Depths of Salvation (Love on the Edge) (19 page)

She shook her head against me, lifting herself to hover an inch above my face. Damn she was beautiful, and completely
mine
, for now. “Tell me what you need, Connell.”

I scrunched my forehead at her.

She kissed me, her sweet tongue slipping into my mouth in the quickest tease. “What do you need?” she asked again, a sharper tone behind it.

“Make me forget. Just for a little while.”

A wicked grin shaped her perfect lips before she lightly pressed them against my own. She worked her way downward, laying a trail of caresses across my stomach until she found what I’d never be able to hide when I was in bed with her.

She pulled my briefs down, her long hair grazing the skin on my thighs, and before I could take a breath, she stole it by wrapping her mouth around my dick.

“Sadie,” I growled, unable to whisper anymore. She hummed around me, the vibrations making me harder, making my eyes roll back in my head. “You don’t . . . have—“

She flicked her tongue along my tip, and I forgot how to fucking speak.

I forgot everything outside of her mouth, her hair in my hands, her scent filling the room. She moved up and down with the perfect speed, perfect pressure. The woman was perfect in every fucking way. I groaned, feeling my release already, and fisted her hair, stopping her motion.

“No,” I said.

She arched an eyebrow.

“You. I need to be in you.”

She licked her lips before pushing herself up and settling herself on top of me. “Whatever you need,” she said, and allowed me to slowly sink inside of her.

I clutched her hips, thrusting from beneath her, losing every gathering thought in the feel of her body on mine. Her soft skin, her quick breaths, her tiny sighs.

“Connell,” she gasped as I rubbed her clit with my thumb.

“Too much?” I asked, relieving the pressure.

She shook her head. “No, don’t stop.”

She damn near demanded it, clenching around me like she’d never let me go. I pressed against her harder, putting all the love I felt into the motions, begging her to fly apart above me.

“Yes,” she moaned, and it was the end of me.

She owned me as she rolled her hips expertly against me, and I was the one helpless against her touch as I came inside of her. She collapsed against my chest, our breaths matched in raggedness.

As we laid there, coming down from the high, my mind was blissfully clear.

She kissed my neck. “Can you sleep easy, here, with me?”

I hugged her to me, locking her against me. “I can.”

“Good.” She sighed against my chest, her breath, her words, her body, all working to soothe the pain I’d come to live with the past year and a half.

I could still feel it, but there was something else there, something strong pulsing right next it, soothing it with each breath I took beside her. I’d told Sadie she was my reason, and the reality of that statement sunk deep into my soul, refreshing it with a new light I never thought I’d see again.

Staring at her ceiling, listening to her deep, slow breaths as she fell asleep in my arms, I knew she was worth everything. Worth the risks she took daily under the water, worth the fight I knew would come when battling Slade, and definitely worth giving my heart to, even if it gave her the power to crush it.

Sadie

CONNELL WORKED ON
the third locked door of the day, his welder making the water around him glow white-hot. My mouth watered just watching him work. I was helpless against the pull he had on me, and luckily, I didn’t have to worry about it anymore. Not after he’d finally opened up to me a few weeks ago.

My stomach went sour as his face when he’d told me his story flashed behind my eyes. The pain, the effort it took for him to get the story out . . . God, it hurt my entire body. Nothing compared to what he went through, or what he continued to put himself through every day since it had happened. No wonder he’d kept everyone pushed away, not after what his own mother had done to him.

I inhaled deeply and tried to be understanding. I was certain she hadn’t meant the things she said to him, the blame she’d placed on him in her grief. And I was sure that once Connell let me in even more, I’d find the story of her attempts to reconnect with him. I hoped for it, because if it was the alternative, well, I’d never be able to let the anger toward her go.

He’d tortured himself enough, and if she apologized for her hand in it, Connell might have a shot at living out his life in a normal, open way. Happily.

I’d seen the tease of a happier version of himself in his eyes earlier this morning while we ate breakfast. He’d made me pancakes, which instantly resulted in him feeding the entire crew pancakes, but he was such a good sport about it. Mixing up more batter and flipping away, as if he’d always been happy to serve others, when I knew that wasn’t the case.

Even as easy as it was, I could tell that many people focusing on and talking to him at once made him uncomfortable, and I acted as a buffer as best I could. One didn’t just go from shutting out the world to letting it rush all back in at once. We’d have to take it slow, but he’d let me in, and the time we’d spent together since had been incredible, easy, and passionate. That was all that mattered to me.

I glanced behind me, checking to make sure my retrieval line was clear of tangles. Even with Connell as my partner on the interior, I didn’t want to take anymore unnecessary risks. I didn’t have time for setbacks.

We only had three weeks left before I’d have to prove the site’s worth and I still had heard absolutely nothing from the FDA regarding my research or requests. The days were tightening around my neck like a noose while my heart was doing nothing but falling harder for Connell.

I needed a miracle to make Henrick believe me, and so far the rigorous amount of testing—chemical, environmental, and even theoretical—weren’t enough. We’d been breaking our backs trying to solidify the evidence I’d gathered to prove the ecosystem’s importance, but it wasn’t enough. I needed
more
.

And despite being totally, insanely in love with Connell, I would never ask him to make a
biased
judgment call on the site’s life. I wanted to earn his word before Henrick when the day came, and it was approaching rapidly. I hoped whatever we found today might offer more in swaying power because sadly, the most recent test results on my little superhero plant were inconclusive.

“What are you hoping for in here?” Connell asked, his voice filling my mask and cutting through my worries.

“I’d love a room full of gold and artifacts.”

He chuckled. “You think you’re living in that show you run on a loop?”

“Do not knock
Unearthed.
It’s phenomenal, and he always finds the most incredible treasure,” I said, defending my favorite and only pastime on land.

“And the sites of his discoveries are always protected.” Connell turned his welder off, the lack of flame making the hallway seem darker than it had before.

“Exactly. As much as I’d love for them to see the potential in this site’s medicinal possibilities, or the mere fact that the ecosystem itself supports their main food source of the island, it wouldn’t hurt us to find some treasure. They’d have to protect it then.” I sighed, the chill from the water soaking through my suit. I’d already taken three breaks at the halfway point, switching out tanks and decompressing before returning to the
Falconer
, and I’d have to surface soon.

“Well, let’s find out what’s behind door number three,” Connell said, and I giggled.

“Did you just make a joke?”

He shrugged as he grabbed the steel door’s handle, his arms flexing beneath his suit as he pushed and pulled until the entire structure came free.

Where the previously locked doors moved forward, this one wrenched backward for some reason, and his grip slipped on the structure. The door jerked downward, the full brunt of it hitting him over the head.

“Connell!” I screamed as his body went slack and the door came down hard on his arm, pinning it against the wall. He didn’t even flinch.

“Nemo, get in here now!” I crossed the distance between us in a blink, cutting through the water with fast swipes. Connell’s eyes were closed, and pink water settled at the bottom of his mask, a thin line of blood trickling down his forehead. I shoved my hands underneath the door, trying to lift the thing on my own, but it was wedged between the entryway and the wall of the hallway, and Connell’s arm was stuck in the middle of it.

“Boss?” Nemo swam up behind me, instantly offering his strength.

We pushed and pushed, my heart racing as I watched Connell lie there, his body limp in the water. Finally, the door budged, and I grabbed him, hefting his body toward me. I shook him, but he didn’t stir. The gash on his arm made the water around us cloudy, and I signaled to Nemo to lead the way out. “Follow my line and help me get him out of here,” I ordered, sucking in deep breaths in my panic.

Once we cleared the ship’s interior, I hooked my arms fully around Connell’s body and swam as fast as I could toward the surface.

“Slow down, boss,” Nemo called from behind me, but I didn’t dare look back. “You could get the bends! You have to stop at the midpoint.”

I could hear the strain in his voice and see the halfway point where we would usually take ten minutes and adjust to the alternating pressures of depth, but the only thing I could think was getting Connell to the surface. His mask was filling with water, and the risk of taking it off was too high—he could regain consciousness and suck in a lungful of ocean.

So I bypassed the fucking midpoint, ignoring the tiny bit of rational thought in my brain screaming at me to worry about myself. The feel of Connell, slack in my arms, his breathing shallow against my chest, was enough for me to tell that voice to shut the hell up.

We rocketed to the surface, popping up like the bubbles out of a champagne bottle and it fucking hurt every cell in my body. Searing pain—like being thrown into a fire, coupled with the pressure of a plane that had flown too high—rocked every inch of my veins. I pushed past it, lugging Connell to the side of the boat where Liz and my crew already waited.

Thank God Nemo had radioed ahead. They helped me heft Connell onto the deck of the ship. Todd set to work on CPR before I’d even climbed on board and tossed off my gear. I hit my knees next to him, tears coating my eyes.

“Wake up, damn it!” I screamed when his eyes didn’t flutter.

The edges of my vision sparkled and the pain underneath my skin doubled.

“Sadie!” Liz shouted, but her voice sounded like it was packed in cotton. In an effort that made me feel like I’d inhaled an entire bottle of rum, I tore my eyes off Connell, Todd
still breathing for him.

I tilted my head, unable to maintain focus on Liz’s face.

What the hell? Was the boat moving? Spinning?

“Breathe,” Liz ordered, her hand pressing against my chest.

I am breathing.

I told my mouth to move, but it didn’t obey. My legs grew heavy underneath me and my world tilted on its axis. One second I was upright, the next I smacked on my side, the view of Connell’s unmoving body filling my vision until everything went painfully black.