Page 74 of The Splendor of Fire
“Come toward me.”
She pushed off the bottom and floated toward him. Out of practice herself, she sank, her arms flying out. He reached out for her small waist and was shocked when she launched onto him like a terrified cat, bringing a wave of water over his head, wrapping her legs and arms around his body. Her cheek rested on his.
“I have you. I won’t let go. We’re not alone, we have each other.”
Tightening his arms around her trembling body, he savored the feeling of her against him, allowing his heart to feel what it had been longing for since she’d been taken—the softness of her skin, the tickle of her curls against his cheek, the beat of her racing heart next to his chest. Holding on to her, he glided through the water making circles, trying to calm her down.
After a few minutes he touched a dripping curl on her shoulder. “Are you better?”
She nodded and loosened her grip around his neck.
“Why don’t we try going under the water? You’re afraid of being covered by the water, aren’t you?”
At once she tightened her grip on him to the point that she was choking him.
He wheezed. “Feel how tight I have you? You aren’t going anywhere.”
A tremble moved through her and she wrapped her legs tighter around his middle as if he were a tree trunk and she was afraid of falling from a great height.
“We’re going to go under the water for five seconds and then we’re coming right back up.”
Her cheek nodded against his.
“Sur trois. Un, deux…” Her hand beat against his shoulder. And he leaned his cheek into hers and laughed. “Just checking to see if you’re paying attention. On three. One, two, three…”
He tightened his arms around her and sank into the water, holding her against him, loving her against him. ...One, two, three, four, five.
Standing, he held her as they surfaced. She blew her breath out and pushed hair from her eyes.
“Excellent. Shall we try for ten seconds?”
She nodded and held on to his neck. “On three. One, two, three…” Closing her within the safety of his arms, they plunged below the water and he counted to ten.
He rose and her body loosened a bit from his. She held her hands up, ten fingers, closed then opened them again.
“Twenty seconds?”
She nodded.
It was all he could do to remember to breathe—he wanted to hold her forever. “Oui.”
Arms draped around his neck, her aqua eyes stared into his, her mouth so very close to his. “Sur trois. Un, deux, trois.”
He lowered her into the water, sitting upon the bottom of the pond. Beneath the water she stared at him, a smile spreading across her face. His hands held onto her waist and she leaned back, her arms wide. …Eighteen, nineteen, twenty.
Planting a foot into his abdomen, she kicked backward into the water. Extending her arms in graceful strokes, she floated along the surface, backstroking across the pond. When she’d gone several feet she dove beneath the water and swam back toward him. Exhilarated and beautiful, she resurfaced. Weeks of ugly words toward her hit him in the conscience. She was exceptional. “Moira, I’m sorry.”
She brushed the water out of her eyes and waded back toward the shore.
“Wait, Moira. Don’t go. Please.” She looked over her shoulder athim as he ran out of the pond after her. He caught her hand and she smiled and rolled her eyes.
He signed.What?
Smile widening, she sprinted toward the rock springing off her hands, twisting and turning, and landing feet first in the water. The somersault that he botched. She surfaced and blew him a kiss, then dove under the water.
Friponne.
Sprinting after her, he bounced off the balls of his feet and flipped into the water. He surfaced and put his hands above his head. “I knew I could still do that.”
