Page 37 of Dark Embers

“I have something special to show you,” he said, floating in front of me. “A place where we can find some privacy.”

My pulse skittered, and I smiled. “Okay.”

“Follow me.” He tipped his head and then started swimming away from the Dome.

I trailed alongside him, swimming through rays of sunlight that caught in the murk as they streamed through the water from above. The idea of moving through light like this was beautiful to me. Above water, you don’t get to see the rays like this. The closest you get is when they spill through a window in a dusty room.

But down here, you could practicallytouchthe golden streaks. They were like solid bolts that you could pass through likeyouwere the intangible one.

Just as before, Kendall led me deeper along the lake floor, those rays getting fainter and fainter, less and less solid. After several minutes, the water around us grew dim, the dips in the ground hiding pockets of darkness that were almost ominous.

I tilted my head back up, seeing a gaping blackness growing ahead of us. Apprehension gripped me, slowing my momentum even as Kendall continued.

Kendall turned to look back at me. “It’s okay. Trust me.”

He offered his hand again, and possibly against my better judgment, I accepted it and let him pull me further. Kendall had never led me astray so far, but nothing about that black opening appealed to me.

As we got closer, I saw that it was a narrow cave entrance, like the mouth of some giant marine beast lying in wait for two stupid mermaids to wander in so it could swallow them whole.

“Uh, Kendall, I really don’t like the dark,” I said as he guided me to the threshold, every instinct inside me urging me not to enter.

Maybe it was from all the years of brainwashing from Mom’s second rule. She had taught me to fear the darkness, but then again, wouldn’t any sane person be afraid to go into a pitch-black cave at the bottom of a lake?

“It gets better. I promise,” he insisted.

I cringed, letting him practically drag me through the cave opening and along the narrow tunnel inside it. Just as my paranoia peaked and I was about to pull away and zoom off in the opposite direction, a faint green glow illuminated the walls of the tunnel ahead of us.

Intrigue replaced my apprehension as we swam further into the cave, the glow becoming brighter. Finally, we turned a corner, and I found myself floating inside a cave pocket that was filled with such bright green light that it hurt my eyes after so long in the dark.

I blinked several times urging my eyes to adjust, staring around the glowing green walls of the cave that surrounded us.

“Whoa,” I breathed.

“I know, right?” Kendall said.

“What is it? How is the cave glowing?” I asked, swimming up to the cave wall to inspect it closer.

“It’s bioluminescent algae. I don’t know how it got down here, but for some reason, it really likes this little pocket.”

I lifted my hand to touch the glowing rock surface, surprised to find it smooth and not at all grimy like I’d imagine algae to be. When I withdrew my hand, my fingertips were glowing with the same green light.

“So weird,” I said in awe. “And so beautiful.”

I felt the disturbance in the water before I felt Kendall’s warm hands on my shoulders as he came up behind me. “You’re beautiful.”

His face nuzzled into my hair, and his lips traced kisses along the side of my neck, sending shivers darting over my skin that had nothing to do with the chill of the water. I craned my neck to the side, giving him better access, and his lips opened over my neck, his tongue coming out to lick and suck on my skin.

All the anticipation I’d felt coming to meet him came flooding back with a vengeance, my core tightening with a naughty need that I couldn’t wait to embrace. I moaned as he sucked on my neck, nibbling on my earlobe with the faintest scrape of his teeth on my sensitive flesh.

His hands slid down my upper arms and back, scooping up under my arms and gently raking his fingertips until they found my breasts. I arched into him, pressing my ass against his pelvis as his skilled hands kneaded my suddenly aching breasts, intensifying the need in my center.

“You have the most amazing tits,” he cooed against my ear, his warm breath heating me all over.

With heavy, fluttering eyelids, I glanced down at his fondling hands, surprised to see that my hardened breasts were covered in the glowing algae. I let out a deep, gravelly laugh that was laced with the lust he was igniting within me.

“Aren’t you full of surprises?” I said huskily.

He hummed his appreciation into my neck. “Are you ready for the best surprise of all?”

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