Tolstoy_Stargazer Alien Barbarian Brides by Tasha Black

Author:Tasha Black [Black, Tasha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: 13th Story Press
Published: 2019-01-03T05:00:00+00:00

15

Anna

Anna’s heart pounded so hard she could hear it in her ears.

She was a good swimmer, better than good. The Tarker’s Hollow Swim Club was her only escape every summer, since her family couldn’t really afford vacations. She always felt right at home in the sparkling, chlorinated water.

But this was something different. The water was freezing and murky. Who knew what might be in it? She was in up to her waist and already her blood had turned to ice.

“You can change your mind,” Leo said. His deep voice had a pleading quality.

“I’m fine,” she insisted, taking a breath and launching herself down the last few steps before she lost her nerve.

Instantly, she was in over her head.

She wanted to think about how that description perfectly summed up everything that was going on in her life, but the water was so cold she wondered whether her heart would keep beating. It took all her concentration not to drop the pod.

After a moment she kicked her way up.

When her head emerged she looked around for Leo, but he was gone.

He surfaced a second later, eyes wide.

“It’s cold,” he said.

She surprised herself with a laugh.

The lights swung overhead and the water glittered in his hair. For a second it was like they were at a club getting ready to dance and invite each other home, like normal twenty-somethings.

He smiled back at her and cold didn’t seem so bad anymore.

Mate.

He was her mate. There would be no clubbing. And they had a baby to save.

“Let’s do this,” she said.

“Let me hold him,” Leo said, indicating the baby.

“Maybe on the way back,” she allowed.

He looked like he wanted to protest, so she activated the light on her wristband, took a deep breath, and dove under the water again.

She had swum the entire ninety feet of the Tarker’s Hollow Swim Club pool underwater many times. She generally came up for air twice, but she could do it with one breath in the middle. The other staircase should be no problem. So long as she kept her bearings and swam straight ahead, she would be okay.

Even if she got there and had to turn back, she would be pushing it. But she thought she could make that. Probably. She wasn’t really sure how much the pod was going to slow her down.

The light on her wrist wasn’t helping either. The water was so murky she could barely see anything, even with the light on as bright as it would go. She was practically swimming blind.

At least the hallway was narrow. She couldn’t get into too much trouble by veering off course.

Anna had just gotten into a good rhythm when something wrapped around her ankle.

She kicked, but it was to no avail. Whatever had her wouldn’t let go.

Panicking, she reached for her leg with her wrist, trying to discover what held her fast.

Could there be an animal in here? Some kind of alien, looking for a meal?

Her thoughts went back to the shadowy creature. They hadn’t seen any sign of it all night.

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