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He coughs out a playful laugh. “I do. Because that shithead is now your husband. Besides, I’ve been here a dozen times since the first.”
Shucking his jeans down and kicking them off to land in the dirt, he wraps his arm around my torso and pulls me in close. “I never once thought I’d bring someone here.” Like he thinks he’s distracting me, he kisses my lips and takes a step closer to the edge. “I sat up here so many times over the years,especiallywhen life was hard. I would stare out at the world and try to put things in perspective. Not once in all those times did I consider I might bring someone else out here.”
“Oh god. Stop moving closer.” I cling to my husband and squeak when my heels move over the ledge so there’s nothing left for them to rest on. “Archer!”
“Trust me,” he whispers straight into my ear. “Point your toes. Pin drop once we hit the water. You’re gonna be fine.”
“No. No, no, no, no.” I don’t consciously decide to bail, but my arms and legs climb Archer’s body and wrap around him in an instant. “I’m afraid of heights! We got so busy with the peanut allergy and the fear of snakes, plus the vigilante stuff and getting married, I never had time to tell you that heights scare the shit out of me.”
“Oh no.” He holds me tight and bounces with gentle laughter. “That makes things awkward then, huh?”
“Take us away.” My legs shake from the dump of adrenaline zinging through my blood. “Archer!”
“When you really think about it…” Torturously, he moves to the edge so my body floats above oblivion, “it’s a good thing we came out here at night. You can’t see how high we are.”
I clamp my eyes shut and squeeze my arms tight around his neck.
“Trust me, Mayet. The only thing I care about on this planet is you. I won’t risk you.”
“No!” My stomach dips when he leans forward. “Archer! No.”
“Hold on.” He tips our weight and does a little scream that blows against my shoulder. Then we’re falling.
Falling.
My hair whips around my face, and the wind caresses my naked skin. Archer’s hands don’t loosen, not even for a moment. His arms keep me close, and his lips rest against my shoulder.
“Three.” He speaks calmly.Toocalmly. “Two.”
I draw a breath until my lungs threaten to explode.
“One.”
We hit the water with a splash and swirl deep into the black abyss. My legs fall away from Archer’s hips, and my arms spring wide, the way a fighter might break their fall inside a gym.
The waves we create, and the spiral our bodies perform beneath the surface, mean I lose him for just a second.
In a panic, my eyes whip open, and my heart thunders as the oppressive darkness surrounds me. I’m lost. I don’t know which way to go. But then he swims up behind me and spoons my body with his thighs and chest. He wraps one arm around my torso, while he uses the other to paddle.
Being underwater and without oxygen makes it feel as though time drags on for eternity, and yet, it’s a mere second. Then we break the surface so I breathe in with a gasp, and the roar of water rushing down twenty feet to my right reorients me back to the now.
“I gotcha.” Self-satisfied, Archer rumbles near my ear. Because of the headlights above, I’m able to see his silhouette in the darkness. His sly smile as he swims to my front and comes in close enough for me to see his gemstone stare. He treads water, easily using his impressive strength to keep us afloat, then he tugs me in till my legs come around his hips and my arms instinctively go over his shoulders. “See? Safe.”
“I want to kill you.” My voice quivers, but I’m not entirely sure it’s from fear and rage. Not when elation bubbles in my blood. Not when adrenaline soldiers through my veins. “Jesus, Archer. You scared the hell out of me.”
“The water’s warm.” Brushing my hair off my face, he presses his lips to mine. But this time, he goes deeper than a peck. His tongue comes out to duel with mine, and his teeth join the fray, taunting me, tempting a whimper from deep inside my soul. “I know you like warm water.”
“I do.”
“And you wouldn’t stop talking about the magic wind.” Releasing me, he moves to my left, only to sweep his arms under my legs and bring them up until I float on my back.
My knees break the surface. My toes, too. But the rest of me drifts just beneath, so water rests in my ears and the crash of the waterfall creates a calming white noise that sends my body into a relaxed state of bliss.
Holding me with just one arm, Archer trails his free hand over my stomach. Tantalizing strokes, teasing touches. “You’ve had a rough day,” he speaks loud enough I still hear him with water in my ears. “My day sucked, purely because I didn’t get to spend it with you.” Leaning in, he gently bites my pebbled nipple and chuckles when I jerk beneath the water.
“We’ve been kinda lucky in the past, working with each other and spending all that time together. But days like today remind me that sometimes, cases pull us in separate directions. And even with your desk just a couple of blocks away from mine, when we’re working two really different cases, that two blocks can feel like a million.” With talented fingers, he unsnaps my bra and pushes the black fabric aside.
In the sky, a million miles away, the moon shines bright, and stars race from one place to the next. They twinkle and spellbind me, while Archer’s hands take. Touch. Torment.
