A Pirate's Possession by Michelle Beattie

Author:Michelle Beattie
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2010-10-17T16:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

She had time only to throw up her arms and use them to shield her head as the wall she’d been touching crumbled. Rocks bombarded her and she knew the sharp edge of them when they pushed her hard and she lost her balance. She landed with a hard splash on the watery cave floor and struggled to sit upright as more rolled over her and tried to hold her down.

Noise rumbled through the cave like thunder caught in a bottle. The silence after the stones had tumbled and splashed to a stop was deafening.

For a moment, Claire didn’t move. Stunned, she looked at the wall that had let go, at the rocks that were spilled around her. Though it had felt as though the whole of one wall had crumbled, it was, in fact, only part of one. Nevertheless she considered herself lucky to have her head intact.

“Claire!”

More rocks went flying and Claire hunched down, once again protecting her head.

“Claire, are you hurt?”

There was splashing behind her and Claire realized more of the wall hadn’t let go. It was Nate. Turning, she lowered her arms and saw Nate flinging stones as he freed himself of their weight. He had a gash along his temple and blood ran down the side of his face. But he was alive and so was she. She didn’t move any farther, needing a moment to steady herself, but she answered Nate because of the worry in his voice.

“I’m all right,” she answered.

He splashed to her side and his eyes scoured her face. He helped her move rocks, though most had landed beside her rather than on top of her, then he helped her up.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

His concern touched her, gave her the strength to lock her knees. “I’m sure.” She wiped away the blood from his temple but it only ran again. “You’re bleeding.”

He looked down at her fingers that held his blood, then over to the wall. “Could have been worse.”

Because she knew it could have been, she slid her hand into his and wove her fingers through his. Nate’s attention turned back to her, his eyes softened, and his mouth curved.

“Had enough of caves?”

“Oh my, have I ever.”

He leaned in and kissed her forehead. For a moment his lips held there, warm and sure. Claire wondered if he needed the connection just then as much as she did.

“Let’s go.” With his hand still in hers, he stepped forward.

“Wait!” Claire pressed her other hand across his stomach. “There it is.”

Beneath the water something glinted. She dipped her hand into the warm water and closed her fingers over it. It slid smoothly into her palm. Pulling it from the water, she saw that whatever it was had a chain attached to it. The slim length of gold dangled from between her closed fingers.

She opened her hand.

Within her palm lay a simple gold cross. It wasn’t enameled, and there was no shiny coat to make the gold glitter. There were no jewels that glinted from within it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.