Page 73 of Endless Depths

Fuck. He’s right.

“The sooner you get up there, the sooner I will,” he says.

“Ugh. Fine.”

Leaving Cole in the water is worse than leaving Seb. Seconds stretch to hours, and I’m a wreck by the time I get on deck. The guys are silent, and Lawrence looks like he’s going to be sick. Does Cole even realize how fucked up it is to force the friends who hoisted his lifeless body over the rail into doing it again?

I clench the railing as Cole climbs into the sling, ready to dive in at the first sign of danger, then take over for Lawrence. As soon as Cole’s in reaching distance, I haul him up and over the rail. He falls forward, knocking me on my ass, and landing in my lap.

I should ask him if he’s okay, but I’m too furious.

“Don’t you ever make me leave you down there again.”

“I’m sorry,” he says, breathing fast.

The wind gusts, blowing a cloud in front of the sun, and Ishiver. Cole’s troubled gaze searches mine, then he arcs down and crashes his lips against me in a salty kiss. My husband is kissing me. I didn’t kiss him. He kissed me.

I wrap my arms around him, dragging him closer, deepening the kiss, cursing the layers of insulating neoprene between us. That’s okay. I’ll have him like this. I don’t want to give him a chance to put his walls back up. We don’t stop, even as the engine rumbles beneath us andBriartakes the two-minute drive back to the dock.

The PA system scratches overhead, loud and unexpected. My heart stutters.

“I know this is supposed to be romantic,” Lawrence bleats into the mic, “but you guys look like two Gumby toys trying to fuck and we need to tie to the dock.”

“That’s it, Lawless,” I shout. “Get your cockblocking ass down here so I can beat the shit out of you.”

Cole explodes with unbridled laughter, the kind I haven’t heard since Seb died.

“I don’t know why you’re laughing, Sunshine. I’m serious.” I grip Cole’s hips and try to sit up, but he pushes me back down.

“You can’t kill my best friend.”

“I’m not going to kill him. I’m going to rip out his tongue and use it for bait.”

Lawrence gasps through the PA. “Sounds hot. I just have one question, Morgan. Can you tie me down first?”

Cole bursts into laughter again and collapses against me.

Something crashes.

“Ow!” Lawrence yelps. “Sorry. Javi says my tongue services are required. Maybe another time.”

“Shut the hell up, Lawless,” Javi says in the background.

Lawrence’s laughter cuts off abruptly. The wheelhouse door opens, and Lawrence stumbles out like Javi pushed him. He shields his mouth with his hand and bellows, “We’re going to get Astroglide?—”

Javi smacks the back of his head.

“—and groceries! So do whatever freaky shit you want to, as loud as you’re willing to risk the rest of the dock hearing.”

“Never mind that everyone on the island can hear this entire conversation right now,” I grumble.

Cole climbs off me and pulls me up. My mouth dries. What if that kiss was just a fluke? What if it means nothing?

He grabs my survival suit and yanks me close, then kisses me again, silencing my fears and reassuring me. He’s probably reassuring himself too because he just experienced the terror of being separated from his husband on the Bering Sea, so I kiss him back just as ardently, promising him I’m safe and we’re together.

It takes a few minutes to help each other out of our survival suits. We leave them in a heap on the deck and shed the rest of our wet clothes in the gear room.

He drags me by the hand to my room with a single-minded focus. No kissing pit stops. The mask he put on in front of the others drops, and he roves his hands over my body, mapping the landmarks he missed, mending the cracks in my shattered heart. I slide equally starved hands up his abs, and over his heart, then wrap my arms around his back and hug him so fucking tightly, burying my face in his neck.