Page 49 of Take Me Back
“No.”
Well, at least that’s one worry we don’t have at the moment.
Dane reaches Anya and she throws herself at him, clinging to his shoulders, and a whole new set of fears crops up in my brain.
She could drown them both.
“She needs to calm down.”
“I don’t know if she can actually swim,” Vander says, his voice contemplative.
“Are you shitting me?” I spin around to stare at him. “And you didn’t go in after her immediately?”
What a sorry excuse for a man.
Maybe I’ve had Dane in my life long enough to take it for granted that he’ll always rescue me if he’s there. He’s not just strong and capable—he doesn’t stop to consider his own safety before springing into action.
“I was getting there. Your husband apparently has a much larger hero complex than I do, however.”
It’s a cop-out answer, and we both know it.
I turn my attention back to Dane and Anya. He has her secured and is swimming them both backward toward the catamaran, which thankfully has stopped since Fedor lowered the mainsail.
Dane reaches the life ring and shoves it in front of Anya. She latches on, and Vander picks up the end of the rope and begins pulling them in. Dane holds on to Anya, kicking them forward to propel them toward us faster.
Once they reach the side, Fedor drops the ladder. Anya climbs up first, her face pale, eye makeup smeared down her cheeks.
“Are you okay?” Vander asks her.
She nods. “I’m not usually so clumsy.” The words come out hushed. A tear wells in her eye. “But my swimsuit is ruined.”
Of all the ridiculous things to be worried about right now ...
I hold back my comments as Dane climbs aboard. “Babe, are you all right?”
He nods and shakes the water from his hair as I hand him a towel. “Fine. Just a little extra swimming to replace the cardio I missed out on today.”
Of course he would make light of the fact that he just dived off a boat to save a woman who may or may not be able to swim.
Anya turns toward him and lifts her chin. “I think the shots caught up with me a little too fast. Thank you for coming in after me.” She shoots a sideways look at Vander.
“No problem,” Dane says, tossing the towel down on the bench.
“I think we should shelve that game, regardless of how much fun we were having,” Vander replies. He turns to Dane. “We owe you a debt of gratitude. Since we can’t buy you dinner or drinks, given the resort is an all-inclusive, I’ll need to figure out something else we can do.”
“Don’t worry about it. Anyone would’ve done the same.”
I don’t point out the obvious—that Vanderdidn’tdo the same.
“Would you still like snacks, Miss Anya? We have fruit and plantain chips and a few other items ready for you.”
“Yummy. Sounds delicious,” she says. Apparently Anya’s appetite recovers faster than anything. “Probably a good idea to soak up the alcohol.”
Two hours later, we gather up our items and disembark from the catamaran. Vander and Anya walk ahead of us until Vander pauses at the end of the pier and turns to Dane.
In a conversational tone, he says, “I think I know how we can repay you. Why doesn’t Anya come to your room tonight and suck you off?”
Chapter 21
