Page 63 of In Doubt

“No!” I shake my head, and plant my palm over my face, peering at him through my fingers. “You’ll think I’m an idiot.”

“I don’t think you’re an idiot, Giorgie,” he says, his voice deep and serious.

My belly warms.

“I was nervous because of all those tales about Egyptian curses. I’m only 23. I don’t particularly want to die some gruesome death.”

I expect him to laugh. Instead, he considers my fear. “Latest research suggests the researchers opening some of those tombs, the ones that died later, were probably exposed to toxic fumes. Nothing to do with curses.”

“It makes sense I suppose, but now I’m here I’m less afraid.” I peer up at him, painted by the scarlet light. “It feels like there is something in the air, don’t you think, but it isn’t sinister.”

“Something in the air,” he repeats, and I watch as the Adam’s apple in his throat bobs up and down, a fine layer of fair stubble covering his chin, stubble I want to scratch my fingernails across.

We round the corner of the temple and reach our freshly-dug trench. The digger has gone and here we are completely alone. Not another living soul in sight.

I should be afraid.

It’s how I’ve felt in the presence of alphas ever since …

But I don’t feel afraid of Jake. I don’t even feel wary. Despite the incident yesterday, I feel calm and safe. A feeling I only usually feel when my brother and his pack are nearby.

I asked Jake to stop earlier and he did, despite the fire I could see in his eyes. Despite how turned on I knew he was. He stopped when I asked him to and he pulled away. As a consequence, I find I trust him.

Maybe he won’t hurt me. Maybe he won’t betray me. Maybe Aiden is right. At some point you have to let go of that fear and trust.

Some flood lights have been wheeled to the edge of the trench, but there’s no need for them yet. Jake clambers down and then we’re here again, his hand reaching up for mine, an earnest look lingering on his face.

I don’t hesitate. I take his hand and let him pull me down into the pit. This time I land perfectly and to my surprise I’m almost disappointed not to fall against his strong body, not to have his muscular arm curl around my waist.

That isn’t why we’re here.

The final rays of light streak across the vast sky and my breath catches in my throat with the wonder of it. We stand side by side staring up at it, open mouthed.

“It’s so beautiful,” I mumble.

“It is,” he murmurs and I have the craziest urge to grab two handfuls of his shirt and tug him towards me, to crush my mouth against his, to drag him to the cool ground. To give him my body, and my heart. To stop fighting and start loving instead.

That kiss was electric and I want to do it again so badly.

What the hell?

I stumble away from him.

It’s this place. It’s his scent. It’s the fact he’s so damn attractive.

“I’ll start over here,” I mumble, scurrying to the far side of the trench and he jolts, striding over to the opposite end.

“Great,” he says without enthusiasm.

The scrape of our tools against the ground is the only sound for the next hour until I realise I’m squinting through my glasses.

I look up and find the sky has grown a dark grey, the sun gone completely.

“We should turn on the lights,” I say and Jake places down his tool, jumping out of the trench and striding towards the two lights.

“You think we’ll find anything?” I say as he switches on the bulbs and I blink against the blinding rays. I can’t see him, he’s lost in the shadows, while I’m illuminated like an actress on the stage.

“Yes, Giorgie, I think we will. Maybe not an artefact or anything like that. But I think we’ll find signs of a path. Proof of your theory.”