Page 46 of To Claim His Highland Bride

He released his breath in a rush. “I need you to climb down in order for them to start their work.” He pulled his fingers from hers and scrambled down from his perch, giving his men full access to the solid pile of heavy rock.

*

Time passed slowly while Rowena leaned back against the wall of the cave. She watched the light in the lantern flicker as the wax burned lower. She would have blown out the candle but she had no way to light it again and the gap in the stone was too small to fit either a new candle or Marcus’s flint and steel.

When, judging by the waning height of the candle, it had been over two hours and she had yet to see one boulder shift, she climbed back up to the small gap in the rocks. “Marcus?”

She could hear the grinding of stone and grunts from the men as they continued to battle the boulders. “Marcus,” she tried again. This time the sounds stopped and she could hear someone climbing towards her.

“Rowena.” Marcus’s voice was laced with frustration.

“How are things progressing?”

“Slowly. We’ve managed to break up a few of the larger boulders towards the bottom only to find other boulders behind them. We need more time.” His voice was suddenly quiet, almost strangled.

“Time is something none of us have. The candle is almost to its quick. If I am to make it back to the sea tunnel, I’ll need a source of light.” Rowena wet her suddenly trembling lips. “It’s time, Marcus. I need to act now.”

“Don’t ask me to let you go, to lose you. Not when I finally know what I want.” He shoved two fingers into the gap, searching for hers.

Instead of touching him, she pressed a kiss to the tips of his flesh, hoping and praying this would not be the end for them. “What is it that you want?”

“I want you. I thought you knew that.” She heard the raw, aching need in his voice.

Her breath caught in her throat. “How would I know? I am not clairvoyant.”

“I love you, Rowena, with all my heart. My actions must have communicated how I felt about you.”

“Sometimes a woman needs words.”

He laughed, the sound a welcome relief to the pain and despair they’d both felt only moments ago. “Then in the future I pledge to not only show you with my actions but also to tell you with words how much I love you each and every day.”

The future. A shower-burst of joy warmed all the places inside her that had become numb from the cold, wet cave. There were still many details that needed to be hashed out about their future, but that was for later. No matter the obstacles before them, they both had something to live for from this moment forward.

“It’s going to be all right.” She bent to kiss his fingertips once more. “I love you, Marcus. We will meet again in the water outside the cave.” And with those words, she climbed down and picked up the lantern.

With a deep shuddering breath, she hurried down the tunnel. When she made it to where she’d found the treasure before she stopped, startled that the ten treasure chests were gone. With a frown, Rowena continued on to the sea tunnel, and setting the lantern down, knelt before the opening. The seal had also vanished. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears. She wasn’t certain she could make her way through the pitch-black cave before her breath ran out without the seal’s help.

Rowena waited several long moments, hoping the animal would return. When it did not come, she gathered her courage and removed her boots, setting them next to the lantern. It would be easier to swim without her footwear weighing her down. Kneeling at the edge of the sea tunnel, Rowena vowed not to let this dark barrier rob her of the one thing she wanted most in this life—Marcus, and through him the resurrection of her dreams. She wouldn’t drown in this tunnel and let everything they’d worked through over the past few days come to an end.

With a slow deep breath, she filled her lungs and dove head first into the ice-cold waters of the sea. The world took on a surreal quality. Time slowed. Only the sound of her own blood pulsing in her ears seemed real, as a cold darkness surrounded Rowena.

In the void it was difficult to tell up from down and right from left so she kicked her feet and pumped her arms, hoping and praying she was headed in the right direction. Instead of trying to fight the water, Rowena relaxed into it. That’s when she felt it—a current that ebbed and flowed with the pulsing of the tide.

With a renewed sense of purpose and strength, Rowena followed the current. Twice she scraped her legs against something hard, most likely the side of the tunnel, but her fairy garments protected her from harm even as her chest burned. The need for air pressed in upon her as she continued on in the darkness.

Her lungs ached as she kicked her feet, ignoring the panic that edged into her thoughts. The tunnel was too deep, the surface too far away. Another realisation struck her as she kept moving forward. The cold water was sapping her strength. She hadn’t counted on the water being so icy cold.

Pain ripped through Rowena’s chest as the desire to draw breath took over rational thought. She pressed her lips tighter, fighting the instinct. When all of a sudden a dark object hurled towards her.

She almost gasped but stopped herself. Instead she flailed her arms in front of her, trying to swim past whatever blocked her way. Then her hands connected with something warm and solid. A fin perhaps? Holding on against hope that it was a seal, she tightened her grip and found herself jerked forward with a similar sensation of speed against the water that she’d felt in Loch Dunvegan.

Whatever she clung to propelled her towards air, life, and—she hoped—the future.

Chapter Twenty

Marcus had ordered everyone out of the cave as soon as the light had faded from the small gap in the blockade. If Rowena was going to swim out of the cave through some unknown channel, then he and his men would be waiting with their lanterns pushing back the darkness until they found her. They would wait all night if they had to for some sign that she had escaped.

Stars hung in the night sky, pinpoints of light that were the world’s only illumination. The sea made an eternal blackness in all directions. Marcus closed his eyes. The stillness of the moment settled around him as he listened to the song of the wind stirring the sea, and waited for a splash that might indicate that Rowena had broken through to the surface.