Page 23 of Ruthless Scoundrel
“You’re getting in this water because there is no other way out and I’m not going to starve to death down here with you.”
I sit on the rock beside him. “You’re not in this for money.”
“You think too highly of me,” he says. “I am a greedy selkie, and I want more than what I have.”
“But it’s not money that you want,” I say.
His eyes glimmer with that stunning light as he looks at me. “Take a deep breath.”
I will figure him out. I will be able to escape this.
Jasper grabs my hand. “Don’t let go of me.”
I exhale all the spent air from my lungs and gulp down a deep breath. He doesn’t give me time to think. As soon as my lips close around the air, he tugs me against his side and dives forward into the rushing river.
Water slooshes up around my ears and threatens to push into my nose. Jasper tugs me along, kicking his legs furiously.
Don’t panic. Don’t. Panic.
Moving too much, or panicking, will spend your breath faster. Just let him hold you. Just let him lead you.
Something sharp drags down my back. I grunt in pain and air escapes from my nose. Jasper pulls me closer, wrapping one arm behind my back to press us together. He kicks harder and reaches forward with his other hand.
My lungs burn. The dark confinement of the aquifer threatens to undo my mind and turn me into a beast. The water pushes us along and Jasper surges through it, but not fast enough.
I let out the last of the burning air in my lungs and hold onto him tighter, begging my body not to breathe in water.
Suddenly, Jasper grabs my jaw and presses his lips against mine.
He forces my mouth open and blows air into me. It’s hot, but it eases the ache in my chest, so I take it in greedily like the animal I’ve become at the brink of death. Jasper releases me and kicks harder than before, his legs moving from wall to wall.
Finally, a pinprick of light appears ahead. I tighten myself against him, refusing to get left behind. The passageway narrows even more, and I feel Jasper knock forward as his shoulder hits the wall. It slows us down, and my aching lungs remind me that Jasper likely doesn’t have any breath left for himself at this point, let alone another one for me.
He pulls my hands from behind his back, then grabs my waist and thrusts me ahead of him in one massive move. I kick my feet, desperate for the air that’s promised just on the other side of the light ahead.
The water rushes faster, pulling me out into the early morning. I suck down a deep, sputtering lungful of air.
Then promptly release it in a scream as I fall.
Chapter seven
Jasper
Irealize all too late that there’s a drop on the other side of the exit. Fortunately, it’s only a few feet. I land on the smooth rocks and the last of my air escapes in a grunt as I avoid falling onto Reina.
Water splashes down around us as we both pant.
She looks up at me with hate in her eyes. “Youkissedme.”
I grin and shake my head. “If you thinkthatwas a kiss, I feel sorry for you.”
She scoffs, but her cheeks flare with color.
I can’t stop the laugh that escapes me. “You’ve never been kissed, have you?”
“Of course I have, you idiot.”
She stomps away from the waterfall, wringing her loose, transparent clothes. I suddenly realize I can see the curve of her slender body, the tan lines where her skin was covered from the sun, and the pink of her nipples. I dart my eyes back up to her face. She’s paying me no attention as she tries to dry herself off.
