Page 180 of Her Reluctant Hero
She mimed waves and rocks, then straightened her arm so her fingers pointed to the surface and jabbed her flattened hand at her palm, fingers first. He frowned. What the hell? He saw her frustration as she climbed her fingers up her upright arm.
A cliff. Hell. He nodded his understanding. They were off course and they were screwed. They had no place to surface.
He wondered if Toney and Jacob had been able to stay on course, and where they were.
Mallory motioned that they had to keep going, that they had to try. He grimaced, thinking of the waves that could pound them against those rocks, waves they wouldn’t be able to fight.
They swam up a bit, found a current, which they were able to ride awhile. Adrian’s body relaxed since he didn’t have to work so hard.
Too soon, they started having to dodge rocks, still carried by the current, which worked against them now. They had to surface.
Mallory pointed at a shadow slightly below them. He frowned at her as she started to swim toward it, tossing away her empty pony keg, unstrapping her other from her hip. What did she think she was doing?
Still, he followed and saw what she saw.
A cave, just beneath the surface of the water. He hesitated. They had no idea how deep the cave was, how long they’d have to swim before they were able to find air. This would be a dive of faith. Their only other option was to surface and chance getting battered against the rocks. No way could he climb a cliff. They didn’t have the equipment to do so anyway.
God help them. He dove after her into the cave.
The dark water swallowed Mallory. Panic jolted through her. She reached to her left and her hand brushed Adrian. She swam with her hand on his shoulder until he powered up the lights on his facemask.
She followed, swimming along at his right flank, unwilling to let too much distance come between them. The current of low tide pulled at her. She and Adrian couldn’t fight it long. They were already worn out.
Adrian gestured. She looked up at the ceiling. Stalactites dipped into the water. She frowned. With the current, they should have eroded by now. She could see where the seawater had carved them into a comma shape, but they still hung on. Their presence would answer the question of how long this cave had been underwater. She wanted to swim up to them, but Adrian motioned her to follow him. She checked her watch and her depth gauge. They couldn’t stay under much longer; they’d use too much oxygen at this depth.
She followed him deeper and saw a hole surrounded by tumbled boulders, wide enough for them to pass through together. He signaled her to go first. Her heart seized in a moment of apprehension, but she swam through.
The gauge on her pony keg went into the red. She had to take shallower breaths, conserve the remaining oxygen. Adrian swam over, checked her gauge, and worry creased his brow. She waved a hand, trying to blow it off. He motioned to his regulator, flicked his finger between them. If she ran out of air, they’d have to buddy breathe. She nodded and hoped they could find an air pocket before that happened. She didn’t want to disable him further. They’d already reached the point of no return; they didn’t have enough air to swim to the entrance of the cave.
Then even her shallow breaths took the last of the oxygen from the pony tank. Reluctantly, she dropped it and watched it drift down to the ocean floor before she turned toward Adrian. His eyes behind the mask were gentle, almost sad. He offered her his regulator. She took a small breath, tasting him on the plastic and handed it back.
Adrian knew he should have insisted she have the big tank. He couldn’t watch her drown. He took a shallow breath and offered the apparatus back. Her legs bumped his as she moved closer to get it. They tangled for a minute, disengaged as she inhaled, then handed it back.
He caught her hand and squeezed before releasing it. If he never again got to tell her he loved her, if he didn’t have the breath to make the words, she was going to know. She had to know.
He took the regulator, took the smallest breath he dared, handed it over. He didn’t want to watch her die, and he didn’t want to leave her here, alone and afraid. He had to stick around to take care of her.
He realized they were swimming up, that the cave was rising from the water. Mallory pointed, and he saw what she saw—waves lapping at the side of the cave. They had to find air up there. He took a regular breath, offered the regulator to her, and they swam toward the side of the cave. They were going to make it. The huge risk—hell, it hadn’t seemed as huge when he planned it—was going to pay off.
Adrian surfaced first, carefully, not wanting to hit his head on the roof of the cave, or worse, a stalactite. The cool air touched his face and he breathed deeply, then tugged Mallory up beside him. She came up, choked when a small wave slapped her in the face. She gulped in air, which she released on a joyous laugh.
“We made it!”
He wrapped his good arm around her and pulled her close, pressing his cheek against hers as much as their masks allowed.
The words he’d ached to say only minutes ago, that had come easily when they’d been alone on the boat, ready for adventure, suddenly choked him. He’d pulled her into danger and almost lost her. Could still lose her. “You did great,” he said instead.
He drew away to inspect their surroundings. They hadn’t just found an air pocket. A ledge jutted out nearby where they could actually get out of the water. He didn’t know what could be beyond that, but hopefully a way out that didn’t require them getting back in the water. Only about twenty breaths remained in the tank. They’d found this ledge just in time.
He heaved himself onto the jutting rock with no small effort, and Mallory pulled up beside him.
“Wow. Touch and go there for a minute, wasn’t it?” she asked as she stripped off her mask, her voice choppy, as if she was unaccustomed to taking regular breaths.
“Made it.” He grimaced as he tried to unbuckle his tank.
“Here, let me.”
She climbed to her knees and leaned over. Once she tugged the tank free, he stretched out on the smooth rock, filling his lungs in a way he hadn’t thought possible moments ago.
