Craved
Chapter 18

Damon:

Instead of accepting his help, Renee sputtered and tossed her head back and abruptly stood. Her wet hair slapped against her back as the towel loosened around her.

She shoved him with one hand and clasped the towel to her with the other. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Looked like you were struggling." He honestly believed she might have slipped and drowned.

This morning, when Renee wasn't around anywhere, his breath froze. Then Travis told him Carla was missing too. Before he sent out a search party and called a helicopter to sweep the area, he thought to check the river. She took a step back and glanced around. "Where's Carla?"

"She's not as reluctant as you to go naked." He pointed into the deep part of the river. "See?"

Nude, Carla sauntered out of the river. Even his incubus' yearnings didn't sizzle like they did with merely the thought of Renee.

"Traitor," she whispered to Carla when the woman neared them. The glare Renee shot him after she realized he'd helped her would've frozen a mortal man.

He inhaled as her fear, anger, and arousal swirled through him, and he fought the urge to close the distance between them, then kiss her until she begged him for more. His heart rate sped up. She wore the crystal again. "I came looking for you two," he said. "Finish up. We're leaving as soon as you're done."

"I thought we had an hour?" Renee tightened the towel around her chest, tucking the edges under her armpits.

"The tour guide called me back this morning with this only opening."

Her chin rose. "I thought you said you scheduled it already?"

Damn, clever too. "Well, apparently they had a conflict. Now hurry up, or everyone will blame you two for taking a bath when it was time to leave."

His fault for making the appointment late, but money could buy nearly anything. He convinced the tour to take them on, an hour earlier than he'd planned. Better than waiting a week. He didn't know why, but the thought of looking like a lying fool in front of Renee made his stomach twist in knots.

"Ready to leave?" Dumb question. She was dripping wet and wearing a towel.

Though now he wished he hadn't booked the tour today and preferred to give her swimming lessons, and maybe more. When his conscience wagged a finger at him, he frowned. Get the crystal, then get the hell away from her. "Carla and I need a few minutes of privacy to get dressed."

He glimpsed the edge of her breast before she hastily covered herself. His pulse raced at the idea of ripping off her towel and envisioning her standing naked in front of him. Stop it. "I'll wait on the bus." He pointed to the vehicle in the distance. "I promise I won't watch."

"Right." She looked like she was about to lash out with a rebuttal.

He moseyed to the bus. True to his word, he rested against the back bumper, facing away from both women. Checking his watch would not speed them up, and he resisted the urge to peek. Somehow, he had to get her to trust him, and breaking his word, which he never liked to do, was not the way.

His cell buzzed, and he pulled it out of his pocket. A text from his lawyers. They were still negotiating a compromise with the Turkish government. However, they'd obtained permission for Damon and his team to stay at the excavation site, provided they didn't dig. If this situation didn't get taken care of soon, he'd make a trip to the capital himself. Why were they so against the excavation now when they'd given the permissions before? Unless it had to do with the urn. Maybe Cynthia showing it around brought out extremists who were threatened.

When Renee and Carla's sneakers skittered over rocks, he made a show of slowly coming out from behind the minibus after putting his cell phone away.

"Let's go." Renee dashed to the bus, and once inside, scrambled into the far back corner.

Carla gave her a funny look as she climbed into one of the front seats. "Why are you sitting back there?"

"So the others can get in more easily. Besides, I rode shotgun yesterday."

She trusted Travis more than him. Using the gnome to convince her to part with the crystal might work, but it would take more than kind words from someone to connect with Renee enough for her to give him the necklace.

The car bounced over the rocky terrain on their way back to camp. There, everyone waited for the ride into town and the tour. When they piled in, a few grumbled about waiting for Carla and Renee to bathe.

"I can't believe Carla and Renee held us up. And for skinny-dipping in the river." Maggie, the intern, peeked over at them.

"Inconsiderate if you ask me," Dan added.

Renee flushed red but gazed out the window as if refusing to acknowledge their whispers.

Damon paused at the stop sign onto the main road. "Again, Renee, Carla, I apologize for giving you both the wrong time of the tour. A text message said the tour before ours is running a bit behind," he winked when Renee met his gaze, "so we'll be there in plenty of time."

She smiled slightly. The smoky quartz dangled around her neck like a lure. He spun the car onto the main road and headed into town. Hopefully, destiny would grant him kindness today. Renee glanced behind them at the abandoned campsite.

Damn, he'd hoped no one would notice. "Ken and Melanie are on their way there. Should be here any minute. Ken is gonna grab his things, and when I told him about our trip, he offered to guard. He's already seen the tunnels, and apparently, Melanie wasn't interested."

Damon planned on spending as much time with Renee regardless of if she liked it or not. Besides, they couldn't excavate. He pressed the brakes and the bus shuddered to a stop outside one of the tours for Derinkuyu. Damon exited the vehicle with his group and crossed the lot to the front of the line. After checking them in, the tour guide gave each a backpack with two water bottles, a protein bar, jerky, and a flashlight.

"Is this if we get lost?" Carla dug through her pack.

"In a way. The tunnels are extensive. They go sixty miles deep and are so massive we only cover a short bit on the tour. We'll be walking for several hours so you'll want the refreshments." The tour guide handed out the remaining packs, then he gestured. "If you will follow me."

The building connected to one of the access points of the underground city. Single file, they descended stairs in a narrow stalagmite-filled passage. When they passed a large round stone with a hole in the center, the tour guide paused. "This is one of the doors. Many down here. They can weigh up to five hundred kilograms-good for keeping out invaders. Such as during the Arab-Byzantine wars and the Ottoman persecution most recently with the Cappadocian Greeks." He traced his finger over the hole in the middle. "This opens or closes this millstone, and they could look through it like a peephole."

"I think the whole place is romantic." Michael pulled Gary close, kissing his cheek.

Gary lit up like a Christmas tree.

The tour guide cleared his throat, turning away. "These massive stone doors are on each floor. Technically, if the enemy did breach the tunnels, they would have several of these doors to pass through." He chuckled. "Unless they had giants or Hercules, they wouldn't have made it past many. Ancient people carved elaborate churches out of rock, wine presses, cooking areas, and livestock pens."

Damon snorted. Giants were expensive. Cyclopes, though not as big or strong, would be able to do the job. A good number worked for pounds of flesh rather than gold like giants. Cyclopes came with a nasty temper though. Giants were tricky and would negotiate a contract in their favor.

In the twenties, humans abandoned these tunnels when Alexandra cursed all who lived here because an incubus thwarted her advancements. She bound him to these caves, never allowing him to escape. All who left these tunnels had no memory of them or how to replace them again until both the witch and the incubus perished.

Rumor said he died of starvation. Forty years later, a man rediscovered the tunnels when he uncovered a hidden room behind a wall in his home. Damon couldn't imagine living here in this maze without any means of feeding. The hunger alone would have driven him mad.

"Nearly twenty thousand people with their livestock and food lived here." The tour guide droned on.

Damon's cell buzzed. After stepping away, he dug it out of his pocket.

Damon, it is with regret that I inform you that I and most of my crew have a stomach flu we keep passing around. If you and your team are still available, we'd love you to come out in a few days once everyone's well. Let me know as we don't want to contaminate anyone, but we could use your help getting caught up. Thanks. Dr. Abany.

Damon responded then put his phone away. Wait. Where was Renee?

Away from the others, she traced the carved soft volcanic rock. He quick-stepped toward her and nodded to Travis, dismissing him. No reason for the gnome to tag along. "Go with the others," he whispered. "Better yet, keep them away from me and Renee as much as you can."

Despite Travis's nod, his eyes were wide and sad, and his mouth dipped into a frown. Let Travis have a crush on someone else. Renee is mine...for now.