Page 49 of Honor Code

"Only a few more yards. Keep going."

She didn’t reply—too busy keeping her head above the rampaging white water, determination etched her face.

His heart swelled. Damn, she was something else. It was then that he decided. If they made it out of this alive, he was never letting her go.

CHAPTER 23

Ellie forced her leaden arms to keep moving. Thank heavens for the buoyancy aid. Without it, she’d never have made it this far. When there was a lull in the waves, she could see the calm, mirror-like surface of the bay beyond.

Come on, keep swimming.

One last kick through a frenzied peak and trough, choking on a mouthful of salty seawater—and she was over the worst. The water stilled, the reef beneath them disappeared, replaced by the sandy bottom. It was like swimming through a lagoon.

Catching her breath, Ellie turned onto her back and floated for a while. The sky was a cloudless blue, the color of Phoenix’s eyes.

They’d made it.

Ellie felt a squishy thing touch her leg, then a jolt of pain spread through her limbs.

“Ouch,” she yelped.

Her first thought was the shark, but when she looked down, she realized it wouldn’t be. Phoenix had said they didn’t venture over the jagged reef.

“You okay?” He swam up beside her.

“Something stung me.” She bit her lip against the pain. Damn, just as she’d been enjoying their victory.

“Don’t worry. It’s probably a jellyfish, but they aren’t poisonous. They’ll just give you a nasty rash.”

Phew! That was a relief, although a rash didn’t sound good.

On any other day she’d have panicked at the thought of being stung by a jellyfish, but after being shot at, sinking, and almost being attacked by a shark—it somehow didn’t feel that bad. She nearly laughed at the thought. How far she’d come from that fearful, anxious woman he’d tackled on her first day on the rig.

“Are you able to swim?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Her leg ached, but it seemed localized, and her other limbs were working fine. Phoenix switched to a leisurely breaststroke. A strong swimmer, he seemed so at ease in the water. Ellie glanced across at him. “Did you do a lot of this type of thing in the Navy?”

He gave that secretive smile. “All the time.”

“So, this is just another day at the office for you?”

A dry chuckle. “Not quite. I’ve never been that close to an IED before, or come face to face with a tiger shark, but don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She managed a weak smile. “I know you won’t.”

His expression softened, but then he turned away and nodded toward the crescent strip of sand ahead. “We’re there.”

They clambered out of the lagoon onto the finest, softest sand Ellie had ever felt. She collapsed, spent, and lay on her back enjoying the warmth and the stability of being on dry land. Apart from the sting on her leg, she felt like she could lie here, perfectly content, forever. “I can’t believe we made it.”

He lay down beside her and squeezed his eyes shut. “I knew we could do it.”

What he meant was, he knew she could do it. His faith in her was astounding. A week ago she wouldn’t have believed she’d been capable of this. “How’s your head?”

“Okay.” He forced a smile, but she didn’t miss the tension in his jaw or the deep crease in his forehead. He was in pain but wasn’t telling her.

“Can we rest here for a while?” she asked, unclipping her life vest and slipping it off. “I don’t think I can go any further right now.”

“Sure.” He sounded relieved. She lay her head back in the warm sand, while he took off his vest and did the same.

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