Chapter 416 Underwater
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Chapter 416 Underwater
Mia
The glass flew from my hand.
I watched it tumble through the air. End over end. The vodka catching the colored lights from the pool. Creating a small arc of liquid that looked almost beautiful. Almost deliberate.
Then I was falling.
Not slow motion like in movies. Fast. Real. My stomach dropping. My arms reaching for something. Anything. Finding only air.
The water hit like a wall.
Cold.
So cold it stole my breath. Shocked my system. Made every nerve ending scream.
The impact drove me under. Deeper than I expected. My body plunging down into blue–green darkness. The colored lights from below turning everything into an aquarium. Into something that didn’t feel real.
Everything muted immediately.
The music that had been vibrating my chest disappeared. Became dull thumps. Distant heartbeats. The bass still there but filtered. Softened. Like hearing it through walls.
The voices–all those people laughing and talking and shrieking–turned to nothing. Just gone. Erased by water that pressed against my ears. Filled them. Created a kind of silence that was actually loud. A roaring quiet.
Just water. Everywhere. Pressing against my ears. My eyes. My mouth. T
I kicked. Tried to surface. Tried to push myself up toward the lights I could see dancing above me.
But my dress now wrapped around my legs. Heavy when it was dry. Impossibly heavy now. Waterlogged. Pulling me down like hands grabbing my ankles.
My heels were impossible to kick properly. The thin stilettos offering no resistance.
I reached for the surface. Both arms stretching up.
My lungs started to burn.I kicked again. The dress tangled more. The fabric twisting. Wrapping tighter around my legs.
My mouth opened. I tried to scream. But water rushed in and it filled my mouth. Salt and chlorine. I swallowed it. Couldn’t help it. The automatic response to having liquid in your throat.
It burned. Down my esophagus.
My vision was going dark around the edges. The colored lights above were getting dimmer.
My arms felt heavy. My legs too. Everything getting harder to move.
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Then something grabbed me.
A hand. Strong. Wrapping around my waist from behind.
Pulling. I fought it.
Arms wrapping fully around me now. Pulling me against a body I couldn’t see.
And I saw him.
Kyle.
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His face close to mine. Maybe six inches away. Close enough to see every detail even through water that should have blurred everything.
His hair floating around his head like dark seaweed. Moving in the water. Lifted by currents I couldn’t feel. Creating a halo. A crown. Something that looked almost beautiful despite everything.
His hands found my face. Both of them. Cupping my cheeks. His palms warm even through cold water. His fingers spreading. Steadying me.
His eyes locked onto mine.
Then his mouth was on mine.
Not a kiss.
His lips pressed firmly against mine. Creating a seal. His hand coming up behind my head. Holding me there. Not letting me pull away.
Then air.
He was giving me breath.
Air filled my mouth. Filled the space between his lips and mine. Then down. Into my lungs.
I could feel his chest moving against mine.
Bubbles escaped. Silver. Catching the underwater lights as they floated up past our faces. Past our joined mouths. Rising toward the surface we weren’t at yet.
The lights made them glow. Made them look like stars. Like something magical.
His hands moved. One staying on my face.
My vision was clearing. Just a little.
I could see his face properly now.
His real face underneath. Pale. His eyes were so focused. Blue–gray in this light. Or maybe that was just the water. The colored lights making everything look different.
His hand was working on my dress. I felt the fabric give. Heard it–or felt it, the sound traveling different
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Chapter 416 Underwater
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underwater–rip. Tearing.
He gave me more air. His mouth covering mine again. His lips warm.
His hand found my heel. The stupid strappy heel. His fingers worked the tiny buckle. Fast. He got it undone.
The shoe fell. Drifted down into the deeper blue below us. Disappearing. Gone.
Then the other one. My legs were free now.
Kyle’s arm wrapped around my waist. Pulled me against him. His other hand came up.
Then he pulled. Hard.
We were moving.
His legs kicked.
My dress finally gave completely.
The lights got brighter. Closer.
I could see the underside of it now. The way light played on the barrier between water and air. The shadows of people standing at the edge. The ripples spreading from where I’d fallen in.
So close.
Kyle gave one more powerful kick. His whole body moving. Legs pushing. Arm pulling. Bringing us both up.
My head broke through.
The sound hit first. Everything rushing back. Music. Voices. Splashing. The world loud again after the muted quiet of underwater.
Then air. I gasped.
The air was cold against my wet face. Made me gasp more. Made my lungs seize and expand and try to pull in everything at once.
I coughed. Hard. Water came out. From my lungs. My throat. My mouth. Salt water and chlorine.
Kyle’s arm stayed around me.
“I’ve got you,” he said.
He pulled me toward the edge. The edge got closer. The hands grabbed me. Lifting me out of the water. Onto the
deck
Cold marble under my back. I lay there, Gasping Coughing. My dress. My skin. Creating a lake on the marble.
Someone threw a towel over my shoulders.
I sat up. Slow. Everything spinning. The world tilting. Colored lights streaking across my vision.
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Kyle was still in the water. I could see him.
Then he took a breath. Deep. His chest expanding.
And he dove.
“Kyle!” I tried to shout.
It came out as a rasp.
What was he doing?
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