
"What's wrong, Karic? Why are you staring at me like that?"
"You look ill. How do you feel?"
"Well enough."
Karic studied her flushed face. "Your wounds fester, don't they?"
"And what if they do?" she defensively replied, pulling back from him. "It changes nothing. I must still walk out of here on my own and make my way to Lyrae. I won't let it stop me, not now, not when I'm so close to freedom and a new life."
"You're right, of course," Karic said, realizing the course of this discussion would only agitate her and she needed all her strength for the task ahead. "We'll cleanse your wounds and rebandage them once we're safely away from here. It helped before; it'll help again. I didn't mean to upset you. I was just concerned."
She sighed and wearily leaned back against him. "I know, Karic. I'm sorry if I seemed so harsh. I'm just tired, that's all. The stress of the past few sols has been great, not knowing what was happening to you, worrying about how I was going to find you, fearing the pits."
"Why are you so afraid of the darkness?" he asked, pressing his lips to her hair. "Did something happen to frighten you of it?"
"Yes," Liane replied with a small shudder. "When I was a child, two friends and I were playing in the forest. We came upon a small cave, the kind wild animals make for their den. We went in to explore and found that it burrowed deeply into the earth. My two friends were hesitant to go any further, but I, full of the excitement of discovering new worlds, mocked their fears until they went with me. The tunnel behind us caved in, entombing us behind a heavy wall of dirt. We panicked then, wasting what precious air that remained in our frantic attempts to dig our way out."
Her breath caught on a choking sob. "It was awfulthe screams of my friends, the tiny, cramped space, the smothering darkness." She sighed. "Luckily, there were other Sententians nearby working in the forest. They heard our psychic cries. Unluckily, for my two friends, their bodies starved for air a few secundae before mine did. They were dead when our rescuers reached us."
"So the darkness serves to remind you of the blame you shoulder for your friends' deaths."
Her gaze met his. "Wouldn't it you? If I hadn't taunted them to follow me . . ." "You were a child, Liane," Karic firmly reminded her. "You had no way of knowing. And though lives were lost the last time you willingly went down into a cave, this time you
saved
a life. If there was any debt for your childish mistake, I think it's been paid."
Tearful eyes studied him. "Do you really think so? It's a comfort, however unworthy I am of it. Thank you, Karic."
His finger tenderly traced the line of her jaw. "And thank you for your courage in coming into the pits for me, knowing now why you feared them so."
Karic's hand captured her chin. "You're full of courage," he said, steadily gazing down into her eyes. "If you'd just allow yourself, you could even overcome your fear of me."
Her eyes, fringed with sooty black lashes, widened as Karic lowered his mouth toward hers. "Itit wasn't courage that moved me to do it," she stammered.
"No, not just courage," he huskily agreed, his lips hovering a tantalizing breath from hers. "I know that, but you tell me the real reason, Liane. I want to hear it from you."
"Karic, I"
"Well, I see you two haven't wasted any time renewing old acquaintances," came a deep, masculine voice from behind them.
Karic was on his feet in an instant, his claws bared. A tall, blond man calmly stared back at him, making no effort to defend himself though a hard, dangerous look flared in his eyes. Liane quickly rose and stepped between them.
"This is Gage," she hastened to explain, noting the sudden tension arcing between the two men. "He's the friend I spoke of." Some of the rigidness eased from Karic's muscular frame, but his expression remained guarded. He retracted his claws. "Thank you for bringing Liane safely to me," he growled, emphasizing the possessiveness of the 'me'.
Gage's dark brow arched in amusement. "She'll go to great lengths for her friends, won't she, Cat Man?" he asked, his glance knowingly appraising him.
Two pairs of masculine eyes turned to Liane, and she colored fiercely. "We should be going. It's too dangerous to linger here."
Karic scowled at her, then nodded. He turned back to Gage. "What do you want us to do?"
"I'll make sure no guards are nearby," Gage said. "When it's clear I'll throw a small rock into the cave. You come out as soon as you hear it. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
They watched Gage slip back into the darkness outside the cave. It seemed an eternity before the pebble sailed in, alerting them it was time to leave. Grasping Liane's hand Karic stepped out into the nocte.
The cool air was fresh and sweet, stars twinkling in the blackened sky. He felt a wild surge of joy at being free again. They'd have to kill him before he'd ever let them drag him back down into that pit again.
When Gage motioned to them from the shadows of a nearby hut, they cautiously joined him.