“Watch yourself, buddy,” she threatened. “She who laughs last and all the rest...”
“Not laughing, I promise. Soon you’ll be sleek as a shark in the water.” She felt a twinge of alarm at the word ‘shark’, but he didn’t give her time to worry. “That was great,” he said. “So good in fact, that we’ll try it slightly differently this time, yes? This time, I want you to do exactly the same, but instead of holding your breath, you’ll let it out slowly. You’ll sink a little deeper without the buoyancy of air. Ready?”
Although the idea of sinking deeper made her stomach tighten, she nodded, keeping her eyes on his. Together they drew in deep breaths and sank below the surface, Skye shutting her eyes tightly. As water closed over her head she wondered fleetingly about the breath he’d taken. Surely he didn’t need it. Distracted by the thought, she opened her eyes.
At the stinging blur of water, panic clutched at her. But the sight of Hunter so close to her was too fascinating. Forgetting her fear, squinting against the sting, she peered at him.
Sunlight rippled through the water over his skin, his dark hair shifting like shadow about his face. The face of her rescuer in the channel, protecting her even then. Even with her hazy vision she could see his smile; could make out his eyes, creasing as he smiled. Eyes that didn’t need to blink against the water, eyes that watched to keep her safe.
Skye pulled her knees up beneath her. Bubbles streamed from her nose and mouth as she surrendered to the weightless embrace of the water and sank. Hunter sank with her. She felt as if she was accepting an invitation to enter his world. A world of shifting motion, of pressing silence and deafening noise. A world where she could be with him. Was that even possible? He’d brought her this far. How much further could he take her? Her heartbeat thudded in her ears, so loudly surely he could hear it.
Her feet touched the sandy bottom and memories from childhood filled her mind. This had been her favourite thing, swimming, being underwater. Deliberately she let go of Hunter, and saw his eyebrows rise. She let the water move her, tipping with the gentle flow around her before spreading her arms for balance. She pressed her feet to the bottom, holding herself in place with sweeps of her hands through the water.
Elation surged through her. She was doing this; she was doing this. Not desperately fleeing from danger, not crazily falling into nightmares: she was taking back the place she loved best – the sea.
She couldn’t stop the laughter that spilled out in a cloud of glistening bubbles. Kicking off from the seabed she rose through them like a spear, shooting almost waist high above the surface with the momentum, splashing as she fell back. She whooped aloud, treading water until Hunter’s cold arm encircled her waist, heard his laughter join hers.
“Skye, you are definitely top of the class this morning. That was amazing!”
“I know, right?” she laughed, throwing her arm over his shoulder, rubbing her face with her free hand. “I was born for this!” She felt him go still, and knew that they were both profoundly, achingly aware of the impossible gulf between their worlds.
She let go of him and pulled back through the water until she could stand, breathing against the pain in her heart. Why was she letting herself fall deeper when she knew it was hopeless? All that waited was loss. But she couldn’t bear to let him go, to be let go. She turned to face him again, searching his face. He merely looked bemused, as if wondering why she’d moved. As if the hollow, empty look she’d seen on his face had been imagined.
“Top marks for Skye,” he smiled uncertainly.
“Gold star?” she tried to play along. And suddenly she felt bold, rash. What was the point of focusing on how little time they had, how hopelessly they were separated? They had this. Now. It would have to be enough.
“Gold, you say?” he asked. His smile was easier, and he squinted at Skye speculatively. “That was a pretty golden performance. But I’m thinking more along the lines of…lesson number three.”
“Number three? I’m not sure I’m…” her voice failed as she imagined something drastic like being towed further out and told to swim back.
“You’ll like this one, I promise. This one is all me. All you have to do is…trust me.”
“Okay…” Skye wished she didn’t sound so faint.
“You said you trust me – yes?” He raised teasing eyebrows.
“Yes,” Skye tried to make her voice firm.
“So,” He turned his back, and looked at her over his shoulder, “lesson number three: fancy a tow?”
30. Flying
Skye hesitated to reach out. It felt such an intimate thing, even though she’d clung to Hunter before, more than once, moments ago in fact. She realised she wanted to feel his cold smooth skin under her hands, to feel it become warm. He turned his head and arched an eyebrow at her, his eye creasing with a smile.
She placed her hands on his shoulders, heart beating faster. Hunter turned his face away and pushed off, gliding effortlessly through the water. She was aware of the well-defined muscles of his broad swimmer’s shoulders beneath her hands.
“All right?”
“Yes,” she answered weakly. He began to move, faster than she could have believed possible. It was exhilarating. “Deep breath and hold tight,” he called over his shoulder.
“What?” her voice was a squeak, lost in the sound of rushing water, but he must have heard her. His laughter warmed her through. Letting her fears go, letting self-consciousness go, she wrapped her arms firmly around his neck and drew a deep lungful of air, and together they dove, the water sweeping over them in a delicious slipstream.
With her eyes closed tightly against the fast-moving water, they spiralled and spun, her body along the length of Hunter’s, sleek and fast, feeling his muscles work as he twisted and turned before breaking through the surface of the water again. She gasped with laughter as she gulped in air, joy racing through every part of her, as if she was aerated with happiness that could only be released with laughter. Hunter laughed with her, slipping out from her grip to face her, pulling her hands onto his shoulders to keep her afloat.
“Good?” he smiled.
“Yes, very good. So good.”
“More?” he raised his eyebrows in a question, but he already knew the answer. She barely had time to breathe in before he pulled her close, and threw himself backwards and down, racing them through the water again.
She couldn’t tell what was more dizzying and exhilarating after that – the feel of his arms around her, his body moving next to hers, or the water racing over them like they were flying. She thought it was both. It was as close to a perfect feeling as she’d ever had, and she didn’t want it to end. When they surfaced, she was breathless and elated.
“So good?” he asked again, a trace of wistfulness in his smile.
“Totally, Hunter.” Skye clenched her jaw to stop herself from asking for more, more time, more him. To mask how intensely she felt their connection, she threw out another question. “Is it like this to swim with dolphins?” It was something she really wondered – a fabulous part of his life she could only imagine. To her surprise, he shrugged.
“We don’t swim with dolphins.”
“You don’t? Ever? Is there... I mean, why not?” Of all the things a sea-bound person could do, swimming with dolphins should be right up there among the top ten pastimes.
“They don’t seem to like us.”
“But they love swimming with people.”
“I think you’ve answered yourself,” he said quietly. “I’ve seen how they are with humans. There’s a bond of – I don’t know – warmth, something kindred. I feel it in them. And they sense us. I sense what they get from us. It’s like a darkness. A void.”
“It scares them?”
“I think so. Or repels them. Like an evil essence, or a coldness. They can’t bear it. Either way, never swam with dolphins. Sharks now – there’s a different proposition altogether.” His grin was wry, but his eyes began to gleam as if at recolle
ctions that entertained him. Catching sight of her expression his smile widened as he hastened to reassure her. “Just swim, I promise.”
Skye tried to picture it. “All I can think about is how terrified I’d be.”
“It’s different for me. It’s hard to describe. It’s more like being one of them in the moment. The sheer power. The perfect performance. The total ownership of their realm and their complete indifference to it.”
“Do they know you’re there?”
“I don’t think so. I get nothing to indicate it from them. Just a forward, focused drive. Onwards probably sums it up.”
The image his words conjured up had her shaking her head, awestruck. “Hunter, your world is incredible.”
He stared at her. “I suppose I have seen some wonderful things.” It seemed like a revelation to him. “My world – the glimpses I see of it through your eyes, Skye – they make it...better.” He searched her eyes, his face soft, and his grey eyes intense with something that made her insides drop in a helpless, delicious way.
“And now you’ve swum with me,” he said softly. “And it was good?”
“So good.” she murmured again, her heartbeat accelerating.
He looked pensive at her reply. He searched her eyes, perhaps for some sort of answer. Whatever the question was, she had a feeling her answer would be ‘yes’. She noticed that they’d made a turn, and were heading to the rocks of Ciarlan Cove.
Hunter pulled easily through the low swells, his arm around Skye’s waist, her arm hooked over his shoulder, as if they were out for a watery stroll. His skin was warm beneath hers now. She couldn’t help holding closer to him than was strictly necessary, given that they weren’t racing through the water anymore. It was because of his warmth, not because of the feel of his skin against hers, she told herself. Not because of the feeling that all this could dissolve at any moment.
She was grateful he couldn’t read her thoughts as she acknowledged that she was now actually pleased her borrowed bikini was so small, giving maximum contact. He glanced around and his eyes caught hers, narrowing in a grin that made her blush. She wondered if his thoughts were following a similar path to hers. As they drew near the rocks he slowed and they drifted upright, his arms holding her steady.
He was so close to her. In the clear sun, droplets of water on his skin were prisms of light. Long dark eyelashes, spiked and glistening, cast sharp patterns across his cheekbones. His eyes were a glimmer of shadow, and his finely curved lips were sharply defined, like marble. She imagined they would feel like velvet, or silk. She wanted to know.
Heart thudding unevenly, she slowly lifted her hands, placing them gently on each side of his face, feeling his hollow temples, his cheekbones beneath her palms. Her hands felt like they were on fire, setting his skin alight under her touch. She met his eyes. She saw in them sorrow, and something unknown that left her breathless. She was trembling. His lips were a breath away; a delicious breath that she felt on her own lips. Moving her hands from his face, she placed her arms lightly on his shoulders, bringing their faces even closer.
Hunter hesitated for just a moment, a moment in which her world stopped. And then his lips brushed hers, a feather-light touch that sent electricity racing through her.
He drew back, his eyes burning as they searched hers. Then he kissed her again, tenderly, his lips moving gently over hers, as if tracing the shape of them. The feeling of his lips against hers seemed to reach every part of Skye’s body, turning her liquid. Her ears roared with the sound of her own blood, or the sea, or both. Her arms twisted around his neck, her legs twining with his in the water. She felt as if they were spinning together in air. With a groan that was almost a sigh Hunter crushed her closer, his kisses hungrier.
Skye’s head spun faster, and warmth covered her like a soporific blanket, absorbing her, drowning her. The lines between them dissolved, becoming fluid. The dizziness in her head expanded. Everything blurred and faded, melting together and slipping away, her sense of herself diminishing until there was only silent darkness that swallowed her completely.
Then from a long way off, a measureless distance, she saw a tiny star of light, pure white light, blue at its centre. It was so beautiful that it caught her. From the darkness where she floated she focused on it, drawn by it; drawn to it. It sped towards her until it engulfed her in an iciness that seared. She gasped, fresh clean air filling her lungs. Sound returned, gulls crying, water smashing against rock, and Hunter’s voice, saying her name over and over.
She could feel her skin again, cold and wet, and hard rock uncomfortable beneath her. She was lying on her side. Careful hands lifted her wet hair away from her face. Her head felt thick and heavy as she lifted it to see Hunter crouching over her. He looked devastated.
She struggled to sit up. “What happened?” When he heard her voice he sagged in relief. He stretched out a tentative hand towards her, then flinched back, trembling and drawn. She reached for him but he recoiled, averting his face. He slowly slumped against the rock at his back. There was a bluish tinge to his too-pale skin. Behind the dark twists of hair that had fallen over his face, his eyes were tightly closed. What had she done to him?
“Hunter. Are you all right?”
His bark of laughter was bitter as he opened hot eyes and looked at her. “Am I all right?” he said thickly. “I nearly kill you, and you’re worried about me? I told you to stay away –” his voice broke, and he looked away, swallowing hard.
Skye was bewildered. He’d nearly killed her? She knelt in front of him. “Hunter? Please, look at me.” He turned his head reluctantly and met her eyes. Skye saw self-loathing in his. She had no idea what had happened, only that he blamed himself. He hated who he was, what he was. But she didn’t. “Whatever happened, Hunter, it’s not your fault. I know you would never hurt me.”
“I did hurt you. It is my fault. I should never have let this happen, let you get close to me like this. How did I think I could be around you…and not hurt you?”
“Okay. So something happened. But I was there too, remember? Whatever it is, we can work it out together. Hunter, I’m fine. And I’m not going anywhere.”
He stared at her, that familiar conflicted look struggling on his face. It was obvious: he didn’t want her to go, and he needed her to go.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she repeated, bringing her face close to his. She took his hand in both of hers, and when he tried to twist free, held it tightly, holding his gaze, daring him to resist. She could feel how weak he was. His hand was like ice in hers. He tried to loosen her grip again but she held tighter. Gradually his hand became less icy. He sighed, closing his eyes, as colour returned to his face.
With it, his strength seemed to return and he twisted easily out of her tight grip. “I’m all right. Thank you,” he muttered, pushing himself more upright against the rock. “I think you should go, Skye.” He wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Too bad. I don’t. You don’t get to take this all on you. It doesn’t work that way – friendship. We’re in this together.”
He looked up at her, “Is that right?” His pained expression softened.
“Yep,” Skye smiled, relief warming her.
“So…that’s what we are? Friends?” His voice was soft, his expression solemn. When he spoke again his husky voice was low. “Imagine you’ve been alone in the dark, so dark you see nothing, so cold you feel nothing. Then through the darkness a light appears, the purest, most beautiful light. And where it falls on you the coldness vanishes. The source of the light is this beautiful girl who feels like the missing part of...of me. I’ve been dead for hundreds of years, Skye. You’ve brought me to life.”
Skye stared at him.
“Your touch sets fire in me,” he whispered, “You have no idea how addictive that is.”
“I might have an inkling,” she murmured, her heart thudding.
“But more than that, Skye, I taste you as well, your essence, the beauty of you. You’re like a pure l
ight drawing me in. I feel warm, alive to my core when I’m with you. Just before, when I felt that warmth, and at the same time your touch was setting me on fire, I got...it got mixed up.”
“What do you mean?” Skye felt herself blushing.
“Your light – it burned brighter and brighter, and the fire you set in me – I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. I wanted it all, too much. It consumed me and so I...I nearly consumed you.” His eyes were tortured.
Skye blinked, trying to make sense of his words. “When I touch your skin,” she said hesitantly, “I feel it become warm. It warms me. What’s so wrong about that?”
“It’s not my warmth you’re feeling, Skye. It’s yours – leaving you. Your life force, your light, filling the dark void that I am. You’re irresistible to me on so many levels. I can’t resist the pull of you. You have no idea how ironic that is,” he looked suddenly bemused.
They stared at each other. “Now you see why you should keep away,” he finally managed. “I can’t stay away from you. I couldn’t bear it if I hurt you.”
“Then you won’t. This doesn’t change anything. I trust you. I know who you are.”
“But I just nearly –”
“But you didn’t.” She hesitated. “Before, when it went dark...” He winced, his features twisting. “Hunter, listen. When I was in that darkness, a light found me and brought me back. It was you, your light. You.” He stared at her, disbelieving. “It’s true. But I don’t want to make it hard for you to be around me. Because I couldn’t bear it if...if you weren’t.”
He looked at her uncertainly, but his eyes betrayed hope.
“Not going anywhere.” Skye deliberately adjusted her position, settling herself more comfortably on a sun-warmed dry part of rock. Hunter frowned, recognising she might be cold. “Yet another reminder how wrong this is,” he muttered.
“Deal with it,” Skye said. “Mere mortals can cope with a bit of sitting around in wet swimsuits.” Besides, she didn’t feel at all cold right now. “The sun is out – I’m all set.”
Find Me (Immersed Book 1) Page 26
