A hint of white flashed through the inky depths.
God, nay!
Sucking in a huge gulp of air, he dove. Colyne reached out, his fingertips grazing hers. His lungs screamed for air, but he kicked deeper. This time, he snagged her cloak. He pulled her toward him.
Marie’s form bumped against him like a limp doll.
Heart pounding, he kept his grip on her as he swam up. They broke the surface, and she started to cough.
She was alive! His throat tightened with emotion as he pulled her against him as he treaded water. “I have a hold of you. You are fine now.” Safe was another matter.
At least with the steady wind, the waves would continue to build. If any of the English knights scanned the bay, the waves would provide a fairly effective shield.
“Where are we going?” she asked, her words sluggish.
“I am taking you to the boat.” He fought for calm as he swam with her in his arms. He’d almost lost her. What if he hadna seen her below the waves? Nay, he wouldna think of that. “Hold on to me.”
In reply, her hand tightened on his neck.
He didna care that she didna speak. She was alive, that was all that mattered. Using his free arm, he swam toward the boat.
Instead of closing on the craft, it drifted farther away.
To his right, floating on top of the water, he noticed the slack line. The sailor’s warning came to mind. When they’d fallen into the bay, the impact of waves must have tugged the line free. “A sword’s wrath!”
“What is wrong?”
At the exhaustion in her voice, he steadied himself. The last thing he wished was to alarm her further. “The boat is loose, ‘twill take but a moment to catch it.” Colyne swam after it, holding Marie afloat at his side.
The small craft bobbed in the water with cheerful abandon, the gap between them quickly expanding to several fathoms.
Refusing to give up, he swam harder, his fear growing with each stroke. The boat had become caught in the current.
Eyes raw with fear turned on Colyne. “We are not going to catch it, are we?”
“Aye.” Colyne swam harder. His muscles screamed. Water swirled past.
The distance between them and the boat grew.
Breathing hard, he paused, began to tread water.
“What now?” she murmured, her pallor increasing his worry.
He scanned the docks, then the Kincaid. They couldna risk being caught. “We will swim with the current to shore.”
With sure, steady strokes, he moved near the pier and kept them within the shadows of the moored ships. Thankfully, the crowd on the wooden dock above, along with the height of the growing waves, shielded them.
By the time they reached the shelter of the trees near shore, Marie’s body was trembling uncontrollably.
As if she had the strength to try to swim in the first place.
His guilt grew. She hadna recovered from her bout of seasickness—nae that he had allowed her proper sleep last night. But when she’d returned his kiss, he’d become lost in the passions she aroused.
In his entire life, nay one had ever responded to him with such completeness. And with her every word, her every touch, she filled the emptiness that haunted him. Now, because of his selfishness, he’d put her life further at risk.
His boot grazed a rock and he stood. Water streamed from their bodies as he lifted Marie and carried her up the steep embankment.
Her teeth chattered and she groggily lifted her head. “Co—cold.”
