Page 69 of Last Shot at Love

We burst through the water, and I sucked gulping breaths of air into my sore lungs.

Cerulean’s mouth moved, but his words were soft. He continued speaking, but it was as though I were trying to hear him over the static of a TV.

“I can’t hear you,” I panted, still struggling to catch my breath. “Eardrums. Ruptured.”

Under the water, I’d been able to hear the wrenching of metal, but only because it had been loud.

I’ll kill them.

The words were in my mind, and this time I was confident that I hadn’t imagined it.

I decided to test him.

Cerulean was holding me against him as he swam toward shore, so I focused on his face and thought, if you can hear me, stop swimming.

He stopped.

Huh. Maybe that had been a coincidence. And he’d stopped swimming because I had a weird look on my face?

I needed to confirm. Stick out your tongue.

Cerulean’s tongue slid across his bottom lip before he stuck it out.

Kiss me.

The last wasn’t a test, it was a plea.

And while we bobbed in the ocean, Cer cupped my face and kissed me until I was dizzy all over again.

I wanted to touch him, to feel his skin under my palms, but my hands were still chained behind my back.

We’ll get them off once we reach land. I don’t want to try ripping them off, for fear of breaking something.

Too late. My snort turned to a cough.

Cerulean stopped moving again. What do you mean, too late? Did they break your bones?

No. Well, yes. But only if you count the piece of my skull that is still fusing back together. I meant my wrist is broken, but I did that to myself when I tried to break free.

Cerulean’s jaw clenched, and without another word, he surged forward.

My blood was warming as my heart pumped it through my body, but there was no way I could fully heal until I fed. That would have to wait.

My eyelids grew heavy. Trusting Cerulean to protect me, I fell asleep.

I awoke to Cerulean lowering me into a bathtub filled with hot water. I touched his stubbled jaw and then gasped.

Dark bruises still circled my wrists and ankles, but the chains were nowhere to be seen. “How?”

“Lapis beat us to shore since I was trying not to jostle you. He found the tool I needed and left it on our patio. You were so exhausted you didn’t even wake up.” Cerulean caught my less injured wrist and kissed it.

It was difficult, but I could hear his voice, although it sounded like he was whispering from across the room.

Cerulean washed my body with a tenderness that had my eyes blurring with unshed tears. I’d been on an emotional roller coaster over the past twenty-four hours.

My family had tried to kill me, and the man who’d just come into my life had saved me. I knew without a doubt I would not return to Boston as the same woman who’d left it less than a week before.

Cerulean lifted me from the tub and carried me to the bedroom. His hand brushed along my body, gathering the water droplets to him. By the time we reached the bed, I was completely dry.

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