Page 32 of Hooked on a Witch
She tried to crawl to him, but her shoulder and back screamed in protest. Darkness closed in on her brain.You will NOT pass out.
Although the tide looked to be going out, water crept toward his fingers, as if pulled by an imaginary force. It swirled up his arm. A huge wave reached high above him and swept him into the depths of the ocean.
Then everything was peaceful again with the ebb and flow of small waves.
The water had reached out for him and swallowed him. Nowthatwas impressive water manipulation. He must be a water-god ancestor.
Questions swirled in her brain. Her mess revolved around Poseidon, the king of all water gods, which was too coincidental with Merck having water powers.
She stared at the ocean so long her vision blurred, worried about Merck.
Her eyes flickered closed as she fought dizziness. Even though next week Poseidon might execute her, it no longer mattered because right now she was about to check out. She hoped her death here would end the Trident quest and keep her Pleiades witch sisters safe.
Splashing jolted her awake. She gazed toward the ocean, wondering if her last view would be of him. Not a bad last view. He walked thigh-high in the water, and he’d lost his shirt. There was no residual damage to his skin. No blood. No bruising. All had been healed.
He had the body of a top-class athlete. To say he was movie-star stunning didn’t cut it. Neither did drop-dead gorgeous. He was heart-thudding, ahh-maz-zing, and then some with those sexy tattoos that streaked from his shoulders to his hands. More tattoos spanned his chest and abs. His short, sandy-blond hair wasn’t wet when it should be dripping.
His eyes, now so light a blue they looked almost shimmery, seemed to swirl. She forgot to breathe, but not because he was beauty incarnate. Power oozed from him like a second skin in a way she’d never seen before. It made him intimidating and scary as hell. If descended from a god, then his godly parentage wasn’t quite as far removed from the tree as hers.
He knelt next to her. “This is not the world to which I was born.”
“Dimension,” she whispered. “Not world.”
“What is this place?”
Her mouth worked to answer, but nothing came out. She squeezed his hand, although her grip was weak, hoping he’d understand she regretted stranding him in a foreign dimension.
“Hold on.” He lifted and held her tight to his body.
Power swirled around him in various aura colors, beautiful whirls. She’d never seen such energy. The converging colors of his aura stimulated a giddy, punch-drunk high.
She pressed her face tight against him, seeking heat against the chills wracking her body. Water licked at her skin as he waded deep into the water.
She ran her finger along his bare chest, unable to resist touching.
He halted, now chest-high in the water.
“You lost your shirt,” she mumbled.Oh, my God. You’re dying and losing your mind.She giggled.
“I did.” His body seemed to tremble when she traced the contours between his nipples.
“Why do we have this connection?” She needed answers before she died.
“I don’t know.”
“You sense it, too? This whatever it is?”
“I’d have to be dead not to,” he muttered.
Then she was wet. She bowed away from the stinging salt water. “Hurts.”
He didn’t acknowledge he’d heard as he continued into deeper water, now cradling her head above the water.
“I think I’m dying,” she announced.
“Not today, darlin’. Take a deep breath. We’re going under. Now.”
“No—” Her denial was lost by sudden emersion.
