Thomas followed her as she tentatively tapped the ground with every step. Once they reached the ledge, they sat. He placed the lantern next to him, and it reflected off the cavern walls andwater. It was a stunning space. The rock and stone had been shaped by moving water, giving it a completely unique look.
Lisbeth swung her legs back and forth, making him queasy. She glanced at him and said, “I promise I will scoot back before I stand up.”
“Please do.”
She giggled. “You still are Serious Thomas.”
A bark of laughter escaped him. “I never said I wasn’t, Lizzie.”
She turned to look at him. “You are the only person who has ever called me that.”
Why did that statement thrill him? Damn it, and why was she still so beautiful? Her blonde hair was a mess, but in a way that made him want to unbind it. Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement. For a moment, he wondered what adventures with Lisbeth would have been like over the last ten years. Instinctively, he leaned over and gently rubbed away the smudge on her cheek.
The air around them changed; it became charged with something that Thomas knew was not appropriate. His gaze flicked down to her lips, and her mouth parted. A memory of kissing her flashed in his mind. All the desire he’d been holding back for Lisbeth roared to life.
He didn’t want to crave this woman still, but he did. She bit her lip and leaned towards him. Thomas wanted to kiss her. Christ, he craved to push her down in this beautiful space and get lost in her body, if he was being honest.
Their bodies bent towards each other, and his lips hovered over hers. He heard her breath hitch. Would one taste destroy him? Did he care? His hands slid up the back of her neck into her hair. She whimpered. His mouth touched hers in a whisper of a kiss.
“Did you find it?” Benson bellowed from the other side of the small tunnel they’d just traveled through.
Lisbeth pulled back, scooting herself away from the ledge, and jumped to her feet. She hollered through the opening. “We don’t think so. We are coming back now.”
She looked at Thomas nervously. “We shouldn’t have done that. We have both moved on, and it should remain that way. We are different people. Those feelings are long gone.”
They weren’t, though, and the way she rocked on her feet skittishly, Thomas suspected she was lying to both of them. He grabbed the lantern and joined her by the opening. She glanced at him and said, “It was nothing, right?”
He could lie to her, but instead, he placed the lantern on a small natural shelf. She gulped, and before she could deny that the brief touching of their lips was nothing, again, Thomas pulled her to him. He smashed his mouth down on hers. No, this was certainly not nothing. This was everything.
The softness of her lips molded against his. He ran his tongue along the seam, and she parted her mouth. He delved in and brushed against her tongue, taking and enticing. His cock, already hard, strained against his trousers. He threaded his hands in her hair, deepening the kiss as she pushed herself against his form.
Thomas wanted to slide his hands down her body and find the heat between her thighs, yet he stepped back. She looked at him wide-eyed and touched her lips.
Benson yelled, “Should we follow you in?”
Thomas hollered back, “No. We are on our way.”
He grabbed the lantern and stepped back so she could go first. Lisbeth watched him. Thomas quietly said, “I don’t think it’s nothing.”
She slid sideways into the opening, fleeing as fast as one could in a small space.
Chapter Six
Lisbeth glanced atThomas as she ate her food. They were back in the village. Rafe’s team hadn’t found anything either. There was only one other path. She hoped that it would lead to the cavernous area where the tablets were supposedly located.
She frowned, puzzled. By the time they’d popped out of the other side of the narrow tunnel after their kiss, Thomas had acted as if their moment had never occurred.It wasn’t nothing. What did he mean by that?
Placing her fingers to her mouth, Lisbeth’s mind flashed to their kiss in the cavern, specifically her yearning and desire for him. Before departing on this trip, she’d convinced herself that what she and Thomas shared was young love and she’d feel nothing now that she was older.
Lisbeth was a fool because all the emotions that she expected to stay gone came roaring back the moment he kissed her. She still wanted him. A frown marred her face. Nothing further could happen with Thomas. Their past was too complicated and filled with too much hurt.
There were things that if Thomas knew, he’d never forgive her. She didn’t want to think about it. Lisbeth had made her choices all those years ago and swore she wouldn’t spend her life filled with regret. It didn’t benefit anyone. He’d moved on, and so had she, eventually forming a loving bond with her husband until his passing.
Yes, the moment with Thomas was nothing; it had to be. Her stomach clenched at the lie she was telling herself. Thomas glanced at her, and at first, his expression seemed perfectly normal, but then something flared in his eyes. Desire swirled between them, and not just the physical kind but an all-consuming need that made her tremble.
“I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to see the grotto you and Easton saw,” Abbas said, sitting down next to her.
She tore her gaze away from Thomas, gulping.Dratted kiss!Turning to Abbas, she did her best to push away the swirl of emotion still lingering and said, “It was beautiful. What was your area like?”
