Sighing, she gazed athim. She knew exactly what an ideal man was supposed to look like, and Carver… He was perfection. “We’re naked together for the first time.” Slightly nervous heat darted across her chest and dipped into her belly.
His gaze swung back to her, his grin returning. “And you have no idea how much I wish we had time to fully appreciate that and see where it takes us.” Despite his words, he lowered his head and kissed her as if he had all the time in the worlds. His teeth grazed her lower lip and his tongue swept into her mouth, exploring with hot, languid strokes. She kissed him back, deep and slow, and as if by magic, all her awkwardness and shyness burned away, leaving her simply craving him, and craving more.
Drawing back a little, she breathlessly whispered, “I’ll bet it takes us to claiming.”
He chuckled, his hot, silvery eyes flicking over her. “A little fixated, are we?”
“I want to know.” They’d come this far. She wanted to know what Carver felt likeinsideher now.
A rough, needy sound ground in his throat. “Another thing I admire about you—always straight to the point.” His hands slid down her arms. “But our time to act is shrinking like a grape in the sun. We’d better get moving.” He glanced around, squinting against the bright light reflecting off the great basin.
“What do you mean?”
“The tide’s on its way in. It’ll make the water in the cavern deeper.”
She looked down, noticing the sea had risen to nearly touch the undersides of her breasts. She inhaled slowly, exhaled. “You’re right. We should go.”
Carver slipped off the ledge, making room for her to slip off, too. The water instantly doused her returning fire, and within a few strokes, their scorching kiss already felt like it happened ayear ago and her magic yanking abruptly inward again left her chilled to the bone.
“Why am I the only one who knows about your fear of swimming?” Carver glanced over at her as they entered the shadows.
“You’re the only one here.”
His lips jerked up. “No, I mean, we took to an open ocean and sailed to an island before we came here. That didn’t seem to bother you.”
“We had a boat.” She frowned in confusion.
“It could’ve sunk.”
“Then we all would’ve died. Even you can’t swim across an ocean.”
Carver found the breath for a beleaguered sigh, even though she was already struggling to fill her lungs. “So you were completely calm the entire time? Not worrying about mixing fire and water?”
She just barely kept her chin above the surface and spat salt water from her mouth. “I had a job to do, so I did it.”
“Just like now.” He touched the back wall of the cavern, smiling. “See? Already there. Your fears don’t rule you.”
Grinning, she reached out and grabbed whatever she could hold on to. Eons of tides had carved out jagged handholds and she gripped one, keeping her churning legs away from the coarse stone as her eyes adjusted to the dimness at the rear of the cavern. “I still don’t like swimming.”
“Hmm.” He looked her over. “Maybe Zeus chose the wrong kingdom for you.”
Instant disagreement thumped in her chest. “Well, I don’t mind the occasional wading. And the views are pretty.”
His smile flashed in the gloom. “I guess we’re in the right place after all, then.”
She hmphed. “I’d happily never comehereagain.” The cool, slick wall was hard to hold on to, and just like Carver said, the water swirling around her legs was noticeably colder. “You’re right. It’s frigid here.” She peered down, just barely seeing a faint brightness below her feet somewhere.
Carver huffed in agreement. “Wait until you get close to it. I nearly froze my hand off.”
“Wonderful,” she muttered. Waves sloshed against the edges of the rock cavity, echoing in the hollowed-out chamber. It sounded eerily like the roar of battle. “Let’s do this. I just want to get out of here.”
Carver moved closer. “I’ll go with you. On three?”
She nodded. Carver counted and they dove together. Bellanca swam as fast as she could, her ears aching and her lungs burning before she even got to the crack in the wall. At eye level, the glow from the shard was so intense that she squinted, her eyes already burning from the sting of seawater. Bracing one hand against the top of the crack to keep herself steady, she reached in with the other. Half her forearm disappeared, and rough stone grazed her skin, tightening around her. Bits of air she couldn’t hold in bubbled out of her as her fingers finally brushed the icy tip of the shard. The coldness of the water around the narrow gap in the wall made everything harder. Shivers and the imperative to breathe set in, but she pushed forward to her elbow, grabbed the shard, and dragged it out, scraping her knuckles in her hurry. Blood trickled from her hand, the thin, floating line illuminated by the Shard of Olympus as she kicked hard, aiming for the surface.
Her head broke free, and her huge inhalation resonated in the cavern. It was even harder to swim gripping what felt like an icicle, and she floundered, half sinking again.
“I’ve got you.” Carver grabbed onto her and maneuvered heronto her back. “Just float for me.” She did as he asked, trembling and breathing hard as he swam them back toward the cavern entrance.
