I get my things together, not to wash them but to keep them with me when I swim away. I will not be naked while I’m getting rescued. I think I’ve been through enough embarrassment.
He’s still staring at me when I straighten up, and I don’t know which part of me to cover. His eyes move over my body, up and down, while his bottom lip disappears under his teeth. And oh, goody, his dick is thickening.
I wish I didn’t want to watch as it grows in length.
I turn my back to him and walk toward the water, where it gently laps against the sand. If it weren’t for the circumstances, this would be a beautiful moment. The air is clean, if humid, and there are birds singing all over the place. Stepping into the cool water up to my ankles is pure bliss after being without a shower all this time.
“Slow down,” Sebastian cautions. “There’s a steep drop-off up ahead. It’ll take you by surprise if you’re not careful.”
I nod and wade up to my waist before swishing my clothes around, as if I care whether they’re clean right now.
Sebastian comes up beside me, close enough that I could touch him if I stretched my arm out all the way. I feel him watching me and twist my body away to hide my boobs. Naturally, he would fixate on them.
“I want to see you.” His voice is deeper now. Darker.
And fuck me, it makes my heart race. Not with fear, either. It’s like he’s slithering around inside me, touching places I didn’t know existed. Lighting me up. Making me burn. Making me want more of what he offered yesterday.
The thought of my friends, probably losing their shit back at the resort, is like pouring ice water over me. My body’s inexplicable needs can wait.
I turn toward him and don’t cover myself. His eyes immediately go to my chest. I let them linger there before dunking myself without warning, tipping my head back to soak my hair before coming up again. His eyelids lower a little as his lips part. He’s breathing like an animal in heat.
His hand loosens around the rope, too. I only need to distract him long enough to grab it away, then swim faster than I’ve ever swam in my life. But first, I drift closer to him, eyes wide, biting my lip while his gaze shifts from my mouth to my tits and back up again.
I feel the moment he lets go of the rope. The tugging sensation at my waist disappears. I let my hand slip under the water and take hold of the length for myself.
Then, with one quick move, I turn and dive under.
I haven’t reached the surface yet when something grabs at my ankle. I kick out as hard as I can and contact something hard—his head, I hope. The hand moves away and I’m free.
I surface and don’t bother looking behind me, too focused on getting beyond the cliffs to see what’s on the other side. I need to get out of this cove and away from him. There isn’t a second to lose.
The cliffs are closer. Closer. I swim with short, quick strokes. Whether or not Sebastian is closing in remains at the front of my mind. I want to glance back so badly, but I’m afraid of what I’ll find. Afraid of giving him an extra second to close in on me.
My lungs are burning by the time I reach the jagged rocks at the base of the nearest cliff, the one to my right. I stay clear of them, more careful now. At least I know Sebastian will have to slow down here, too. I hear splashing behind me and know he hasn’t given up, but he’s not close enough to catch up yet.
Go, go, push. I force myself to kick, to pull with my arms, to ignore the way my muscles want to give up. I’m so close to rounding the cliff. There could be a beach on the other side with people who will get me back to my friends.
There’s a searing pain in my middle an instant after that thought races through my head. Not a cramp, though. It’s the rope pulling, chafing me.
I look over my shoulder, horrified. But Sebastian is too far away to have gotten hold of the rope.
When a surge of water pushes me against the rocks, I realize I’m caught up in them. I tug, desperate. But it doesn’t work. Another surge—the water’s rougher here, closer to the larger body beyond the cove, and it propels me against the rocks again.
And pulls me under.
6
Sebastian
One second, I want to kill her.
The next second, she’s gone.
“Bree!” She was right there, against the rocks, and now she isn’t. She didn’t pull one of those little dives she did back near the shore. More like she sank.
I could leave her there. Let her drown. It’s what she deserves for trying to get away again. My problems would be over with no chance of her escaping and telling people what happened. If Jake found me, I could tell him she ran off before I could get her, that I did my damnedest to catch her on the beach for his sake.
I’m cutting through the water before the end of that thought passes through my mind. I don’t know what’s compelling me—what makes me want her, need her the way I do. All I know is I can’t let her drown. I can’t let her go, ever.