She watched Cole’s approach, seeing his face, the wind streaming back his hair. She heard Ethan say, “Nothing yet. No wave. But I’m sure it’s coming.”
She could hear the growing whine of the dinghy’s engine, how it warbled with each crested wave. And then the throttle backed off, and she could see Cole’s face as clear as ever. He smiled at her, and then swung the boat around to the rear of the yacht.
Ethan hollered to him, “Where are they?”
Annica, already halfway down the stairs, could feel the two boats clunking into each other. “Are you okay?” she called, rounding the side of the yacht. “Cole?”
And then she heard his voice. Thank God. And thank God he was back.
Cole was saying, “They didn’t want to come,” as he crawled aboard.
Ethan said, “What about Kalani?”
“Neither of them. They were talking and . . . having some sort of scene. It wasn’t my place.” He was walking over to Annica, his shoes sandy and soaked. Water squeezed out of the soles he moved closer, making a soggy, squelching sound. There were traces of blood across his face.
“I’m radioing Jackson,” Ethan said.
But nothing could break their eye contact. No outside people or conversation. Cole had stopped just a few feet away. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“I think we did it,” he said. “We’ll have to see about Kalani. But we got the laptop.”
“And we got you,” Annica said, rushing into him for a hug, squeezing him hard.
He dropped his head to the top of hers. He smelled like gasoline and fresh sea life. “And,” he said, “we got the captain.”
There was a clamor behind them. Annica looked past Cole’s embrace to see Ethan climbing into the dinghy. She pulled back. “Ethan?”
“I’m going in,” he said, looking down into the boat, and then to his holster, drawing his gun to inspect it just like Cole and Kalani had. “I’m going.”
“Where? What are you doing?”
“I’m going back for her,” he said. “Kalani. And her sister.”
Cole was looking to the rear of the ship, to the horizon. He said, “You better haul ass to shore.”
“I know.”
“That wave’s coming in any second now.”
“I know,” Ethan said. “Annica?”
Annica was looking too, worried, waiting for the wave. “Hurry,” she said.
The engine started up again.
Cole took a few steps closer to the dinghy. “And Ethan . . . We won’t be here.”
“I’ll see you guys at the rendezvous,” Ethan said.
“You will,” Cole said. “It’s chaos in there, so you should be safe.” He sort of laughed, and Annica appreciated his attempt at levity. But . . .
“The wave,” she said. “We’ve gotta go.”
Walking back toward the middle of the yacht, Annica could hear Cole say, “Get going,” to Ethan. “Full steam ahead.”
“You, too,” Ethan said, throttling up and pulling the dinghy away from the yacht.
Inside, Annica flipped the switch to retract the anchor. It made a low grinding noise that she could hear more clearly as Ethan’s dinghy set off further toward the shore. Then she heard Cole’s wet shoes coming up from behind. And she felt his hand on her shoulder.
She reached for a spoke on the large wooden wheel, and began turning toward the open water.
30
Cole
Cole held the rails on both sides of the steps leading to the top deck. He held them tightly, pausing on a single step as he braced himself against another wave. The yacht slanted back, and then flopped down hard, almost knocking Cole loose. He would’ve been tossed overboard if not for his hard grip on something other than the lump in his throat.
From his observation perch on top of the yacht, he could see a faint white line stretch across the horizon. He saw it unaided, with his naked eyes. That was what worried him the most.
“Annica,” he called, “it’s coming!”
“I know it’s coming!”
“I mean I see it!
“Fuck!”
Her response didn’t fill him with much confidence, a long chain of expletives wafting out from under his perch. “I’ll stay here for visual,” he said, “for as long as I can.” There was no way he’d be anywhere else but down inside the yacht, wrapped around Annica when the wave finally came. He asked one more time, “Are you full throttle?”
“Yes!”
There was something intensely humorous about her frazzled replies, the high pitch of her yelling. So far she’d been doing a great job of holding it together, of steering and powering the yacht, but the stress was suddenly apparent whenever she said anything. It was funny, the whole situation. He never would have imagined any of this to be happening just a few days ago. Back then, he was thinking about becoming one with the waves and ending his life there. Now he just wanted to get over this one, and survive it. And survive, for as long as he could, with Annica. Together.
“I can’t give you a distance,” he called back to her, “or an ETA, but we’re almost on it.”
“I can see that!”
Cole figured it was time to get down inside with her, if she could see the approaching tsunami just as well as he could. No binoculars necessary. It was coming, full-on and fast.
He rushed down the stairs, this time not holding and pausing at the latest wave. In his mind it was nothing compared to what was heading their way. He could hold down and pause for that one. Inside now, with Annica, he could immediately see the stress in her shoulders. Both of them were raised high and held tightly to her head. When he approached from behind to lay a hand on one of them, she flinched like a beaten dog.
“Jesus,” Annica said in a huff of air.
“What are you scared of more? Me or the—?”
“Shhh . . .” she said. “Shh, stop.”
“Okay. Can I help, though? Can I do anything?”
“Shhh!”
“Okay,” he said, trying to chuckle at her to lighten the mood, but it didn’t really come out.
“You can hold me,” Annica said, deadly serious.
Cole said, “Okay,” as he stood behind her chair and wrapped his arms around her as they began their ascent up the face of the first tsunami wave.
Together, as one, they mumbled half-intelligent strings of curse words. The boat kept tilting backward as it approached the peak of a wave that never seemed to end. It kept going on and on and up and higher. Or were they stuck and suspended in place?
They hung there for a moment, halfway up the wave, the engine chugging louder and louder. A vibration shuddered through the boat now and Cole worried the yacht would break in two.
“Oh, my God . . .”
They were just lucky to meet the wave here, out in the ocean, where most of it was still under the surface. He didn’t want to think about how tall it would grow for the shore. He didn’t want to think about Hilo, or how the rest of the team would deal with it.
All he could see out the front window was an endless blue sky.
“Oh, Jesus . . .”
The thought occurred to him that there would be a life after this. Life after death. Perhaps one with Annica.
They crested the wave, the yacht finally leveling off. And then tilting down. A different shade of blue—the open ocean—lay ahead.
31
Annica
Anchored again and in calmer seas, and still holding onto each other, Annica and Cole lay in a hammock stretched across the rear of the yacht. The rhythm of the sea swayed them gently together. They had turned up the radio all the way, and from inside the boat it broadcasted the staticky details of the mission’s latest developments.
“We’re arriving at the bird’s nest,” came Jackson’s crackly voice. “We’re high enough up to be safe from the rest of it now.” He had taken the garbage truck safely out of the facility and then met with Macy and Tucker. The “birds nest” was their own compound, where Mira kept
watch. Originally, the garbage truck was to conceal and carry a laptop. Now it had much more important—and perhaps dangerous—cargo.
“Did they put him in the back?” Annica asked, her head resting on his chest, tucked just under his chin.
“Like where the garbage goes? No.”
“Why not? It’s a perfect place for him.”
“I guess they were worried someone might accidentally hit the button,” Tucker said.
“That’s perfect, too,” she said.
“No,” Cole murmured. “You know what’s perfect?”
“This?”
He ran his hand down her arm. “This right here.”
“You’re perf—”
Cole silenced her with a kiss.
“Okay,” Annica said, “I guess I like shutting up when you give me such a good reason.” She reached out from the hammock to an external mini fridge. “This is sorta perfect, though.” She brought out a bottle of champagne.
“Oh,” Cole said, sounding pleased. “Look at that. Moet?”
“I think it was supposed to be for everyone, but they’re not here.”
“I’m glad they’re not.”
The radio crackled again, sputtering out a few words in Ethan’s voice. And then, more clearly: “Team X with two en route.”
Annica seemed to let out a breath Cole hadn’t known she was holding. “I’m glad Ethan’s okay,” she said.
“Did you hear what he said? Two en route?”
“Kalani and her sister? Sounds like they’re okay, too.”
More talking on the radio. Jackson now telling Mira at the base, the “nest,” the kind of preparations that were called for when receiving a live suspect. The captain. He mentioned the words “chair” and “rope,” among others.
“Wonder what they’re going to do to him?” Annica said.
“Nothing illegal.”
“No torture?”
“I wish,” Cole said, chuckling. “But I guess I got him pretty good in the nose.”
“And he’ll probably get it someplace else where he’s going.”
The both stayed quiet for a minute, letting this last statement and its profound truth ring out fully.
And then Annica said, “Where are we going?”
“Not there.”
“But where?”
“Not Hilo, either,” Cole said. “Let’s not ever go back there.”
“The pole house, then? Should we anchor off the beach?”
Cole kissed her forehead. “Let’s just anchor here.”
“Okay.” Her hand had slipped under his shirt, playing up his chest. “For how long?”
“As long as you can stand it.”
She liked feeling the vibration of his voice through her body as she lay on top. “I can stand a lot of you,” she said.
She felt his face, the tip of his nose moving and smelling through her hair. And then his lips. She felt him kiss her there as the boat tilted, swinging back sharply. Cole’s body tensed up underneath her.
“Oh, shit,” he said.
Another wave.
She’d forgotten.
“Shit,” he said. “Hold on.”
She was already holding on. It was all she wanted to do, tsunami or no tsunami.
They fell off together, sliding off the side of the hammock and landing against the wall of the yacht as the deck tilted back even more steeply. And then leveling off, tilting down so that Annica rolled back over Cole, who caught her in his arms.
“That wasn’t so bad,” she said, staring down at his smiling face. The ocean rolled gently underneath them, rocking them from side to side. Cole copied the motions, rocking his hips into her. Annica moaned as his hardening cock came into contact with her clit, sparking her arousal all over again. The man was fucking insatiable, and she loved it. She grabbed the sides of his head, pulling his mouth toward her.
They’d survived. The bad guys had been rounded up—Captain and Tommy both being held by DARC Ops for interrogation in the coming days. Everyone was safe, back at the nest, and she and Cole were safe out here. Out in the middle of the ocean, in their own little world. Somewhere they were staying for a little longer. The rest of the mission could wait. They’d survived it so far, and they would survive whatever was coming next.
Right now, all that mattered was Cole’s lips and hands, brushing against her skin, and his body, rolling over hers and pressing her into the deck. They’d survived for this, and Annica was never letting go again. She was ready. She was safe. The future would sort itself out. DC, San Diego, or even staying here in Hawaii.
It didn’t matter.
She was home.
Thank you so much for reading Annica and Cole’s story. Click here to be the first to know when the next DARC Ops books is published.
Also by Jamie Garrett
Marked By Desire
Books 1 - 5
Southern Heat
From the Ashes
Fighting the Flames
Burning the Past
Trial by Fire (coming soon!)
Dreamcatchers
Emily
Keila
Payton
Lainey
Sienna
DARC Ops
Darkest Hour (0.5)
Dark Secret
Dark Web
Dark Heart
Dark Control
Dark Threat
Dark Lies
Dark Salvation
Riley Reid Mysteries
Books 1 - 3 (first book free!)
Acknowledgments
A huge thank you to you—all my readers, subscribers, and social media followers. Thank you for choosing to read my books!
Thank you to my ARC team, for all your support. You’re all amazing!
Lisa, Kate, Adele, and all the badass babes. You make my day on a regular basis. Thank you!
A special thanks also to Anette King and Kristine Piiparinen, for all that you do. You are both incredible ladies.
Come and hang out with me, plus authors Lisa Ladew and Kate Fargo, along with the fabulous badass babes in our Facebook romance group, Books, Babes, and Badasses. We talk about anything and everything, and there’s plenty of yummy eye candy too. Stop by and say hello anytime! You can also subscribe to my newsletter, send me an email, find me on Facebook, or visit my website.
About the Author
Hi, I’m Jamie. I live with my husband, two beautiful children and three cats. I loves to read almost as much as I loves to write, and can’t imagine anything better than getting to be an author and writing every day. There is at least one cat draped over the keyboard at all times.
I love hearing from my readers, and feedback is what makes these books better. Please reach out on social media, or send me an email through my website. To be notified about my upcoming release schedule, upcoming promotions and sales, sign up for email updates at http://www.jamiegarrett.com/newsletter/.
Don’t forget to come and say hello on Facebook – I’d love to hear from you. Find me at http://www.facebook.com/jamiegarrettbooks.
One last thing – when you turn the page, Kindle will ask if you want to share that you’ve finished, and to leave a review. If you enjoyed the book, I would really appreciate you helping others find it too. You can lend the book, recommend it, or write a review. Reviewing the book at Amazon helps more readers find the book, plus I really appreciate it!
www.jamiegarrett.com
Dark Salvation (DARC Ops Book 7) Page 22
