He gave her a mischievous grin. “Do you want your ring?”
“I want you, Blake. Only you. Always you.”
Humbled beyond words, he hugged her close. She meant it. If she only had him, it would be enough.
He held up the ring in its case in front of her anyway. Her eyes lit with excitement and filled with tears.
“Forget what I said, I want the ring, too.”
He laughed outright, leaned up, and gave her a smacking kiss. “I thought you might like it.”
“What isn’t to like? It’s gorgeous.”
He pulled the brightly sparkling, three-stone diamond ring from the black velvet box and slid it on her finger. The round stones sparkled in the light. “The past. Our present. Our future. You, me, and Justin, and the promise of a happy forever.”
She pulled the hair away from her face as the wind whipped up. Tears slid from her eyes.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart. It kills me when you cry.”
“It’s just the wind in my eyes,” she lied sweetly to ease his discomfort.
He kissed away a tear, rolled her under him, and took her mouth in a passionate kiss. The world fell away, and he melted into her. He settled between her thighs, his aching cock pressed to her core. She rolled her hips and rubbed against him, sending a shudder of desire racing through his veins.
She tore her mouth from his, the bright smile returned to her lips. “Let’s tell Justin.”
“Aaahhh!”
The splash doused their happy moment with dread.
“Justin!” Gillian screamed.
Blake rolled off her and up to his feet, reaching down to take her hand and pull her up. They ran for the bank. Gillian sprinted along the shore until she reached a relatively deep part of the river. She jumped into the swirling, rushing water. Desperate to reach her brother, she swam hard, but the weight of her clothes and the bite of the ice-cold water made it hard to swim.
Justin flapped his arms, trying to keep his head above the water just up ahead. She used the quick current and her frantic strokes to get to him. She grabbed him around the waist and pulled him to her chest. She hoisted him as high as she could to keep his face out of the water.
Blake called to them, his voice filled with desperation. “Swim at an angle back to the shore!”
Debris hit her from all around. Wood and rocks seemed to jump up and hit her when she least expected. A set of really large boulders loomed in the distance. The water rushed around them in white-capped waves. No other choice; either the current carried her right into them, or she moved farther away from shore to avoid them. She needed to get Justin out of the water. His head bobbed back and forth, his whole body shook terribly, and his lips and eyelids had turned blue. Tired, her legs sluggish, she struggled with every ounce of energy she had left to keep Justin in her arms and above water.
The boulders grew larger. At the last possible moment, she turned her back and took the hit. Water pounded her against the boulders, holding her against them.
She caught a glimpse of Blake’s face a second before he pulled Justin free and the water rushed over her head and pushed her down. Her feet hit the bottom, and she pushed as hard as she could at an angle and managed to come up and pound against another boulder before the current sucked her under again. Blake grabbed her hair and pulled. Once her head cleared the water, he reached down and grasped her arm.
He hated to handle her so harshly, but he had to grab her now or lose her to the rushing current. His muscles burned, but he ignored the ache.
“Come on, sweetheart. Help me. Try to use your feet to push up.” He kept pulling, but the rushing water threatened to rip her out of his grasp. He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t lose her now. Not when they had their whole lives together ahead of them.
He nearly lost her, but she pushed, and he pulled her up the boulder and into his chest. He held her tight and pressed his face into her freezing hair.
“I’ve got you, sweetheart. I’ve got you.” He thanked God he’d gotten her. Water poured out of her mouth. She shook uncontrollably, coughed and spit, trying to get her breath. If he hadn’t reached her in time, she would have drowned. That thought stopped his heart and choked off his air.
Justin wasn’t any better. He’d curled into a tight ball on the boulder beside them. In bad shape, he hadn’t really opened his eyes. His teeth chattered, and his lips and fingers were blue.
Blake had no idea how he was going to get both of them back to the horses and home. He couldn’t carry both of them.
“Take Jus-s-stin,” Gillian stammered. “T-take him . . . get him h-help.”
“I can’t leave you here.”