Explosive Attraction - By Lena Diaz Page 0,5
deadly struggle, still wedged between the seat and the side of the boat. Rafe’s arm muscles bulged as he tried to wrestle the knife from the other man. Darby wanted to help but she didn’t know what to do. The dock was so far away now it was a tiny speck in the distance. And the boat was rocking wildly from side to side, making it impossible to stand.
She crawled forward on her hands and knees toward the other side of the bench. Rafe knocked the knife out of the other man’s hand. It flipped over the bench and rattled across the floor of the boat in front of Darby, just as she brought her knee down.
A sharp, burning pain had her jerking back and biting her lip to keep from crying out. Bright red blood smeared the bottom of the boat beneath her, making it slippery. She fell again, banging her head so hard it brought tears to her eyes. A buzzing noise sounded in her ears, followed by a loud horn.
A loud horn?
She raised her head and her mouth dropped open. A much larger boat was bearing down on them, blasting its horn in warning as its driver turned to avoid them.
“Darby, turn the boat, turn the boat! Hard to port!” Rafe yelled, just before the man he was fighting threw a punch that cracked the detective’s head against the side of the boat.
Darby winced and edged around the bench, gasping against the fiery pain in her knee and the throbbing in her side. She reached up for the steering wheel. She had no clue what port meant, but she went on instinct, yanking the steering wheel hard left. They turned sharply, missing the other boat by a few feet.
The wake violently rocked the smaller boat and sloshed brackish water over the side, drenching her and the men. Unguided, the boat swerved into one of the dozens of narrow channels leading into the surrounding marsh.
Looking over at the two men, Darby was relieved to see that Rafe’s larger size and strength had finally won the fight. The detective pinned the other man facedown and handcuffed his hands behind his back.
Darby turned back around to try to stand so she could steer the boat. She gasped in horror and lunged for the steering wheel.
Too late.
The shallow marsh rushed up to meet them. The hull of the boat hit the muddy ground with a sickening crunch and stuck, tossing the back of the boat skyward. The force of the impact catapulted Darby, Rafe and the other man into the air. Darby screamed and threw her hands out, bracing for impact. She landed with a squishy thud, her momentum rolling her over onto her back. Her head hit the ground so hard she thought she heard her teeth rattle.
She lay for what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, blinking up at the light blue sky above her. A gray-and-white seagull flew overhead, giving a sharp cry as if it were mocking her. Every bone and muscle in Darby’s body hurt, from the bottom of her feet to the top of her head. But she took that as a good sign. If she could feel this much pain, at least that meant she was still alive.
The rotten smell of the mud and long brownish-green marsh grass filled her nostrils, making her shiver with revulsion. She gingerly tried to move her arms. Not broken, or at least, she could still move them. She tried to sit up, but the foul-smelling mud was like glue, holding her in place. With a great shove, she pushed herself sideways. The mud made a sucking noise, reluctantly releasing its hold. She rolled onto her stomach, gathered her knees beneath her, and tried to push herself up.
A menacing noise had her stomach clenching with dread. She slowly lifted her head, already knowing what she would see. A dull vibrating roar, like a lion, but more ominous and deep, sounded again. Fifteen feet away, directly in front of her, its jaws opened wide as it hissed, was the biggest alligator she’d ever seen.
* * *
RAFE ARMY-CRAWLED through the mud and grabbed Darby before she could jerk back and make the gator charge at her. He lay half on top of her, his head pressed next to hers, his left hand clamped over her mouth. Without taking his gaze off the enormous reptile hissing across from them, he whispered, “Don’t move.”
She gave her head a tiny