This is it. This is how I meet my end. For a fleeting moment, I give in. I stop fighting the rapids and accept death.
The fear within fades. Terror releases its horrifying grip. My entire body relaxes. No longer fighting, I wait for the end.
Something tangles in my hair.
Pulling.
Lifting.
Yanking me free of the powerful current.
I pop to the surface, gagging, coughing, and sputtering as air fills my lungs. An arm wraps around my waist, pulling me tight.
“Don’t fight it.” Hayes yells to be heard above the raging river. “Be a cork and let the water take you.”
I continue to sputter and cough. Panic still holds me in its fearsome grip, refusing to let go.
“Lean back. Knees soft.” Hayes holds me, my back to his chest, my legs contained between his. “Push off the rocks.” We fly through the water, headed toward a massive rock submerged beneath the surface.
I barely get my legs up and wouldn’t have if not for Hayes lifting them with his powerful legs. We slam into the rock. The force of the water tries to force us sideways to suck us under, but Hayes pushes off the rock and we flow right over the top, dropping several feet as the river tumbles through the narrow canyon.
Hayes continues to hold me tight against his chest. My legs rest over the top of his and I try to do what he says, but his legs are much longer than mine.
We bob like a cork, pushed this way and that, for what seems like forever. I swallow more water than I care to admit, but somehow, I’m not dragged back under the water.
The turbulence eases somewhat as the canyon walls widen. With more room to flow, the fierceness of the rapids decreases. We float on our backs, held together by the strength of Haye’s grip, and make our way down the canyon.
The river gets wider—moves slower—and I finally catch my breath. That’s when I realize what Hayes did. He risked his life to save mine. Only a madman would jump in to save another person.
The roaring of the rapids diminishes behind us. I place my hand over his arm and give a squeeze of thanks. There are vertical walls to either side of us.
“How do we get out of here?” Should I be worried we may be trapped? What if there are more rapids? What if there’s a waterfall? What if…
“Are you hurt?” Hayes breaks into my thought with concern for me edging his voice. “Anything broken? Bruised? Battered? Torn?”
I do a quick survey of my body for injuries. With the amount of adrenaline spiking in my veins, I doubt I’d notice anything less than a break, but it seems my arms and legs appear intact. All my joints work fine. I’m sore. There will be bruising, but other than that, I’m good.
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Good.” He says nothing more, which leaves me feeling like a fool.
I’ve really botched my rescue.
“I’m sorry,” I mumble out the words as we float on the current.
“For what?” He turns from his investigation of the canyon walls to address my concern.
“For this.” I make a vague gesture, pointing at the steep canyon walls all around us and the water we currently float in.
“It was an accident.” He shrugs as if it means nothing.
To me, I made a huge mistake that nearly cost me my life and jeopardized his. How is he not angry about that?
I put both of our lives in danger. Where’s the yelling? The recrimination? The lecture about being a stupid girl?
Matias’s feral growl sounds in my memories and brings on a whole-body shudder.
“We wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t tried to kiss you.” It’d been a reckless move, something I didn’t think through.
Hayes doesn’t seem to think too much about it, or he’s great at keeping his cool and not yelling at me for being irresponsible.
At least the water’s refreshing. It’s a pleasant break from the heat of the jungle. I spread my fingertips over the water’s surface and turn my attention back to the steep walls on either side of us.
“What do we do now?” I try to move from where Hayes has me positioned, but the way he tightens his grip around my waist tells me to stay where I am.
We float in silence, in stark contrast to the rapids fading behind us. The river’s almost angelic: placid and welcoming rather than deadly.
“I thought I lost you.” He kisses the top of my head and finally releases me.
“I thought I was…” There’s no way to finish that sentence.
I’ve never been that close to death before. When my time comes, I’ll embrace my fate willingly, but when I got sucked under that one rock, I wasn’t ready for this life to end.
“That’s what makes rapids dangerous.” Hayes gives my hand a squeeze. “The force of water can suck you under and keep you there. It’s deadly.”
Deadly, yet he didn’t think twice about jumping in after me.
“I can’t thank you enough for saving me.” We face each other. “How did you know what happened to me? That I got sucked under?”
Those words seem surreal compared to the blinding panic rampaging through me when I couldn’t get to the surface of the water.
“Easy.” He shrugs like it’s nothing. “I never lost track of you. Kept my eyes glued to you the entire time.”
I let his words sink in. I can’t imagine being that well put together to save someone like that.
I totally lost it when I fell into the water. Panic set in, and I lost it. Somehow, that didn’t happen to Hayes. He knew exactly what to do. The man exudes confidence.
My foot suddenly kicks at something beneath us. Another rock? I pull back in fear, remembering the many rocks the water carried me over, smashed me against, and tried to drown me beneath.
Beside me, Hayes stands. The water sits just above his waist. I drift a few feet before realizing he’s standing still on the river bottom. Gingerly, I feel for the bottom with the toe of my boot. Sure enough, I can stand, too.
Somehow, I feel more comfortable with the purchase of semi-solid ground under my feet. The cool water flows chest high around me, forming little ripples. I take a moment to regroup and recover from my near-drowning event.
“Getting out is going to be tricky.” Hayes glances at the steep walls. “We can keep with the river, see if there’s a better spot to exit, or try to climb out here.”
He glances at me, and I know exactly what he’s thinking. I may be comfortable in the trees, but I’ve never scaled what looks like a sheer wall of rock.
“Maybe we continue on?” I nibble at my lower lip, feeling uncomfortable and unsure. “See if it continues to widen out downstream?” Yeah, I have no interest in scaling the walls of the canyon.
With the water just over waist high for Hayes and chest deep for me, I take notice of what he’s no longer wearing.
“What happened to your…” I point to his chest and the fact he no longer wears his tactical vest. His weapon is missing, too.
“Yanked it off when I came after you. It would’ve weighed me down.”
“And your weapon?”
“Ditched that too.” He tugs at his ear. “CJ’s going to have my ass for losing it.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was well worth the sacrifice.” He flashes a perfect row of teeth with his grin.