Tempt (Take It Off #3)(38)
Author: Cambria Hebert

Maybe if I closed my eyes and pretended I was there…

“Ava? Are you back there?”

My eyes popped open. Was someone talking? I glanced around at Nash. He was still sleeping. His position was horrible. His butt was going to be sore tomorrow.

“Ava?”

“Duke?” I whispered. I looked through the waterfall, but all I could see was darkness. I was afraid to call out, afraid that it wasn’t actually him.

What if my ears were playing tricks on me? What if it was the pirates? What if they were trying to lure me into giving away our position?

I stood there and listened for a long time. I thought about waking up Nash, but I couldn’t do it. He had to be exhausted. I knew he was worried about being here… about me being vulnerable. He needed the sleep. So did I.

Who knew what tomorrow would bring?

I moved back over to sit down once more when I heard another sound. It sounded like a low moan or a cry of pain. I moved to the side, trying to see around the water. I caught a little bit of movement near the shore.

I grabbed the gun off the ground and held it up to my chest, knowing I would use it if I had too but knowing I would be a terrible shot. It would be a waste of good bullets.

I sucked in a deep, nervous breath. “Duke?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m hurt… I need a place to hide. I need help.”

Concern for his well-being had me stepping forward, but I stopped. “How’d you get hurt?”

“They found me…” His voice trailed away. “I got away…”

He fell silent. I waited for him to speak again. He didn’t.

“Duke?”

“Can I come over there?” he asked, his voice low and strained.

“Of course.” I certainly wouldn’t deny him help. After all, he had helped us.

I heard a light splash and the sound of him moving through the water. He swam close enough that I could make out the shape of him just on the other side of the fall. When I thought he would come through, he didn’t.

He stopped moving.

He seemed to bob in the water, sinking low and then reappearing.

“Duke?”

“Tired,” he said and went under again.

How injured was he? Was he so hurt that he was going to drown tying to get to safety? I slipped into the water, swimming toward the falls where I could just make out his shape.

“Grab my hand,” I told him, reaching through the chilly curtain of water, extending my fingers to him.

“Thank you,” he murmured, and I felt him grasp me. I went to pull him in, but he was too heavy. His hand started to slip away.

He grasped me at the last second and I breathed a sigh of relief. He tugged, trying to get a better grip. More of my body slipped beneath the water.

“Swim closer,” I told him, struggling to keep afloat.

All of a sudden, his hold on me turned forceful. The bones in my fingers screamed for relief. I opened my mouth to call out, to tell him he was hurting me, but I was yanked through the water, rewarded with a mouth and nose full.

I tried to pull away.

He wouldn’t let go.

He yanked me right up against him… and then he shoved me under.

Water enveloped me like a thick, dark blanket. It pulled me in the wrong direction, and I tried to push up… but he was holding me down.

He was trying to drown me.

I wasn’t going to drown.

I hadn’t survived everything just to let someone kill me in a split second just feet from Nash. If I died while he was sleeping, he would never forgive himself.

I started to fight. To thrash around in the water.

My knee connected with something soft and he tensed, his grip loosening. I slid away, my head breaking free of the surface. I gasped for much needed air and then called for Nash.

He yanked me back under again.

He placed his hands on my shoulders and shoved me under. I felt bubbles release from my mouth and nose. My lungs began to burn. It was beyond painful. I wanted to breathe. My body had the intense urge to suck in… but that would only fill my lungs with water.

Something heavy plunged into the water behind me and a swell of waves rocked my body, pulling me from under Duke. But he grabbed me back, his fingers digging into my shoulders.

My thinking started to grow dim, my brain fuzzy. There was a commotion in the water… probably one of those man-eating piranha’s come to make me its dinner.

The heavy weight of the water was suddenly lifted. Oxygen teased my nose and I began to cough. Something was towing me through the water with purpose, with a strong grip.

He lifted me up onto the rock, flinging back my body, and my limbs worked to scramble up, but they were weak. He cursed, a naughty four-letter word, and then I slid back in the water for a few long seconds while he sprang out and then towed me up.

“Ava,” Nash said urgently. His hands tapped my face. “Wake up.”

I coughed again, a little water trickling out of my mouth, and he sat me up, supporting my body with his weight.

“What happened?”

“He said he was hurt,” I whispered. “I was trying to help him.”

Nash swore again. “We can’t stay here now. He knows where we are. We’re sitting ducks.”

“I’m sorry,” I said pitifully.

“Don’t be sorry. This isn’t your fault.” Underneath his soothing tone was a voice of steel. He was angry. Thankfully his anger was directed at Duke and not me.

I coughed again, trying hard to muffle the sound. I was so confused. Part of me wondered if maybe Duke’s behavior was an accident. If maybe he was so injured he fell into the water and pulled me with him, unable to help either of us.

But I’d felt his hands on my shoulders.

I felt him holding me under.

Why would he do that? I thought we were friends.

I began to shake, cold seeping into my wet body. Nash pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me.

“Daylight can’t be long now. Feels like we’ve been in this cave forever,” he murmured, rubbing warmth up and down my arms. “I think we should wait it out ‘til light. Us leaving now would only put them at an advantage. It’s dark. I don’t know if he was alone. Daylight will allow us to at least see what we’re dealing with.”

“Why would he do that?” I asked pathetically.

“I don’t know, bella. I don’t know.”

And so we sat there—wet, cold, and alert—wondering what the hell awaited us when the sun finally rose.