Page 14 of Wired Ghost

The lava tube had opened up to another cavern. Sophie’s torch gleamed on the still, black surface of an underground pool that stretched from one side of it to the other, and off into a distance that the torch’s light couldn’t pierce.

Chapter Nine

Jake

Jake droppedto a squat and dipped his fingers into the water, licking them tentatively. He glanced up at Sophie as she held the torch aloft. “Not salty. This is fresh water.” He scooped a double handful and brought it to his mouth. “And it’s delicious. Also freeze-your-ass cold. What the hell? I thought we were in Hawaii.”

“That’s strange,” Sophie murmured. “Because a little while ago I thought I felt warmer.”

“I don’t know about you, but cold or not, I want to rinse off this shit we’re covered in. What do you say to a refreshing bath?”

Sophie frowned. “I know we’re both sexually frustrated, Jake, but we should continue to make survival a priority. If we bathe in the water, we’ll pollute it. We should see if we can find a way around this pond or whatever it is, and once we’ve determined we’ve gone as far as we want to go today, we can assess getting clean in a non-essential water source. Hydration is the priority right now.”

Jake emitted a gusty sigh. “You’re right of course, boss.”

This time Sophie was the one to wiggle her brows. “You make me so hot when you call me ‘boss.’”

“Oh ho. The way to your heart is through your ego, eh? I knew it.” Jake couldn’t resist the jab, and immediately regretted it, as Sophie’s playful expression stiffened into that familiar mask she hid behind.

“Let’s drink as much as we need, and go this way.” She pointed to a narrow, rocky parapet that appeared to lead around one side of the water source. “Perhaps there’s another area we can bathe in on the other side. I don’t even want to put my hands in the water and corrupt it.” Sophie wedged her torch between a couple of rocks. She extended herself to lean down to drink the water directly, by planting her chin in it.

Jake moved to copy her. They both drank as much as they could hold.

Jake stood up, his stomach sloshing and full. Water had never tasted so good. “I’m sorry I said that. About your ego.”

Sophie shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. It’s true.” She picked up the torch and headed for the narrow ledge against the wall. “We’re going to have to go slow. It would be a disaster to fall in and have the torch go out, or the lighter or oil be lost.”

“It does matter,” Jake said, following her. “I don’t want to say hurtful things to you. Have you close up on me.”

“We’ve both said a lot of hurtful things. It seems to be part of relationships.” Sophie turned sideways, apparently the only way she could fit onto the ledge. She sidled onto the narrow outcrop, holding the torch aloft with one hand and clinging to the rocks with the other. “You’re going to have some trouble here, Jake—you’re wider than me. Let’s not talk about this now.”

“When else will we talk about it? I’m an ass. Please forgive me.” Jake stepped up onto the ledge with his back to the wall. He was so much thicker than Sophie. She was right—his boot toes protruded out over the water. He stepped back off and tucked the unlit torch into the back of his pants, then checked that the oil can was tightly closed. He refastened the snap on his leg pocket, and turned to face the ledge, clinging with both hands. “I’m going to tackle this like I’m bouldering.”

“Whatever works.” Sophie turned to face forward, pressing against the stone wall, as well. “It’s hard to hold the torch up and hang onto the rock, too.”

“You have to forgive me. For what I said.” It felt important that he win this argument.

“Like I have to forgive you for leaving me for Felicia? Taking her and starting your own company? Living with her for two years and leaving me to raise my child alone?” Sophie’s voice was sharp.

Jake’s neck went hot. He chose each finger-and toehold carefully, sidling after her. “I apologized for all of that. And in fairness, I thought you were with another guy all the time you were with me. I had evidence of it!”

“I never lied that I had other relationships, of other kinds, with other men than you. You knew about Alika. Maybe you didn’t know the full truth about Connor, but you told me you chose to believe me when I told you that we were only friends.” Sophie was panting a bit, her voice uneven with emotion. “You were my only lover when we were together. And you really don’t know me very well if you think I’d cheat—nor did you trust me, for that matter. That became abundantly clear.”

Sophie got wordier when she was upset. Finding a place to wash up and make love was beginning to seem like a mirage dancing out of reach; clearly, they still had a lot of issues to work out.

“Trust goes both ways, lady.” The heat of defensive anger made Jake’s fingers sweaty on the rock. “I told you how I felt about cheaters. And why.”

“And yet you cheated on me with those hookers in Thailand. And then left me for Felicia.” Her sad, husky tone pierced him, all the way to the heart.

“I was wrong.” Jake shut his eyes, clinging to the rock. Shame washed over him. “I’m so freakin’ sorry, Sophie. I was hurting. I thought you’d betrayed me, and I’d almost died by torture. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

But Sophie kept going. She edged her way around a boulder. The light of the torch disappeared, leaving Jake stranded in darkness, with nothing but a dim reflection of the flame, flickering and bouncing off the black water below, to navigate by.

Hell if he was going to ask her to stop, or call out for help.

Jake tried to let his eyes adjust as much as possible, but the torch was getting farther away. He had to try to catch up. He put out a boot, felt for a foothold, reached sideways for a handhold, and gently eased over, placing his other foot carefully.

Reach out, feel for toehold, stretch arm, grab a handhold, ease over, set down foot, re-grip . . .Was she just going to leave him in the dark?

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