Page 280 of Ominous: Part 1
The sea laps against my shins, the churning noise of white-capped waves almost as loud as my thoughts.
Did you want me to care about something?
Did you not see I always cared about you?
But I didn’t look like love. She couldn’t see me as that. Maybe because Dad loved her too close, she needed something lighter. Kinder. More gentle.
I dive down into the navy water, the cold sending pins and needles along my limbs. I don’t open my eyes, salt seems to burn worse than chlorine, and I have no idea where Eden is, but I know I’ll find her. Our souls probably wouldn’t ever let us get too far apart. She’s close, I know.
I don’t think about her being anywhere but close.
Instead, I’m thinking of the type of love Eden wants.
Soft and sweet or hard and dangerous? With her, I feel each of those things, tenfold.
Nothing is shallow. But when will it be too deep?
I push my toes along the bottom of the ocean floor, sand and shells and things I’d rather not name beneath them. Dom is obsessed with sharks. I’d rather never meet one.
Bursting through the surface, gulping down cold air, every hair on my body standing on end between the contrast of cold water and cool air, I tread water, realizing I don’t stay touching the bottom.
I shake my hair from my eyes, using one hand to scrub over my face and clear my vision as I turn my head one way, then the other, looking for her. The coast is empty.
A bird caws overhead.
“Eden!” I shout her name as I circle my arms under the surface, keeping myself afloat.You know how to fucking swim.Anger over fear, because one makes you move and the other can freeze you.
But what if she was still high? What if she was still messed up from last night, and her mind forgot how to tell her body to fucking move in the water and—
Arms come around my neck, legs winding over my torso, ankles locked against my abs.
“Jesus fucking Christ.”The swear is a whisper, even as I close my eyes, relaxing with the feel of her slippery, warm skin against mine while she clings to me. I clamp my fingers over her wrist, using my other arm to keep us both above water.
I feel her laugh against my back, then her mouth on my shoulder.
My entire body grows warm in the cold of the ocean.
“Were you nervous?” she whispers, her breath against my skin.
I glance at her out of the corner of my eye, releasing her wrist and moving us toward the shore, because the waves are choppy, and we’re past their breaking point, but I don’t want to risk it.
“Shut up,” I tell her, and when I can stand in the water, I grab her again, pulling her around my body as she lets out the softest gasp. I wrap my arms around her waist, and her legs do the same to mine, her fingers through my wet hair as she tilts her head and looks up at me, water dripping down her nose, over her lips.
“Do you want me to slap you, Eli Addison?” she whispers, a smirk on her mouth, sleepy eyes crinkled, and thick, wet lashes clumped together.
The ocean jostles us a little, and before I can answer her, she turns her head, and her mouth falls open into an O, her hold on me frantic. “We should move.”
I turn to follow her gaze, seeing the big wave curling upward, white foam rising from the rough surface of the sea.
She tries to get down, pushing against my chest, dropping her legs from my waist, but I just move my hands to her ass, keeping her close to me.
Her nails find my chest as she whips her head around, flecks of saltwater splashing the sides of our faces, the roar of the wave coming closer.
“What?” I ask her, biting back my smile. “You don’t trust me?”
“Eli, it’s fucking enormous!” She’s still fighting me, her body slick against mine, and she’s right, actually, it’s a pretty big wave, but…
“That sounded a lot like ‘no’.” I pull her close, turning my back to the approaching crash, and a second later, a scream laced with a laugh leaving her mouth, the wave descends on us, sending me to my knees, but I don’t let go of her as we’re both forced under, abruptly silencing her voice.
