Page 14 of Black Sea

He didn’t reply, keeping his dark gaze on me, his cheek muscles twitching as he clenched his jaw.

I nodded goodbye and jumped into the sea. The water was so cold that for a moment I felt as if a massive stalactite had pierced my skull. I chose not to resurface right away and looked around, creating bubbles as I moved my arms and legs so that I wouldn’t be pulled into the black abyss below.

Not far away, a school of fish moved like a sinuous sea snake, their silver scales reflecting the sunrays filtering through the surface. On the opposite side, farther away, I caught glimpses of dark whale silhouettes; their song’s echoes seemed to reach me in many small clicks.

I smiled, enjoying some more the muffled sound of the sea . . .

Suddenly, I heard multiple thuds in the water, which seemed to vibrate around me. I waved my arms and legs to turn around and frowned upon seeing the human’s bronze armor parts sinking toward the seabed.

Sad, I surfaced to tell him there was no reason to try to follow me, because I would vanish from his view with just a few strokes.

But he wasn’t about to jump into the sea.

He was standing on the tree—showing impressive balance for his race—with his back turned to me. The fabric of his sleeveless brown tunic pulled over his broad, muscular shoulders, and his strong arms hung stiffly at his sides, fists clenched.

I realized I had no right to tell him how to end his life. If he, too, wanted to try swimming to his land, despite knowing he would never make it, I was not one to stop him.

So, I turned around and started looking at the horizon to choose which way to go.

A movement of air.

I instinctively turned just as the soldier’s body fell on me, pushing me underwater. His arms wrapped around me like octopus tentacles, preventing me from pushing him away. Surrounded by the oxygen bubbles escaping from our mouths along with the sounds of the struggle, I kicked with my knees and feet to break free and swam toward the surface.

I barely had time to breathe before he appeared behind me and put his arm around my neck.

“You’re not going anywhere, Elf,” he growled, his lips pressed against my ear, his hot breath brushing my cheek.

I attempted to kick him, but he seized my hair and held my head underwater, demonstrating an unusual strength for a human. I fought back, feeling my tiara start to slide from my side braids. Just before it fell, I punched him in the stomach, and he instinctively pulled me up.

“Your family will be here soon to fish you out,” he hissed, still holding me tightly. “So, you’re my only chance to stay alive.”

My hand fisted into his tunic. “I can swim so fast that I’ll be gone before you have time to blink.”

A grin spread across his face. “Oh, yeah?” He gripped my wrist with his callused fingers, pressing my knuckles against his chest vehemently. “Then try.”

Ignoring the sudden, strange tightening feeling in my lower belly, I did as he wished and elbowed him in the temple with my free arm. He released my hair and went underwater. I tried to swim away, but he grasped my ankle and pulled me down. I struck him in the face with my heel, and the water quickly turned crimson.

We surfaced again, and I started swimming away once more. Still, the soldier firmly grabbed me by the hips and pulled me back to him with determination, squeezing me into his arms.

For a flicker of time, I was shocked by how my small breasts pressed against his chest, how my abdomen adhered to his, and how my hands instinctively rested on his shoulders.

I had never been so close to a male before, nor had I ever been embraced so . . . possessively. And he was so masculine, his rugged beauty so striking that it dulled my senses for a moment.

For a moment.

Then I punched him in the face. As soon as he let go of me with a grunt, I grabbed him by the back of his neck and pushed his head underwater. I held him down for a few seconds, grinding my teeth as I took the blows he was delivering to my stomach.

When I decided it was enough, I yanked his head back. He gasped, coughing violently as he floundered. I grabbed his hair and clamped my hand on his chin, pressing my fingers firmly on his jaw to make sure he only focused on me.

“If you keep holding me here,” I said, staring straight into his eyes, “I will kill you.”

He gave me a cocky smile. “If you really wanted to kill me, you would have done it already.”

Before I could dwell on the meaning of his words, the distant rumble of thunder caught my attention. I loosened my grip on the human and frowned at the approaching lead-gray clouds, where lightning was already raging.

“Looks like now I am your only chance to survive,” the man said.

I cut my eyes at him. “Why is that?”