I’m still here. No blackout.
I break through with a rebel yell I never knew I was capable of, followed by a gasp of air.
“Holy shit!” Her eyes are wide and I grin at the blatant shock playing across her face. “I can’t believe you jumped!”
She swims closer to me, her black lashes dripping with water drawing my attention to her light eyes that seem to reflect the sparkle in the water. I’m hit with the force of her excitement and a wave she sends over my face. “That was fucking awesome!”
That’s when it happens. A howl of laughter I didn’t know I was capable of comes barreling up from my chest and echoes off the stone walls, and in this moment I’m free. She can’t possibly know the victory I feel, but the way her gaze finds mine and her expression softens I can’t help but wonder if she does.
My laughter dies as I tread water to stay afloat, tangled in her eyes.
“I didn’t think you’d do it! Did you see how much distance you got?” Her chin dips in and out of the water as she kicks to stay afloat. “Did it hurt when you landed?”
My skin feels sensitive, but I don’t think it’s from the hit. “Not really.”
“Did you like it? I mean, you had to have loved it, right?”
A smile practically slices my face in two. “I liked it.”
“You’re full of surprises, Lucas.” She splashes me and swims off laughing toward a rock that’s exposed to full sunlight.
Hoisting herself up, she lies back, and not in a graceful way like I’d imagined when I’d read Hans Christian Andersen’s story about a mermaid on a rock. No, she drops back, legs and arms outstretched, panting heavily.
“You should get out in the sun.” Her eyes are closed and the light makes her skin glow. My gaze follows the path of her slender neck that leads to dip between her breasts that are round and beaded at the tips.
Black peppers my vision.
No! I push it back with my mind. Why now? I’m not in any danger and feel better than I have in a long time. I’m safe. She’s not a threat.
“Helps to dry off so we can hit the road.” Her inky black hair falls across the rock all around her shoulders.
I close my eyes and focus on holding back the dark. Shyann, mostly naked before me, is too distracting and if I don’t concentrate, there is no way I’ll be able to hold off blacking out.
My legs kick to keep me from sinking and I welcome the cold water, praying it cools my heated blood so I can reinstate my walls.
A voice in the back of my mind whispers its warning.
I’m too close. Too exposed to this woman. In her presence all my defenses evaporate and the blackouts are a constant threat I’ll have to fight to hold off.
I’d never want to hurt Shyann.
But if the blackouts return, there’s no doubt . . . I will.
ELEVEN
SHYANN
“We’re here.”
I blink up and realize that I’d completely zoned out for the last thirty minutes of the trip. I’d like to say it was the come-down from the adrenaline that did it, but that’d be a lie.
My zoning out was more like a daydream. A fantasy playing on a loop, over and over, and it starred the insanely sexy and frustratingly complex man at my side.
I imagined what he’d look like shirtless, but what I saw today put my imagination to shame. He’s built, I noticed, like a swimmer. Broad, powerful shoulders that taper into narrow hips, dips and valleys created by long firm muscle, and his ass . . . Let’s just say watching Lucas crawl out of the water was even better than watching him jump in.
But that’s not his most impressive body part. As much as it made me feel like a dirty old woman, I couldn’t help but check out his crotch, and the sight was as sexy as it was terrifying.
Oh, who am I kidding? The man is packing and as much as he tried to hide it, there was no way he could. His white boxer briefs clung to every part of his body and even after being in cold water it was impossible not to notice.
“. . . you can have it.”
I choke, then cough to clear my throat. “What?”
He stares at me through narrowed eyes. “The taco. You got three, right? I was saying if you want to keep it for dinner with your family, you can have it.” He pulls the truck up to the work site, backing it into a spot close to the two-story board and batten home with a wraparound porch.
My face is on fire, but luckily he’s too busy parking to notice. “Oh, right. No, it’s okay, I got it for you.”
My brother looks up from a table saw and pulls off his safety glasses before heading toward us.
We hop out and meet him at the flatbed.
“Nice job.” Cody inspects the stack of pallets. “It’s all here?”
I open my mouth to speak.
“It is.” Lucas hands over the paper that I swore was in my possession. Or did I give it to him? “Checked it against the purchase order.”