Page 75 of Fast Justice

“Rowan, look at me.”

She did, stared down at him through a blur of tears. “I…”

His eyes stayed locked on hers. “Rowan, you can do this. I’m going to grab you as soon as you hit the water. I swear it, baby.” With that he climbed onto the front of the boat and jumped in, never breaking eye contact while he treaded water beneath her. “Jump, Ro. I’ll catch you, I swear.”

She believed him. Trusted his word and his ability to do as he said. But she was still so afraid.You have to.Haveto.

It took everything she had to unwind her uncooperative legs from the bars she’d been clinging to.

“That’s right,” Malcolm coaxed, looking up at her. “Now let go and jump to me.”

She swallowed once, unhooked her left arm. Let her right slide slowly around the metal she could no longer feel.

Taking a deep breath and holding it, she forced herself to let go.

A scream echoed in her ears as she plummeted down and plunged beneath the surface. The icy embrace of the water engulfed her, dark and terrifying.

Before she could even try to kick to the surface, hard, powerful arms locked around her upper body and shot her upward. Her head broke the surface inches from Malcolm’s. And he smiled as he pulled her into him. “I’ve got you, sweetness,” he choked out.

She turned toward him, her leaden arms coming around his neck as she clung to him. A minute later she was being hauled out of the water.

Someone set her down inside the boat and whipped a blanket around her. Then Malcolm was beside her, water sluicing off him as he hauled her into his lap with a deep groan and crushed her to him.

Rowan shuddered, buried her face in his neck. “Don’t let go,” she whispered brokenly, her body shaking apart.

“I won’t,” he promised against her ear, his voice as fierce as his embrace. “I won’t let you go.”

MAL’S THROAT WAS thick with tears as he held Rowan in his arms while Rodriguez raced them back to shore. She was freezing and in shock and might have serious injuries, but hell, she was alive.Thank you, God, he said silently, his body wrapped around her for warmth.

“When we reach shore you stay with her,” Hamilton said to him over the roar of the engine.

Mal nodded, relieved, because there was no way in hell he was leaving her side until she was ready and he knew for certain she was okay.

Medics were waiting for them as soon as Rodriguez pulled up to the dock. Khan and Colebrook carried the other female survivors off. Mal cradled the back of Rowan’s wet head, kept her face firmly tucked into his shoulder so she wouldn’t see the blanket-covered body they passed. He carried her directly over to a waiting ambulance and climbed inside with her, sitting down on the gurney to settle her in his lap.

“Ro, are you hurt anywhere?” he asked, rubbing a hand up and down her spine.

Her teeth were chattering so loud he could hear it. “N-not bad,” she managed, burrowing closer.

They’d see about that.

A paramedic climbed aboard and shut the doors to give them privacy. Mal got her soaked clothes off her, checked her over for bleeding and broken bones while the paramedic did his own exam.

Not finding any, he allowed himself another measure of relief and laid her back on the gurney. She had bruises on her back and sides, down her arms and legs. But nothing seemed to be broken and she didn’t show signs of significant head or internal injury.

Another relief.

Wrapping her up with a couple of blankets, he leaned over her to brush back the strands of wet hair that clung to her pale, blue-tinged face. “We’re gonna get you warmed up,” he promised, running his hands gently over the blanket, trying to get her circulation going.

Her gorgeous, deep blue eyes gazed up at him, clear and alert despite borderline hypothermia and the horrors she’d just survived. God, he loved her. Couldn’t imagine his life without her. “You caught m-me,” she whispered.

His heart turned over. As long as he lived he’d never forget the moment he’d thought he’d lost her forever, and the moment when she’d trusted him enough to take that literal leap of faith when he’d asked her to. “I’ll always catch you, sweetness.”

Her lips quivered. She drew in a shaky breath and reached for him. Mal groaned and reached his arms all the way around her, gathering her close. He couldn’t shield her from the trauma she’d just been through. But he could be there for her through whatever came next.

As soon as he got her settled, he wanted to know how the fuck this had happened in the first place. Starting with how that bastard Montoya had found her this morning.

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