Sue-Ellen paced. Her world had been reduced to a rocky room. Stone walls. No windows. No air.

So much weight hanging overhead. No escape.

What if something happened? A fire or flood or…

Rumble.

An earthquake!

A sift of dust was the only warning she got before the rock overhead tumbled, crushing her. Squished her under its weight and—

Lips pressed against hers, halting the scream.

She blinked open her eyes and noted she wasn’t dying.

Okay, maybe she was, though not by a cave-in, rather dying of shock because Remiel kissed her.

Kind of.

Not really. He just kept his mouth over hers.

“Whatareyoudoing?” she mumbled against his lips.

“They’re watching.”

“Who’s watching?”

He didn’t reply, just kept his mouth on hers, his hair falling in a silken curtain on either side.

No wonder I dreamed the roof caved in. His weight literally crushed. He’d thrown half his body on top of her, anchoring her with his bulk. The only thing separating them was a blanket.

Pity.

What is wrong with me?

Slut.

Stupid conscience.

She shoved at him, and he rolled to his side, and the disappointment was very real.

“How are they watching? Are there cameras?” She shifted her head to the side and eyed the walls with great suspicion.

“Not exactly. Do you believe in magic?”

Of all the things she’d expect a man to say, that wasn’t one of them. “Depends on what you mean by magic. If you mean fairy godmother waving a wand, granting wishes, then no. But there are ways of harnessing forces.” Great-grandma dabbled in the voodoo arts, and none of the granddaughters ever dared mock the dolls she made them. Not after cousin Daisy declared hers ugly and pulled out the yarn hair. She wore a wig to this day.

“No magic wands, but yes to magic mirrors.”

“Great. Stuck in a hole in the ground and being spied on. This just keeps getting better and better.” She sighed and flung an arm over her eyes. “I should have never left the swamp. My mother warned me the world wasn’t a nice place.”

“She was right.”

“Thanks for rubbing it in.”

“Are you always this grumpy in the morning?”

“Are you always this annoying?” Actually, he wasn’t. Their conversation was probably the only thing keeping her from curling into a ball and sobbing.

He moved away from her. She immediately felt colder and alone.

The revelation that he was the boy she’d stayed behind for, and not Samael, still confused her. Why was it she felt such a spark with him?

She opened her eyes as she sat up, noting the room still had the same dim lighting. The same rock walls. Everything remained as she recalled—unfortunately—minus one big man.

Where had Remiel gone?

Her first thought was that he’d returned to the pit room—the one she first landed in. He’d left her.

Alone.

That’s what I wanted.

Not.

Dammit.

She hugged herself as she peered anxiously at the walls around her.

Did they bulge?

Did the pressure make it creak and want to crack?

Whimper.

Cowardice crept into her, gripping her with sharp fingers of irrational fear. Before it could completely paralyze, she swallowed any pride she still possessed and ran for the tunnel.

He has to be here somewhere.

And she needed him.

She bolted through the dark corridor, her bare feet scraping along smoothed rock, her hands reaching out to the walls to steady her frantic dash.

Popping out of the passageway, she found herself in the pit area, and her hands waved around in the wide space. An empty space or so it seemed. Who could tell in the darkness?

She couldn’t even tell if she was alone. She didn’t get a tingle of awareness. Did not hear a breath of sound.

She could only imagine the chasm overhead, the rock walls stretching high above, shrouded in veils of shadow.

Pressing.

Crushing.

Darkness.

In some ways, the void overhead was worse than the rock she could see.

All around was nothingness.

She sank to her knees.

This is it. I’ve reached the end of my limits.

How much more was she expected to handle? Why did life continue to be hard? Life continually betrayed her. Was it too much to ask for? If not a happily ever after, how about not being constantly spanked with bad luck?

For once, couldn’t things go my way?

For once, couldn’t she live without the fear and anxiety?

Sigh.

A hand fell on her shoulder. She’d not even known Remiel approached, and yet her body didn’t react as it should.

A proper response would have involved shrieking and perhaps even ducking. Instead, she sighed again and leaned in to his touch.

Remiel was there to support her as she let herself relax. How did he do it? How did he make her feel safe?

Who cared?

“Why are you out here?” he asked, his arms braced around her, helping her to her feet.

“I went looking for you.” Because he’d abandoned her, and for some reason, the very idea had demolished her.

“I simply chose to partake of the bathing chamber.”

“The…what?” She stiffened and turned in his embrace. “Are you telling me there’s a bathroom?” Because her bladder was calling, and she really didn’t want to just pop a squat in a corner and let loose.

“More or less. I’ll take you to it.”

It turned out the bathing area was accessible from the main cave. The dark slash in the wall was covered by a tapestry that held in warm, steamy air.

Perspiration immediately formed on her skin. “It’s hot in here.”

“The cave I’m taking you to has some heated springs. They’re good for bathing.”

The tunnel, which, oddly enough, didn’t scare her with him holding her hand, spilled into a glowing cave. By glowing, she meant the stalactites hanging from the ceiling and stalagmites jutting from the floor appeared to bounce colored light.

Red, blue, green. The colors rippled over stone, the kind of reflected glow that spoke of water. She could hear running liquid, the splash quite distinct.

It made her urge to go multiply. As in, cross-her-legs-and-hope-she-didn’t-sneeze urgent.

He noticed.

How embarrassing.

“It’s behind that big rock over there.” He pointed to the jutting tower of stone that rose so high it touched the one from the ceiling and formed a pillar.

Trying to walk slowly, and with utmost nonchalance, when fighting a painful need to drop to her haunches and pee was hard. As the rock he’d designated got closer, her pace got faster. Just how big was this room?

She tucked around the boulder and quickly noted an actual toilet seat carved of wood sitting on some stacked stones, and toilet paper.

Praise a god she suddenly believed in!

She yanked up her gown and heaved a heavy sigh of relief. The constant tinkling sound of water served to act as a noise screen.

A much happier girl rejoined Remiel. She weaved through the short stalagmites on the floor, noting how they were shaped differently, the striations on each unique. All the stone formed a garden of rock and water, alien in many ways but quite beautiful.

But this underground wonder paled in comparison to the sight of Remiel, standing up to his waist in water.

Bare-chested, his long, blond hair spilling over his shoulders, he appeared a sea god rising from the depths.

All that strain to avoid peeing her underpants and she wet them anyways just looking at him.

Damn him for being so handsome. So familiar.

So painful.

She looked at him and saw Samael.

I thought I loved him.

She’d loved a lie.

But Remiel is real. He was the one she’d met first.

The one I really fell in love with.

Or did she simply fool herself again?

She wished her inner self would talk to her. Where was that voice of reason she’d gotten used to growing up? Why could she not have the advice of one who could smell a lie? She needed someone with her best interests at heart.

But her gator remained dormant. Sue-Ellen was alone.

“Are you going to join me or remain grubby?”

The temptation to bathe was huge. “I don’t have any other clothes.”

“That’s a poor excuse. You know we can fabricate something with my items.”

Good point, but she still couldn’t do it, not when he watched. She angled her chin. “Turn around.”

A very masculine grin emerged. “And miss the show? I am only polite to a certain point.”

“I am not getting naked for your entertainment or those watching.”

“No one’s watching.”

“How can you be sure? You said they had magical ways of spying.”

“They do, in the other room, but not in this place. I made sure of it. None of their enchanted objects are in here, so we have this room to ourselves.” He patted the water beside him. “So come on in, and I’ll scrub your back if you scrub mine.”

She wanted to do more than scrub him clean. She wanted to rub her hands all over that smooth flesh and dirty it.

What is wrong with me?

She didn’t strip, but she did join him.

He smiled. A devastating smile. A smile that crumpled when she said, “If we’re alone, then it’s a good time to plan our escape.”

“Not going to happen. There’s only one way out, and you’d never make it.”

“So you’ve searched all the caves? Crawled through every crack.”

“There’s only one crack I’m interested in.”

The wave of water she sent his way didn’t make him sputter, but he did blink, moisture clinging to his lashes.

“If you’re not going to take this seriously, then there is no point in talking to you.” She turned her back and proceeded to submerge herself, sinking low into the water, letting the warmth of it relax her muscles. She closed her eyes and tried to think.

Think.

He’s right behind me.

Concentrate.

What’s he doing?

Need a plan.

I should plan to maul him for information.

Sigh.

She burst from the water, letting it sluice from her, feeling the grime of days leaving her skin.

“Now that you don’t smell so bad, are you in a better mood?”

She rotated in the water that she might give Remiel a proper glare. “Have you always been this obnoxious?”

“Yes. See what you were missing out on?”

She did, actually. For all she shared a connection with Samael—and kisses—there was always a certain pomposity to him. He treated her like she was less than him.

Remiel in a sense did, too, but at the same time, he kept doing things that made her feel as if—

“Put me down!” she shrieked as he lifted her in the air.

“Not until you lose that serious face.”

“This is a serious situation,” she claimed, grasping at his wrists, lest he drop her.

“It is, and it can’t be changed, so get used to it.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Then prepare for the consequences,” he said before he tossed her!