For the first time the nature of her surroundings sank into Diana.
"A kiva! I fell through the ceiling of a kiva?"
"You sure did, honey."
"We have to mark the site and be careful not to do any more damage and-"
"First," Ten interrupted smoothly, "we have to get the hell out of here. It's dangerous."
The voice was still black velvet, but there was the cool reality of steel beneath.
"Ramrod," she breathed.
"Ready?" was all Ten said.
Ready or not, Diana was on her feet a few seconds later, put there by Ten's easy strength. She braced herself momentarily on his hard forearms, feeling the vital heat of his body radiating through cloth. She snatched back her hands as though she had been burned.
"I'm fine," she said quickly. "Really. I can stand alone."
Ten heard Diana's uneasiness in the sudden tumble of words and released her. He didn't step back, for he wanted to be able to catch her if her knees gave way.
"No dizziness?" he asked.
There was, but it came from Ten's closeness rather than from any injury she might have received in the fall. Diana had no intention of saying anything about that fact, however.
"No," she said firmly. "I'm not dizzy."
"Sure?"
"Where have I heard that question before?"
A smile flashed in the gloom, Ten's smile, warm against the hard lines of his face.
"Feeling feisty, are you?" he asked.
Diana looked away from Ten, afraid her approval of him would be much too clear. She didn't want that. She didn't want to give him any reason to expect anything from her as a woman. With narrowed eyes, she examined the hole in the ceiling that was their only exit from the kiva. If she stretched up all the way on her tiptoes she might be able to brush her fingertips close to a cedar beam. And then again, she might not.
"Actually, I'm feeling rather intimidated," she admitted. "Some women would be able to get out of this hole alone, but not me. In gym classes I was a total disaster at chinning myself on the high bar."
Ten measured the distance to the ceiling and the cedar beams. "No problem. God made men with that in mind."
"He did?"
Ten nodded and kicked aside a bit of loose rubble, giving himself stable footing beneath the hole. He braced his legs and held out his arms to Diana.
"Okay, honey. Up you go."
She looked at him as though he had just suggested that she teleport herself out of the hole.
"Don't worry, I won't drop you," Ten said. "I handle heavier things every day. I'll lift you up. You balance yourself on the cedar poles until you can scramble from my shoulders to the ground."
"What about you?"
"That's where God's design comes in. He made men stronger than women." The smile faded, leaving only the hard male lines of Ten's face. "It's all right, Diana. I won't hurt you. Trust me."
"I-" Her voice broke. She swallowed and forced herself to take the two steps toward Ten. "I'll-try. What do I have to do?"
"First, put your hands on my shoulders."
For a few moments Diana was afraid she wouldn't be able to force herself to do it. Silently, fiercely, she closed her eyes and fought old fears.
Ten watched with narrowed eyes, feeling Diana's fear as clearly as he had the soft feminine curves of her body while he checked her for injury.
"Diana. Put your hands on my shoulders."
Her eyelids snapped open. Gone was the velvet reassurance of Ten's voice. In its place was a steel reality: she could help Ten get her out of the kiva or she could fight him; either way, she was going up through that hole in the ceiling. Diana didn't know how he would manage the feat without her cooperation, but she had no doubt that he would.
Diana lifted her hands to Ten's shoulders. She knew he felt her trembling but was unable to stop it.
"Are you afraid of falling again?" he asked.
Her hands clenched around the hard resilience of Ten's shoulder muscles. He was so strong. Much too strong. She was as helpless as a kitten against his power.
Remember that tiger-striped kitten cuddled in Ten's hands. The kitten was relaxed, purring, trusting. Ten didn't hurt that sick kitten. He won't hurt me.
"What d-do you want me to do?" Diana asked, forgetting everything except the need to hold on to her belief that Ten wouldn't hurt her.
"Brace yourself on my shoulders. I'm going to lift you until you can grab a cedar pole. Use it to help you kneel on my shoulders, then stand on them. From there you should be able to get out of the kiva without much problem. Okay?"
She nodded, gripped his shoulders more tightly and braced herself for whatever might come.
"Not yet," Ten said, stroking Diana's back slowly. "You're shaking too much. Slow down, honey. You're all right."
"Being p-petted is just going to make me m-more nervous."
One black eyebrow lifted, but Ten said nothing except "Hang on. Here we go. And keep your back straight."
Diana didn't understand the last instruction until she felt the brush of Ten's body over hers as he bent his knees, wrapped his arms around her thighs and straightened, lifting her within reach of the cedar poles. He need not have worried about her back being straight-her whole body went rigid at the intimacy of his powerful arms locked around her thighs and his head pressed against her abdomen.
"Ten!"
"It's okay, honey. I've got you."
That's the whole problem! But Diana had just enough control left not to blurt out her thought.
"Can you grab one of the poles yet?" Ten asked.
Diana pulled her scattering thoughts together, lifted one hand from the corded muscle of Ten's shoulder and grabbed a cedar pole. It was as hard as Ten but not nearly so warm.
"Got it," she said breathlessly.
"Good. Now grab the other pole."
A few seconds, then, "Okay. I've got that one, too."
"Hang on."
Ten moved so quickly that Diana was never sure how he had managed it, but within seconds she was kneeling on his shoulders, using her grip on the poles for balance. His hands on her hips were holding her firmly and his face was-
Don't think about it or you'll fall.
"Steady, honey," Ten said in a muffled voice.
"Easy for you to say," Diana muttered through clenched teeth.
He laughed softly.
She felt the intimate heat of his breath.
"Oh, God."
"What's wrong?" Ten asked. "Is one of the beams rotten?"
Diana didn't answer. She pulled herself up and out of the kiva before she had a chance to question the shivering sensations that cascaded throughout her body. She scrambled back from the edge and sat hugging herself, feeling flushed in the most unnerving places.
"Everything okay?" Ten called.
"Yes. No. I-" She clenched her teeth. "Fine. Just fine."
"Get back. I'm coming out."
Diana scooted back away from the hole, wondering how Ten was planning to get out. A few seconds later, two hands closed around a cedar pole. With a grace that startled her, Ten chinned himself, held himself one-handed while he grabbed the second pole with his other hand, swung his legs up and levered himself out of the hole with the ease of a gymnast at work on a set of parallel bars.
"Where did you learn how to do that?" Diana asked.
"Same place I learned to patch up kittens."
"Where was that?"
"Long ago, far away, in another country."
"But where?" she persisted. "Why?"
"Commando training."
Diana opened her mouth but no words came out.