Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Once I’m in dive mode, I’m good.
My mind stops racing, the thoughts about Scout’s moody protectiveness fade into the background.
The vision of his scars slips deep, tucking away in a place I can unpack later.
Everything has to wait.
Water presses in on me as I slip into the pool and the hiss of my breath in my ears calms me. I’ve done this thousands of times.
The water is my home. Almost more than terra firma. Here, things are methodical and orderly. That’s how you stay safe.
By the book. Do everything the way it’s planned. There’s a contingency for everything. On the surface, emotions make a mess of everything .
Scout signals me with his hand, asking if I’m good one more time before we move to the area of the cave’s mouth where we’ll descend into the blackness.
I reply with an okay sign.
He pulls his mouthpiece away. “You know ASL?”
I give him a thumbs up. He puts his regulator back in his mouth, exhales and then leads the way, swimming gracefully into the yawning cave mouth with long scissor kicks of his fins.
We pause one more time in the cool water, testing our equipment, giving each other hand signals.
Scout manages the line that we’ll spool out to mark our path in and out. We’ll follow it when we return. It’s something you always cave dive with.
As my pulse speeds, I take a few slow breaths. You know how to do this.
Simple. I do this all the time.
Scout quickly proves he’s efficient and calm. His eyes relaxed behind his mask as we check our lights one by one. Our back up lights get a double check too.
Then we kick up our fins and descend head first.
Blackness reaches up for us.
He glances back to check on me. I keep kicking my fins, following him into the darkness. Trusting him.
Thank god, it’s not Brundage diving with me. I’ve never liked being in the water with him. I didn’t realize exactly how much until now.
We settle into a slow, steady pace. I check my watch, we’ve been down for six minutes. The dive computer reports all the details of our depth, time, and air.
So far, so good. The tunnel is just like I expected. Wide enough for two people. Tall enough for someone to stand up inside if it wasn’t flooded .
We should be approaching the first chamber any second?—
I kick, but something’s got my leg.
What? How is that possible?
I tug again and something definitely has my ankle.
Scout! I scream in my head.
Dammit. This is when I wish I had a radio, but diving with a full face mask and radios isn’t an option in this environment.
I tap on my tank with the metal tool I have just for this purpose—to alert another diver that you need their attention. The sharp ping rings through the water.
I hit it again and again.
Come on, Scout!
The beam of his light gets farther away from me, the flip of his fins growing harder to see.
Wiggling, I try to get my leg loose, but realize the line he’s spooling out has gotten caught on my fin. He should feel me tugging the line. He’ll know something’s wrong.
But there’s current in the water. He might not feel it.
Breathe slow. Relax. It’s nothing to be alarmed over.
Things like this happen.
I twist around, trying to free myself, but my other fin catches on a rock and wedges.
Oh, great.
I can ditch my fins, but I need to keep my gear. Swimming without fins is twice as hard.
Struggling, my pulse rate kicks up. The throb in my throat matches the beat inside my ears.
I twist around one more time trying to free my right leg, even though my left fin is caught. That’s when everything goes to hell in a handbasket.
The hose to my regulator bursts.
Millions of bubbles surround my face, like I’ve been shot in the face with champagne. Panic explodes inside me.
My light slips out of my hand, falling a few inches to dangle on my wrist on the strap.
Calm. Aria. Calm. You know what to do.
I’m trained. Divers prepare for this kind of thing. That doesn’t mean it’s not scary as hell.
I scramble for my backup regulator—my octopus—but I’m so disoriented by the bubbles in the moving water, I can’t find it.
It has to be here. Right here. On a loop under my neck…
Easy… Easy. You’ve got this.
My lungs squeeze. I need air.
I feel around, but my fingers are shaking badly.
Then I feel a rush of water. I flinch. But a hand touches my face, gripping my chin.
Scout pushes his octopus regulator into my mouth.
Oh my god. Oh. My. God .
He saved me.
I suck in a few breaths, telling myself to go slow. His arm brushes my neck as he reaches past my shoulder. Gentle tugging tells me he’s turning off my tank to stop the escape of the air.
As the bubbles stop, the water slowly returns to the gray-green haze it was moments before my mishap. And as it does, his face comes into view in the circle of light.
My stomach clenches when he looks in my eyes, followed by a warm rush of relief rolling through me all the way to my toes.
His calm eyes are everything.
The anchor in the storm .
He stays right with me. Breathing slowly. Giving me something to pace.
The entire time, he holds the regulator, pressing it to my mouth, making sure I have what I need.
Finally, with a shaking hand, I give him the okay sign.
He eases back and uses sign language to communicate to me. What happened?
I motion to my leg.
His eyes flash and I can see the scowl in them as he reaches for the line around my ankle. Then he frees my other fin.
When he’s got me loose, he signs to me again. The chamber is just ahead. Let’s go. There’s air.
The airline to his octopus is roughly seven feet long, so we have to stay close, chest to chest. Gripping my harness with one hand, he tilts me forward and begins to slowly kick. He scans the darkness with the beam of his light. Pulling us deeper into the cave system.
A blue glow starts to form ahead.
Shaking, I focus on the opening to the chamber as it comes into clear view. The water is clearer here. Less current.
Scout said there’s air, meaning there’s a room, a chamber of some sort. We can check my gear and get my equipment running again.
Seconds later, we glide through the opening, propelled by his strong kicks.
Water whooshes around us as we break the surface.
Above us an opening shows the blue-gray sky. Water ripples around us as we bob in the deep pool. Blue waves bounce off the sienna-colored walls and black rocks. The air is sweet and musty.
Life-giving air. I draw in a few more steadying lung-fulls. Almost giddy from relief.
Scout turns off his light and moves toward me, making more ripples spread from his shoulders. “You okay?”
“I’m good.”
He shakes his head as he pushes his mask up onto the top of his wetsuit covered head. “You gave me a hard scare back there.”
I laugh even though the terror is still making my insides tremble. “Try being in my shoes.”
Unimpressed, he frowns at me. “What the fuck happened with your regulator?”
I reach for the hose. “I have no idea. It’s just ruptured…”
Tugging me forward, Scout moves us to a cluster of large slab rocks. He pushes me up onto the ledge. Then he proceeds to slide up onto the rock like a predatory animal. All grace and muscle.
Every single outline of his toned body is highlighted by the slick, wet neoprene of his dive suit.
“You’re staring.”
“Oh. I guess you’re right.” I don’t bother to apologize. Why should I?
Taking off his fins, he moves to crouch next to me. After removing his gloves he inspects my gear. “Did you look all of this over before we started?”
“I did.”
His silence makes me uneasy. “What’s wrong?”
Tugging on the hose, he carefully inspects the place where it leaked. “I don’t like this.”
His jaw is tight, his hood is pushed back, and he looks every bit of the lethal SEAL that he is.
The sight of him steals my breath.
Maybe it’s the enchanting setting. The water dripping from his rugged jaw… the rugged masculinity of this incredibly capable man.
Or maybe it’s just the fact that I saw a few moments of my life flashing back there in the midst of all those bubbles.
I must make a sound because his gaze falls to my mouth.
Heat infuses every cell in my body. It’s an intoxicating feeling, especially mixed with the adrenaline of the mishap.
I’ve never been an adrenaline junky like my brother, but I think I might crave whatever this is.
I push my hood back, freeing my burning face, letting the cool air of the cave rush against the back of my neck, beneath my braided hair. “What are you thinking?”
My voice is raspy as all get out.
His eyelids lower a fraction over his pale, ice-blue irises. He exhales slowly and my skin goosebumps from the sound.
“I’m thinking that you’ve got the most kissable mouth I’ve ever seen.”
I reach out for him, but halt my hand mid air. I almost forgot, he doesn’t like to be touched.
But I do think he likes to touch me.
“Can I touch your arm?”
His gaze falls to my hand, but he doesn’t pull back. He also doesn’t say no.
This must mean yes.
Moving slowly, I reach for his wrist, grab the neoprene covered thickness of it and bring his cool fingers to my face.
“Then kiss me,” I whisper as I lean my cheek into his palm.
The sound that comes from his throat is primal, the roughness echoing off the water and cave walls.
He looks me dead in the eyes and lowers his mouth until we’re a centimeter apart. “Fuck, I shouldn’t… but damned if I can stop myself. ”
Then he crushes my mouth, plowing the damp contour of his lips against mine with a growl in his throat. With a commanding thrust of his tongue he takes charge.
Diving deep into me with a hot, rough stroke.
I blink once in shock, then close my eyes as I absorb every ounce of pleasure I can grab.
He growls into my throat, a sound that sears a path to the very pit of my body. Tremors of pleasure unleash and race down my extremities.
Sweet lord above.
The taste of him invades my mind, erasing every kiss before this one.
Scout’s flavor—danger laced with something dark and untamed—is exactly what I expected. The bite of dark chocolate with the heat of strong bourbon.
“Aria…” He rasps against my mouth.
But I can’t respond. All I’m capable of is feeling.
But it’s not enough. I’m desperate to feel more. Damn these wetsuits.
The urge to fist his hair and press my hardening nipples against him makes me shake. I want his skin on mine. I want the weight of him pressing me down.
I am out of my head.
I’ve never in my life thought something like that.
Every twist of his tongue with mine is hotter and hotter until it burns up all of the oxygen. I rip my mouth away gasping.
“My-my god,” I wheeze.
After the nightmare a few months ago, I didn’t think I could ever feel alive like this. But heavens above, I’m so charged, I feel like I’ve got nuclear energy in my veins.
Scout stands up from his crouched position, looking down at me from his full height. As my heart races, he hovers over me with an intensity of which I’ve never seen, and definitely never felt.
Then, his expression slams closed. In the blink of an eye, the stone warrior facade is back.
He looks beyond my shoulder and goes rigid from heat to toe. “Oh hell, what is that?”