Page 49 of Reset

Just another sign that they had no control of the situation at all.

Ryan slung her handbag over her body before crouching down at her feet. “Gonna have to tear this skirt. It’s a damn shame because it’s sexy as hell, but I’d rather you had full maneuverability in the water, just in case you need it.”

As he spoke, he matched action to words and ripped a split right up the side of her skirt from the tiny tear that had already been there.

“That’s better,” Ryan said, his voice rough and his attention firmly caught on the bare expanse of thigh in front of him. He cleared his throat before climbing into the pool. “Let’s get this show on the road,” he said as he placed his hands on her waist and lifted her into the water.

Sarah’s palms slapped his bare shoulders. “I’m not ready.”

“You’re never gonna be ready. That’s why you need me. Without me gently nudging you along, you’d still be back in the cavern weighing up your options.”

The water slid up her legs, over her hips, and to her shoulders as she clung to Ryan. “You call this gently nudging? It’s like being hit by a sledgehammer.”

She was aware that her fingernails were digging into his shoulders, yet she couldn’t seem to uncurl them. Milky water lapped at her chin, slid under her clothes, and wrapped around her body. There was no way to process this reality. She was standing up to her chin in water, in her office clothes, with a man she thought she’d never see again. It was a lot to deal with. And that was without getting into the whole dead people and kidnapping part of her day.

“I want to scream at the top of my lungs that we’re going to die,” she confessed.

“I don’t appreciate the death part because I’m sure we’ll be fine. Other than that, if you think it will make you feel better, go for it.”

“Well, I don’t want to do it now that I have permission,” she grumbled.

The darkness was closing in on her again. Their only light was from her phone sitting on the edge of the pool. Ryan’s phone, which had less charge than hers now, was in her oversized handbag, along with her shoes and his shirt. Ryan had tied his shoes together and secured them to the outside of the bag.

Her teeth started to chatter, even though the water wasn’t that cold, and she found her gaze straying to the black silky depths that disappeared under a massive expanse of rock.

They were going in there.

Where there was no light.

No air.

Nothing.

Her heart was hammering so hard inside her that it was almost painful. All the breathing exercises she’d done to help lower her heart rate and keep her calm were rendered pointless. There was only blind panic and absolute terror.

“Lie back and float while we do some box breathing,” Ryan said.

As soon as he started speaking, she was shaking her head. “This isn’t going to work. I can’t. I just can’t. I’m sorry. I really am, but you have to do this without me.”

She tried to push away from him, to clamber back out of the water, but his hands held her in place.

“It’s going to be fine. You just need to get control of your thoughts,” he said evenly.

“No.” She twisted in his hold, not making it very far. “No. I can’t go in there.”

“Sarah,” he said firmly. “Think of something else. Something soothing.”

Was he crazy? “Let me out of here.”

Why wasn’t he letting her go? Couldn’t he see that she wasn’t equipped to do this? She’d kill them both.

“Sarah Jean Davidson,” he snapped, making her look up at him.

His tone left her expecting anger and disappointment; instead she found understanding and empathy on his face. The sight made her want to weep.

“The strongest muscle you have is your mind,” he said. “You need to break the cycle of fear that has you caught up in it.”

“How?” Her voice, like the rest of her, was trembling.