Читать книгу Water: The Mermaid Legacy Book One - Natasha Hardy - Страница 18

I woke the next morning groggy and stiff from my fall. Luke was already up making coffee which I accepted gratefully, before walking to the lip of the cave and sitting with my legs dangling over the edge, awed at the beauty of the view, running the previous day’s event over and over in my mind. I sighed, rubbing my arms against the suddenly cool air as Luke came to stand next to me.

“So you’re sure you’re OK to stay here while we go to the pool?” he asked.

“Yup.” I was so sure, particularly after last night’s visitor. I was even more curious about my saviour after the visit, but if I was being honest with myself, I was frightened that he seemed to know who I was too.I did not want to have to explain what was going on if he appeared while the three of us were exploring the pool. It would be better for Luke and Josh to meet him there – if he showed up at all – on their own.

The boys packed some food and water, and headed off half an hour later. I quickly tidied the “cave”, rolling up sleeping bags and putting bits and pieces of equipment at the back of the overhang.

I was crouched on a rocky ledge washing the morning’s dishes in the river below the cave when the soft plop of a pebble to my right brought me up short.

“Good morning, Alexandra.” His rich musical voice startled me, making me lose my balance, rocking forward into the stream.

“Uh, hi,” I managed, struggling to think coherently as my mind swung from terror to fascination and back again while I pushed myself awkwardly out of the water.

He sat diagonally opposite from me and he was breathtaking.

My partial impressions of him from the first two encounters had been mere shadows. I took in the warm butterscotch of his skin, stretched over a strong lean frame. His torso was bare while his legs were covered in an iridescent fabric that pooled around his feet as he crouched. His waist-length hair shone in the sunlight framing a strong jaw, high cheekbones and a refined nose. He was younger than I’d first thought, probably just a year or two older than me.

Heat rushed into my cheeks as my gaze settled briefly on his full lips, as the memory of them covering mine and breathing into my oxygen-starved lungs snapped into focus.

He was smiling encouragingly, almost as if he were afraid I would run from him, his eyes sparkling as he watched me.

“What’re you doing?” he asked casually.

I looked down at the forgotten pan in my hand.

“Dishes,” I offered lamely, holding up the pan and sponge I’d been using, and feeling utterly stupid. “The uh… the boys have gone to the pool.”

“I know,” he said.

I nodded dumbly, mulling over how I felt about that.

I sat back feeling dazed as he watched me quietly.

“What’s your name?” I asked eventually as the silence stretched uncomfortably.

“Well, the closest translation in your language would be Merrick.”

Merrick. I rolled the name around in my head. It suited him, this golden boy shrouded in mystery.

“You rescued me yesterday.” It was a statement not a question, but he nodded all the same. “Where did you come from?”

He stood suddenly and gestured to the rock I was sitting on. “May I?” he asked.

I nodded.

He leapt gracefully across the narrow piece of stream separating us and settled next to me.

“I was in the cave below the pool when I heard the gun shots and then a splash.”

“There’s a cave below the pool?” He nodded. “How deep is it?”

“Pretty deep”

I thought for a few moments, trying to work out the logistics of what he was telling me.

“So the rock forms a shelf under the overhang and you were there?”

“No, I was underwater,” he replied.

“You were diving?” I asked.

He shook his head, smiling.

“So there’s like a bubble of air down there?” I asked.

He shook his head again, his grin growing.

My mind twisted like a worm on a hook trying to find the logical explanation I knew should be there.

“There’s a cave below the pool that you were in but there’s no air?” I asked.

He nodded, grinning.

“So it’s an underwater cave?” I repeated.

He nodded again.

“You were in the cave when I fell. Did you have a scuba kit?” He looked at me blankly. “You know, one of those oxygen tanks and mouth pieces…” I trailed off, taking his blank expression as a no.