Oblivion (Lux 1.5)

That did make her dangerous.

I pushed away from the rock, making ripples in the water, and then I slipped under. I swam to the other side of the rock and I stayed under, hoping the icy water would cool down the very inappropriate arousal thing I had going on.

Dammit, I didn’t even like the chick, I thought, trying to convince myself.

Yeah, she was amusing. Yeah, even entertaining. And yeah, I wanted to trace her curves with my hands and my mouth. Possibly even my tongue—okay, definitely with my tongue—but she irritated the hell out of me.

And she didn’t even like me. She liked looking at me, because who didn’t, but the distaste went both ways.

I had no idea how much time passed underwater until I was about 92 percent confident I wouldn’t do something, and I broke the surface.

“Daemon!”

The sheer panic blanketing the sound of my name caught me off guard. I burst onto the rock, crouching as I scanned the lake, expecting an Arum to be nearby. Those assholes wouldn’t blink an eye when it came down to taking out an innocent human.

All I saw was Kat, on her knees, in her damn bikini.

Whelp, there went all the work that cold water had done for me.

She was frozen for a second and then scrambled over the rock, clutching my shoulders. Blood had drained from her face and she was exceptionally pale. “Are you okay? What happened?” Then she let go of my shoulders, hauled back, and smacked my arm. Hard . “Don’t you ever do that again!”

“Whoa there.” I threw my hands up. “What is your problem?”

“You were under the water for so long. I thought you drowned! Why would you do that? Why would you scare me like that?” She jumped to her feet, chest heaving. “You were under the water forever .”

Oh shit. I’d been under there longer than I’d thought. My body didn’t function like hers, and I’d forgotten that. Luxen didn’t need to breathe air, but humans weren’t supposed to figure that out, dumbass. “I wasn’t down there that long. I was swimming.”

Her hands were shaking. “No, Daemon, you were down there a long time. It was at least ten minutes! I looked for you, called for you. I…I thought you were dead.”

I climbed to my feet slowly, cursing myself every which way from Sunday. “It couldn’t have been ten minutes. That’s not possible. No one can hold their breath that long.”

Her throat worked. “You apparently can.”

Damn. I stepped closer to her, my eyes searching hers. “You were really worried, weren’t you?”

“No shit! What part of ‘ I thought you drowned’ don’t you understand?” A tremble rocked her.

Hell, she was really upset. Honestly, if I’d drowned, I figured she’d do a little dance on my grave. In her bikini. Shit. Screw the bikini. “Kat, I came up. You must not have seen me. I went right back down.”

Taking a step back, she shook her head, and I could see in her steely eyes she didn’t believe me. Holy hell, here I was worrying about Dee doing something to expose us, and it was me who did the bonehead thing. Let it go, Kat. Let it go . I took a deep breath, thinking maybe if I pissed her off, she would forget what happened in her anger. Better than the other option. “Does this happen often?” I asked.

Her gaze snapped back to mine. “Does what?”

“Imagining things.” I gestured at the lake. “Or do you have a horrible issue with telling time?”

“I wasn’t imagining anything! And I know how to tell time, you jerk.”

“Then I don’t know what to tell you.” I stepped forward, crowding her. “I’m not the one imagining that I was underwater for ten minutes when it was like two minutes tops. You know, maybe I’ll buy you a watch the next time I’m in town, when I have my keys back.”

She stiffened as she stared up at me and anger clouded over the suspicion in her eyes. “Well, make sure you tell Dee we had a wonderful time so that you can get your stupid keys back. Then we won’t need a replay of today.”

I smiled at her. “That’s on you, Kitten. I’m sure she’ll call you later and ask.”

“You’ll have your keys. I’m ready—” She turned, and it happened so fast. Her foot slipped over the wet rock. Thrown off balance, her arms flailed.

I didn’t stop to think.

Snapping forward, I reached out and caught her hand just as her feet left the rock. I pulled her forward, and then we were chest to chest. Her skin was warm and dry, mine wet. I clenched down on my jaw as sensation powered through every one of my cells. There was no denying the bolt of lust that shot through me.

Hell, she was so soft in all the right places.

“Careful there, Kitten,” I murmured. “Dee would be pissed at me if you end up cracking your head open and drowning.”

Kat slowly lifted her head, and her gray eyes met mine. Her lips parted, but she didn’t speak, and I was A-OK with that. Words were freaking pointless at this moment, because our bodies were pressed together.

Electricity coursed through my skin, and I had no idea if she felt it, and if she did, if she thought it was just her imagination, but I swallowed a low groan as a light breeze washed over our skin. Her chest rose against mine, and I needed to either let her go or…or what?

There was no other option.

I dropped my arm from her waist, letting my hand slip off her lower back just to freaking torture myself. The skin was soft and smooth, and the near-painful pressure building in me was worth it. “I think it’s time we head back.”