I killed him.

My stupid plan had killed him.

The waves churned with the tentacles of the Devourer and far below I knew Geir battled for his life.

I ran back from the opening to try the winch again.

It sputtered and choked, then nothing.

This was the part I'd always been most concerned about.

Geir’s mass was easily more than Abril and Caze’s combined. The line would hold him, but it wouldn't pull him away from danger nearly as fast.

And now it wasn’t pulling him back at all.

Further back in the tunnel Abril and her boyfriend sat shivering, eyes wide, breathing choppy. Scrapes from the cliff face covered Abril’s arms, and he had a gash on his temple that looked like it might need attention.

I should do something for them, but right now I didn't care. Didn't care about anything other than getting Geir back safe.

Back to me.

“Shut up, come here and help me!” I screamed and began to unspool Abril’s line from the first winch.

She blinked then stood up, the harness sagging off her.

“What do you need?

I handed the boyfriend Geir’s line. “Drop it and I’ll push you back off the cliff myself.” The idea of it sliding away untethered into the depths screeched at the edge of my mind, but there wasn’t time to worry.

Together, Abril and I ripped the last of the line free of the winch.

This was taking too long. Every beat of my heart meant more blood Geir would shed.

“All right, bring it here,” I snapped at Caze. With shaking fingers, I tried to wind the line through the spool. “Dammit, not now,” I muttered to myself.

Refocusing I did it again until finally, it caught.

I hit the switch as slowly, far too slowly, the line reeled in.

A meter, another, and still the line was slack.

Had the devourer cut the line? Had Geir taken off the harness, thought I'd abandoned him and looked for another route to safety?

Finally, the line snapped taut and I held my breath until my heartbeat pounded in my ears, until over the lip of the opening one broad hand came up, then another.

I ran to him, dragging at his shoulders until he sprawled on the tunnel floor.

He cracked an eye. “Trouble with that third winch, honey?”

I flung myself into his arms, heedless of the wet.

“What happened?”

“When I realized there was a problem I started swimming back. Figured I’d start climbing. You'd get me eventually.”

“Of course I would,” I breathed.

“No more swimming for you,” I sniffled into his chest.

“I’m not arguing,” he said and squeezed me to him.

Regretfully we detangled ourselves. Abril and her boyfriend stood pressed against the wall, his arm protectively over her shoulders, but she stood straight and tall.

I held a hand out to her. “I'm so sorry. This was my fault.”

“That's nonsense,” she bit out. “You didn't put me in that cage. You didn’t turn your back when the cadre came. This whole thing is nonsense.” She put her hand over her mouth quickly. She might be angry, but she still knew listeners could be anywhere.

I nodded to the young man who stood behind her. “But you didn’t turn your back.”

His fingers closed on her shoulders.

“Not on Abril. Not for anyone.”

A warm spark lit in my chest. A week ago, this would have been incomprehensible to me, something I’d only read about in my stories.

I laced my fingers through Geir’s beside me.

Not for anyone.

“Now that we’ve all said hello, let's get you outside.” Geir headed deeper into the tunnel.

“Outside?” Abril’s voice held a tinge of fear.

“Something else we've been lied to about,” I grumbled.

That first day of blindly exploring, stumbling through the dark had made the trip through the underground passages seem endless. We’d done it so often now it was routine, familiar.

Except for one consideration.

The sun was high when we emerged from the hillside.

Geir and I looked at each other and frowned.

“I don't like this,” he muttered.

Neither did I. In our careful preparations we’d forgotten about simple daylight.

All of our previous activities outside of the tunnels had been limited to night or under the cover of the trees lining the river banks, hoping to avoid detection from any of the spy satellites that Geir and his friends had seen when he arrived.

“We should stay back, wait,” I suggested.

Geir looked over his shoulder where Abril and Caze shivered in their still damp clothes.

“I think we should risk it. Get them settled.” His lips twisted. “Besides, soon it won't matter. There won’t be anyone receiving signals from those spying eyes.”

For an instant, he was a stranger. Someone dark and feral. Dangerous.

Then he picked me up and dashed down the hill, calling for the others to follow. “This way!”

We spent the afternoon showing Abril and Caze around the camp. It was odd watching them adjusting to being out from the cover of the dome.

Only days ago, I'd had to fight the same terrors. Now the rushing of the river, the sound of wind in the trees overhead, the buzz of the insects soothed me. It all stood in stark contrast to the cold sterility of life in the compound, or the oppressive silence of the tunnels.

Abril and I sat on the bank watching Geir try to show Caze how to catch a fish.

“That doesn't seem particularly efficient,” she commented.

“No,” I agreed, “but we could all use a good laugh.”

“I wonder…” She got up wandered a short way away and examined one of the spindly bushes that surrounded the clearing.

“That might work,” she muttered, and I grinned. She sounded just like her mother looking at a balky engine.

“Hey,” she called out. “Can I borrow that knife for a minute?”

Geir splashed out of the river, flicking water at me. “How about you just tell me what you want, and I'll cut it.”

Abril shrugged. “That works too.”

In short order, she had a stack of thin branches and long tough grasses spread in front of her.

“Looks like there's a lot of rocks in the water,” she commented as she started tying lengths of grass around the interwoven branches.

I caught on and started helping.

“While we do this,” I pointed with my chin to the river, “can you find a place where two large rocks come together? But still has about this much space?” I gestured, guessing at the size we’d have when finished.

Geir shrugged. “Of course.”

By the time they came back we'd finished the primitive net. “Try this.” I held my corner out to Geir. “See if the fish end up in just one piece.”

While they tried out our invention, I turned to Abril. “Did your mom say anything to you before, in the cage?”

All of the relaxation of the afternoon on the riverside poured away as she remembered those last few terrifying moments.

“I'm sorry, but I need to know.”

“She did,” she whispered. “It didn't make any sense though.”

“It doesn't need to.” I squeezed her hand. “You just need to tell me.”

“She said ‘Breaking Dawn,’ and then turned away like she didn't even know me.” Her voice wobbled.

“You know she didn't have a choice.”

“I know. I was just scared.”

“So was she. If we haven't pulled this off, well,” I looked over at Geir showing Caze the best way to divert a bit of the river for a safe bathing pond. “We were all scared.”

The guys came back, wet and grinning.

Caze flopped down on the ground next to Abril. “Caze, did your parents leave you any message?”

His face hardened. “No. They’re believers to the core. They were the first to turn away.”

Abril squeezed his hand. “Not everyone did. Some might have helped, might have fought, if they knew they wouldn’t be alone.”

“We don’t need them,” he insisted. “We’re out, now.”

Geir stood behind me and brushed my hair back, his fingers running over my neck leaving a trail of shivers as they passed.

“Ready to go?”

I glanced out at the darkening valley. “Already? Tianna won't be meeting us for hours yet.”

He leaned over until all I could feel was his presence, his body pressed against mine.

“That’s true. But there's something I've been looking forward to all day.

“Oh.”

* * *

Did I think the trip between the river and our little room had gotten routine? Not this time.

Geir said nothing, did nothing but rub his thumb in slow arcs over the back of my hand as we walked through the darkness, but by the time I stood before our bed every nerve was on fire.

He paced behind me, his energy electric. “I don’t think you’ll need this for the rest of the night.” Gently he turned me around, slid the coat from my shoulders and let it fall in a puddle on the floor.

I couldn’t look away from his eyes as his gaze roamed over my body, a predator about to consume its prey.

Hungry.

Wanting.

This time, I didn’t wait for him, but slowly unbuttoned my shirt, dropped it on the coat, watching his reactions, the tightening in his jaw.

He dropped to his knees in front of me. “I’ve been dreaming of this.” Pulling me towards him, he licked and nipped at my breasts while unfastening my pants, each touch of his mouth a shock, my breaths coming faster until dizzy I clung to his shoulders for balance.

“Hang on, babe.” His mouth moved lower as his arms wrapped between my legs, lifting me, spreading me wide.

“Geir, wait-” With a smooth movement, his head ducked forward, and a cry caught in my throat as I fell back on his waiting hands. No time to catch my breath before a rain of kisses turned into nibbles, up and down my inner thighs, somehow never quite where I wanted them, needed them, darting in, then back until I clawed at his arms in frustration.

No answer, no mercy from the exquisite torment, until without any warning he pulled me tighter to his mouth, pierced me with his tongue, sucking and lapping at my core until I flew apart in his hands, wailing his name in the half-light.

I barely noticed when he lay me on the bed, panting, my body alive and trembling in ways unimaginable. And still, I wanted more.

Geir knelt beside me, his fingers roving over my skin as if he couldn’t stop touching me.

Rolling towards him, I ran my hand over the front of his pants. The size, the massive hard length of him, caught me off guard, but instead of stopping, I rubbed harder, stroking him through the fabric until he groaned.

A tiny thrill ran through me.

I could make him shatter, too.

My tongue ran over my upper lip. “I think you’re overdressed for the occasion.”

He wasn’t for long.

Stretched beside him, I let my hands play across his chest, then lower until I brushed the domed head of his cock.

The muscles of his stomach clenched as I ran my fingers up and down the velvet shaft, tracked the corded veins, tried to circle the girth of him.

“Val, you need to stop,” he bit out through gritted teeth.

“I don’t want to.” I bent towards him, nipped at his shoulder, inhaled the spicy warmth of his body.

“I don’t want you to.”

He rolled, bringing me with him until I sat on top, straddling his waist. His broad hands grabbed my hips, grinding my folds down his length. Back and forth over his slick rod until the increasing pressure on my clit sent ripples of pleasure spiraling through me, coiling and building until my back arched, and I lost my voice.

Fluidly he lifted me, lowered me onto his thick head, let me sink, spearing myself on him, then resumed the maddening pace, lifting and lowering me, sliding deeper and deeper until with a deep groan he pulled me down the last inch.

His strong fingers stroked, kneaded my hips, my ass, as I settled, shuddering, limp against his chest, but somehow keyed up farther than I’d ever been.

“Are you alright?” he managed.

“Yes,” I sighed as I shifted slightly.

With a low hiss, he held me still. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?” I teased, as I contracted as hard as I could around him.

A deep growl was my only warning before we flipped again, now he was on top, covering, caging me with his arms.

“Stay still,” he whispered, then bent to nuzzle my ear, his hot breath spreading through me as gradually, bit by bit he rocked inside me.

Every thrust drew me deeper into our tiny world where all that existed was the sound of our breathing, the scent of his skin, the wildness of his eyes. The relentless rhythm pushed me closer and closer to the edge, until I clung to him, frantically kissing, tasting.

“Please,” I begged, and that one tiny word cracked any restraint he’d held on to, the steady tempo increasing as he drove into me, again and again until together we shattered, and he shouted my name.