Read Online Midnight's Lair by Richard Laymon - Free Book Online

roll of film exposed in a cavern for two weeks. When the film was developed, it was found to be completely blank.
        'Living creatures that have adapted to cave life are usually blind and without any pigmentation due to the lack of light.
        'Which reminds me - though your are adjusting to the darkness, you won't be getting any night vision. There has to be a small amount of light for that, and there is none.'
        Darcy stopped talking. There was silence. Then the voices started again. She thought it sounded like a classroom when the teacher was out, a dozen or more quiet conversations going on at once, creating a steady murmur.
        Here and there, matches or lighters flared. They fluttered in front of faces with cigarettes or cigars clamped between lips, and formed pools of light throughout the group. Darcy saw that everyone was seated. Most were in small clusters of two or three. The brightness didn't last long. Then the chamber was dark except for half a dozen spots of glowing red.
        'Guess I'll sit down and make myself comfortable,' she whispered.
        She sat on the stone floor and crossed her legs. Something bumped her knee.
        'Sorry,' Greg said.
        'It's okay.' She reached out and touched his leg. He was beside her. Before she could bring her hand back, he took hold of it.
        'Do you mind?' he asked.
        Darcy answered by squeezing his hand, 'It's nice to have a friend in the dark.'
        'Or any other time.'
        'How'd you end up here?' she asked.
        'One of my secretaries told me about it. She got married in the Bridal Chamber.'
        'Recently?'
        'Six years ago.'
        'I wasn't here, then,' Darcy said.
        'No kidding. You would've still been in diapers.'
        She laughed softly. 'Thanks a bunch. I'm not that young.'
        'Let me guess, then. You look about eighteen, but the way you've been handling yourself, you act about thirty. Add them up, divide by two, we get your true age of twenty-four.'
        'Nifty gimmick, but you're three years high. What kind of law do you practise?'
        'Some criminal, mostly personal injury defence. And I do the usual odds and ends - probate, divorces…'
        'Like it?'
        'It's exciting. Though not as exciting as being trapped in a cavern.'
        'This is a thrill I could do without.'
        
***
        
        'This wouldn't be so bad,' Kyle whispered, 'if it weren't so cold down here.'
        'I don't think it's so bad,' Paula said.
         Neither do I, Kyle thought. But he made his voice shake as he said, 'That's because you've got a sweater. I wasn't cold, either, when I had my jacket. I gave it to Darcy.'
        'The guide?'
        'Yeah. I figured she needed it more than me - after being in the water.'
        'That was a sweet thing to do.'
        'Sweet, but dumb.'
        'Want to wear my sweater?'
        'Maybe if I just put my arm under it. That'd help.'
        'Sure, okay.'
        He trembled as he slipped his hand beneath her sweater, but it had little to do with the chilly air. Paula's back felt warm through the thin fabric of her blouse. She wore a bra with a wide strap.
        Kyle moved his hand across her back and curled his fingers into the warmth of her armpit.
        'Just don't tickle,' she warned.
        'I won't.' He uncrossed his legs and scooted closer until he felt his hip against her.
        Paula put her arm on his back. 'Is that a little better?' she asked.
        'A lot.' He could feel the soft warmth of her breast pushing his side.
        'For me, too.'
        This isn't too bad at all, Kyle thought. She's no Darcy, but she's okay.
        And cooperative. So far.
        With the hand that was under her arm, he could reach her breast.
         Don't try it, he warned himself.
         You spook her and you'll blow it.
         It's so dark in here, I could do anything. Anything at all, as