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“Raven. ” His voice was low. “I’d never mind any pace you wanted. Sure, you can walk.”
I appreciated that Mace kept his word. He never at any point trudged ahead of me or acted like the fact that I was obviously slower than him was a problem. At some point, I also stopped trying to go faster than was comfortable to prove something in my own head. We walked for about forty-five minutes when I heard a loud noise, a rumbling I couldn’t recognize, and I stopped, catching my breath and looking around.
“Mace?” I wasn’t crying anymore, but I hadn’t spoken since my episode, so my voice felt and sounded rough when I used it. “What is that?”
He grinned. “Ah, she finally hears it. Come on. Just a little bit further, and you’ll see it for yourself. It’s safe. I’d never bring you anywhere that wasn’t safe.”
“ Well, there went my idea of going on your jobs with you.” I shook my head. “I’m kidding. What would I do up there, doing whatever you do in space?”
He tilted his head. “No, you absolutely can’t come with me on those jobs. Let’s leave that for now. You’ll like where we’re going.”
It was another ten-minute walk to the top, but the view made me instantly grateful we made the effort. I’m not sure if I read or heard stories of waterfalls, but I’d never seen one in real life before. A roar filled the air, the sound of the rushing water all consuming, as the beauty of the majestic thing took my breath away.
It was so beautiful. In the distance, the town flowed out of the forest and the lavender fields waved violet in another direction. The entire valley looked like some magical hideaway, lit by a strobing sky.
“Mace.” I had nothing to say after speaking his name. It was just so…incredible.
A lake that led into a river stretched blue and unbroken beneath us, the water looking so cool and crisp after our hike.
“Can you swim?” he asked me as a response.
“I haven’t in fifteen years, but I used to be able to a bit, in the way that children could. I don’t know if I remember anymore.”
He nodded. “Got it. Well, do you trust me?”
I blinked, focusing on him instead of the water, and for a second I was glad that the weather had normalized so the lightning was staying in the upper atmosphere and not down here with us. His hard profile seemed softened by his shaggy blond hair, getting a bit long around his ears. “Yes, I trust you.” I meant the words. I did trust him.
“I’m going to jump in that water. Once I’m in, you jump to me. Nothing will happen to you, and you’ll love it.”
He pulled his shirt off followed by his pants and then his underwear. I caught my breath. Mace and I hadn’t been intimate with each other, but he was gorgeous. I knew he would be, but all of his flesh revealed at once left me gaping at him. Mace seemed carved out of marble, sculpted to be perfect.
I grabbed at my shirt. If he was naked, I wanted to be, too. My mind stuttered when I remembered that meant throwing myself off the cliff and toward the waterfall. “I trust you, but this scares the shit out of me.”
“It should,” he said with a reckless grin.
I stripped just in time to watch him leap over the rocks’ edge and into the water below. He was down in seconds, barely a sound made while he entered the water. For a moment, I couldn’t see him, and my breath caught in fear. I couldn’t save him, if he was hurt. But then he appeared, his head popping out of the water with a splash before he waved at me.
I lifted my hand to wave back. This is nuts. I can’t do this. I’d sit down and enjoy the view. That would be fine. Still, I tugged off my underwear, and without giving it another rational thought, I closed my eyes and launched myself into nothingness.
Airborne before I even knew really what I’d done, there was a horrible few seconds of wind and weightlessness for me to reconsider everything before I struck the water. The water hit like a slap, startling me before it closed over my head, and everything went blurry. My eyes were open, a hazy uncertainty of cold water making me question my sanity. Mace’s arms slid around me and before the thought to breathe hit me, we were back above water. I wrapped my arms around his neck and grinned at him, shaking my hair back from my face.
“That was…that was the best thing ever!” Exhilarated, I laughed and gazed up at the cliff, which now seemed way too far away. I jumped from there. I laughed again, amazed.
His smile was huge, when I turned back to look at him. “I know. I thought you’d scream but you were silent. Brave.”
“Maybe just struck dumb.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Welcome to the Falls, Raven.”
16
THE FALLS
I remembered how to tread water but not as well as Mace. In the end, it was more fun to hold onto him and let him streak us through the water. Warm air washed over my flesh as the cool water almost sparkled across my body. And he was so happy just swimming with me that I had to kiss him, because to not do so would be one of the great tragedies of my life.
If I was being ridiculous, I didn’t give a shit.
He kissed me back, holding onto me like I was the most precious person in the world.
