Falling Under (7 page)

Then it hits me. I race towards my car.

The lake is a million pieces of scattered diamonds under the full glow of the moon. His empty jeep is parked closed to the sandy shore.  It’s a dark lump that melts into the black boulders that crowd the water’s edge.

My bare feet sink into the gritty sand as I enter the water. The coolness laps at my ankles, I pause only to disrobe, dropping bits of my clothing as I go.

As the water climbs up my skin onto me, a puddle of goosebumps races up my legs, spreads down my back, I shiver but push on. I spot the tiny speck of movement out in the middle of the lake.

He’s moving fast, cutting through the thick blackness with restless strokes.

My eyes drop to the water lapping at my chest. I can’t see a thing. But I don’t need to. Not anymore. I know what I want. I close my eyes and glide off.

The cold sweeps over me at once, it takes a few moments for my body to relax within it.

He stops as I draw closer. Alert. Unsure. He turns to face me.

I stop in front of him.

Shock widens his eyes. He opens his mouth to say something, but then he just shakes his head.  A rueful grins splits his lips. He slips towards me, and reaching across whisk a soaked tendril off my chin.

His eyes are tentative … hopeful, his voice hushed, “you’re sure you want to spend the rest of your life hitched to a murderer?”

“I am,” I gulp back the sharp stab of agony that his words give me.

He cocked his head to the side, his brows furrowed, “I have nightmares and I don’t know if that will stop,” he adds soberly.

I reached out, touched his cheek. Bitter memories swim to the surface, “I remember praying for a new mommy and daddy when  I was four. And sometimes I still wake up and think I’m back in foster care and no one wants me.”

He pulled me flush against him, cupped my face in his large, cool palms, “I want you.”

I looked into his eyes and knew. He’d wanted me from the moment we’d met at this lake.

Impatiently I traced every line of his face, the strong slant of his nose, the lean planes of his high cheekbones, imprinting them on my heart, “I know,” I whispered and kissed him.