But what the fuck was he going to do?
13
Micah had only felt true fear a few times in his life. He regularly went on missions with the two men he loved most while knowing that as good as they were at their jobs, they were still risking their lives. And yet he was calm. Heembodiedcalm.
Because Micah was always calm. He cultivated it internally, so externally he could create chaos. But just like she’d upended everything else, Kara had destroyed Micah’s calm.
And right now, he was feeling more fear than he’d ever felt in his entire life.
Because Kara’s goddamned fucking parachute wasn’t deploying, and there wasn’t a goddamned fucking thing he could do. He was at least ten feet above her, and she was falling, fast.
Did he have even a chance of saving her?
As he quickly weighed his options, he watched her mouthI love you.A roar burst out from his lungs, a complete negation of the reality he was facing.
She couldn’t die.
She wouldn’t die.
Making a snap decision, he didn’t even bother deploying his parachute, but put his arms out as gravity did its job. And he prayed to the god he no longer believed in, for the first time in over a decade, to save her.
Kara was falling, faster.
Faster.
Micah started stroking through the air like he was swimming so he could get closer to her. The air fought him, not liking someone who was trying to change the way gravity and air flow worked, but he didn’t give a fuck.
And finally, finally, as his heart hammered in his chest and ears, her hand was within holding distance. He motioned to her, and, eyes wide, she reached for him.
He grabbed her hand.
And tugged.
She span directly into his arms, which he wrapped tight around her. Oh, the air didn’t like that. It wanted her back. It had plans for her. But Micah had his own goddamned fucking plans, and they didn’t include the woman he loved dying today.
“Wrap your arms around me,” he tried to yell.
He doubted she could hear him, but she either understood or instinct was working, because she wrapped her arms around his neck. He couldn’t see her eyes through her goggles, but he leaned his head against hers, praying again as he tugged the ripcord, not knowing if his parachute was also jammed.
Nothing but wind.
Fuck.
He tugged again.
This time, with a whomp, the parachute deployed, tugging him straight up in the air as it caught the wind and pulled them backward. A normal man would have lost holdof Kara at that point—and a normal woman would have lost hold of him—but Micah was a former SEAL and Kara was determined. And besides, they fucking loved each other too much to let go.
They loved each other. That meant he’d always catch her before she fell, and as long as she held on, she’d be safe.
The world went quiet again as they sank toward the ground. It was funny how air could feel and sound like water, the same rushing quiet. How this reminded him of when their car had begun to sink into the depths of the ocean and Kara had fought to get them all out.
We’re always saving each other, aren’t we?he tried to say, but the words were carried away by the silent wind.
She gripped him harder.
Turning his head, he took stock of where they were. The problem was, since he’d delayed pulling his parachute, they’d been pulled off course. Instead of landing on a flat field, which had its own problems since Kara had no parachute of her own, they were going to smack straight into a bunch of trees.
Fuck.He had no idea how he was going to pull this off, but he better figure it out fast.