Page 45 of Tempt Me

I swam over to the largest collection of green buds floating in the water, and sure enough, there was the giant man.

He wasn’t swimming, and his head was bouncing around from the small waves.

“Damnit! Pharaoh, wake up,” I said, pulling myself over to him and lifting his big head out of the bay.

He wasn’t conscious, and the weight of him and my clothes was pulling me under. I looked like a fishing lure bobbing up and down, trying to get a breath. I shouted to the yacht, trying to get anyone’s attention, but I wasn’t heard between the lapping of the waves and the chortles of laughter and music.

We were far from the pier, but I could see the rope tied to the yacht.

I struggled to keep the giant man afloat, kicking my feet and swallowing so much water that I felt like I was going to vomit.

I finally managed to grasp the rope floating on the top of the water. Using the last bit of my strength, I pulled my professor onto the tether and flipped him so his head wasn’t dunking in the cold water.

I was shivering. The shock of the temperature mixed with the exhaustion to keep this annoying asshead from drowning was taxing.

I kicked his legs. As tall as he was, you’d think he could reach the bottom of the lake and simply walk us back up to the dock.

He groaned, and I took that as a good sign that he wasn’t fucking dead.

The distance between the ropes at the end of the dock was discouraging, but I grunted and pulled that meat bag, flipping him over the rope like a fish rolling down a hill.

He coughed up water a few times, and his body started to shake. I was happy to see him responding, and I kept the momentum of flipping, pushing, and pulling. Finally, we made our way up to the dock.

“You’re bad at murdering someone,” he said weakly, that cocky smile still on his lips despite his state.

My teeth chattered. I was shaking so badly that the water started to feel hot rather than cold. I knew it was seriously time to get us the fuck out of here.

“I’ll try for murder again later,” I huffed, shoving his body again up the rope and pulling myself closer to safety.

He coughed out a laugh, and his eyes looked glassy in the darkness.

I couldn’t hear many people laughing anymore. The lights on the boat had gone dark, and my voice was too hoarse to scream at the shadows moving away.

I started to realize I had a new problem. Charity may leave the dock, and if he untethered the rope…we’d drown.

That understanding gave me a new surge of adrenaline. It powered through me. I ripped off my beautiful dress, the material floating in the water around me, but I felt instantly lighter. I yanked at the buttons of Pharaoh’s shirt and used my feet to push his pants off.

“And here I thought I was the one who had dark tastes when initiating sex.”

I ignored him, finally pulling off his clothes and watching them float off with mine. I was overly tired, but I was so close now. His body was still heavy, and the rope was rubbing my skin raw now, but without the weight of the clothes, I was finally able to pull us to the end of the rope.

Reaching up, I grabbed for the end of the dock, but my fingers slipped right off. I tried again, but one more time, my grip was useless. The wood was too slippery. Besides, I didn’t have the strength to get up on the dock, even if I could hold onto the wood.

I cursed. The anger at being so damn close yet still not close enough was agonizing. I stopped trying, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to hold him on the rope with me if I didn’t rest. And this wasn’t a movie where I was selfish and let the man drown because I didn’t make room for him on the lifeboat.

I curled up into his body, wrapping my arms around his inky-colored patterns, trying to keep us alive using our body heat.

Why had I pushed him off the boat? Why had I gotten into a stupid argument that wasn’t my business? Why had I jumped in after a man I didn’t really even like most days?

The questions bounced around my brain as I felt the exhaustion pull at me, and the water began to get warmer, numbing my skin.

Pharaoh was rubbing my arm and leg, his only means of energy used to keep me awake.

From the dock in the rising sun, I could make out our shadows. A girl and a guy were walking toward us. Their voices were muffled, their faces a blur. I couldn’t hear anything but the continuous whoosh of the water I had for hours. Pharaoh was still barely awake. His hand clenched onto me as the only lifeline we both had.

“Goliath! I see them.” I saw another big man walk out of the shadows. This one was huge, even taller than I think Pharaoh was.

“Oh my god! Roe, you dumbass, you swim worse than a damn cat, yet you’re chasing pussy in water?”

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