The Eden Factor (Kathlyn Trent/Marcus Burton Romance Adventure Series Book 2) by Kathryn Le Veque Page A
Authors: Kathryn Le Veque
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tried
to push past him.
"No, you don't," he
threw his arms around her, grabbing her in a big bear hug from behind.
"You're coming with me and we're going to talk this out."
"Let me go," she
grunted. "I have nothing more to say!"
His answer was to pick her up and
carry her, like a dangling doll, down the shaft, into Main Chamber A, and down
a steep, dangerous stairwell designated Stairwell B. He almost lost his footing
half way down because she was squirming so much. He carted her into long
passageway named Corridor C, partially destroyed by sabotage the previous year
but still structurally sound. Kathlyn kicked and twisted, struggling against
him with all her might, but he was just too strong. When they entered a large,
high-ceilinged chamber designated Chamber D, she managed to trip him up and
they fell together on the hard-packed ground. Marcus took the brunt of the
fall. But he didn't let her go and he didn't get up. He just lay there, with
her against him.
"Now," he tasted blood
in his mouth where he had bit his tongue when he fell. "I don't know how
this got so out of hand, but it's going to stop right now. I'm not going to let
you risk your life because you're mad at me."
Kathlyn's head was back against
his shoulder. She could feel his hot breath on her left ear. "Let me go,”
she said through clenched teeth.
“Not until we hash this out.”
She knew him well enough to know
that he would not release her until he was satisfied. For the longest time, she
didn’t say a word. “I'm not doing anything I haven't already done at some time
in the past,” she said finally. “Danger is a part of my game and you know
it."
"You don't have to keep
reminding me of what you've done in the past. I know what you've done. But that
was then; this is now. I am asking you, as your husband, to respect my wishes
on this Iraq thing. I'm not trying to control you or manipulate you. I just
don't like the feel of the whole thing."
"You liked it well enough yesterday
when we were doing things your way. Now that we're not, it's like you're
throwing a temper tantrum just to get your way. And I'm not going to give in on
this, Marcus. You might as well know."
"And you might as well know
that the only reason I agreed to go along with this in the first place was
because we were doing it the right way; taking the time to properly excavate.
Don't you see what you're doing? You're going to go crashing in there, tearing
up the place, and then leaving. It's just not right, Kathlyn. Can't you see
that?"
In his grasp, she had relaxed.
Now she just lay there, staring up at the string of lights that illuminated the
massive chamber with paintings of Nut and Geb across the ceiling in rich shades
of blue and gold. Their father, the air god Shu, stood beneath his children
and lifted them up with his long snaking arms.
"You need to have more faith
in me than that," she said quietly. "I'm not an idiot, Marcus. I'm a
trained archaeologist, just like you. I know what is right and what is wrong.
If you want to know the truth, the only real reason I'm going with Fayd is to
make sure he really doesn't rip up the site. I don't trust him. I feel the need
to watch him, because truthfully, it's a fact of life that he's going to have
the chance to excavate the angel before me. I don't have any funding or any
permits, and no real hope in the near future of getting any. So if I can't do
it, I need to watch over the person who is."
Their anger was cooling. Marcus
began to see the motivation behind all of this and cursed himself for being
stupid enough not to have realized it sooner. Still, he wished she had told him
rather than assuming he could read her mind.
"So the bottom line is, even
if you stay here with me like I want, Fahdlan is still going."
"Exactly."
"And you need to keep an eye
on him."
"Yes."
Marcus blew out a heavy sigh.
"So why don't you tell me any of this? Why do you just turn your back on
me and act like I'm trying to manipulate you
to push past him.
"No, you don't," he
threw his arms around her, grabbing her in a big bear hug from behind.
"You're coming with me and we're going to talk this out."
"Let me go," she
grunted. "I have nothing more to say!"
His answer was to pick her up and
carry her, like a dangling doll, down the shaft, into Main Chamber A, and down
a steep, dangerous stairwell designated Stairwell B. He almost lost his footing
half way down because she was squirming so much. He carted her into long
passageway named Corridor C, partially destroyed by sabotage the previous year
but still structurally sound. Kathlyn kicked and twisted, struggling against
him with all her might, but he was just too strong. When they entered a large,
high-ceilinged chamber designated Chamber D, she managed to trip him up and
they fell together on the hard-packed ground. Marcus took the brunt of the
fall. But he didn't let her go and he didn't get up. He just lay there, with
her against him.
"Now," he tasted blood
in his mouth where he had bit his tongue when he fell. "I don't know how
this got so out of hand, but it's going to stop right now. I'm not going to let
you risk your life because you're mad at me."
Kathlyn's head was back against
his shoulder. She could feel his hot breath on her left ear. "Let me go,”
she said through clenched teeth.
“Not until we hash this out.”
She knew him well enough to know
that he would not release her until he was satisfied. For the longest time, she
didn’t say a word. “I'm not doing anything I haven't already done at some time
in the past,” she said finally. “Danger is a part of my game and you know
it."
"You don't have to keep
reminding me of what you've done in the past. I know what you've done. But that
was then; this is now. I am asking you, as your husband, to respect my wishes
on this Iraq thing. I'm not trying to control you or manipulate you. I just
don't like the feel of the whole thing."
"You liked it well enough yesterday
when we were doing things your way. Now that we're not, it's like you're
throwing a temper tantrum just to get your way. And I'm not going to give in on
this, Marcus. You might as well know."
"And you might as well know
that the only reason I agreed to go along with this in the first place was
because we were doing it the right way; taking the time to properly excavate.
Don't you see what you're doing? You're going to go crashing in there, tearing
up the place, and then leaving. It's just not right, Kathlyn. Can't you see
that?"
In his grasp, she had relaxed.
Now she just lay there, staring up at the string of lights that illuminated the
massive chamber with paintings of Nut and Geb across the ceiling in rich shades
of blue and gold. Their father, the air god Shu, stood beneath his children
and lifted them up with his long snaking arms.
"You need to have more faith
in me than that," she said quietly. "I'm not an idiot, Marcus. I'm a
trained archaeologist, just like you. I know what is right and what is wrong.
If you want to know the truth, the only real reason I'm going with Fayd is to
make sure he really doesn't rip up the site. I don't trust him. I feel the need
to watch him, because truthfully, it's a fact of life that he's going to have
the chance to excavate the angel before me. I don't have any funding or any
permits, and no real hope in the near future of getting any. So if I can't do
it, I need to watch over the person who is."
Their anger was cooling. Marcus
began to see the motivation behind all of this and cursed himself for being
stupid enough not to have realized it sooner. Still, he wished she had told him
rather than assuming he could read her mind.
"So the bottom line is, even
if you stay here with me like I want, Fahdlan is still going."
"Exactly."
"And you need to keep an eye
on him."
"Yes."
Marcus blew out a heavy sigh.
"So why don't you tell me any of this? Why do you just turn your back on
me and act like I'm trying to manipulate you
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