Page 91 of Love Is: Two Bodies One Soul

ChapterThirty-Two

The current grabbedat Owen with terrifying strength, sucking him under again. He’d lost count how many times he’d gone down. Despite all his valiant dreams of a life with Lexie, it seemed he didn’t have the strength to fight against nature’s power. He drifted down, down into the cold blue depths. Air bubbles shone in front of his eyes and floated away. It was strangely beautiful. Even though his brain told him this was the end, if he didn’t fight, he was tempted to just watch the scene unfold.

Then … I’m not giving in. Owen remembered what he’d thought just before the water had sucked him down. Death wasn’t in his plan now. He wanted to see Emi again, and he wanted to be with Lexie. Above he could see the dappled sunshine inviting him up to the air and life. All he loved was waiting for him. I must survive! Thinking only of Lex and his daughter, Owen forced his arms and legs to work. They ached and were weak but he pushed on, the light above getting brighter with every pull, until he burst through the surface out into the light, choking, with his throat burning from sea-salt. I’ve done it! He breathed in the hot air, turned in the water to get his bearings and saw ahead of him a beach, and – thank heaven – if he wasn’t hallucinating – Lexie – his Lex.

Muscles screaming from the exertion, Owen swam towards her. Sheer willpower alone generated the strength he needed to get to her. He decided he’d have no more pathetic thoughts of drowning. If he ripped every muscle, tendon, and ligament in his body, he was going to reach Lex.

Nearing the shallows on the last dregs of energy, the current grew stronger again, pulling him towards the mangroves at the far end of the beach. The sight was enough to fill his blood with adrenalin. One final burst, and he landed in the wet sand not far from Lexie. Legs shaking as he staggered from the water, his feet sank into the sand, his knees gave way, and aching through to his bones, Owen fell forward, face side-on in the sand, within touching distance of Lexie lying on her back, eyes closed.

Was she all right? He had to know. Owen crawled to her side.

‘Lex.’

Her eyelids fluttered.

His heart filled at the sight of her violet-blue eyes. ‘Lex,’ he repeated her name. ‘Lex.’

‘Owen, you’re here,’ she gasped, struggling to sit.

‘I came to find you.’ He dropped his head against her shoulder. ‘Oh God, thank God you’re all right. You are, aren’t you?’

‘No, something’s stung me.’

‘Where?’

‘My thigh.’

Forgetting he had no strength left, Owen crawled to examine her injury. It was a sting. It looked like something a jellyfish would do.

‘Did you see the creature?’ he asked.

‘Not sure. I went under because it hurt so much, and I saw something floating past me that looked like a wedding veil.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You know, pale, sheer and wispy – delicate.’

‘Not box-shaped with trailing tentacles?’

‘No, definitely not box-shaped, though I guess the wispy stuff floating beneath it might have been tentacles, now I think about it.’

Owen let out a sigh of relief and crawled back alongside her. ‘Thank God. I don’t know what you saw, but from your description, it wasn’t a box jellyfish that got you.’

‘Is that good?’

‘Yes, it is. Lex. Very good.’ He wrapped his arms around her. ‘Lex, I nearly went out of mind when I couldn’t find you.’ Holding her close, he murmured, ‘Cariad, oh my cariad, rwy’n dy garu di.’

‘Owen, what are you saying?’ She wriggled in his arms to face him. ‘Owen. Look at me, Owen. You’re wrecked and delirious, gabbling nonsense.’ She stroked his face and then held his head to her chest.

He spoke into her breast: ‘It’s not nonsense, cariad, it’s Welsh, it means, it means—’ He pushed himself up, pulling her into his arms. He was dizzy. He might pass out at any moment, but he had to tell her the truth. ‘It means I love you, Lex.’

Her cheeks dimpled into a smile. ‘You’re sure?’

‘Very sure. Even though I don’t know how to do this sort of thing. I’ve never been in love before.’

‘Neither have I.’

‘Never?’

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