Page 10

A fter the first hour, when I showed no signs of tiring, he made me do another sixty minutes.

Then another.

Until I really did almost drown.

He had to come in and get me when my arms stopped working, and I could barely keep myself afloat.

I choked and spat out the seawater I’d swallowed as he dragged me unceremoniously back to the beach and tossed me effortlessly into the sand.

Pushing myself up on shaky arms, I coughed and winced at how exhausted I was.

“I feel like I’m going to die.”

“Stop being so dramatic. You’re not going to die.”

“Dude, I just killed myself out there for three hours, and you still seem pissed with me or something!”

I peered up at him, squinting against the sun’s blaring heat to try to make out his face as he towered over me.

“I just had to save you from drowning on day one, Finn. What did you think? I was going to give you a reward?”

I scowled at him, the first nips of anger finally starting to overtake me.

I shakily got to my feet, blinking away the dark spots swimming across my vision.

“I was doing high-intensity laps for three hours, Riddick! Anyone would have a hard time with that!”

His eyes flashed, but that was the only indication he gave that I’d pissed him off. If I was being honest, I’m pretty sure he was already pissed off. He was pissed at me before he even sent me out into the ocean.

A small, insecure part of me wondered if it was because I had admitted to touching myself, and this was some sort of weird punishment for disobeying his super vague order that I still wasn’t even sure was actually an order.

Suddenly, he was crowding me. I took a few shaky steps back, but he cuffed my throat.

He didn’t squeeze as hard as he had the day before, and if I didn’t know any better, I would say he was being careful not to aggravate the mild bruise that now marked my throat from the rough way he’d handled me in the shack.

“You think three hours is a lot?”

“Yeah! It is a fucking lot. I killed it today.”

He chuckled, but there was no joy in the sound. It was actually scary, and I shivered despite the heat of the sun on my salt-slicked skin.

“Try two days, Finn.”

“Wh-what? Why would I need to be able to swim sprints for two days ?”

“Kai Kalani. Ever heard of him?”

I shook my head, and he stroked his thumb over the jumping pulse point in my neck the same way he’d done yesterday. The way he did it was strange. Like he was checking to make sure it was still there, and my heart was still beating.

“He was a buddy of mine. Kai had to tread water for nearly forty-eight hours in some of the roughest chop I’ve ever seen after we were stupid enough to ignore the warnings in Waimea.

I thought for sure he was dead, but our pal, Jet, wouldn’t let us give up until we at least had a body to take back with us. ”

My entire body rolled with goosebumps as he stroked his thumb over my pulse again. He didn’t even seem to notice he was doing it. His eyes were burning with intense heat as if he were reliving some horrible memory and couldn’t even see me standing right in front of him.

“We found him alive. It wasn’t a miracle like the newspapers claimed. It was his dedication to his training mixed with pure dumb fucking luck.”

The rage in his voice was like a drug. It skated over my flushed cheeks, and I could feel each thump of my heart like the beat of a drum.

“So… that was really a lesson? You were trying to teach me how to survive if I get stuck in a situation where I’ll need to swim that long to wait for help?”

“Everything I do to you will be a lesson, Finn.”

I bit my lip at the dark way he said that, trying as hard as I could not to get hard again.

“So you weren’t punishing me?”

His eyes dropped to my mouth, and his tender strokes on my neck came to an abrupt halt.

I held my breath as he leaned closer. I knew he was doing it to try and scare me, but honestly, it was just turning me the fuck on and confusing the shit out of me.

His lips were right there.

Why did I have this overwhelming desire for him to kiss me?

“Of course I’m punishing you, Finn.”

He was angry. So, so angry. I searched his eyes, frowning.

“Why?”

He slid his hand up my neck and stroked his thumb over me one more time before letting me go. Only this time, he traced my jawline instead of my pulse, and I shuddered.

“You know why,” he rumbled, then pulled away.

I nearly whimpered out loud as he stepped away from me. Losing his touch and his presence felt like this cataclysmic thing, and I didn’t understand the sudden and very intense feelings that seemed to be consuming me.

“You’re done for the day, Finn. Make sure you eat. I’ll be back. Same time tomorrow. Rules still apply.”

Then he walked away, leaving me standing alone on the beach, shaking, hard, and so fucking confused.