“Told me who the lifeguard is. Who is the life saver?”
My heart triple times in my chest as she bites her lip, eyes searching my face. Jesus, she is something. Holding her, feeling her close, how she clings to me in need, it’s unlike anything I have felt before. I figure she feels it, too. This electric buzz between us. It is so palpable I figure anyone who comes near us must feel it too.
“Killian. I was surfing, and I saw you...then you were gone after a rip tide. I dove under to find you.”
“You saved me,” she whispers, her hand cupping the side of my face so I can’t ignore the look shimmering in her eyes. “My surfer boy hero. I could have...I might have died. I came here to change my life, not end it,” her voice trails off as she shakes her head, as if embarrassed by what her words might reveal.
“Not on my watch, babe. I prefer surferman, though.”
Those bright, almost purple eyes of hers fly to mine. I smile, lifting a shoulder as if to say “don’t you worry about that” because that is just what I mean. Whatever she came here for, I think I might want to be part of it. It might be the trauma of the moment talking. It might be adrenaline and fear. Or it could just be that buzz between us that is so heavy, so thick, it fills the entire ambulance as I at last settle her on the stretcher.
“Killian. It suits you, with those green eyes. You Irish surfer boy?”
Chuckling, I nod my head because it’s hard to miss. I might be blond after all my hours under the sun, but I come from a big, loud, very proud Irish family. My sister got the ginger hair andtemper. I got the impish spirit and love of mother nature.
“I am, indeed. What about you? Never told me who I saved.”
Flushing a pink that just makes her even more adorable, her eyes go big again. “Oh, my word! Kiera. Killian,” her voice lowers as she takes my hands, bringing them to her face. It is an intimate gesture, but it does not feel wrong, even sat here in the back of an ambulance after her near-death adventures. “How does someone ever thank someone else for saving their life? I mean...it all went down so fast if you were not there....”
Neither of us seems comfortable with her finishing that sentence. “I am glad I was there. Glad I was checking out the hot girl playing in the surf,” I add, grinning as her pretty eyes snap to mine.
“What...I mean, what does that mean?”
“Babe, I was in the right place at the exact right time because I was watching you play in the water. It was fucking adorable, and I was just about to come to ask if I could play too. Then the riptide came.”
All at once, she seems to shrink back from me. I hate it. Grasping her little hands in mine, loving how they both fit inside mine, I lower my head. Catching her gaze, I gently cup her jaw, not letting her break the gaze. As we sit there locked in a moment, I am pained to see tears well in her eyes.
“Don’t make fun,” she whispers brokenly. “I came here to...to...”
“To do just what you were doing. Iam notmaking fun. I would never laugh at someone loving the water the way you were. Being on the water is spiritual for some of us. It is supposed to be fun. It should be silliness and playful. I was truly, honestly, on my way to join you.”
Kiera flushes again and I do what I wanted to do earlier. Reaching out, I brush my fingers over it, smiling at how silky her skin is, how warm from the sun, from her blush. It deepensbeneath my touch. I am filled with thoughts of where else she might turn pink for me, how silky the skin between her thighs or the underside of her breasts might be.
Suddenly I want to be alone with her. I want a chance to find it all out. How soft she might feel against me, skin to skin, if her mouth is as sweet as it looks. I wonder what sounds she will make when I am inside her, if she will cling to me when she comes for me. I lower my head, willing the thoughts to stop, to slow down, to give me a minute to breathe.
“We’re here,” the paramedic speaks up, the doors slamming open and the cart she is on being tugged towards the doors.
“Wait. Wait, I am coming with her,” I tell anyone who will listen.
“He saved me.” Kiera mumbles. “He saved me. I need him with me,” before they yank her away from me as they roll her through the doors of emergency.
Cursing, I rush after her, but they won’t let me in. Even when I tell them I am her boyfriend. I figure a white lie can’t hurt if it is one I plan to make true. Still, they refuse, so I take a seat to wait for any updates. I am going to be here when they release her, or I will find her room.
If I want to make that white lie the truth, I figure keeping my first promise is a good start.
Chapter Three
Kiera
Almost dying is not a great start at starting over.
Lying in a hospital bed covered with just an itchy gown, I am shuddering beneath the bright lights. My skin is feverish, but I am frozen to the bone. The nurses said that is common after what happened. Hearing them call it a near drowning experience was the second catalyst of my life.
I almost died after barely living at all.
“Some contusions and bruising of your ribs, you will be in some discomfort for a few days. No head trauma. It was a near miss.”
Nodding as I tug the light blanket up to my chin, I agree. It was close. I cannot remember being hit by the riptide, but I remember being beneath the water. For a moment, I was sure I would rise to the surface; I had no idea it was as powerful as it was. Nothing I did, no twist or kick, no effort I made got me to the surface before everything went black.
